Henry Sotelo?

[Jimi]

I trained many years ago near DC with a man named Henry Sotelo. He called what he showed us Kajukenbo. I have recently tried to find out more about his background and who he trained with. Grandmaster Ted Sotelo said he is not related to him and in fact he has never heard of him. Does anyone know of him, where and when he trained with who? I hope I was not training with a phantom. Thanks for hearing me out, hope to hear from someone. Jimi

 

[John Bishop]

I trained many years ago near DC with a man named Henry Sotelo. He called what he showed us Kajukenbo. I have recently tried to find out more about his background and who he trained with. Grandmaster Ted Sotelo said he is not related to him and in fact he has never heard of him. Does anyone know of him, where and when he trained with who? I hope I was not training with a phantom. Thanks for hearing me out, hope to hear from someone. Jimi

Jim, I remember you making this inquiry on the Kajukenbo Cafe a couple years ago.

Here's is part of the information you posted:

What Henry showed us was incredible. We trained with him for about 2 years. He showed us the basics of some animal movements such as Cobra, Boa Constrictor, Eagle, Crane, Tiger, Leopard, Ram and Dragon. We loved it. Though I realize he must not have shared all his insights, he showed us what he said was a Black Belt level form he called Lighting Fingers.

I don't doubt that Mr. Sotelo may have been a good instructor, but I doubt very much that he was a "Kajukenbo" instructor.
Main reasons being; none of those animal techniques you mentioned are Kajukenbo techniques, in any of the branches or methods of Kajukenbo. Also, there is no "Henry Sotelo" listed on the Kajukenbo Family Tree of black belts.
Another thing is, there weren't a whole lot of 6th degree's in Kajukenbo 20 years ago, so he would have been pretty well known in the Kajukenbo system.

 

[Jimi]

Thank you for the reply Sir, I guess I will just have to let Henry go. It was good to know him, but he is gone. My respects to the Kajukenbo family and friends. I meant no disrespect, just had to read it a few times. Long Live Kajukenbo. Jimi

 

[John Bishop]

Thank you for the reply Sir, I guess I will just have to let Henry go. It was good to know him, but he is gone. My respects to the Kajukenbo family and friends. I meant no disrespect, just had to read it a few times. Long Live Kajukenbo. Jimi

No disrespect taken at all. I very much understand your desire to find the background on this gentleman.
Kajukenbo techniques have "American" names and numbers, like "Punch Counter 1-21", "Grab Art 1-15", "Knife Counter 1-15", etc. The katas are named "Palama Sets 1-14" (prior to 1993 they were named "Pinans 1-14"). Even the kung fu styles of Kajukenbo (Chuan Fa, Tum Pai, Won Hop Kuen Do) use American names and numbers for techniques. And the Chinese forms they use do not have any animal names. They have names like "Limpo", "Sil-lum 1", etc.
It's always possible that at one time Mr. Sotelo was a Kajukenbo instructor who decided to go his own way, and change the names of the techniques, or design some of his own also.
Kajukenbo has always been taught in or around military bases, so it's gotten pretty widespread by military men. As far as Turkey, Guam, Kuwait, Spain, Japan, and other places around the world.
So it's always possible that Mr. Sotelo was not known to a lot of Kajukenbo people because of his being far away from California and Hawaii.
Do you know any names of his instructors, class mates, black belts?
One simple way to know if he taught you Kajukenbo techniques, would be to compare them with videos of Kajukenbo techniques. Kajukenbo videos are availiable from Century Martial Arts, Pacific Rim Publishing, and the World Kajukenbo Organization.

