Episode 203
Ep. 203 - Exploring the Journey of Mike Aiello: A Martial Arts Odyssey
The principal focus of this podcast episode is an engaging discussion with Mike Aiello, an accomplished third-degree black belt who has been training since an early age. We delve into his journey in martial arts, exploring the foundational experiences that shaped his dedication and discipline. Aiello shares insights about his upcoming competition season, including aspirations for district and world championships, and reflects on the importance of discipline as a core life skill acquired through martial arts training. As we navigate through his experiences, we also highlight the significance of applying martial arts principles beyond the mat, emphasizing respect, communication, and self-esteem in daily life. This episode serves as an inspiring testament to the transformative power of martial arts in fostering personal growth and community responsibility.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we discuss the significance of participation in World Championships and the necessity for early registration to secure optimal arrangements.
- Mike Aiello, our featured athlete this week, shares insights into his martial arts journey starting from a very young age, emphasizing the impact of early training.
- The importance of discipline in martial arts is highlighted, as it plays a crucial role in personal development and success in competitions.
- We delve into the upcoming district championships, noting the registration closure and the importance of preparing in advance for the events.
- Mike expresses his aspirations to achieve world champion status, demonstrating a strong commitment to continuous improvement and excellence in martial arts.
- The conversation touches upon the life skills learned through martial arts, particularly the application of respect and self-esteem beyond the dojo environment.
Transcript
We're not on Facebook Live today, but we still have a great episode.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker B:Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Speaker A:Students, instructors, parents of Ata Nation, welcome back to the Ata Nation podcast.
Speaker A:This is episode 280 and 3.
Speaker A:I am your host, Senior Master Zack Hayden.
Speaker A:It is a joy and a pleasure to be back with you today.
Speaker C:We're a day late, but that's because.
Speaker A:Yesterday was Memorial Day.
Speaker A:If you are here in the US we took the day off and got to spend some time with family and all that kind of great stuff.
Speaker A:So, man, it's been a busy couple of weeks.
Speaker C:We did two lives of the show.
Speaker A:The last two weeks on the ATAs Facebook Live.
Speaker C:We took over the feedback.
Speaker A:Hope you guys enjoyed that.
Speaker A:If you didn't get to see him, you can still check them out on YouTube on Facebook.
Speaker A:Those will be there for a while at least.
Speaker A:They'll always be there on YouTube and the podcast feed as well, of course.
Speaker A:But really neat talking to Chief Master Skiles, who I think just.
Speaker A:He might still be in Peru or the.
Speaker A:The Peru event that they're doing down there.
Speaker A:Him and.
Speaker A:And Senior Master Turner who was on last week, also in Peru.
Speaker A:Man.
Speaker A:Wait, they both got to go to Peru?
Speaker A:No one invited?
Speaker A:Guys, I need to get some more gigs going other places and doing some cool things with other people because you know what I love, I love at Nation and I just like to, you know, get out there and visit you guys, make a difference in the community.
Speaker A:Let's do it.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:Anyways, we had some great announcements, things about World Championships.
Speaker A:Guys get registered right away for World Championships.
Speaker A:I know so many people are focused on that district championship thing that is coming in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker A:But don't forget World Championships.
Speaker A:Get your seminars booked, get your rooms, your competition, all of those things taken care of right away.
Speaker A:You do not want to miss out on World Championships this year.
Speaker A:And prices are better when you do it earlier.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I finally got my.
Speaker A:I got my tickets for my flight.
Speaker A:My hotel's been booked for months.
Speaker A:I got my seminars registered.
Speaker A:Everything's done.
Speaker A:I'm ready for World Championships.
Speaker A:I talked to ata.
Speaker A:We're getting to do the.
Speaker A:The Songam cup again live for you guys all over.
Speaker A:So that's going to be awesome as well.
Speaker A:We've got some interviews coming soon with some of the international tournament or, excuse me, international team members.
Speaker A:So that's going to be great as well.
Speaker A:So I've got an awesome athlete of the week this week.
Speaker A:Let's get right to that.
Speaker C:Foreign nation.
Speaker C:We have our athlete of the week with us today.
Speaker C:Hey, sir, can you introduce yourself?
Speaker D:Hi at nation.
Speaker D:I'm Mike Aiello.
Speaker D:I train out of Branchburg, New Jersey.
