March 21, 2025 • 10 mins
This podcast episode prominently features Piper Scott as the athlete of the week, highlighting her achievements and aspirations within the realm of Taekwondo. Piper, hailing from Wheaton, Illinois, trains under a distinguished roster of instructors and expresses her excitement about being recognized for her efforts. The discussion delves into her preferred competition style, notably her passion for creative weapons, specifically nunchucks, which she finds invigorating. Additionally, we explore her journey into martial arts, underscoring the confidence and self-awareness she has cultivated through her training, particularly as a response to past bullying. Throughout our conversation, we emphasize the importance of encouraging others to participate in martial arts, thereby fostering a supportive community within ATA Nation.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we celebrated Piper Scott as our athlete of the week, highlighting her impressive achievements and dedication to martial arts.
- Piper Scott, hailing from Wheaton, Illinois, trains at Successno Martial Arts, under the guidance of esteemed instructors.
- We discussed the importance of motivation and personal goals in martial arts, with Piper aspiring to become an eight-time world champion.
- The podcast emphasized the value of encouraging others in the martial arts community and how athletes can inspire their peers to join.
- Listeners were reminded to participate in upcoming tournaments and events, including the ATA Max Battle Royale at Spring Nationals.
- The episode concluded with a call to action for all athletes to strive for excellence and embody the spirit of being 'beyond the belt' in their training.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Did you see who the athlete ofthe week was?
Let's find out.
ATA Nation, this is SeniorMasters at K, and I'm so excited
to be back with you.
Instructors, students,masters, parents, every athlete out
there in Ata Nation.
Welcome back to the show.
This is episode 140.
140.
(00:22):
Can you believe it?
At the time of this recording,it is the first day of spring.
And I don't know where, how itis there for you, but right now,
out my podcast studio window,I can see snow.
Yep, it's snowing.
How exciting.
That's so great.
But that is not going to keepour athletes from working hard and
(00:42):
getting ready for the championships.
We got districts, we got sometournaments to wrap up the year.
All this stuff is coming.
Let's get to our athlete ofthe week.
ATA Nation, we are back withan athlete of the week.
This is Piper Scott.
How are you today, ma'am?
I'm good, sir.
(01:02):
Awesome.
Now, first of all, before weget started, where are you from?
Where you train?
Who's your instructor?
Well, I'm from Wheaton, Illinois.
I go to taekwondo and Darien, Illinois.
My school is Successno martialarts, and my instructors are Chief
Master Patty Barnum, ChiefMaster Kelly Shue, Senior Master
Dukes, Mr.
(01:22):
Walters, Mr.
Kenton Shoup, and Ms.
Faithly.
Oh, those are some great instructors.
Master Dukes and I were in SAMMasters Class 1 year.
He's a great guy.
So you were chosen in one ofthese athletes of the week.
How exciting is that?
I was so excited.
Shout out to the ambassadors,and I was just so happy to be one
of the athletes of the week.
(01:43):
Well, I think it is a.
Is a great thing to get to seeathletes like you out there on social
media, competing in person,just inspiring others is really cool.
When you're competing as oneof these athletes, if you had to
pick, like, your favoritecompetition, your favorite thing
to do, what would it be?
Probably creative weapons.
Ooh, creative weapons.
What's your.
(02:03):
What's your weapon of choice?
Nunchucks.
Nunchucks.
Okay, very cool.
Do you.
Here's a random question.
Okay, I don't want to stumpyou or anything, but for your music,
do you have a specific songor, like, is yours a remix?
And if it's a remix, is, like,got anything specific in it that,
like, you just, like, gets you going?
(02:24):
It's not really a remix, butit's my favorite WWE wrestler song,
so it just really pumps me up.
Excellent.
Very cool.
I love that.
So you said Chuck's yourfavorite thing, and you said extreme
or creative?
Creative.
Creative.
Okay.
Very cool.
Do you compete in the extremeversion as well?
(02:45):
Yes.
What about the creativeversion for you is a little more
exciting, a little more fun?