 

[Jimi]

Mr. Bishop, I am honored you took the time to respond and ask constructive questions, I thank you. I do not know who trained Henry Sotelo or what Association/Federation ranked him. In 1984 a local newspaper did a small story about our Dojo and the covered had a picture of Henry posing with a Balisong/Butterfly Knife in each hand. We made fun by xeroxing the front page and asking for his autograph. He signed it " #1 Stickman(My old nickname from Henry and Sensei T. Dalton becuase I loved the Phillipino Arts), Best of luck in Kali & Kajukenbo Henry "Shotgun" Sotelo. That is where I first heard of Kajukenbo and the reason I looked to the Kajukenbo Family to try and find out more about him. My old training partners from around 1985-86 remember him well. One of these friends, it turned out was like a distant cousin by marriage. I will try to find out more though we have not seen each other in over a decade and some odd years. I do remember that Henry got along with Sensei Steve "Nasty" Anderson when he had done a few seminars at the time. They shared a few beers after a seminar and a friendship started. Mr. Steve Anderson may have discussed more in detail who Henry trained with. My first Instructor Sensei Randy Wozin informed Mr. Anderson that I had Henrys Black Belt, and Randy must have embelished the truth by adding that I was claiming to be 5th or 6th Dan with the possesion of that Belt. Nothing could be further from the truth. I merely claimed to have it. It was a cursed blessing in a gift. I feel that finding the truth about Henry is much more difficult than I imagined. Do you believe it's possible he was ranked by some other Kenpo group? Henrys Black Belt may be a lost issue, I do not have much hope in finding any more than what I have already run into, never heard of him. Thanks again Jimi

 

[John Bishop]

What really throws me off is the use of animal techniques and names. I really don't know of any kenpo or Kajukenbo offshoots who use animal titles. Of course that dosent mean someone out there isn't teaching these techniques.
Since Kajukenbo started in the Filipino community of Hawaii, there's a lot of Filipino Americans in the system, and many of them cross train in Kali, Escrima, and Arnis. It's always possible that Mr. Sotelo trained in Kali and was cross ranked into Kajukenbo by one of the Filipino instructors who taught both.
It looks like Nasty Anderson's now teaching in Ottawa, Canada. Here's the phone number to his school. Maybe he could tell you more. Steve Anderson KarateTelephone number:(613) 740-0444

 

[Danjo]

Hmmmm...Shaolin Kempo and Cerio's Kempo use some animal names for their techniques, "Swift Tigers", "12 Dragons" etc. Sk also teaches forms based on the "Five animal System", i.e., Crane, Dragon, Tiger and Leopard and Snake. SK is a decendant of Kajukenbo via Gascon to Pesare to Cerio to Villari. (Pesare only trained to purple belt with Gascon before starting out on his own and mixed a LOT of other stuff into his system such as Tae kwon do, then Cerio mixed in a lot of other stuff as well including the Pinan kata that he got from Oyama's book). Perhaps this fellow studied from one of Cerio's people or even Villari's and then broke off and decided to claim he was teaching Kajukenbo so as to distance himself from the one's he learned from?

 

[Danjo]

Could you perhaps scan in the photograph you have? This might aid in your search.

 

[Jimi]

Mr. Bishop, Thank for the info, this may help. I am fairly sure that Steve Nasty Anderson will remember us both. Again Sir my thanks & respects. Danjo, I do have access to my wife scanner fax copier etc... Should I fax this picture somewhere or is there a way to post it here. I am afraid I am not sure how to do such a thing. Thank you as well for your response. It would be very dissapointing to find out he was a B.S. Artist, but I hope this is not the case. You both have been very helpfull. Danjo, the 5 Animals seems to be right in alignment with what Henry showed us. You may very well have helped give me another piece of my puzzle. Thanks again to both of you. RESPECT! Jimi

 

[Danjo]

Mr. Bishop, Thank for the info, this may help. I am fairly sure that Steve Nasty Anderson will remember us both. Again Sir my thanks & respects. Danjo, I do have access to my wife scanner fax copier etc... Should I fax this picture somewhere or is there a way to post it here. I am afraid I am not sure how to do such a thing. Thank you as well for your response. It would be very dissapointing to find out he was a B.S. Artist, but I hope this is not the case. You both have been very helpfull. Danjo, the 5 Animals seems to be right in alignment with what Henry showed us. You may very well have helped give me another piece of my puzzle. Thanks again to both of you. RESPECT! Jimi

The early days of Shaolin Kempo were composed of some pretty talented martial artists and authentically tough guys. Many Massachussetts area police officers trained in this system back then and thought fairly highly of it. The training has been VERY much watered down in recent years, and though the form may be the same, the training is not. Too bad really. Your instructor doesn't exactly sound like a BS artist per se. He may have been doing the same as many others back then in trying to distance himself from the group he broke away from. If he was a talented martial artist and a good teacher, then I wouldn't get too hung up on what style he was teaching. Ther are many different "methods" out there being taught as Kajukenbo as well as the various styles of Karazenpo etc. For all you know, your instructor may have got his black belt from someone telling him that he was training in Kajukenbo. Who knows?