Speaker D:I'm a third degree black belt.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker C:Who's your instructor?
Speaker D:Master Brian Peterson.
Speaker C:Yeah, you can't leave your instructor out.
Speaker C:You'll be in trouble.
Speaker C:You'll be doing push ups all night.
Speaker D:Yes, or burpees.
Speaker C:I like to threaten burpees at my school over push ups.
Speaker A:They really hate those.
Speaker C:So hey, how did you get started in martial arts?
Speaker D:So it was about a month before I turned three years old.
Speaker D:I was a really energetic little kid and my parents started going around to different places and asking like, yeah, can you take my kid in?
Speaker D:Because most places start accepting kids at three years old.
Speaker D:Hey, can you take my kid in?
Speaker D:You?
Speaker D:Seems to burn some energy.
Speaker D:You know, there's only one place that let us in and it was Master Peterson.
Speaker D:School kind of took me under my wing.
Speaker D:Let me start training a little bit early and I got hooked.
Speaker D:I never stopped.
Speaker D:And that led me to where I am today.
Speaker C:That's crazy, man.
Speaker C:A little over three years old.
Speaker C:I just recently, like two years ago started letting three year olds.
Speaker C:So if it was back then, I would have been like, I'm sorry, nope, can't come in.
Speaker A:Crazy.
Speaker C:Three year olds are tough to teach.
Speaker C:But it looks like it turned out well for you.
Speaker D:I mean.
Speaker D:Yeah, I guess so.
Speaker C:Third degree black belt, like, you know, athlete of the week is something.
Speaker C:Turned out pretty well.
Speaker C:You got a good instructor there.
Speaker D:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker C:So speaking of things going, you know, pretty well.
Speaker C:We, we've hit the end of the tournament season.
Speaker C:We're getting that postseason.
Speaker C:We got districts, worlds, all those kind of things coming up.
Speaker C:What's your competition season this season been like?
Speaker D:My, my season's been pretty good.
Speaker D:I had a good year.
Speaker D:I missed top 10 by, you know, skin on my teeth.
Speaker D:So what can you do about it?
Speaker D:Of course I'm going to be competing at districts.
Speaker D:I got a couple state titles this year.
Speaker D:I think I got one or two maybe, which is pretty good.
Speaker D:I was on state standings for everything.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker C:What's your, what's your go to event?
Speaker C:What's your favorite thing to compete in?
Speaker D:Oh, definitely sparring.
Speaker D:I love sparring.
Speaker D:Oof.
Speaker C:Is it sparring?
Speaker C:Sparring only or sparring in combat?
Speaker C:Just anything where you can hit people.
Speaker D:Anything.
Speaker D:Anything where I can hit people probably, yeah.
Speaker D:That's where I draw the line, probably.
Speaker D:It's pretty nice.
Speaker C:Very good.
Speaker C:So I'm guessing You're on a team then too?
Speaker D:Yes, yes, I am on a team.
Speaker A:Very cool.
Speaker D:I'm on Team NJ Select.
Speaker C:Nice.
Speaker C:And are you guys competing in districts in team?
Speaker D:Yes, we will be competing.
Speaker D:We'll be competing at Worlds too.
Speaker D:We qualified on standings this year.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker C:Congratulations.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:That's exciting.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:I forgot already.
Speaker C:What age division did you say you were in?
Speaker D: I am: Speaker D:1314, Second and third.
Speaker C:Are you staying in that division for another year or you have to go to that 15 to 17 year old group?
Speaker D:I am lucky enough to where I get to stay in that division for another year and relax.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I don't have to go up and fight the big guys yet.
Speaker D:That'll be in two years.
Speaker C:Yeah, I was just.
Speaker C:I interviewed another athlete of the week.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker C:It was on.
Speaker C:On this week.
Speaker C:And he gets to stay in that division again one more year.
Speaker C:I think everybody's like, oh, yeah, can I stay in this 13, 14 a little bit longer?
Speaker C:Because 15 to 17.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So if I had to.
Speaker C:If you had to pick an event in tournaments that's like your, maybe I would skip that one.
Speaker C:Is there an event that you would.
Speaker A:Kind of put to the bottom of the list?
Speaker D:I have to say probably weapons.
Speaker D:I'm not the biggest weapons fan.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Okay, interesting.
Speaker C:So, yeah, if you were going to pick a weapon that is your favorite weapon, what would it be?
