Episode 213
Ep. 213 - Interviews from World Championships
The tournament season has resumed, bringing with it a plethora of exhilarating competitions and opportunities for martial artists. This episode delves into the significance of the Tournament of Champions (TOC) points and the necessity for participants to establish accounts on atamartialarts.com to access their standings and vital resources. Furthermore, we have the privilege of featuring an exemplary athlete of the week, who recently excelled at the World Championships, showcasing their achievements and aspirations within the martial arts realm. The conversation emphasizes the importance of participation in national events, underscoring that such experiences transcend mere competition, fostering community and personal growth. As we contemplate future episodes, we invite our audience to share their preferences regarding the potential for live broadcasts, aiming to enhance engagement and accessibility within the ATA Nation community.
Takeaways:
- The tournament season has commenced, presenting ample opportunities for competitors to participate.
- It is imperative to create an account on atamartialarts.com to access pertinent information.
- The points for World Championship Super 20 have been released and must be reviewed.
- Athlete of the Week, Miss Berte, achieved commendable results in various sparring events.
- The ATA encourages participation in national tournaments for invaluable experience and community engagement.
- The podcast aims to transition into a live format, inviting audience input on scheduling.
Transcript
The tournament season is back in full swing.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker A:Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Speaker A:Ata Nation.
Speaker A:Welcome back to episode 100.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:213.
Speaker A:213, Our episode for today.
Speaker A:I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
Speaker A:And I'm going to guess you might have been in a tournament this weekend.
Speaker A:I was at a tournament in Michigan.
Speaker A:I know some of our friends were in a tournament at South St. Louis.
Speaker A:Lots of exciting things going on as we start ahead in this new season.
Speaker A:Now, one thing very important for you to remember as we're getting into the new season is that the TOC points or your state points, the standings are now going to be in your section of atamartialarts.com so what does that mean?
Speaker A:You have to have an account@atamarcialarts.com if you don't already have an account, you're missing out.
Speaker A:There's a lot of great resources in there.
Speaker A:So go to atamartialarts.com you'll have to create an account there.
Speaker A:ATA has been sending out a bunch of information on how to do that.
Speaker A:It's pretty easy.
Speaker A:You create your account and then you have to connect it with your ATA number.
Speaker A:Everyone in your family will who has points or whatnot will need to have their own login to be able to go.
Speaker A:You can't connect all the family members together, just not the way it is currently.
Speaker A:But you'll need to go in there and check that out.
Speaker A:Very important to make sure you are always checking those to keep up to date.
Speaker A:Make sure we're not missing out on any points or mistakes or anything like that.
Speaker A:So that is a new update.
Speaker A:The points for World Championship Super 20 have come out.
Speaker A:So you can go and look at those now.
Speaker A:Make sure you check it out.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:I am thrilled that we have an athlete of the week with us this week.
Speaker A:Let's get to it.
Speaker A:Ag Nation.
Speaker A:We are excited to have another athlete of the week with us and live from World Championships.
Speaker A:Well, I guess it's not live because they're going to see the recording anyways.
Speaker A:I've got with me Miss Bertie.
Speaker A:And where are you from, ma'?
Speaker A:Am?
Speaker B:Naples, Florida.
Speaker A:Naples, Florida.
Speaker A:Training with Master florist.
Speaker A:Very good, Very good.
Speaker A:Okay, now before I get to my regular questions, because I usually have a regular set of questions that I ask for, you know, you awesome athletes of the week.
Speaker A:But we're at World Championships.
Speaker A:So you competed in some events here?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Did you do tock?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:And what events were you in on?
Speaker A:Toc.
Speaker B:In toc.
Speaker B:I was in Combat sparring and sparring.
Speaker B:And team combat sparring and team sparring.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:Now, a lot of people come and compete in those events, okay?
Speaker A:Everybody wants to go home with a medal.
Speaker A:And not everybody does.
Speaker A:How was your event this time?
Speaker B:It was good.
Speaker B:I got third in sparring and second in team sparring.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:The traditional team sparring?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:Not bad at all.
Speaker A:Can't complain about that.
Speaker A:Yes, I mean, we can, but you know, what do they say?
Speaker A:To compete is to win, right?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Okay, and then today you just got done.
Speaker A:While you were helping, you were scorekeeping.
Speaker A:Timekeeping.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You competed today also, right?
Speaker B:Yes, Sir.
Speaker A:So, Super 20, how'd you do?
Speaker B:I got first in weapons, first in combat spying and first inspiring.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:That is amazing.
Speaker A:First or first?
Speaker A:And remind me what your weapon is.
Speaker B:Nunchuck, sir.
Speaker B:Single?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Good, good, good.
Speaker A:What division?