I don't know, I just reallylike the song that I chose and the
weapon.
It's so neat to have a songthat you get to do your music, do
your, your material too.
It kind of just adds thatextra energy and excitement to it
because we all know if youplay the right song, I mean, you
(03:07):
just start grooving and havingsome fun.
So now if you had to pick anevent, like, we're all ATA athletes,
we love Taekwondo, all thedifferent things, but sometimes we
have things that we, we don'tgravitate to towards quite as much.
What event would you be like?
Okay, if I had to skip anevent, this is the event I'd skip.
(03:27):
Probably sparring or combat.
Okay, very cool.
Interesting.
Very good.
And with your training, do youhave any, like, goals that you've
set either short term or longterm for your martial arts training
in your career there?
For sure.
Be a world champ and a eighttime world champ.
(03:50):
Awesome.
Do you have any world title letters?
Currently not.
Currently not currently.
So working hard on bringingthose letters, huh?
Get some of those red letters.
Yes, sir.
Awesome.
Okay.
I love it.
To me, it's just superexciting to see you guys chosen by
these junior brand ambassadorsjust to highlight other athletes
across the country, because, Imean, it's awesome to have these
(04:11):
brand ambassadors, but we knowthere are so many people just like
you out there competing,working hard all over ATA nation
for you.
What does it mean to be likean athlete that's going beyond the
belt?
Like beyond the belt?
Yeah.
It means standing up forothers and just encouraging other
people to join ata.
(04:33):
I love that.
I think what a neat way to,you know, make sure that we're showing
that, you know, the thingsthat we learn in Taekwondo, we want
to go and we want to competeand stuff, but encouraging others,
helping other people be partof this, you know, I didn't ask you,
how did you get started inmartial arts?
I can remember when I wasfive, I was getting bullied.
So I told my parents about itand they thought it'd be best to
(04:54):
put me in Taekwondo to buildmy confidence, courage and self awareness.
And have you found that it'sreally helped with those things?
Yes.
Awesome.
Well, you know, I know ChiefMaster Barnum is one of the bully
experts out there.
Like she, she knows her stuffwhen it comes to bully prevention.
So you've got the rightinstructors over there.
What would you say to otherkids that are just maybe interested
(05:17):
in martial arts, but they'rejust not sure yet.
Should they, you know, go for it?
What.
What would you tell a kid whowas maybe interest?
Totally go for it.
It's super fun every time.
You'll make a new friend at anew tournament and you just get to
learn how to defend yourself.
So just totally do it.
Awesome.
What great advice.
Well, Piper, I gotta say, yougot a fantastic name.
(05:39):
My niece's name is Piper aswell, so, you know, excellent name.
Um, we really appreciate yourtime today and we really want to
encourage you and thank thebrand ambassadors for just bringing
your.
Letting people see you andcontinuing to, you know, thank you
for continuing to encourageother students and other martial
arts across the country.
(06:00):
Any last words for Ata Nationout there?
No.
Awesome.
Well, Ms.
Piper, I really appreciateyour time today.
Thank you so much and keepworking hard.
Are you.
Are you going to be out atspring nationals this year?
Yes, sir.
Excellent.
Trying to get some more ofthose points for that title, right?
For sure.
Well, we look forward toseeing you there and good luck in
all of your goals.
(06:22):
Thank you.
Great interview.
So excited for her to be oneof the athletes of the week.
Make sure you are tuning in onInstagram, Facebook for those athletes
of the week.
The junior brand ambassadorswho we're going to have on the show
shortly are announcing thoseevery Thursday and they're just coming.
(06:43):
It's great to be highlightingthese people all across at a nation.
What amazing athletes andhopefully they're inspiring you to
work hard on your athletic skills.
Make sure you're out there competing.
Speaking of, we are, you know,in the tail end of this tournament
season.
I know it doesn't feel likethat, but we're almost at April.
April is kind of the.
(07:04):
The cram month.
We've got tournaments every weekend.
Make sure you're checking outata martial arts.com and the event.
