{"id":558,"date":"2025-06-18T18:56:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T23:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=558"},"modified":"2025-10-07T16:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T21:21:58","slug":"episode-65-frank-soto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=558","title":{"rendered":"Episode 65 &#8211; Frank Soto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Host:<\/strong> Reggie Darden <strong>Guest:<\/strong> Frank Soto, Master of American Kenpo Karate and Police Instructor, host of <em>Coffee and Martial Arts<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this episode of <em>My Empty Hands<\/em>, host Reggie Darden sits down with Master Frank Soto to discuss his extensive journey through martial arts, from his early days in Korean Karate to becoming a Black Belt under Grandmaster Larry Tatum and developing his own Kempo thesis, Kinetica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Episode Highlights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Host&#8217;s Background<\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=3960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">01:06:00<\/a>]: Reggie Darden shares his start in Chinese Kempo (Tracy&#8217;s curriculum) in the mid-90s, inspired by <em>The Perfect Weapon<\/em>, and his cross-training in arts like Capoeira, Hapkido, and Taekwondo.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Frank Soto&#8217;s Beginnings in Martial Arts<\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=10200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">02:50:00<\/a>]: Frank discusses starting martial arts in &#8217;84 and Kempo in &#8217;94, driven by his childhood hero, Caine from the <em>Kung Fu<\/em> TV series [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=16140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">04:29:00<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Path to Kempo<\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=21900\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">06:05:00<\/a>]: Originally practicing a Korean style (Tang Soo Do\/Hwarangdo), Frank felt the need to use his hands more and was introduced to Kempo, which eventually led him to train directly with Grandmaster Larry Tatum in Pasadena [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=11760\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">03:16:00<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Life Under Larry Tatum<\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=63780\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">17:43:00<\/a>]: Frank describes the intense training at the Pasadena studio, including an agreement to receive a weekly private lesson from Mr. Tatum in exchange for studio management. He recounts training with high-level practitioners like William Glenn and Michael Bagwell [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibsvqt3qMLQ&amp;t=66000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18:20:00<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Opening a Dojo and Kinetica<\/strong> [28:54:00]: Frank details the success of opening his first commercial dojo in &#8217;98. He discusses his later involvement with police instruction [30:51:00] and the creation of his Kempo thesis, <strong>Kinetica<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kempo&#8217;s &#8216;Shades of Gray&#8217;<\/strong> [33:50:00]: Frank explains that Kinetica moves beyond Kempo&#8217;s traditional &#8220;peace mode&#8221; or &#8220;war mode&#8221; (black and white thinking). His system incorporates the &#8220;Use of Force&#8221; principles (legality, proportionality, etc.) to give the civilian practitioner more options than just &#8220;go to jail or die&#8221; [38:00:00].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Effectiveness of Kempo<\/strong> [41:15:00]: Frank argues that the art of Kempo is highly effective for battle and survival. He asserts that any perceived ineffectiveness is due to a lack of proper training or technique on the student&#8217;s part, not a flaw in the art itself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Coffee and Martial Arts<\/em><\/strong> [46:02:00]: Frank talks about how his personal podcast started during the 2020 lockdown, eventually becoming a platform where he interviewed major martial artists, including Bill Wallace and UFC champion Alexa Grasso.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lightning Round Favorites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Favorite Technique:<\/strong> Thunder Hammers [53:30:00]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Favorite Form\/Set:<\/strong> Form 5 and Striking Set [54:01:00]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Favorite Weapon:<\/strong> Kempo Clubs (Sticks) [54:27:00]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Historical Figure to Train With (besides Ed Parker):<\/strong> Sean Katsu [55:20:00]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to Find Frank Soto<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Frank encourages listeners to connect with him through his show <em>Coffee and Martial Arts<\/em> and on social media using the name &#8220;Master Frank.&#8221; He also mentions his upcoming book project, <em>Kempo Origins<\/em>, which delves into the previously untold history and origins of the art [56:03:00].<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_9226\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-558-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Frank_Soto.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Frank_Soto.mp3\">https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Frank_Soto.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Frank_Soto.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?powerpress_pinw=558-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Frank_Soto.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Frank_Soto.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?feed=podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?page_id=96\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Host: Reggie Darden Guest: Frank Soto, Master of American Kenpo Karate and Police Instructor, host of Coffee and Martial Arts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":624,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}