Eddie Bethea has been seen walking the downtown streets of Kokomo since 1988 when his karate studio, the Kokomo School of Self Defense, took up residence at its current home at 119 W. Sycamore St. Bethea’s walk is that of a man of dignity and purpose. An eighth-degree blackbelt in karate and winner of five world grand championships, Bethea also has the walk of an athlete. But the most distinctive quality of Bethea’s walk is his habit of speaking to anyone who crosses his path – young or old, professionally dressed or in rags, black or white. Bethea has embodied this inclusive style over the 44 years he has taught karate in Kokomo, but the inclusion comes with standards. “I tell my students ‘I am going to love you and learn you and lead you,”he says. Another of his favorite teaching points: “You don’t look down on someone unless you are trying to help them up.” Over these many years, Bethea’s students have responded with love and respect, addressing him as “sensei,” an honorary title defined as “one who comes before.”

Donnie Michael, a man now in his 50s with his own karate studio, is one of Bethea’s greatest success stories. Donnie was a teenager headed in the wrong direction when his parents brought him to Bethea. “I was a thug and would have died a thug if it had not been for Sensei,” noted Michael. Of Michael, Bethea said, “He was my student; now he is my son.” Bethea says that they both work hard to be champions of people to show them how to climb the ladder of success.

Bethea was born in Wilmington, N.C., on Dec. 20, 1943, the second of eight children. Growing up in the South, Bethea became all too familiar with racism. “I grew to be an adult infested with negativism,” he said. “There was one consolation to becoming an adult and that was the fact that maybe I could get out of that environment which made me like a nobody.” After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force, eventually going to Okinawa. He had become fascinated with the television show “Wild, Wild West” starring Robert Conrad, who displayed karate moves Bethea longed to master. This desire and his overseas assignment converged in Okinawa when he saw a sign that read “karate.” Inside, he met Grand Master Shugoro Nakazato who would prove crucial to Bethea’s life journey.

Michael estimates that 10,000 students in the Kokomo area have been impacted by Bethea since he came to Kokomo in 1971. Michael also notes that Bethea is a popular figure and sought-after speaker in the broader karate community. With a smile on his face, Bethea offers the same greeting to everyone he meets: “I ’spect I reckon I’m gonna make it. Can’t sing, can’t dance, fish ain’t bite-en, way too nice to plow.” He says his greatest rewards have been the relationships he has established and maintained, and he loves to sit and laugh and talk about all he has shared over the years. Those things include a legacy not only of martial arts, but of leading young and old alike on a journey of self-reflection and learning how to be part of a family – no matter who they are.