Speaker B:1112 First degree black bolts.
Speaker A:1112 First degree black belts.
Speaker A:Okay, what's the.
Speaker A:So Single Song Drong is probably a real popular weapon in that.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Post F. Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Gumdo?
Speaker B:No, not really.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Come.
Speaker A:Okay, what's the.
Speaker A:Any other popular weapons in there?
Speaker B:It was mainly nunchuck, single song bonds and post out.
Speaker A:That's what I figured.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That's usually what I see in there.
Speaker A:Okay, so what first, what got you started in martial arts?
Speaker B:When I was five, I went to one of my friends birthday parties at a martial arts studio.
Speaker A:Okay, very cool.
Speaker B:And then we found Integrity right across the street from our house.
Speaker B:So we gave it a try.
Speaker B:And I loved it ever since.
Speaker A:Very cool.
Speaker A:And how long have you been doing that?
Speaker B:Six years.
Speaker A:Six years, Very good.
Speaker A:Okay, now if you.
Speaker A:You told us Single Song Zhong is your weapon that you were training in, is that your favorite weapon?
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Okay, if you had to pick like a least favorite weapon, what would it be?
Speaker B:Commas.
Speaker A:Commas.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:You know what, there's some things about commas that I like.
Speaker A:You know where I like commas?
Speaker A:Extremely creative.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But the traditional form, I have trouble with like just making it look good.
Speaker A:I don't know, there's something about it.
Speaker A:Okay, favorite tournament event.
Speaker B:My favorite tournament event.
Speaker B:It's either combat or sparring.
Speaker A:Combat or sparring.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:Okay, if you had to pick an event that you were like, not my favorite, maybe I'll skip this one.
Speaker A:What event would that be?
Speaker B:Forms.
Speaker A:Forms.
Speaker A:It's so funny to listen to.
Speaker A:So people are usually on the forms or they're on the sparring.
Speaker A:They're like, no forms or no sparring.
Speaker A:I Mean, most of the time we're like, we'll do all of them.
Speaker A:We'll do whatever.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:So form's not your go to.
Speaker B:No, sir.
Speaker A:I got you.
Speaker A:I gotcha now.
Speaker A:Do you think that will change as you get to other black belt forms?
Speaker A:Is it Shimjun or is it just forms altogether?
Speaker B:It's just forms all together.
Speaker B:Our goal in forms is just don't get last.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody's got their sweet spot, right?
Speaker A:I mean, it's a rare thing to see that athlete that is top in forms, top in sparring, top in combat, top in weapons, because they're very different things to do.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Okay, so you got a legacy collar on.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:What have you been doing in the legacy program?
Speaker A:You've been helping classes do anything like that?
Speaker B:I've been helping with classes.
Speaker B:I've been helping with belt ceremonies and testing.
Speaker B:Sometimes I score keep for black belt testing.
Speaker A:Good deal.
Speaker B:But that's pretty much it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:What if you had to pick one of the life skills that we work on in Taekwondo, the life skill that you would choose that is kind of like, ooh, I need to work on that one.
Speaker A:I'm not as great.
Speaker A:Or maybe when you started was one you need to work on a little more.
Speaker B:Well, I know it might.
Speaker B:It's either communication or honesty.
Speaker A:Okay, very good.
Speaker A:I love to hear a different answer.
Speaker A:I've had so many people say discipline, so communication or honesty?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Let's say communication.
Speaker A:What are some things that might have been a struggle for you when you started communication wise?
Speaker B:When I started communication, it's kind of hard because if there's people that I don't know that like, say my parents or my friends know and they introduce me to someone, it's kind of awkward and I don't communicate as well.
Speaker A:Gotcha.
Speaker B:To them.
Speaker B:And this, I'm just kind of sitting.
Speaker A:There like, what do I do?
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:I. I totally understand that has.
Speaker A:Has going through the leadership, the legacy program that just Taekwondo helped with that.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I mean, I can tell it's helped because you're talking to me on an interview that probably would have been a little more intimidating.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What kind of goals you got for the future?
Speaker B:Well, this Taekwondo season, I'm hoping for a world champion.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:Obviously district champion and state champion next season.
Speaker B:I'm hoping because I test for my second degree black belt.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm hoping to get my second degree.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:So this season we're going to do this season as a first degree.
Speaker A:Yes, Continue through on that, which is always a good plan.
Speaker A:He gets that experience in there.
Speaker A:Moving, testing for secondary planning.
Speaker A:Fourth, the new season.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:Do you have an event?
Speaker A:Like, I mean, I would take a world champion in any event.
Speaker A:They'll let me be a world champion in.
Speaker A:But some people have, certain ones, they're like, hey, I want that world champion.
Speaker A:What about you?
