October 17, 2025 • 31 mins
The focal point of this podcast episode centers on the profound impact that martial arts can have on an individual's life trajectory, as articulated by distinguished guests James Devins III, a brand ambassador and international athlete, and Mafer Loconi, a first-degree black belt from Peru. Their engaging dialogue traverses the journey of martial arts, beginning with Mr. Devins' early inspirations and experiences that led him back to the ATA community after a significant hiatus. Both speakers provide valuable insights into their competition experiences, including recent achievements at the Pan American Championships, where Ms. Loconi secured titles in weapons and creative forms, illustrating the dedication required to excel in martial arts. Additionally, they delve into the importance of leadership within martial arts, emphasizing the role of instructors in shaping not only skilled practitioners but also exemplary citizens. This episode serves as a testament to the transformative power of martial arts, encouraging listeners to embrace their journeys and strive for excellence beyond the confines of the belt.
Takeaways:
- The journey of becoming a martial artist often begins in childhood, influenced by pop culture and family.
- Returning to martial arts after a hiatus can significantly alter one's life trajectory and personal development.
- Being a brand ambassador offers unique opportunities for creativity and community engagement within the martial arts world.
- Achieving a black belt requires dedication and the guidance of experienced instructors, shaping one's martial arts journey.
- Leadership and personal development are critical components of martial arts training, transcending the physical aspects.
- Participating in international competitions fosters valuable connections and cultural exchanges among martial artists from diverse backgrounds.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We've got a brand ambassadorand an international athlete.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
Welcome back to the ATA Nation podcast.
My name is Senior Master ZachHayden, and I am your ATA Nation.
(00:27):
I am super excited to havewith us an ATA brand ambassador,
Mr. James Devins III.
How are you today, sir?
I'm doing great, sir.
How are you?
I am awesome.
You just got out of a college class.
What, what.
What year are you in?
I am a senior, sir.
Oh, you're a senior.
Okay.
What do you.
(00:48):
What kind of.
What kind of degree, what kindof things are you working on?
I am an English major with atheater and performance minor.
Oh, very cool.
Interesting.
My brother is a.
He went to school as aprofessional writing major was what
his was.
So now he teaches, not Taekwondo.
(01:09):
He doesn't get to kick kids inschool like I do.
Anyways.
You could do both.
You know, you could kick kids and.
And then write and all thiscool stuff.
So, hey, I wanted to have youon the show.
We'd like to learn more aboutthese ambassadors.
Can you start?
Let's go all the way back toyour origin story.
How did you become a martial artist?
So I started when I was five.
(01:29):
Like most people, I love NinjaTurtles and Power Rangers and all
those different things.
And actually, that wasn't the start.
It was really in a grocery store.
My original instructor, MasterLopez, out.
He's actually running a schoolout in Miami right now.
I started in Palm Harbor, Florida.
So we were in a grocery store.
I was five.
My mom said, hey, you want tobreak a board with this guy?
(01:51):
And I was like, sure.
And so lo and behold, I go totheir school, get my white belt,
and I end up training withthem for a few years.
And then I end up trainingwith Mr. Torres out in Lutz, Florida
for a little bit.
And then I end up winding upin Palm harbor with Victory Martial
Arts Palm harbor with Mr.Johnson, Mr. King and the Montmelons
(02:17):
out there.
Worked with them for a little bit.
I did that all the way from 5 through.
All the way through middle school.
And then I ended up taking a break.
So I didn't do martial arts inhigh school.
I ended up doing band, whichwas an amazing experience.
I was in a world renownedmarching organization called the
Tarpon Spring LeadershipConservatory for the Arts.
And I did amazing things there.
(02:38):
And then I went to college.
I am in Atlanta now.
I go to Morehouse College.
And my sophomore year, I endedup stumbling upon Karate Atlanta,
Sandy Springs, which justhappened to be where senior Master
Tyquan Lee was at and I methim and I was like, hey, I'm a second
degree.
Can I get back into it?
He questioned if I wasactually a second degree or not.
(02:59):
I looked up my ATA number,found out that I was second degree.
I trained with him for aboutwant to say, three weeks.
And he was like, hey, got aresume and so offer me a job.
I was working at Papa John'sat the time and so it was funny.
I was working for Papa John'sand for Master Lee for like I want
to say a month or so becausehe's like, we they give us the hookup
(03:19):
for Parasite out so don't makethem angry.
And so I was working at bothplaces for a little bit and then
I finally got the quit PapaJohn's and now working at Karate
Land is my full time gig and Ilove it.
Got my third degree.
Have I got my black collarthis year.
So everything's amazing.
Brand ambassador, crazy stuffhas been going down.
(03:40):
Changed the entire trajectoryof my life.
Wow.
Okay.
That is super cool.
Okay, so you martial arts inFlorida from 5 through middle school
and then.
And then took a break.
You're off for, you know,what's that, four, five, six years
or so.
This marching.
So what, what did you play inthe band?
(04:03):
I'm a percussionist.
So I did marching bass drumfor two years and then marching snare
drum for two years and thenplayed marimba and all that different
stuff in concert season.
Super cool.
Excellent.
So like the drumline movie.
You're one of you.
That's you in that?
Yes.
Oh man, that's awesome.
Super cool.
Well, I, you.
So I think we need to get somebrand ambassadors together and you
(04:24):
guys could do like a demo andyou can do like the, the song to
the demo and then maybe dosome demo stuff with it.
Throw some, maybe use songs as your.
Anyways, just an idea, youknow, maybe some videos in the future
for the social medias.
Drumsticks are commas.
I'm just going to say that out loud.
That is the.
(04:44):
I can neither confirm nor denyif I've already filmed a drumming
video for my Instagram that's coming.
Oh, excellent.
I'm excited now.
Not that I'm not alwaysexcited, but that's super cool.
And then so you stumbled uponKarate Atlanta when you're.
You're in school there you,you did you think at that time before
you stumbled upon them thatlike martial arts.
(05:07):
I'm kind of done with that.
It was just not a thing.
I, I planned on coming back toit just was kind of a.
In the back of your head maybe?
No, I literally, I just.
I don't know if you'respiritual or anything.
I was, I just listened to God.
God literally was like, hey,go in there.
And I was like, okay.
So I literally saw the ATA logos.
Like, I've done that before.
(05:27):
It was.
I. I again changed the entiretrajectory of my life.
Like, I was super into theband thing.
I did core style.
So if anybody knows about drumcorps or indoor marching percussion,
there's a whole avenue to godo that.
I was actually supposed to goteach drumline at a high school before
I even walked in that school.
And I kind of just walked pastand I was like, I should go in there
(05:48):
because God told me to.
And so I walked in and wholelife changed.
Wow, what a cool story.
That is awesome.
And that's just.
Hey guys out there listening.
You know, there's never, nevertoo late.
Step back in your local ATA school.
You know, even one that's likeway far away from where you started,
(06:10):
you're always welcome back inan ATA school.
Always welcome back.
Okay, so now kind of what'sthe plan now?
