Instructor's Biography

The following is offered merely as a reflection of and testament to the lifelong pursuit, dedication, energy and sincerity of an individual towards the study of the principles, practice, and application of the traditional Asian Martial Arts.

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White Lotus Headmaster

David J. Everett

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In this era of instant black belts and self-appointed "Masters" and "Grandmasters"
David J. Everett stands out as a shining example of an individual who has always striven to represent and pass on the true principles of the martial arts as they were taught to him. In the tradition of many humble teachers of the past, for the last few years that he served as the full-time owner/operator of White Lotus Martial Arts, Mr. Everett did not even hang plaques and certificates on the walls of the school announcing who he was and his many degrees and accomplishments in the study of the martial arts - then, as now he preferred to let his teaching and techniques do the talking for him.

Mr. Everett's martial arts odyssey began in 1961 in New Britain, CT with the study of Judo. After achieving his brown belt in this art he moved on to the study of the well known style of Kyokushinkai Karate, which he practiced and taught from 1964 to 1969, achieving his black belt in 1968. His teachers in Kyokushinkai were the U.S. Representatives for the style under the legendary Mas Oyama; Shigeru Oyama and Tadashi Nakamura. During this time Mr. Everett also studied Western-style fencing, eventually becoming a Junior High School Fencing Champion.

In 1969 Mr. Everett traveled to California to pursue a degree in fine arts and photography at the Brooks Institute. This was a fertile time in his growth and development as a martial artist. During the three years that he was in California Mr. Everett explored and intensified his studies of the Japanese martial arts, eventually achieving the rank of black belt in Judo and Aikido while teaching for and studying with the acclaimed master, Ken Ota. Additionally, he achieved black belt rank in Japanese Goju-Ryu Karate and Kendo while studying with various teachers. It was also while in California at this time that Mr. Everett spent two weeks training with the legendary Aikido 10th Dan Master Koichi Tohei, an experience which was to greatly influence him regarding his future studies in the internal martial arts of China.

Upon returning to Connecticut in 1972, Mr. Everett's involvement in the Chinese Martial Arts began. He chanced upon Grandmaster Daniel K. Pai, head of the Pai Lum White Dragon Fist System, while looking for one of his old karate teachers at the YWCA in New Britain, CT. Within six months he was named Chief Instructor at Grandmaster Pai's Fire Dragon School in Hartford, CT; and within another year was named Chief Instructor of all White Dragon Fist Kung Fu schools under Grandmaster Pai. From 1972 to 1976 Mr. Everett enjoyed the unique honor of being Grandmaster Pai's only live-in student. Mr. Everett was given the name, "Tao Pai", and was well known for being a shining example for all that Grandmaster Pai had to teach. As live-in student and Chief Instructor for Grandmaster Pai and the Pai Lum White Dragon Fist System, Mr. Everett had the great opportunity to travel, train, and teach extensively throughout the USA and Canada; as well as performing numerous shows and demonstrations as a member of Grandmaster Pai's famous martial arts show team. Mr. Everett was instrumental in developing, organizing and administering much of the written manuals, codes and creeds and other materials which are still in use today by many White Dragon schools.

In 1976 Mr. Everett, along with Grandmaster Pai and other prominent members of the White Dragon Society, traveled to Taiwan for three weeks of demonstrations and activities, culminating with the White Dragon Society formally being accepted and recognized by the Kuoshu Federation, a branch of the Taiwanese Ministry of Education.

Between 1976 and 1980 Mr. Everett made several more trips to Taiwan and Hong Kong as the official representative of the White Dragon Society and to further his study of the Chinese Martial Arts with many high-ranking Masters and Grandmasters. It was while studying in Taiwan that he met another teacher important in his development as a martial artist, Grandmaster Wu Jen Dai. It was Grandmaster Wu who gave Mr. Everett the Chinese martial arts family name which he uses to this day, "Tao Ch'i Li", or "The Way of Strength and Wisdom."

Though he severed ties for personal reasons with the White Dragon Society in 1981, Mr. Everett's time with Grandmaster Pai obviously had a great influence on him as a person, martial arts practitioner and teacher, and opened many doors for his continued development and growth in his future studies of the Chinese and Filipino martial arts.

Throughout the 1980's, in addition to teaching martial arts training camps and overseeing the operations of White Lotus, Mr. Everett traveled extensively, training with many highly skilled Chinese martial arts masters in all aspects of the traditional and authentic Chinese martial arts. This included extensive training with experts such as Manfred Steiner and James Cravens. Mr. Cravens was the US Representative for the Kuoshu Federation of The Republic of China (Taiwan), and both he and Mr. Steiner were the senior disciples of Sifu Kai Sai (Christopher Casey).

In 1984 Mr. Everett met and trained with Daniel Inosanto, Bruce Lee's protégé and noted Filipino Martial Arts Master, thereby being exposed to the Filipino arts for the first time. Mr. Everett subsequently went on to train in more depth with Guro Inosanto.

In 1985 Mr. Everett met and began extensive training under Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje, Jr., lineage holding head of the Pekiti-Tirsia Kali System. Grandmaster Gaje named Mr. Everett Connecticut State Representative for Pekiti-Tirsia. Additionally, Mr. Everett trained with Tuhon William R. McGrath, Grand Tuhon's Senior Student and instructor. Mr. McGrath later named Mr. Everett Northeastern Regional Director for the Pekiti-Tirsia International System.

In addition to his traditional martial arts training, Mr. Everett also has extensive experience as a Defensive Tactics Trainer and Instructor. He was at one time the CT State Director for Baton Training under the auspices of the US Police Defensive Tactics Association (U.S.P.D.T.A) and a certified defensive tactics instructor in the state of Connecticut. He has trained various police and security organizations in the use of the ASP Tactical Baton, such as the Farmington Police; New Britain Detectives; Cedarcrest Hospital Police; and the John Dempsey Hospital Medical Center Police, amongst others.

Since 1977, Mr. Everett has served as Owner/Headmaster of White Lotus Martial Arts of West Hartford, CT. White Lotus is the oldest Chinese martial arts school in the Central CT area. White Lotus is unique in that it was one of the first schools to feature complete and thorough training in several arts (Five-Formed Fist Shaolin, T'ai Chi Ch'uan, and Pekiti-Tirsia Kali), with well defined and extensive curricula for each art, all while adhering to strict traditions and philosophies of those arts. Many of his students have gone on to become very skilled in their own right as teachers and practitioners. In the 1980's, especially, his students went on to win hundreds of trophies and awards at tournaments throughout New England.

He has also, along with his wife, Simu Patricia Everett, enjoyed success as an author, having had over ten articles published in magazines such as Inside Kung-Fu, Inside Karate, and Black Belt.

In addition to his duties as Headmaster of White Lotus, Mr. Everett has taught at many outside locations, including having programs and credit courses at such locations as Yale University, UCONN, The University of Hartford, Wesleyan University, CCSU and Trinity College. He has also taught at/through many town programs and hospitals/wellness centers. It is estimated that in his over 38 years as a practitioner/instructor of the Asian martial arts that he has exposed at least 20,000 people to these disciplines.

In summary, Mr. Everett has attained the following degrees and positions in his long and successful pursuit of Gong Ka, the true arts: