Organization offers martial arts training tuition

SCHERERVILLE | There's drama and there's action drama.

Madalyn Joiner and Crysta Thaxton hope to hone their acting "chops" to accommodate the entire range.

Both are students at Calumet High School, where they are members in the theater program and partake in other after-school activities. Recently, they enrolled at Corral's Martial Arts in Schererville, where they are studying Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu thanks to tuition grants from Fighter Foundation.

"I'm just interested in anything that can be a challenge for me," said Joiner, 15, who has never done martial arts before.

Thaxton, 14, has had some experience and has gotten as high as orange belt in Taekwondo.

"Now, I want to go further," said Thaxton, whose returning to martial arts after a brief hiatus. "It helps me with other things, like soccer and dance."

Joiner and Thaxton both received their year-long grants after applying and submitting essays to Fighter Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the lives of at-risk youths through martial arts and faith.

Though the organization was originally founded a year-and-a-half ago by Tim Stanley in Richmond, Va., it has ties to the region. Stanley's brother, Dan Stanley, is the foundation's vice president, who recently moved back to the area and now lives in Munster.

Dan Stanley helped choose Joiner and Thaxton for the foundation's first Northwest Indiana recipients.

"Of course, we like to do more of this," Dan Stanley said. "We also like to provide equipment for training.

"It all depends on how much money we can raise."

Like most members on the foundation's steering committee, Dan Stanley is a mixed martial arts fan. He also was a student at Corral's Martial Arts for about seven years before a neck injury forced him to dial down his training.

He said he has seen the benefits of martial arts training in building one's self-discipline and self-confidence.

"But for many children, especially nowadays, their families can't afford the classes," Stanley said. "That's why we started this ... to give kids a chance they normally wouldn't get."