Speaker B:I definitely want weapons really bad.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But I think I also want combat spring and sparring just as equal.
Speaker A:Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker B:I want those.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Forms.
Speaker A:No, you're just gonna.
Speaker A:I understand.
Speaker A:No, totally makes sense.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What does it mean to you to be an athlete that goes beyond the belts?
Speaker B:What it means to me is to not just compete in your events and just go through the motions and everything, but to be present in it and try your best.
Speaker B:I love that because I know there are some people in my ring and just out there that their parents want them to do this, so they're doing it.
Speaker B:So you just have fun.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Be present, enjoy the experience.
Speaker A:Have fun.
Speaker A:What a great.
Speaker A:You know, I was.
Speaker A:Let me be honest with you.
Speaker A:We're working the honesty, the life skill.
Speaker A:I was just at some team sparring yesterday.
Speaker A:It's getting a little heated.
Speaker A:I was getting a little heated.
Speaker A:And we just got to remember, like, it's fun.
Speaker A:We're kicking and punching.
Speaker A:It's a good time.
Speaker B:Definitely be a good sport, too.
Speaker B:A gracious winner and a gracious loser.
Speaker A:Yes, I agree.
Speaker A:Well, congratulations on being an athlete of the week.
Speaker B:Thanks, sir.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining us here at Worlds.
Speaker B:Thank you, sir.
Speaker A:As you can tell, we recorded that interview at World Championships, which was super cool.
Speaker A:One of the things that we're looking to do is bring this show live.
Speaker A:Right now.
Speaker A:We come out on Mondays as a audio recording on your favorite podcast app, Spotify.
Speaker A:All the things.
Speaker A:We also have a video show that comes out on YouTube and I think it might go through some of the podcasting apps as well to watch the video.
Speaker A:Now, we are considering bringing this to you live each week as well.
Speaker A:So it will run live and then the recorded version would of course be available on YouTube and on your favorite podcast feed.
Speaker A:But what I need from you is help in deciding when we should do that show.
Speaker A:Obviously, when it's pre recorded, it's a little easier.
Speaker A:I can get it all ready and send it out.
Speaker A:If we're doing some live, some of it will be pre recorded.
Speaker A:But if we go live with it, I want you to be able to see it live as often as possible, which means we've got lots of different time zones in Atnation.
Speaker A:We probably actually have all the time zones in at nation.
Speaker A:So not everybody will be able to access live.
Speaker A:And I know a lot of those who are in the US if we were going to do it during the day, we would need to make sure, you know, it's at a time that or a day that people aren't usually in school, which would be a little harder.
Speaker A:So I don't know.
Speaker A:I'm up to do all kinds of different times.
Speaker A:Maybe we do a weekend, Saturday evenings after people get back from tournaments, on the way back from tournaments.
Speaker A:Sundays during the week, during the day, a lunch hour in the evening, during a weekday.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I need your input to help me decide when would be the best time to go live.
Speaker A:We would do this live on the ATAs Facebook page as well as their YouTube channel.
Speaker A:And you guys would be able to access it there.
Speaker A:Of course, we will always continue to have the recordings as well.
Speaker A:We just thought it might be neat to do live and we could have some interaction sometimes with the audience when it's live.
Speaker A:And that is a lot of fun.
Speaker A:So I want you to consider that.
Speaker A:Now, speaking of live, I kind of did a live man on the street at World Championships.
Speaker A:And here's another one I want to show you now.
Speaker A:Okay, we're going to do a man on the street interviews with some of the ATA headquarters staff running this event.
Speaker A:What is the most fun part of running World Championships?
Speaker A:How is this meeting?
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:Yeah, different countries is fantastic.
Speaker A:Okay, let's go over here.
Speaker A:Favorite part of helping run the event for ATA headquarters.
Speaker B:Seeing all of the competitors excited to get ready for their competition.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm going to go bother Chief Master Cole.
Speaker A:Favorite part of helping with headquarters ATA World Championships.
Speaker B: I started AT headquarters in: Speaker A:That would be amazing.
Speaker A:Thank you, ma'.
Speaker A:Am.
Speaker A:Hey, let's go down here.
Speaker A:I'm going to harass.
Speaker A:Oh, I see some other team members here.
Speaker A:Ms. Michelle Ray is running the first time competitor booth, so I'm not going to enter.
Speaker A:I'm not going to interrupt her yet, but let's go down this direction.
Speaker A:I saw Master Jacobs and Chief Master Bass here running the booth for headquarters.
Speaker A:Let's ask these guys real quick.
Speaker A:Favorite part of helping run worlds for ATA Headquarters?
Speaker A:My favorite part.
Speaker A:Giving opportunities for people to change their lives.
