The martial arts world lost one of its most trusted and influential editorial voices

May 31 when John Steven Soet died suddenly in Los Angeles after suffering an

apparent heart attack here. The 57-year-old Soet was named Inside Kung-Fu’s

2009 “Writer of the Year.”
 

Soet, recently hired as editor of Beckett Media’s Gun World magazine, was a major

martial arts fixture for more than four decades, dating back to the early 1960s

when he got his start first under Chuck Norris, followed by Dan Inosanto and Bruce

Lee. He later married Inosanto’s sister, Lilia, who succumbed to cancer nearly a

decade ago. Soet was married to Paula Diaz at the time of his death.

A graduate in the master’s program at the USC School of Radio/Television, Soet made

a series of action films, culminating in Fire in the Night, a 1986 actioner

starring Graciela Casillas. He also penned the screenplay for Terminator Woman,

which starred Karen Sheperd. He joined CFW Enterprises, Inc., in 1987 as editor of

Inside Karate and remained with the company in various editorial and management

capacities until 2006

He authored two widely popular books, Martial Arts Around the World 1 and II, for

CFW’s sister company, Unique Publications, and helped its DVD unit become the

largest and most-successful producer of instructional DVD’s in the world.

He also is credited with recognizing the potential of grappling and mixed martial

arts contests as early as 1990. His groundbreaking features on the Gracie and

Machado families, both in IK and a host of CFW special issues, jumpstarted a

worldwide craze and helped create a multi-billion dollar phenomena.

Soet was a true visionary and a major creative force who was always willing to push

the traditional envelope and to take chances on promoting new martial artists and

writers and cross-promoting with music and film figures. To those who knew him and

worked with him, and to the thousands of martial artists that he helped over the

course of his career, he will be sorely missed.