But two things that I wantedto mention.
Just some events going onacross ATA nation.
Number one is this ATA MaxBattle Royale at the spring Nationals
in Fort Worth.
This is a.
Here's what it says.
Are you ready to take the next step?
(07:26):
Join the ATMX pro team for anadrenaline fueled event where participants
will face off in a series ofintense challenges across multiple
categories.
Attendees will compete inkicking, weapons, tricking and creative
hands showcasing their skills,creativity and endurance.
Sounds pretty cool.
(07:46):
I might have to go and watch.
I am not yet ready to be onthe pro team.
But if there is still time toregister for that and still time
to register and get your Shirtyou got to get registered before
March 31st to make sure youget your ATA Max Battle Royale shirt.
I thought they were.
And then I wanted to alsomention to you a really neat event.
(08:11):
A lot of these trainings thatwe've had on the weapons, especially
the updates for the black beltweapons, have been going on at Worlds
and national events, but thereare now these regional versions coming,
and I heard there might besome regional ATA Max events coming
as well.
So the first one of these thatI have seen, and I might have missed
(08:35):
some, Chief Master Kaminskyand Senior Master Pino are going
to be in Brownsburg, Indiana,near, kind of near me.
And they are going to be doingthe double Songzhuang training and
the Gumdo training.
And so if you are interestedin that, I would definitely make
sure you head over toatamartialarts.com check out the
(08:57):
events and you can spend awhole day training with them on that.
And this does get you the newpersonal development points that
are needed as you move upthrough the ranks.
So make sure you check that out.
And when it says, how did youhear about this seminar?
Would you register other input?
(09:18):
The podcast at Nation Podcast.
Yeah, yeah, I want to see thatcome through.
Anyways, lots of events goingon, ladies and gentlemen.
Get on Atas website, check it out.
We've got Fort Worth coming.
You know, it'll be here beforewe know it.
All these awesome tournamentscoming up in April, and then we are
(09:39):
right on to districtchampionships, world championships,
and a new season.
I know it rolls so fast, butmake sure, just like our athletes
of the week, you get out thereand become an athlete beyond the
belt.
Yeah, it's snowing out right now.
You believe that?
Oh, wait, you might have stopped.
(10:00):
Might have stopped.
But that's why we're going toFort Worth, right?
So we can enjoy some of thatgreat warmer weather down south.
Who's going to be there?
You know, let me know on theDMS on Instagram at the ATA Nation
podcast.
ATA Nation podcast on Instagram.
You can find us DM us and letus know if you're going to be at
(10:23):
Fort Worth.
And if you're at Fort Worth,are you taking any seminars?
You taking any classes?
I would love to hear what you take.
Hey, guys, take care.
Did you see who the athlete ofthe week was?
Let's find out.
ATA Nation, this is SeniorMasters at K, and I'm so excited
to be back with you.
Instructors, students,masters, parents, every athlete out
there in Ata Nation.
Welcome back to the show.
This is episode 140.
140.
(00:22):
Can you believe it?
At the time of this recording,it is the first day of spring.
And I don't know where, how itis there for you, but right now,
out my podcast studio window,I can see snow.
Yep, it's snowing.
How exciting.
That's so great.
But that is not going to keepour athletes from working hard and
(00:42):
getting ready for the championships.
We got districts, we got sometournaments to wrap up the year.
All this stuff is coming.
Let's get to our athlete ofthe week.
ATA Nation, we are back withan athlete of the week.
This is Piper Scott.
How are you today, ma'am?
I'm good, sir.
(01:02):
Awesome.
Now, first of all, before weget started, where are you from?
Where you train?
Who's your instructor?
Well, I'm from Wheaton, Illinois.
I go to taekwondo and Darien, Illinois.
My school is Successno martialarts, and my instructors are Chief
Master Patty Barnum, ChiefMaster Kelly Shue, Senior Master
Dukes, Mr.
(01:22):
Walters, Mr.
Kenton Shoup, and Ms.
Faithly.
Oh, those are some great instructors.