I mean, obviously you're abrand ambassador, you're working
at Karate Atlanta, you know,finishing up college.
You know, it's like kind ofthat second time in life.
Like when you graduate highschool, you get the questions all
the time, what are you doing now?
Where are you going to school?
(06:32):
And then after college is kindof the same, you know, you get the
same gig going on.
So kind of what are youlooking at as your plans for the
future now?
My future plans, my goal is toeventually I want to be a multi school
owner.
So next step for that is tograduate and start running a school
for Karate Atlanta.
So hopefully get a managerposition at some point shortly after
(06:54):
I graduate.
And you just kind of work,learn how to school runs, all those
different things and get intothat role and then eventually open
up my own school and then, youknow, become the next multi school
owner.
So that's kind of the goal for now.
And then on the side, I stillwant to write.
That's why I'm getting my, my degree.
So I want to write forchildren's family, young adult television.
(07:15):
So I'm kind of gonna do thaton the side while doing the martial
arts thing.
That is awesome.
I love that.
You ever read?
We just, we're reading thisbook with.
This is totally not ATArelated in any ways, but I always
like to talk a good book.
You ever read the Wing Feather Series.
I have heard of it.
Oh, you gotta do it.
(07:35):
Yeah.
You gotta read it.
Well, I. I thought of itbecause it's a book series, but then
also they made it into ananimated series as well, so it kind
of bridges the gap there.
So anyways, we're reading itwith my kids.
I really enjoy.
I saw the trailer on Angel.
Yes, yes.
It's pretty fun.
I'm not gonna lie.
I really enjoy it.
(07:55):
I was just talking tolicensees yesterday about what books
they're reading, and I. Imentioned that I was right now not
reading any good business books.
You know what?
That's untrue.
I'm reading Traction, the EOS book.
But I'm reading, you know,basically, like, some fun kids books
right now, because that's whatI like to read sometimes.
(08:17):
Anyways, okay, so now tell usa little bit about this brand ambassador
thing.
How's the gig going?
You've been doing it for aboutsix months or a little less than
six months now.
Tell us what's.
What's been fun about being abrand ambassador?
It's been a fun journey, justgetting to talk social media and
video ideas and fun stuff withthe other ambassadors.
(08:37):
The photo shoot was amazing.
That was a really cool experience.
I had only been to LittleRock, so there's been a lot of firsts
for all of this.
I went to Little Rock for thefirst time in the summer for athlete
development camp, and I got tosee headquarters for the first time.
Kind of just got to walkthrough for there, but I got to see
it in totally different lightwhen we were there for the photo
shoot.
So that was a super fun experience.
And then I had never been toWorlds before, so I got to go to
(09:00):
Worlds for the first time thissummer as well.
So that was a really cool experience.
Getting.
I competed in TOC for thefirst time, got to meet a bunch of
people from around the world,which I never gotten to do before.
So it was really.
It's been a really awesome franchise.
Meeting new people and justbeing creative and getting to just
(09:20):
have fun over the phone withpeople and even with my students.
Like, I've gotten to filmstuff with my students and get them
in on it, and it's just been a blast.
Getting to do it with that issuper cool.
I. Yeah, I guess there'sprobably no better way to start meeting
more ATA people than.
Than your face beingeverywhere for ata.
(09:41):
And then, like, every time.
I mean, ATA is already afriendly place.
You walk into a tournament andthey're all kind of friends, but
you walk into the tournamentand everyone knows who you are.
That's.
I guess so now.
Yeah.
Are you.
Are you going to make it outto Fall Nationals?
I sadly am not.
Couldn't make it work with theschool schedule.
Yep.
(10:01):
But we already got plans.
I'm going to Little Rock forthe HB Classic and Jungsu.
I'm going to spring Nationalsfor sure.
My school think about takingsome teams, so we're going to do
some fun stuff coming up.
We Savages couldn't geteverything to line up perfectly for
Fall Nationals.
Yep.
I understand.
So as a.
(10:22):
Let's talk a little bit aboutas a competitor, as you training
on your own or like as anathlete yourself.
What's the thing in martialarts that really like gets you going
right now.
What's been super fun for mehas been.
I. I'm just starting to docreative weapons, which I haven't
done before.
I've done creative forms.
I got my first title ever andI got my state title and creative
(10:44):
forms this past season.
So I've been doing thecreative forms thing.
So I'm.
Now I'm getting into creativeweapons and then I. I've been trying
to get better at combat and sparring.
I'm on the shorter side, so I.I don't do too well, but I have a
lot of fun with it.
So I've just been trying to docombat inspiring and creative weapons
at the moment.
Very cool.
(11:04):
Do you.
Do you do any training withMr. Van Eck down there for creative
inner stuff?
Yes, sir.
Yeah.
Mr. Van Ek and I go way back.
He was from up in our.
Up in our region back in the day.
So currently Atlanta has had a.
A fair amount of people comefrom my.
My region and they just keepstealing people, but whatever.
(11:27):
So creative weapons, whatweapon are you using?
I'm using Chucks right now, so.
And I do those.
Very cool.
Okay.
I've got some studentsinterested in that one.
That's a.
That's a fun one.
I think it's.
It's one.
For me as an instructor.
It's just a little morechallenging for me to design a form
with ex.
(11:47):
With double Chuck.
I.
And I don't know why.
It's just.
I'm a Chuck guy.
I like Chucks, but I don'tknow, there's something about the.
The cleanness of striking witha Jong bong or a sword or something
like that that seems a little easier.
Designing wise for me.
Okay.
(12:07):
What about your instruction role?
What are you, you know,focused on?
What are you improving?
What are you learning?
As you continue as you know, ablack collar now.
So getting the black collarwas a, was a process.
It was super fun.
I got to work with a lot ofreally awesome people like Senior
(12:28):
Master Soul, Senior MasterLee, Aaron Lee, Senior Master Aaron
Lee, Senior Master woelfel, myinstructor, Mr. Rota.
So I got to work with a lot ofdifferent people on that project
and getting me to black collarand learning all the forms and I
also did all the color boatweapons forms and the black belt
weapons forms as well.
My instructor's a little crazy.
He gave me an Excelspreadsheet that was blank and said
(12:50):
write out the forms.
So that was fun to do.
So it was, it was really cool.
I think my, my goals now areto, for the next generation, first
and foremost to be leaders in society.
So when I send you outsidethese walls, I only get you for 45,
30 minutes twice a week.
So my goal is for you to be anawesome person when you walk out
(13:15):
the door.
So we do a lot with the lifeskills actually.
We, we have our own definitionof leadership at our school.
Influence and action that wekind of drill into the students and
try to get them to understand that.
And application is everything.
So seek a sauce implementation.
Gotta get them to, tounderstand it's like it's not just
knowledge.
You can't just take it and belike, it's just a bunch of words.
(13:36):
You gotta go and implement it.
Yes, go implement that.
And then also, you know, bendyour knees, do good stances, have
high kicks, all those things.