Speaker D:Probably the song Knots.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker D:I enjoy doing my song.
Speaker D:I think it's probably the most flashy weapon and that's why I like it.
Speaker D:I also like Dumdo Sword.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Can't go wrong with that.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:Okay, what's your like?
Speaker C:You know, weapons is the bottom of your list.
Speaker C:What's the bottom of the weapons list?
Speaker C:Like, what's the worst weapon that you would like?
Speaker A:Please don't make me do this.
Speaker D:That's a really good question.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker D:For tournaments, I would probably have to say either Bo Staff or Song Ja Bangs.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:I feel like too many people do double.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:Single and double.
Speaker D:Double.
Speaker D:Double hurts because you got to hit yourself in the back and stuff.
Speaker D:I couldn't do that.
Speaker C:And your arms just at the end, your arms are just like jello.
Speaker C:Because you've been like swinging those things the whole time.
Speaker D:Yeah, I had to do that for a, for a midterm once.
Speaker D:It was, it was not my best midterm, I'll tell you that.
Speaker C:So what, you know, we've got this postseason going on.
Speaker C:Do you have any specific goals for the end of this season?
Speaker C:You know, is there a specific title you're searching for or just a, you know, like hey, I'd like to achieve this thing for the end of the season.
Speaker D:Yeah, I'd say every year.
Speaker D:Every year I kind of shoot for world champ because I haven't found one yet.
Speaker D:But I feel like that's always going to be the ultimate goal for me.
Speaker D:I always want to be the best and feel like it's a good mindset for me to have.
Speaker D:Other than that, I kind of want to shoot for another district championship because I've gotten a good amount of those and I want to keep building up that streak.
Speaker D:But yeah, those are probably the two.
Speaker A:Sounds good.
Speaker C:Okay, what about as you look towards your.
Speaker C:Just your martial arts training all around, not necessarily geared, just tournament wise, but all around, you know, you're a third degree, you're in that 13, 14, so you can't test for fourth degree for a while.
Speaker A:What kind of goals do you have.
Speaker C:As you continue your martial arts training?
Speaker D:Well, of course find that world champ title, but away from tournaments, I'd say just keep growing myself as a martial artist.
Speaker D:Get better at what I'm already good at.
Speaker D:I want to, I want to keep sparring.
Speaker D:I want to get, I want to take my red collar.
Speaker D:I want to get my red collar really bad.
Speaker D:Actually that's something I towards really hard.
Speaker D:But other than that, I'd say yeah, just keep growing myself as a martial artist.
Speaker C:I love that.
Speaker C:What about, what if we look like down the horizon for years?
Speaker C:Are you going to master instructor someday, school owner or just continue to train and see what happens?
Speaker D:I, I'm gonna take it slow.
Speaker D:I'm gonna continue to train, see what happens.
Speaker D:But I think yeah, I probably, I definitely want to be a master.
Speaker D:I definitely want to be a school owner.
Speaker D:Good, good.
Speaker D:Of course, be a master.
Speaker D:Why not shoot for the best.
Speaker D:Like, like I said before, you always got to shoot for the best.
Speaker D:Shoot for grandma here.
Speaker C:Great Grandmaster someday.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:That's the goal.
Speaker C:I love it, I love it.
Speaker C:That's fantastic.
Speaker C:Okay, so setting these goals, improving yourself now what does it mean to you to be an athlete that goes beyond the belt?
Speaker D:To be an athlete that goes beyond the belt, I'd probably say is to take the, take the attributes you learn in, you know, legacy class and apply those outside of martial arts.
Speaker D:So it's not just, you know, at a tournament respecting others and you know, having good self esteem in the ring.
Speaker D:It's like at school respecting your teachers, it's out in public respecting others, it's having good communication with your Parents with your friends, it's having self esteem anywhere you go.
Speaker D:I think part of martial arts is so far away from the mat, and I think that's definitely what it means to me to go beyond the belt.
Speaker C:I love that.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:Sometimes I ask this, so I'm going to spring it on you because I didn't tell you in advance, but if you're looking at those life skills, was there one of those life skills?
Speaker C:Obviously, you know, you were three, so it's not a big deal, but as you've come up through the ranks and gotten older in your training, is there one of those life skills that like to you is like, this is the one that maybe you needed to work on most, or it's your, your go to life skill that like just feels right for you?
