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Little Dragon:Major Dailey focuses at the end of a Little Dragons class. In addition to the traditional belts, Little Dragons have opportunities to earn stripes to demonstrate their progress. -- Adriane Jaeckle / The Star

FISHERS -- For three decades, Tom Everett has immersed himself in the discipline required to master the martial arts, but he makes no effort to fight off the grin spreading across his face.

He's talking about his youngest students, kids that come to his Koryukan USA Karate School after having been introduced to the millennium-old skills by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers.

"We have kids that come in here with pretty spectacular moves that I've never done," Everett said. "(And) when they don't think you're looking, the mirrors are an attention-grabber. You'll be talking, and the kids will be making these enormous faces at themselves. Those kids bring a lot of joy to you."

Everett has developed a martial-arts regimen that intertwines the fun captured by overgrown amphibians and color-coded warriors with the structure and growth karate provides to its students, while eliminating less-beneficial aspects of the training.

"My first karate class in 1972, I got beat up by a green belt," he remembers. "I was 7."

Everett has created a program called Little Dragons for kids as young as 4, training them at a slower pace than in his junior and adult classes.

In addition to traditional belts, Little Dragons have opportunities to earn stripes to demonstrate their progress, and Everett finishes each class with a safety tip.

"There was no time to have fun on the mat when I started," said Everett, who had been teaching since the late 1980s and opened his facility in Fishers two years ago.

"We have structure," he said. "Bow on and off the mat. Stand still when you're supposed to stand still. Focus. Concentrate.

"We teach respect and discipline. But nobody learns during a stressful moment. You can joke with the kids and get them relaxed so that they learn."

The first step in Everett's program is a free, private 30-minute class so prospective students can separate what they're going to be taught from what they've seen on Saturday morning cartoons.

Once enrolled, a new student is paired with a more experienced partner in their first group class to ease the transition.

A student can receive a Little Dragon black belt in approximately two years, graduating to the Junior program with the equivalent of a blue or green belt, halfway through the 10-color rainbow.

It takes at least another two years for a student to earn a junior black belt and advance to the adult program.

"We didn't know anything about (martial arts), but (Ellie's) really taken to it and shows no signs of slowing down," Brad Baumgartner said, explaining his 6-year-old daughter's interest.

"She dearly wants her black belt. She knows it's going to be difficult but she's OK with that.

"That's her goal."

Everett recognized early in his teaching that young children have less-developed motor and memorization skills and need to be taught differently than more mature students.

He took what he taught adults and broke it down into smaller steps to create the junior program, then broke it down further to teach the Little Dragons.

A 9-year-old can generally learn the subtle differences in a front, side and round kick in two weeks and pass tests on all three within three months.

The Little Dragons, however, receive four to six weeks training and are tested on only one of the moves within the same time frame.

"We were looking for something for my son and hadn't found anything that was a good fit. (But Everett's) found the perfect balance between karate and making it fun for the kids," said Jen Osborn, whose son, Josh, 5, has been attending classes for four months.

"Every kid gets a piece of black tape when it's time, and you can see each kid's pride and sense of accomplishment. It's a big deal. My son was showing his belt (with the stripes on it) to everybody from grandma to the UPS guy."

The Little Dragons' lessons don't end on the mat. They receive safety tips on everything from stranger awareness to an emphasis this year on not going near water without a parent present.

In one class, Everett didn't grant a belt because he felt the student didn't want his younger brother to advance. Baumgartner reminds his daughter of that lesson whenever he feels she and her sister are being unkind or unsupportive to each other.

"Movies depict the martial arts as this violent aspect of life, but it's so much more than punching and kicking," said Everett, who had approximately 135 students at his school -- 75 percent of them in the Little Dragon and Junior programs. "It's about teaching them to be confident by accomplishing small goals."

Call Star reporter Nat Newell at (317) 444-2610.

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