So yeah, definitely want themto be high level competitors, high
level athletes, high levelmartial artists, but first and foremost
great leaders in society andthen great athletes working hard,
putting 110% effort in to bethe best athlete and competitor they
(14:00):
can be.
Well that's great.
What I think they have a goodexample in you as someone who is
out there leading by example.
That's really important, youknow, having a role model to look
at.
And that's know one of thereasons you're one of the ambassadors,
you know, we've got to look atthese people that are out there,
(14:22):
you know, walking the walk,not just talking the talk, which
is super cool.
I think that, I mean basicallygoes right into going beyond the
belt.
What for you is, does it meanto be a champion that goes beyond
the belt?
I think being a championbeyond the belt is what I, what I
just said.
(14:42):
It's like once we, once youtake that thought off, you know,
what, what are you?
Are you just an ATA version of you?
Are you Just a martial artistversion of you, and then is there
a school version of you and ahome version of you?
It's more that through lineof, you are trying to be the best
person you can be.
We all stumble, make mistakes.
Let's just.
Are you being that bestversion of yourself through everything?
(15:03):
And I think the ATA sets us upfor that in such a great way.
Like, I already know, like, Itook that break, and I would not
have succeeded and done thethings that I got to do in high school
without the leadership program.
I learned those life skills, Itook them with me into high school,
and literally, I. I got tomarch in the Rose Parade with an
honor band right out of highschool, right after.
(15:27):
Right, right after Covid happened.
And so I was center snare,which is like the leadership role
in the drum line.
And that's.
The Autogram was like 400members big.
It was a big ban.
And I'm over here having tokeep time for everybody.
And I'm having.
And I'm kind of like the figurehead.
I'm like, I'm the guy makingthe chance.
(15:47):
We're having fun, speaking peptalks, all those different things.
I would not have been able tothrive in that leadership role and
do those things with thatamount of people if it wasn't for
what I learned in the ata, allthose different life skills and being
pushed into leadership roles,being thrown into the deep end as
a middle schooler, which wasreally cool.
What a great testimony for,you know, just what we do as martial
(16:10):
artists.
And now, you know, with this,this change in life trajectory, you
get to do that for so manymore people, you know, and.
And how cool is that?
What.
So for you personally, rightbefore we wrap up, what are you.
Your training goals, how.
What are you aiming for?
Maybe competition, maybe testing.
(16:30):
What.
What are you aiming for in thenext, you know, little while?
I definitely, long term goal,I want to become a master.
I want to reach mastership.
And obviously I said I want tobe a schooler, all those different
things.
I definitely want to becomeworld champion one day, but I think
this season's goals are to geta few more state titles, qualify
for TOC again.
(16:51):
I only qualified in creativeforms this year, so I want to qualify
in a couple of more events,get a few more state titles, maybe
cop a District one.
My district's pretty tough, sowe'll see how that goes.
But I definitely am trainingevery day to.
I'm striving for creativeforms, creative weapons, traditional
weapons, and then seeing howfar sparring combat takes Me and
(17:15):
how I can be on the day,training every day I'm running, going
to gym, sparring, people,getting hit.
So more you get hit, the moreyou learn.
Yeah, that's kind of whatwe're doing.
Awesome.
That's fantastic.
Well, hey, sir, what anexciting story.
I'm so glad that we were ableto connect to hear about your story,
(17:36):
your background a little bit.
Thank you for being a greatexample in the ata, a great brand
ambassador where you lookforward to just seeing you more and
more out there.
Some cool videos on socialmedia and thank you for your time
today.
Thank you so much for havingme on, sir.
(17:57):
Man, I think it is so coolthat Mr. Devin like was out of ATA.
Didn't know he'd ever comeback and then just boom, walked into
it at ATA school.
And this made me think like,hey, you never know when someone
is just searching, you know,they were in ATA and they were searching
(18:19):
for, you know, ATA online, youknow, listen to their favorite podcasts.
Hey, maybe I'll check out.
So you rating and reviewingthe show will help it pop up into
people's feeds?
More likely.
And you could be the reasonsomebody joins back in martial arts
and then could change so many lives.
(18:41):
So go out, rate and review.
I have heard, you know,another friend of mine I, I talked
to a world championships, hadbeen out of ata, hadn't been in,
but the listening to thepodcast, watching what was going
on on YouTube and listeningwas one of the things that kept them
connected.
So you never know what kind ofinfluence you can have, even just
(19:03):
by sharing an episode.
Sharing on social media aboutATA really could influence somebody's
life and not just come backand be more healthy and more athletic.
But then maybe they become aninstructor, maybe they become a school
owner, a master and affectthousands of lives.
That's super cool.
How cool.
(19:23):
So also next interview, we gettwo interviews today.
This is an internationalathlete of the week.
You probably saw him on socialmedia during the athlete corner or
excuse me, the ambassador corner.
But let's get to the interviewat a nation.
We're super excited to haveanother awesome athlete of the week
(19:46):
with us and an international athlete.
So can you introduce yourself, please?
Yes, of course.
My name is Mer Lucani.
I'm a first degree black beltfrom Lima, Peru.
Lima, Peru.
Excellent.
And first, who's yourinstructor down there in Peru?
Oh, my treasure is Master Mori.
Excellent, very cool.
(20:07):
And how'd you get started inmartial arts?
That's a really kind ofcomplicated question because I really
started when I was five yearsOld, but I am not the this athlete
that continue through all the years.
I got my passes, my coming in,coming out.
So I don't know how to exactlycount the years, but I have been
(20:28):
consistent.
After a pandemic, 20, 22, Istart and I have never st since then.
Very cool.
Do you remember when, whenyou, the first time you stepped in
when you were like what yousay, like five or so.
What was the, did your parentsjust sign you up?
Were you interested?
Do you know what got youstarted that first time?
(20:49):
Yeah, as far as I remember.
Oh, I got a older brother, so.
So I was the type of sisterthat my brother is doing that I want
to do that.
I was doing marinara dancingat the time and my brother started
doing taekwondo because we'relike in the same place.
Stunning.
So I was like, no, I want todo that too.
And I tried and I get into that.
(21:11):
I remember there was this kindof apart from the boxes we punch
with wearing a bop, we'd callit like that.
So I love punching that.
So I don't get into it.
That's great.
I love that.
So hey, competition wise,first of all, the Pan Am games were
(21:31):
just not that long ago.
Were you able to make it tothe Pan Am championships this year?
Yes, it was my second Pan Amas black belt.
And how did it go?
Really well.
I defend a title of theweapons panam champ and I got a new
one on creative form.
Very cool.
Okay, so I'm going to comeback and ask you about those but
(21:51):
first, so what's your, what'syour favorite event to compete in
at a tournament?
It is weapons like for a longtime, but I get in a little bit used
to creative, creative weapons.
I kind of love and also lovingthe part of kind of being DJ sometimes
of doing my music.
(22:13):
That's great.
Well, you get to be socreative when you do those kind of
things.
So you get to have the musicget to decide moves.
What's your, what's your go to weapon?