 

[James Kovacich]

I went through something similar and John didn't know anything about my first Kajukenbo instructor either. His name was Bill Caspillo and my instructor in 1973. He was supposed to be a 5th degree in Kajukenbo. I don't know how he could not be known. Charlie Gaylord, Tony Ramos and Max Pallen were all well known and in the same area.

 

[John Bishop]

I went through something similar and John didn't know anything about my first Kajukenbo instructor either. His name was Bill Caspillo and my instructor in 1973. He was supposed to be a 5th degree in Kajukenbo. I don't know how he could not be known. Charlie Gaylord, Tony Ramos and Max Pallen were all well known and in the same area.

I thought you said your first instructor was Greg Lagera, from Crazy Dragons? Or, am I thinking of someone else who was asking about Greg.
Too many long lost instructors out there. Maybe instructors have to start being less secretive about things. I know when I die, my students will have known who my instructor was, who his instructor was, who his was. All my present and past students have met my instructor, and all of my black belts that I had up to their leaving. And many have met our founder. And most of our students have visited the other Kajukenbo schools in our area, for differant events. Kajukenbo has always prided itself on being a family, so yes it is quite odd when a name pops up that no one has heard of.

 

[James Kovacich]

I thought you said your first instructor was Greg Lagera, from Crazy Dragons? Or, am I thinking of someone else who was asking about Greg.
Too many long lost instructors out there. Maybe instructors have to start being less secretive about things. I know when I die, my students will have known who my instructor was, who his instructor was, who his was. All my present and past students have met my instructor, and all of my black belts that I had up to their leaving. And many have met our founder. And most of our students have visited the other Kajukenbo schools in our area, for differant events. Kajukenbo has always prided itself on being a family, so yes it is quite odd when a name pops up that no one has heard of.

Thanks John,
Bill Caspillo was my first instructor in 1973 and in 1975/6 I started up with Greg Lagera at Charlie Gaylords school in Irvington district, Fremont, Ca.

Bill Caspillo taught at St. Edwards Church hall in Newark, Ca.

There was also a Golden Dragon Kajukenbo school at the Newark Pavillian and my childhood neighbors dad was a blackbelt there. I have never seen his name on associated to Kajukenbo anywhere either. His name is Mariano Abuan.

 

[John Bishop]

Thanks John,
Bill Caspillo was my first instructor in 1973 and in 1975/6 I started up with Greg Lagera at Charlie Gaylords school in Irvington district, Fremont, Ca.

Bill Caspillo taught at St. Edwards Church hall in Newark, Ca.

There was also a Golden Dragon Kajukenbo school at the Newark Pavillian and my childhood neighbors dad was a blackbelt there. I have never seen his name on associated to Kajukenbo anywhere either. His name is Mariano Abuan.

So did you ever find out what you wanted to know about Bill Caspillo? I have talked to Greg Lagera since your last inquiry. He was down here in Anaheim for a couple years, and then moved back to the bay area last summer.

 

[James Kovacich]

So did you ever find out what you wanted to know about Bill Caspillo? I have talked to Greg Lagera since your last inquiry. He was down here in Anaheim for a couple years, and then moved back to the bay area last summer.

I haven't heard anything about Bill Caspillo.

The last I talked to Greg was right before the Visalia gathering and he received is 8th. I wanted to go but it was the same day as the memorial workout in memory of Suro Mke Inay. It was a hard decision but Greg didn't tell me he was being promoted that day. He was down south still.

Can you get me some contact info for Greg? If you can, please PM or email and I will greatly appreciate it!