Master Dukes and I were in SAMMasters Class 1 year.
He's a great guy.
So you were chosen in one ofthese athletes of the week.
How exciting is that?
I was so excited.
Shout out to the ambassadors,and I was just so happy to be one
of the athletes of the week.
(01:43):
Well, I think it is a.
Is a great thing to get to seeathletes like you out there on social
media, competing in person,just inspiring others is really cool.
When you're competing as oneof these athletes, if you had to
pick, like, your favoritecompetition, your favorite thing
to do, what would it be?
Probably creative weapons.
Ooh, creative weapons.
What's your.
(02:03):
What's your weapon of choice?
Nunchucks.
Nunchucks.
Okay, very cool.
Do you.
Here's a random question.
Okay, I don't want to stumpyou or anything, but for your music,
do you have a specific songor, like, is yours a remix?
And if it's a remix, is, like,got anything specific in it that,
like, you just, like, gets you going?
(02:24):
It's not really a remix, butit's my favorite WWE wrestler song,
so it just really pumps me up.
Excellent.
Very cool.
I love that.
So you said Chuck's yourfavorite thing, and you said extreme
or creative?
Creative.
Creative.
Okay.
Very cool.
Do you compete in the extremeversion as well?
(02:45):
Yes.
What about the creativeversion for you is a little more
exciting, a little more fun?
I don't know, I just reallylike the song that I chose and the
weapon.
It's so neat to have a songthat you get to do your music, do
your, your material too.
It kind of just adds thatextra energy and excitement to it
because we all know if youplay the right song, I mean, you
(03:07):
just start grooving and havingsome fun.
So now if you had to pick anevent, like, we're all ATA athletes,
we love Taekwondo, all thedifferent things, but sometimes we
have things that we, we don'tgravitate to towards quite as much.
What event would you be like?
Okay, if I had to skip anevent, this is the event I'd skip.
(03:27):
Probably sparring or combat.
Okay, very cool.
Interesting.
Very good.
And with your training, do youhave any, like, goals that you've
set either short term or longterm for your martial arts training
in your career there?
For sure.
Be a world champ and a eighttime world champ.
(03:50):
Awesome.
Do you have any world title letters?
Currently not.
Currently not currently.
So working hard on bringingthose letters, huh?
Get some of those red letters.
Yes, sir.
Awesome.
Okay.
I love it.
To me, it's just superexciting to see you guys chosen by
these junior brand ambassadorsjust to highlight other athletes
across the country, because, Imean, it's awesome to have these
(04:11):
brand ambassadors, but we knowthere are so many people just like
you out there competing,working hard all over ATA nation
for you.
What does it mean to be likean athlete that's going beyond the
belt?
Like beyond the belt?
Yeah.
It means standing up forothers and just encouraging other
people to join ata.
(04:33):
I love that.
I think what a neat way to,you know, make sure that we're showing
that, you know, the thingsthat we learn in Taekwondo, we want
to go and we want to competeand stuff, but encouraging others,
helping other people be partof this, you know, I didn't ask you,
how did you get started inmartial arts?
I can remember when I wasfive, I was getting bullied.
So I told my parents about itand they thought it'd be best to
(04:54):
put me in Taekwondo to buildmy confidence, courage and self awareness.
And have you found that it'sreally helped with those things?
Yes.
Awesome.
Well, you know, I know ChiefMaster Barnum is one of the bully
experts out there.
Like she, she knows her stuffwhen it comes to bully prevention.
So you've got the rightinstructors over there.
What would you say to otherkids that are just maybe interested
(05:17):
in martial arts, but they'rejust not sure yet.
Should they, you know, go for it?
What.
What would you tell a kid whowas maybe interest?
Totally go for it.
It's super fun every time.
You'll make a new friend at anew tournament and you just get to
learn how to defend yourself.
So just totally do it.
Awesome.
What great advice.
Well, Piper, I gotta say, yougot a fantastic name.
(05:39):
My niece's name is Piper aswell, so, you know, excellent name.