What's the weapon that youlove to compete with?
For a long time since I'm colorblind.
Sandalboard.
Yeah.
What about like creative.
Are you doing Song Jubang as well?
(22:33):
Yes.
At a time?
Yes.
And are you doing one or two?
Two, double two and single inmy traditional course, yeah.
Very cool.
Excellent.
Okay, so do you said you, yougot a title.
What was the title again at the.
PAMM this year on traditionalweapons and creative forms.
Very cool.
Well, and creative forms.
(22:54):
Okay.
Very neat.
Was this your, did you dotraditional or excuse me, creative
forms, last pan am or was thisthe first time you did it?
The first time?
Last pan am.
I only qualified on weaponsand I have started doing creative
last year and I classified soI get into it.
Nice.
Congratulations.
(23:14):
That's awesome.
Very cool.
So if you're gonna look, youknow, I like that also kind of.
Kind of see what people's.
Maybe they're not favoritecompetition is.
What's the.
What's the competition thatyou're like maybe not my favorite.
Oh, it must be sparring.
I just kind of survive in a sparring.
(23:36):
You just survive.
What about combat sparring?
I prefer combat sparring.
Okay.
Okay.
That's.
You know what, I hear that a lot.
You know people who are.
Who are more on the forms andweapons side of things, like sparring
a lot of times is not there.
But combat, they're like.
I'm a little better at that one.
I can't.
I can do a little bit more onthat one.
(23:57):
Yeah, I understand.
I totally get it.
What kind of goals do you havefor your.
Let's start with competition first.
As you continue in competing,what kind of goals do you have for
that in.
Definitely the most importantone is getting into world title.
This year I got second so itwas like almost there and I am looking
(24:19):
for that especially with myson Jon.
Yes.
Okay, very cool.
And you said it's a firstdegree division, right?
Yes.
What is the age group?
18 29.
Okay, 18 to 29.
First degree division.
Okay.
That's a tough one.
But yeah.
Okay, very cool.
I like it.
That's a great goal.
What about like just yourregular martial arts training maybe
(24:43):
you know, testing orinstruction, whatever.
In your regular martial artstraining, what kind of goals do you
have there?
Regular martial arts in training?
I will say one of the most isgetting my kicks a little bit higher.
It will be on the trainingpart, on the part of instruction.
(25:03):
There have been a couple ofmonths ago that I get to start kind
of my training as a chief instructor.
Even though I'm not really acertificate instructor.
But I get into having MasterMori assign me one school so I will
be in charge of it.
And it's now like four months now.
We got the national here inPeru and I have some of my kids doing
(25:27):
the first competition.
So kind of nervous about thatand looking how it's going to be
for them.
Oh, that's awesome.
That's fantastic.
That, that is.
That is really cool.
It's so great to.
I mean it's.
Again, I agree it's nerve wracking.
When your students go and do that.
But it is also really fun tosee them succeed.
And then you're like, yay,that's so exciting.
(25:48):
So that's super cool.
So what, what is it like, youknow, for you to see Ata?
Just, you know, a lot of timeswe see for us here in the US a lot
of us things.
What's it like for you to bean international atm?
(26:09):
I think it's really cool.
I started kind of part ofinternational independence and having
friends from Chile, fromBrazil also, especially for the language
especially.
My first international friendsfrom Ada were from Brazil.
So we were starting talkingabout like kind of and Spanglish,
English, Portuguese kind of combination.
(26:32):
Because I know just a littlebit from Portuguese, they know a
little bit from Spanish.
And we're like a mix of everything.
Of course, with my friend fromChile it's easier and well, the English
for me was kind of also easiertoo because I started learning English
when I was little.
But is that kind of mixingknowing who I'm talking to?
Because also my friends fromChile, they have kind of some phrases
(26:52):
that they know in, in Chilethat I don't get it from Peru.
So we're like kind of try evenchanging our Spanish dialects to
and made sure we areunderstanding each other.
It's really cool.
That is so cool.
Well, how awesome.
I, I had some friends, I mean,and we just keep having more people
from the US go to the Pan AmChampionships and one of these days
(27:13):
I'm going to get down therebecause it seems like such a blast.
Yeah, it's a really cool panel.
It's really competitive too.
But we have a lot of awesomepeople, awesome masters too, that
they are so kind of teachingus, even though we're not the direct
students, but like they'rereally open to any advice or any.
That will be half about everything.
Yeah.
(27:33):
Did you, after the panamChampionships is after or before
they have the, the congressthere with the, the training and
stuff, were you, were youparticipating in that or was that
something different?
This year was after the Pan Ams.
I didn't get to go this year,but I have been going since I am
a blue belt, so I got someexperience on the cowboys too.
(27:56):
Very cool.
Yeah.
Such great training.
Really exciting.
And so you are looking to comeup to Phoenix for World Championships
again this year?
Yes.
Well, next year.
Yeah, you're right.
Next year.
Next year.
Gotta get that.
Gotta get those red letters right.
Yes.
So as we wrap up, what's itmean to you to be an athlete that
(28:19):
goes beyond the belt.
Oh, I think the phrase is sopowerful going beyond the belt.
I think I will go back to whenI started a little bit of the instruction
process.
I was not at boy yet.
Even though I need to be kindof example for little ones.
(28:39):
And there's a phrase aninstructor told me that what you
represent doesn't get just forthe belt you have put on, but what
you do with the belt you have.
You can be determined.
You can be maybe a white belt,but you teach example, technique,
everything going into themartial arts and out of martial arts.
(29:02):
And that would have even moreimportant, significant that not being
a black belt yet or notachieving that goal yet.
So not feeling small because of.
Oh, I'm not.
I know first degree, seconddegree, third degree.
Oh, my God, they are like muchbetter than me.
No, it's like you put like the.
(29:22):
You put what you need yourbelt, but you need to do it with
actual.
You do.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's not always about what's.
What you're wearing.
It's about, you know, how youare as an example.
That's.
That's awesome.
Hey, speaking of differentbelts, you got plans to test for
a second degree?
When's the.
When's the secondary coming?
(29:42):
I don't know.
Of course, I will love to.
It's like two sides.
I would love to be seconddegree, but on the other side, I
know the second degree, thirddegree, 18 to 29 is like so hard
to.
So like, I want you, but Idon't want you.
And at the end, of course, itdepends of Master Mori, but is if
(30:05):
they ask me, is that feeling,I want you, but at the same time,
I don't want to.
I've got.
I've got students who havethat same exact feeling.
They're like, ooh, first degrees.
This.
This ring is not.
Not bad.
I. I'll take this.
That second, third degree, 18to 29 ring is.
Is a little trickier.
Yes.
So.
Well, congratulations on beingan athlete of the week and thank
(30:29):
you so much for your time.
I love to be able to talk toATA competitors and athletes from
all over the globe.
Maybe we can make sure whenyou get to Phoenix, if you see me,
say hi.
Yes, of course, Marshall.
I would love to.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for yourtime today.
Thank you.