Speaker A:Oh, that's fantastic.
Speaker A:Getting to network with people.
Speaker A:Fantastic.
Speaker A:Thank you, gentlemen.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:See if I can find Ms. Michelle Ray.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Now you're not officially at headquarters staff here, but he's running a booth here.
Speaker A:Favorite part of being here for World Championships.
Speaker A:Oh, I just love the people, love to see how excited the students are and I love meeting them and family.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:Senior Master Hill.
Speaker A:Very good, guys.
Speaker A:New competitors.
Speaker A:First time competitors.
Speaker A:Do you think I could.
Speaker A:Do you think I could say hi to this first time competitor?
Speaker A:Are you.
Speaker A:Is this your first time in a tournament?
Speaker A:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Where are you from?
Speaker B:America.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker A:That's fantastic.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Well, good luck at your competition today.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:First time competitor.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B: I got: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Where are you from?
Speaker B:Milwaukee.
Speaker A:Milwaukee.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:I'm making a.
Speaker A:A video for the 18 Nation podcast.
Speaker A:So we're just trying to, you know, see how people are doing today.
Speaker A:Are you excited or nervous?
Speaker B:Sound nervous.
Speaker B:You'll be.
Speaker A:You'll be great.
Speaker A:I saw the medals.
Speaker A:They looked amazing.
Speaker A:I'm a little jealous that I didn't get one.
Speaker A:So you get one.
Speaker A:Look at that.
Speaker A:Look at that tiger medal.
Speaker A:That is so great.
Speaker A:I saw the tiger.
Speaker A:You saw the tiger?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Was Bello over there?
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Hi.
Speaker A:Oh, you said hi to him.
Speaker A:That's so good.
Speaker A:Favorite part of helping Worlds for headquarters.
Speaker A:Hello, everybody.
Speaker A:I hope you're having a wonderful time.
Speaker B:First time competitor, come see me and I'll make your day a lot smoother.
Speaker A:And easy for you.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker A:Thank you so much, ma'.
Speaker A:Am.
Speaker A:Love this first time competitor thing they're doing here.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:It is fantastic.
Speaker A:You're going to be seeing that at all tournaments across the country, so.
Speaker A:Really cool, man.
Speaker A:Those are fun.
Speaker A:I really enjoyed doing that there at World Championships.
Speaker A:We'll probably do some more at Fall National.
Speaker A:Speaking of Fall Nationals, guys, have you gone and registered yet?
Speaker A:The early bird registration for the training has expired, so you got regular registration, but early bird registration for competition is still up.
Speaker A:And I want to remind you, competition at a national world event for these things is not just for the.
Speaker A:The person who's going to a bunch of tournaments.
Speaker A:This can be for you.
Speaker A:Let me be a hundred percent transparent with you.
Speaker A:My wife's very first tournament as a white belt was World Championship Super 20.
Speaker A:That was her first experience.
Speaker A:My dad, when he was going to tournaments, was almost exclusively competed at national events because he just happened to be taking me to those events.
Speaker A:He didn't usually take me to the regional ones.
Speaker A:My mom took us there because she could drive.
Speaker A:My dad was the one who would fly me to different places to go to national events.
Speaker A:And so when he got there, he would compete.
Speaker A:So I want to encourage you to take the opportunity to experience a national event.
Speaker A:You don't have to be competing for toc.
Speaker A:You don't have to be trying to get a bunch of points.
Speaker A:Competing at a national event is an amazing experience just because you are getting to introduce yourself to the larger ATA Nation community.
Speaker A:It's so much fun.
Speaker A:You get to meet new friends, get to experience, you know what it's like to have one of these big tournaments.
Speaker A:You know it's going to be a little nerve wracking, but it's something you can do.
Speaker A:You can even do it in the tiger division, the recreational division.
Speaker A:I think if you're doing a national event as a earlier belt, rank as like a white, orange, yellow camouflage belt.
Speaker A:Man, you are getting so much experience that's going to put you ahead of other people as you go.
Speaker A:So I want you to really consider maybe heading out to Pittsburgh.
Speaker A:It's our last time in Pittsburgh that we know of.
Speaker A:So I would really consider going out to Pittsburgh, experience the event, get registered.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:We want to make this an amazing event and I'd love to see you there.
Speaker A:I think that's going to wrap up the show for us today.
Speaker A:I got a great interview for, for us next week, a really awesome martial artist that's going far beyond the belt.
Speaker A:I'm excited to show that to you.
Speaker A:Let me know online comments, dms, whatever, what day and time you would love to see this go live on the Internet each week.
Speaker A:Until then, get out there and go beyond the belt.
Speaker A:ATA Nation podcast.
Speaker A:Be sure to subscribe and share with your ATA family.