Um, we really appreciate yourtime today and we really want to
encourage you and thank thebrand ambassadors for just bringing
your.
Letting people see you andcontinuing to, you know, thank you
for continuing to encourageother students and other martial
arts across the country.
(06:00):
Any last words for Ata Nationout there?
No.
Awesome.
Well, Ms.
Piper, I really appreciateyour time today.
Thank you so much and keepworking hard.
Are you.
Are you going to be out atspring nationals this year?
Yes, sir.
Excellent.
Trying to get some more ofthose points for that title, right?
For sure.
Well, we look forward toseeing you there and good luck in
all of your goals.
(06:22):
Thank you.
Great interview.
So excited for her to be oneof the athletes of the week.
Make sure you are tuning in onInstagram, Facebook for those athletes
of the week.
The junior brand ambassadorswho we're going to have on the show
shortly are announcing thoseevery Thursday and they're just coming.
(06:43):
It's great to be highlightingthese people all across at a nation.
What amazing athletes andhopefully they're inspiring you to
work hard on your athletic skills.
Make sure you're out there competing.
Speaking of, we are, you know,in the tail end of this tournament
season.
I know it doesn't feel likethat, but we're almost at April.
April is kind of the.
(07:04):
The cram month.
We've got tournaments every weekend.
Make sure you're checking outata martial arts.com and the event.
But two things that I wantedto mention.
Just some events going onacross ATA nation.
Number one is this ATA MaxBattle Royale at the spring Nationals
in Fort Worth.
This is a.
Here's what it says.
Are you ready to take the next step?
(07:26):
Join the ATMX pro team for anadrenaline fueled event where participants
will face off in a series ofintense challenges across multiple
categories.
Attendees will compete inkicking, weapons, tricking and creative
hands showcasing their skills,creativity and endurance.
Sounds pretty cool.
(07:46):
I might have to go and watch.
I am not yet ready to be onthe pro team.
But if there is still time toregister for that and still time
to register and get your Shirtyou got to get registered before
March 31st to make sure youget your ATA Max Battle Royale shirt.
I thought they were.
And then I wanted to alsomention to you a really neat event.
(08:11):
A lot of these trainings thatwe've had on the weapons, especially
the updates for the black beltweapons, have been going on at Worlds
and national events, but thereare now these regional versions coming,
and I heard there might besome regional ATA Max events coming
as well.
So the first one of these thatI have seen, and I might have missed
(08:35):
some, Chief Master Kaminskyand Senior Master Pino are going
to be in Brownsburg, Indiana,near, kind of near me.
And they are going to be doingthe double Songzhuang training and
the Gumdo training.
And so if you are interestedin that, I would definitely make
sure you head over toatamartialarts.com check out the
(08:57):
events and you can spend awhole day training with them on that.
And this does get you the newpersonal development points that
are needed as you move upthrough the ranks.
So make sure you check that out.
And when it says, how did youhear about this seminar?
Would you register other input?
(09:18):
The podcast at Nation Podcast.
Yeah, yeah, I want to see thatcome through.
Anyways, lots of events goingon, ladies and gentlemen.
Get on Atas website, check it out.
We've got Fort Worth coming.
You know, it'll be here beforewe know it.
All these awesome tournamentscoming up in April, and then we are
(09:39):
right on to districtchampionships, world championships,
and a new season.
I know it rolls so fast, butmake sure, just like our athletes
of the week, you get out thereand become an athlete beyond the
belt.
Yeah, it's snowing out right now.
You believe that?
Oh, wait, you might have stopped.
(10:00):
Might have stopped.
But that's why we're going toFort Worth, right?
So we can enjoy some of thatgreat warmer weather down south.
Who's going to be there?
You know, let me know on theDMS on Instagram at the ATA Nation
podcast.
ATA Nation podcast on Instagram.
You can find us DM us and letus know if you're going to be at
(10:23):
Fort Worth.
And if you're at Fort Worth,are you taking any seminars?
You taking any classes?
I would love to hear what you take.
Hey, guys, take care.
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