To invite me.
(30:52):
Oh, man, what a great episode.
Two great interviews.
Awesome athletes.
Very inspiring for ATA nation.
That's going to wrap it up.
We have all kinds of greatthings coming up for you, but next
week is going to be a little shorter.
Episode.
We're going to have ourAthlete of the Week feature, but
(31:12):
that'll be about it.
You don't want to miss itthough, because we will also be in
Pittsburgh next week and Ihope to get a couple of live in person
interviews there that we'll beable to feature on the show soon.
So make sure you're over onall the socials, subscribe, hit the
rate and review the follow thewhatever the buttons are and share
(31:37):
this out with a friend and wewill see you in Pittsburgh.
Get out there and go beyondthe Belt ATA Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
We've got a brand ambassadorand an international athlete.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
Welcome back to the ATA Nation podcast.
My name is Senior Master ZachHayden, and I am your ATA Nation.
(00:27):
I am super excited to havewith us an ATA brand ambassador,
Mr. James Devins III.
How are you today, sir?
I'm doing great, sir.
How are you?
I am awesome.
You just got out of a college class.
What, what.
What year are you in?
I am a senior, sir.
Oh, you're a senior.
Okay.
What do you.
(00:48):
What kind of.
What kind of degree, what kindof things are you working on?
I am an English major with atheater and performance minor.
Oh, very cool.
Interesting.
My brother is a.
He went to school as aprofessional writing major was what
his was.
So now he teaches, not Taekwondo.
(01:09):
He doesn't get to kick kids inschool like I do.
Anyways.
You could do both.
You know, you could kick kids and.
And then write and all thiscool stuff.
So, hey, I wanted to have youon the show.
We'd like to learn more aboutthese ambassadors.
Can you start?
Let's go all the way back toyour origin story.
How did you become a martial artist?
So I started when I was five.
(01:29):
Like most people, I love NinjaTurtles and Power Rangers and all
those different things.
And actually, that wasn't the start.
It was really in a grocery store.
My original instructor, MasterLopez, out.
He's actually running a schoolout in Miami right now.
I started in Palm Harbor, Florida.
So we were in a grocery store.
I was five.
My mom said, hey, you want tobreak a board with this guy?
(01:51):
And I was like, sure.
And so lo and behold, I go totheir school, get my white belt,
and I end up training withthem for a few years.
And then I end up trainingwith Mr. Torres out in Lutz, Florida
for a little bit.
And then I end up winding upin Palm harbor with Victory Martial
Arts Palm harbor with Mr.Johnson, Mr. King and the Montmelons
(02:17):
out there.
Worked with them for a little bit.
I did that all the way from 5 through.
All the way through middle school.
And then I ended up taking a break.
So I didn't do martial arts inhigh school.
I ended up doing band, whichwas an amazing experience.
I was in a world renownedmarching organization called the
Tarpon Spring LeadershipConservatory for the Arts.
And I did amazing things there.
(02:38):
And then I went to college.
I am in Atlanta now.
I go to Morehouse College.
And my sophomore year, I endedup stumbling upon Karate Atlanta,
Sandy Springs, which justhappened to be where senior Master
Tyquan Lee was at and I methim and I was like, hey, I'm a second
degree.
Can I get back into it?
He questioned if I wasactually a second degree or not.
(02:59):
I looked up my ATA number,found out that I was second degree.
I trained with him for aboutwant to say, three weeks.
And he was like, hey, got aresume and so offer me a job.
I was working at Papa John'sat the time and so it was funny.
I was working for Papa John'sand for Master Lee for like I want
to say a month or so becausehe's like, we they give us the hookup
(03:19):
for Parasite out so don't makethem angry.
And so I was working at bothplaces for a little bit and then
I finally got the quit PapaJohn's and now working at Karate
Land is my full time gig and Ilove it.
Got my third degree.
Have I got my black collarthis year.
So everything's amazing.
Brand ambassador, crazy stuffhas been going down.
(03:40):
Changed the entire trajectoryof my life.
Wow.
Okay.
That is super cool.
Okay, so you martial arts inFlorida from 5 through middle school
and then.
And then took a break.
You're off for, you know,what's that, four, five, six years
or so.
This marching.
So what, what did you play inthe band?
(04:03):
I'm a percussionist.
So I did marching bass drumfor two years and then marching snare
drum for two years and thenplayed marimba and all that different
stuff in concert season.
Super cool.
Excellent.
So like the drumline movie.
You're one of you.
That's you in that?
Yes.
Oh man, that's awesome.
Super cool.
Well, I, you.
So I think we need to get somebrand ambassadors together and you
(04:24):
guys could do like a demo andyou can do like the, the song to
the demo and then maybe dosome demo stuff with it.
Throw some, maybe use songs as your.
Anyways, just an idea, youknow, maybe some videos in the future
for the social medias.
Drumsticks are commas.
I'm just going to say that out loud.
That is the.
(04:44):
I can neither confirm nor denyif I've already filmed a drumming
video for my Instagram that's coming.
Oh, excellent.
I'm excited now.
Not that I'm not alwaysexcited, but that's super cool.
And then so you stumbled uponKarate Atlanta when you're.
You're in school there you,you did you think at that time before
you stumbled upon them thatlike martial arts.
(05:07):
I'm kind of done with that.
It was just not a thing.
I, I planned on coming back toit just was kind of a.
In the back of your head maybe?
No, I literally, I just.
I don't know if you'respiritual or anything.
I was, I just listened to God.
God literally was like, hey,go in there.
And I was like, okay.
So I literally saw the ATA logos.
Like, I've done that before.
(05:27):
It was.
I. I again changed the entiretrajectory of my life.
Like, I was super into theband thing.
I did core style.
So if anybody knows about drumcorps or indoor marching percussion,
there's a whole avenue to godo that.
I was actually supposed to goteach drumline at a high school before
I even walked in that school.
And I kind of just walked pastand I was like, I should go in there
(05:48):
because God told me to.
And so I walked in and wholelife changed.
Wow, what a cool story.
That is awesome.
And that's just.
Hey guys out there listening.
You know, there's never, nevertoo late.
Step back in your local ATA school.
You know, even one that's likeway far away from where you started,
(06:10):
you're always welcome back inan ATA school.
Always welcome back.
Okay, so now kind of what'sthe plan now?
I mean, obviously you're abrand ambassador, you're working
at Karate Atlanta, you know,finishing up college.
You know, it's like kind ofthat second time in life.
Like when you graduate highschool, you get the questions all
the time, what are you doing now?
Where are you going to school?
(06:32):
And then after college is kindof the same, you know, you get the
same gig going on.
So kind of what are youlooking at as your plans for the
future now?
My future plans, my goal is toeventually I want to be a multi school
owner.
So next step for that is tograduate and start running a school
for Karate Atlanta.
So hopefully get a managerposition at some point shortly after
(06:54):
I graduate.
And you just kind of work,learn how to school runs, all those
different things and get intothat role and then eventually open
up my own school and then, youknow, become the next multi school
owner.
