{"id":561,"date":"2025-06-25T13:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T18:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=561"},"modified":"2025-10-07T16:17:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T21:17:08","slug":"episode-66-robert-stein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=561","title":{"rendered":"Episode 66 &#8211; Robert Stein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Host Reggie Darden welcomes guest Robert Stein to discuss his extensive martial arts journey, focusing on Kempo, cross-training, competition, and the importance of solid fundamentals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Episode Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Robert Stein&#8217;s Martial Arts Journey<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Initial Inspiration:<\/strong> Robert Stein shares that his martial arts interest began in Long Island, New York, inspired by seeing David Carradine in the TV series <em>Kung Fu<\/em> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=152\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">02:32<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A Delayed Start:<\/strong> He was prevented from starting as a child due to parental objections concerning finances and the potential danger of misuse, finally starting around age 20 when he could pay for lessons himself [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">03:42<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kempo Training:<\/strong> His initial training was in a system related to the Valari style, a &#8220;cousin&#8221; of American Kempo. His journey into American Kempo began after meeting Ed Parker black belt, Steve Walsh [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=323\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">05:23<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Black Belt:<\/strong> After about six years, he earned his first black belt, though the curriculum was initially a blend of American Kempo, Tracy, and Vari material [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=375\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">06:15<\/a>]. He now follows the curriculum as it was written in 1989 [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">06:47<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Kempo Principles, Cross-Training, and MMA<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Language of Kempo:<\/strong> Mr. Stein stresses the value of Kempo terminology as the technical &#8220;language&#8221; gifted by Mr. Parker, allowing practitioners to discuss, analyze, and gain a deeper understanding of the art [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=497\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">08:17<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UFC&#8217;s Impact:<\/strong> The rise of the UFC and fighters like Royce Gracie led him to critically examine Kempo&#8217;s perceived standing as the &#8220;premier street fighting art&#8221; [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=763\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">12:43<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Kempo Mindset:<\/strong> He cross-trained in Judo, Muay Thai, and submission wrestling, but always sought to incorporate the new knowledge into his existing Kempo framework, comparing it to finding the relationship between Latin and Italian [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=855\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">14:15<\/a>]. Host Reggie Darden agrees, noting that applying the Kempo mindset has improved his own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=1005\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">16:45<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kempo as Logic:<\/strong> Reggie shares that Ed Parker once said if he didn&#8217;t call the system Kempo, he would have called it <strong>Logic<\/strong> [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=1126\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18:46<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fundamentals and Competition<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Learning to Fall:<\/strong> Both agree that learning how to fall correctly (Ukemi) is a crucial safety measure and &#8220;insurance policy&#8221; that should be taught from the first day of training, not just to upper belts [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=1150\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">19:10<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Power of Basics:<\/strong> Mr. Stein recounts winning a black belt heavyweight division at a Jeff Speakman event at age 57. He attributes his victory not to daily sparring, but to the solid basics and stability provided by his strong Kempo stances, which allowed him to successfully stuff a takedown attempt and apply a counter-guillotine [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=1700\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">28:20<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lightning Round<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Favorite Techniques:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Taming the Mace<\/strong> &#8211; He likes its use of the environment (the wall) and its conversion of a standing fight into a grappling situation [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=2664\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">44:24<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Locking Horns<\/strong> &#8211; He shares a story of successfully using a modified version of this technique to escape a front headlock in a bar fight [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=2736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">45:36<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Favorite Forms\/Sets:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kicking Set<\/strong> &#8211; Praised as a great full-body workout that teaches more than just kicks, focusing on center line and proper stance transitions [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=2845\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">47:25<\/a>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Long Form 1<\/strong> &#8211; A foundational form that teaches explosiveness and power generation, which he uses as a core strength-building basic [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=2892\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">48:12<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dream Training Partners:<\/strong> Chuck Norris, Chuck Sullivan, and Mike Pic [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=3052\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">50:52<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plug and Contact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Seminar Promotion:<\/strong> Robert Stein encourages listeners to attend a seminar featuring Master Sean Kelly and Larry Kika in Palm Coast, Florida on Saturday, the 22nd [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-gYdfgroBcY&amp;t=3148\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">52:28<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_4243\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-561-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Robert_Stein.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Robert_Stein.mp3\">https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Robert_Stein.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Robert_Stein.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?powerpress_pinw=561-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/Robert_Stein.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Robert_Stein.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 welcomes guest Robert Stein to discuss his extensive martial arts journey, focusing on Kempo, cross-training, competition, and [&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-561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561","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=561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":623,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561\/revisions\/623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}