Speaker D:I'd say definitely discipline.
Speaker D:I used to walk on the mat and you know, when I was a kid, I would want to play with all the fun, extra stuff we had on the side that was used for the older guys.
Speaker D:And I'd kind of run around and try and take out the hurdles and touch the song knots and the nunchucks.
Speaker D:And I don't know when it clicked, but at a certain point it clicked for me that I could go much farther in this.
Speaker D:And if I want to go much farther than this, I have to start to kind of lock in and be more disciplined.
Speaker D:And I learned that in leadership class.
Speaker D:And ever since then, my performance has skyrocketed, my attributes as a person have skyrocketed, and I feel like I'm a lot more focused.
Speaker D:I feel like I get stuff done a lot quicker and a lot better.
Speaker D:And yeah, I'd say discipline, that's a great one.
Speaker C:I mean, I, I really, I think, I think that probably comes up more often for us martial artists that have, you know, been here for a long time or, you know, dove deep into martial arts, that discipline is just so important and such a big part of martial arts, so.
Speaker C:Well, sir, congratulations on being an athlete of the week.
Speaker C:Good luck at your districts and we'll see at world championships.
Speaker D:Thank you, sir.
Speaker A:Gonna be exciting to see how these.
Speaker C:Athletes of the week are gonna do.
Speaker A:The kind of some reporting.
Speaker C:Hopefully they'll let us know how they do at districts and world championships as.
Speaker A:They set those goals.
Speaker A:And look at this, the end of this season, beginning next season.
Speaker A:Super cool.
Speaker A:Now, speaking of district championships, registration is closed.
Speaker A:You can't sign up.
Speaker A:If you didn't sign up, you missed it.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:Um, make sure you did online all that Kind of stuff.
Speaker A:That was the only way to do it.
Speaker A:But what you can do right now is make sure you get your spectator admission in advance.
Speaker A:You have to do spectator admission online.
Speaker A:If you're competing, you don't need spectator admission.
Speaker A:You got your uniform, you're a Taekwondo student, you go in with your uniform, you're fine.
Speaker A:Judges, you're good.
Speaker A:But family members, parents, those guys, you need spectator admission, they do not do on site.
Speaker A:Spectra admission with cash, you have to do it with online.
Speaker A:You can wait till that morning if you want to and scan the QR code and do it all on your phone and then get in.
Speaker C:But if you want to save time.
Speaker A:And you want to make things easier on yourself and your family, the morning of districts or the night before, you need to head over to atamartialarts.com if.
Speaker C:You go to the event tab at.
Speaker A:The top, you go to District Championships.
Speaker A:Click that District Championships one.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:It took me a couple of minutes, I'm not going to lie.
Speaker A:If you go to your individual district, you click the view button, of course, and then there at the top.
Speaker A:Okay, it's a little.
Speaker A:Or no, not at the top, sorry.
Speaker A:There on the right hand side, it'll have the district fees, the family discounts, and then it says Spectra Mission and it has click here to purchase spectator admission.
Speaker C:It's kind of a small button, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker A:Okay, maybe it needs to be a little bit bigger, but that's where you need to pick up your spectator admission for the event.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Do that now.
Speaker A:It just is going to save you time.
Speaker A:You're not going to be thinking about it that way.
Speaker A:You know, that morning you're worried about having the right uniforms, all that kind of stuff, you're not going to be thinking about it.
Speaker A:So just get online right now.
Speaker A:Do your spectator admission.
Speaker A:Save yourself some time and some stress.
Speaker A:So that is going to wrap it up for us today.
Speaker A:I know a little shorter episode, but we had two monster episodes back to back, live, online, free.
Speaker A:Free.
Speaker A:Of course it's free, but for you guys.
Speaker A:So, you know, we had to tail, you know, go back a little this week.
Speaker A:You got other things going on we got to get taken care of.
Speaker A:But get ready for District Championships, get ready for Worlds.
Speaker C:A bunch of guys are gonna be.
Speaker A:Heading down to Little Rock for the athlete development camp soon.
Speaker C:That's gonna be great.
Speaker A:Maybe we'll get some tune in from there.
Speaker A:We shall see what we can do.
Speaker A:Until next time, get out there and go beyond the Belt.
Speaker B:Ata Nation podcast.
Speaker B:Be sure to subscribe and share with your ATA family.