So that's kind of the goal for now.
And then on the side, I stillwant to write.
That's why I'm getting my, my degree.
So I want to write forchildren's family, young adult television.
(07:15):
So I'm kind of gonna do thaton the side while doing the martial
arts thing.
That is awesome.
I love that.
You ever read?
We just, we're reading thisbook with.
This is totally not ATArelated in any ways, but I always
like to talk a good book.
You ever read the Wing Feather Series.
I have heard of it.
Oh, you gotta do it.
(07:35):
Yeah.
You gotta read it.
Well, I. I thought of itbecause it's a book series, but then
also they made it into ananimated series as well, so it kind
of bridges the gap there.
So anyways, we're reading itwith my kids.
I really enjoy.
I saw the trailer on Angel.
Yes, yes.
It's pretty fun.
I'm not gonna lie.
I really enjoy it.
(07:55):
I was just talking tolicensees yesterday about what books
they're reading, and I. Imentioned that I was right now not
reading any good business books.
You know what?
That's untrue.
I'm reading Traction, the EOS book.
But I'm reading, you know,basically, like, some fun kids books
right now, because that's whatI like to read sometimes.
(08:17):
Anyways, okay, so now tell usa little bit about this brand ambassador
thing.
How's the gig going?
You've been doing it for aboutsix months or a little less than
six months now.
Tell us what's.
What's been fun about being abrand ambassador?
It's been a fun journey, justgetting to talk social media and
video ideas and fun stuff withthe other ambassadors.
(08:37):
The photo shoot was amazing.
That was a really cool experience.
I had only been to LittleRock, so there's been a lot of firsts
for all of this.
I went to Little Rock for thefirst time in the summer for athlete
development camp, and I got tosee headquarters for the first time.
Kind of just got to walkthrough for there, but I got to see
it in totally different lightwhen we were there for the photo
shoot.
So that was a super fun experience.
And then I had never been toWorlds before, so I got to go to
(09:00):
Worlds for the first time thissummer as well.
So that was a really cool experience.
Getting.
I competed in TOC for thefirst time, got to meet a bunch of
people from around the world,which I never gotten to do before.
So it was really.
It's been a really awesome franchise.
Meeting new people and justbeing creative and getting to just
(09:20):
have fun over the phone withpeople and even with my students.
Like, I've gotten to filmstuff with my students and get them
in on it, and it's just been a blast.
Getting to do it with that issuper cool.
I. Yeah, I guess there'sprobably no better way to start meeting
more ATA people than.
Than your face beingeverywhere for ata.
(09:41):
And then, like, every time.
I mean, ATA is already afriendly place.
You walk into a tournament andthey're all kind of friends, but
you walk into the tournamentand everyone knows who you are.
That's.
I guess so now.
Yeah.
Are you.
Are you going to make it outto Fall Nationals?
I sadly am not.
Couldn't make it work with theschool schedule.
Yep.
(10:01):
But we already got plans.
I'm going to Little Rock forthe HB Classic and Jungsu.
I'm going to spring Nationalsfor sure.
My school think about takingsome teams, so we're going to do
some fun stuff coming up.
We Savages couldn't geteverything to line up perfectly for
Fall Nationals.
Yep.
I understand.
So as a.
(10:22):
Let's talk a little bit aboutas a competitor, as you training
on your own or like as anathlete yourself.
What's the thing in martialarts that really like gets you going
right now.
What's been super fun for mehas been.
I. I'm just starting to docreative weapons, which I haven't
done before.
I've done creative forms.
I got my first title ever andI got my state title and creative
(10:44):
forms this past season.
So I've been doing thecreative forms thing.
So I'm.
Now I'm getting into creativeweapons and then I. I've been trying
to get better at combat and sparring.
I'm on the shorter side, so I.I don't do too well, but I have a
lot of fun with it.
So I've just been trying to docombat inspiring and creative weapons
at the moment.
Very cool.
(11:04):
Do you.
Do you do any training withMr. Van Eck down there for creative
inner stuff?
Yes, sir.
Yeah.
Mr. Van Ek and I go way back.
He was from up in our.
Up in our region back in the day.
So currently Atlanta has had a.
A fair amount of people comefrom my.
My region and they just keepstealing people, but whatever.
(11:27):
So creative weapons, whatweapon are you using?
I'm using Chucks right now, so.
And I do those.
Very cool.
Okay.
I've got some studentsinterested in that one.
That's a.
That's a fun one.
I think it's.
It's one.
For me as an instructor.
It's just a little morechallenging for me to design a form
with ex.
(11:47):
With double Chuck.
I.
And I don't know why.
It's just.
I'm a Chuck guy.
I like Chucks, but I don'tknow, there's something about the.
The cleanness of striking witha Jong bong or a sword or something
like that that seems a little easier.
Designing wise for me.
Okay.
(12:07):
What about your instruction role?
What are you, you know,focused on?
What are you improving?
What are you learning?
As you continue as you know, ablack collar now.
So getting the black collarwas a, was a process.
It was super fun.
I got to work with a lot ofreally awesome people like Senior
(12:28):
Master Soul, Senior MasterLee, Aaron Lee, Senior Master Aaron
Lee, Senior Master woelfel, myinstructor, Mr. Rota.
So I got to work with a lot ofdifferent people on that project
and getting me to black collarand learning all the forms and I
also did all the color boatweapons forms and the black belt
weapons forms as well.
My instructor's a little crazy.
He gave me an Excelspreadsheet that was blank and said
(12:50):
write out the forms.
So that was fun to do.
So it was, it was really cool.
I think my, my goals now areto, for the next generation, first
and foremost to be leaders in society.
So when I send you outsidethese walls, I only get you for 45,
30 minutes twice a week.
So my goal is for you to be anawesome person when you walk out
(13:15):
the door.
So we do a lot with the lifeskills actually.
We, we have our own definitionof leadership at our school.
Influence and action that wekind of drill into the students and
try to get them to understand that.
And application is everything.
So seek a sauce implementation.
Gotta get them to, tounderstand it's like it's not just
knowledge.
You can't just take it and belike, it's just a bunch of words.
(13:36):
You gotta go and implement it.
Yes, go implement that.
And then also, you know, bendyour knees, do good stances, have
high kicks, all those things.
So yeah, definitely want themto be high level competitors, high
level athletes, high levelmartial artists, but first and foremost
great leaders in society andthen great athletes working hard,
putting 110% effort in to bethe best athlete and competitor they
(14:00):
can be.
Well that's great.
What I think they have a goodexample in you as someone who is
out there leading by example.
That's really important, youknow, having a role model to look
at.
And that's know one of thereasons you're one of the ambassadors,
you know, we've got to look atthese people that are out there,
(14:22):
you know, walking the walk,not just talking the talk, which
is super cool.
I think that, I mean basicallygoes right into going beyond the
belt.
What for you is, does it meanto be a champion that goes beyond
the belt?
I think being a championbeyond the belt is what I, what I
just said.
(14:42):
It's like once we, once youtake that thought off, you know,
what, what are you?
Are you just an ATA version of you?
Are you Just a martial artistversion of you, and then is there
a school version of you and ahome version of you?
It's more that through lineof, you are trying to be the best
person you can be.
We all stumble, make mistakes.
Let's just.
Are you being that bestversion of yourself through everything?
(15:03):
And I think the ATA sets us upfor that in such a great way.
Like, I already know, like, Itook that break, and I would not
have succeeded and done thethings that I got to do in high school
without the leadership program.
I learned those life skills, Itook them with me into high school,
and literally, I. I got tomarch in the Rose Parade with an
honor band right out of highschool, right after.
(15:27):
Right, right after Covid happened.
And so I was center snare,which is like the leadership role
in the drum line.
And that's.
The Autogram was like 400members big.
It was a big ban.
And I'm over here having tokeep time for everybody.
And I'm having.
And I'm kind of like the figurehead.
I'm like, I'm the guy makingthe chance.
(15:47):
We're having fun, speaking peptalks, all those different things.
I would not have been able tothrive in that leadership role and
do those things with thatamount of people if it wasn't for
what I learned in the ata, allthose different life skills and being
pushed into leadership roles,being thrown into the deep end as
a middle schooler, which wasreally cool.
What a great testimony for,you know, just what we do as martial
(16:10):
artists.
And now, you know, with this,this change in life trajectory, you
get to do that for so manymore people, you know, and.
And how cool is that?
What.
So for you personally, rightbefore we wrap up, what are you.
Your training goals, how.
What are you aiming for?
Maybe competition, maybe testing.
(16:30):
What.
What are you aiming for in thenext, you know, little while?
I definitely, long term goal,I want to become a master.
I want to reach mastership.
And obviously I said I want tobe a schooler, all those different
things.
I definitely want to becomeworld champion one day, but I think
this season's goals are to geta few more state titles, qualify
for TOC again.
(16:51):
I only qualified in creativeforms this year, so I want to qualify
in a couple of more events,get a few more state titles, maybe
cop a District one.
My district's pretty tough, sowe'll see how that goes.
But I definitely am trainingevery day to.
I'm striving for creativeforms, creative weapons, traditional
weapons, and then seeing howfar sparring combat takes Me and
(17:15):
how I can be on the day,training every day I'm running, going
to gym, sparring, people,getting hit.
So more you get hit, the moreyou learn.
Yeah, that's kind of whatwe're doing.
Awesome.
That's fantastic.
Well, hey, sir, what anexciting story.
I'm so glad that we were ableto connect to hear about your story,
(17:36):
your background a little bit.
Thank you for being a greatexample in the ata, a great brand
ambassador where you lookforward to just seeing you more and
more out there.
Some cool videos on socialmedia and thank you for your time
today.
Thank you so much for havingme on, sir.
(17:57):
Man, I think it is so coolthat Mr. Devin like was out of ATA.
Didn't know he'd ever comeback and then just boom, walked into
it at ATA school.
And this made me think like,hey, you never know when someone
is just searching, you know,they were in ATA and they were searching
(18:19):
for, you know, ATA online, youknow, listen to their favorite podcasts.
Hey, maybe I'll check out.
So you rating and reviewingthe show will help it pop up into
people's feeds?
More likely.
And you could be the reasonsomebody joins back in martial arts
and then could change so many lives.
(18:41):
So go out, rate and review.
I have heard, you know,another friend of mine I, I talked
to a world championships, hadbeen out of ata, hadn't been in,
but the listening to thepodcast, watching what was going
on on YouTube and listeningwas one of the things that kept them
connected.
So you never know what kind ofinfluence you can have, even just
(19:03):
by sharing an episode.
Sharing on social media aboutATA really could influence somebody's
life and not just come backand be more healthy and more athletic.
But then maybe they become aninstructor, maybe they become a school
owner, a master and affectthousands of lives.
That's super cool.
How cool.
(19:23):
So also next interview, we gettwo interviews today.
This is an internationalathlete of the week.
You probably saw him on socialmedia during the athlete corner or
excuse me, the ambassador corner.
But let's get to the interviewat a nation.
We're super excited to haveanother awesome athlete of the week
(19:46):
with us and an international athlete.
So can you introduce yourself, please?
Yes, of course.
My name is Mer Lucani.
I'm a first degree black beltfrom Lima, Peru.
Lima, Peru.
Excellent.
And first, who's yourinstructor down there in Peru?
Oh, my treasure is Master Mori.
Excellent, very cool.
(20:07):
And how'd you get started inmartial arts?
That's a really kind ofcomplicated question because I really
started when I was five yearsOld, but I am not the this athlete
that continue through all the years.
I got my passes, my coming in,coming out.
So I don't know how to exactlycount the years, but I have been
(20:28):
consistent.
After a pandemic, 20, 22, Istart and I have never st since then.
Very cool.
Do you remember when, whenyou, the first time you stepped in
when you were like what yousay, like five or so.
What was the, did your parentsjust sign you up?
Were you interested?
Do you know what got youstarted that first time?
(20:49):
Yeah, as far as I remember.
Oh, I got a older brother, so.
So I was the type of sisterthat my brother is doing that I want
to do that.
I was doing marinara dancingat the time and my brother started
doing taekwondo because we'relike in the same place.
Stunning.
So I was like, no, I want todo that too.
And I tried and I get into that.
(21:11):
I remember there was this kindof apart from the boxes we punch
with wearing a bop, we'd callit like that.
So I love punching that.
So I don't get into it.
That's great.
I love that.
So hey, competition wise,first of all, the Pan Am games were
(21:31):
just not that long ago.
Were you able to make it tothe Pan Am championships this year?
Yes, it was my second Pan Amas black belt.
And how did it go?
Really well.
I defend a title of theweapons panam champ and I got a new
one on creative form.
Very cool.
Okay, so I'm going to comeback and ask you about those but
(21:51):
first, so what's your, what'syour favorite event to compete in
at a tournament?
It is weapons like for a longtime, but I get in a little bit used
to creative, creative weapons.
I kind of love and also lovingthe part of kind of being DJ sometimes
of doing my music.
(22:13):
That's great.
Well, you get to be socreative when you do those kind of
things.
So you get to have the musicget to decide moves.
What's your, what's your go to weapon?
What's the weapon that youlove to compete with?
For a long time since I'm colorblind.
Sandalboard.
Yeah.
What about like creative.
Are you doing Song Jubang as well?
(22:33):
Yes.
At a time?
Yes.
And are you doing one or two?
Two, double two and single inmy traditional course, yeah.
Very cool.
Excellent.
Okay, so do you said you, yougot a title.
What was the title again at the.
PAMM this year on traditionalweapons and creative forms.
Very cool.
Well, and creative forms.
(22:54):
Okay.
Very neat.
Was this your, did you dotraditional or excuse me, creative
forms, last pan am or was thisthe first time you did it?
The first time?
Last pan am.
I only qualified on weaponsand I have started doing creative
last year and I classified soI get into it.
Nice.
Congratulations.
(23:14):
That's awesome.
Very cool.
So if you're gonna look, youknow, I like that also kind of.
Kind of see what people's.
Maybe they're not favoritecompetition is.
What's the.
What's the competition thatyou're like maybe not my favorite.
Oh, it must be sparring.
I just kind of survive in a sparring.
(23:36):
You just survive.
What about combat sparring?
I prefer combat sparring.
Okay.
Okay.
That's.
You know what, I hear that a lot.
You know people who are.
Who are more on the forms andweapons side of things, like sparring
a lot of times is not there.
But combat, they're like.
I'm a little better at that one.
I can't.
I can do a little bit more onthat one.
(23:57):
Yeah, I understand.
I totally get it.
What kind of goals do you havefor your.
Let's start with competition first.
As you continue in competing,what kind of goals do you have for
that in.
Definitely the most importantone is getting into world title.
This year I got second so itwas like almost there and I am looking
(24:19):
for that especially with myson Jon.
Yes.
Okay, very cool.
And you said it's a firstdegree division, right?
Yes.
What is the age group?
18 29.
Okay, 18 to 29.
First degree division.
Okay.
That's a tough one.
But yeah.
Okay, very cool.
I like it.
That's a great goal.
What about like just yourregular martial arts training maybe
(24:43):
you know, testing orinstruction, whatever.
In your regular martial artstraining, what kind of goals do you
have there?
Regular martial arts in training?
I will say one of the most isgetting my kicks a little bit higher.
It will be on the trainingpart, on the part of instruction.
(25:03):
There have been a couple ofmonths ago that I get to start kind
of my training as a chief instructor.
Even though I'm not really acertificate instructor.
But I get into having MasterMori assign me one school so I will
be in charge of it.
And it's now like four months now.
We got the national here inPeru and I have some of my kids doing
(25:27):
the first competition.
So kind of nervous about thatand looking how it's going to be
for them.
Oh, that's awesome.
That's fantastic.
That, that is.
That is really cool.
It's so great to.
I mean it's.
Again, I agree it's nerve wracking.
When your students go and do that.
But it is also really fun tosee them succeed.
And then you're like, yay,that's so exciting.
(25:48):
So that's super cool.
So what, what is it like, youknow, for you to see Ata?
Just, you know, a lot of timeswe see for us here in the US a lot
of us things.
What's it like for you to bean international atm?
(26:09):
I think it's really cool.
I started kind of part ofinternational independence and having
friends from Chile, fromBrazil also, especially for the language
especially.
My first international friendsfrom Ada were from Brazil.
So we were starting talkingabout like kind of and Spanglish,
English, Portuguese kind of combination.
(26:32):
Because I know just a littlebit from Portuguese, they know a
little bit from Spanish.
And we're like a mix of everything.
Of course, with my friend fromChile it's easier and well, the English
for me was kind of also easiertoo because I started learning English
when I was little.
But is that kind of mixingknowing who I'm talking to?
Because also my friends fromChile, they have kind of some phrases
(26:52):
that they know in, in Chilethat I don't get it from Peru.
So we're like kind of try evenchanging our Spanish dialects to
and made sure we areunderstanding each other.
It's really cool.
That is so cool.
Well, how awesome.
I, I had some friends, I mean,and we just keep having more people
from the US go to the Pan AmChampionships and one of these days
(27:13):
I'm going to get down therebecause it seems like such a blast.
Yeah, it's a really cool panel.
It's really competitive too.
But we have a lot of awesomepeople, awesome masters too, that
they are so kind of teachingus, even though we're not the direct
students, but like they'rereally open to any advice or any.
That will be half about everything.
Yeah.
(27:33):
Did you, after the panamChampionships is after or before
they have the, the congressthere with the, the training and
stuff, were you, were youparticipating in that or was that
something different?
This year was after the Pan Ams.
I didn't get to go this year,but I have been going since I am
a blue belt, so I got someexperience on the cowboys too.
(27:56):
Very cool.
Yeah.
Such great training.
Really exciting.
And so you are looking to comeup to Phoenix for World Championships
again this year?
Yes.
Well, next year.
Yeah, you're right.
Next year.
Next year.
Gotta get that.
Gotta get those red letters right.
Yes.
So as we wrap up, what's itmean to you to be an athlete that
(28:19):
goes beyond the belt.
Oh, I think the phrase is sopowerful going beyond the belt.
I think I will go back to whenI started a little bit of the instruction
process.
I was not at boy yet.
Even though I need to be kindof example for little ones.
(28:39):
And there's a phrase aninstructor told me that what you
represent doesn't get just forthe belt you have put on, but what
you do with the belt you have.
You can be determined.
You can be maybe a white belt,but you teach example, technique,
everything going into themartial arts and out of martial arts.
(29:02):
And that would have even moreimportant, significant that not being
a black belt yet or notachieving that goal yet.
So not feeling small because of.
Oh, I'm not.
I know first degree, seconddegree, third degree.
Oh, my God, they are like muchbetter than me.
No, it's like you put like the.
(29:22):
You put what you need yourbelt, but you need to do it with
actual.
You do.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's not always about what's.
What you're wearing.
It's about, you know, how youare as an example.
That's.
That's awesome.
Hey, speaking of differentbelts, you got plans to test for
a second degree?
When's the.
When's the secondary coming?
(29:42):
I don't know.
Of course, I will love to.
It's like two sides.
I would love to be seconddegree, but on the other side, I
know the second degree, thirddegree, 18 to 29 is like so hard
to.
So like, I want you, but Idon't want you.
And at the end, of course, itdepends of Master Mori, but is if
(30:05):
they ask me, is that feeling,I want you, but at the same time,
I don't want to.
I've got.
I've got students who havethat same exact feeling.
They're like, ooh, first degrees.
This.
This ring is not.
Not bad.
I. I'll take this.
That second, third degree, 18to 29 ring is.
Is a little trickier.
Yes.
So.
Well, congratulations on beingan athlete of the week and thank
(30:29):
you so much for your time.
I love to be able to talk toATA competitors and athletes from
all over the globe.
Maybe we can make sure whenyou get to Phoenix, if you see me,
say hi.
Yes, of course, Marshall.
I would love to.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for yourtime today.
Thank you.
To invite me.
(30:52):
Oh, man, what a great episode.
Two great interviews.
Awesome athletes.
Very inspiring for ATA nation.
That's going to wrap it up.
We have all kinds of greatthings coming up for you, but next
week is going to be a little shorter.
Episode.
We're going to have ourAthlete of the Week feature, but
(31:12):
that'll be about it.
You don't want to miss itthough, because we will also be in
Pittsburgh next week and Ihope to get a couple of live in person
interviews there that we'll beable to feature on the show soon.
So make sure you're over onall the socials, subscribe, hit the
rate and review the follow thewhatever the buttons are and share
(31:37):
this out with a friend and wewill see you in Pittsburgh.
Get out there and go beyondthe Belt ATA Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
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