March 26, 2025 • 21 mins
This episode features a remarkable gathering of five junior brand ambassadors from the ATA Nation, marking a unique and unprecedented occasion in our podcast's history. We engage in a profound discussion that centers around the pivotal initiative of highlighting outstanding athletes within the organization, thereby fostering a sense of community and celebration among martial artists. Each ambassador elaborates on their individual experiences, aspirations, and the significance of their roles in promoting the values of Taekwondo. As we traverse through their narratives, it becomes evident that these young leaders embody the spirit of perseverance, integrity, and camaraderie that is integral to the ATA. Their collective insights not only illuminate their personal journeys but also serve as an inspiration for aspiring martial artists across the globe.
Takeaways:
- The episode features an unprecedented gathering of five junior brand ambassadors, showcasing their perspectives and experiences in Taekwondo.
- The brand ambassadors aim to celebrate and highlight talented martial artists who often go unnoticed in the community.
- Each ambassador shares personal anecdotes about their training journey and the significance of their roles within the ATA organization.
- The discussion emphasizes the importance of communication and listening skills in both martial arts and as brand ambassadors.
- Participants reflect on the joy of inspiring others and fostering connections within the ATA community.
- The episode concludes with a call to action, encouraging listeners to engage with the ATA's online content and community events.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
And do we have a full house today?
Let's get started, sir.
I will live with perseverancein the spirit of Taekwondo, courtesy
for fellow students, integritywithin myself and to become a black
belt leader.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
(00:24):
Ladies and gentlemen,students, instructors, masters, grandmasters
of Songam Taekwondo, welcomeBack to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 141.
I am your host, Senior masterZach Hayden, and I am excited to
have a first ever on today's episode.
We have five guests today.
(00:47):
Can you believe that?
Five guests.
We have all of our juniorbrand ambassadors on the show today.
It is a full house, a lot of fun.
Let's just jump right into it.
Special guest interview.
(01:08):
At Nation.
We have a very first this time.
I have never had an interviewwith five people at the same time
before and I am really excitedabout this.
We have our five junior brandambassadors on the line all at the
same time today.
Everybody.
This is the one time you getto talk over each other.
Everybody say hi.
(01:31):
We'll see if that works in the recording.
Anyways, at Nation, I am super excited.
We have been featuring theseathletes of the week that these brand
ambassadors have beenhighlighting and I'm really excited
to get to talk to the brandambassadors about how they're doing
that, why they're doing that,all that kind of stuff.
But before we get started, incase you've been living under a rock
(01:52):
somewhere and haven't seen orheard from these brand ambassadors,
we're going to go through andlet them introduce themselves.
We're going to have them saywhere they're training, who their
instructor is, maybe what yourrank, you are, that kind of stuff.
So we're going to start with Hana.
What about you, ma'am?
Hi, it's ATA brand ambassadorHana Zeitung.
I am from San Diego,California, at World Class Martial
(02:14):
Arts with Chief Master Church.
Very good.
Okay, Gus, what about you, sir?
My name is Gus and I work at South.
I am at Southwest Arkansas atsouthwest dojo with Mr.
Morgan.
That's my intern.
You're at Mr.
Morgan school?
(02:35):
Yeah.
Was I at the testing?
The virtual.
Were you at the testing?
I was a virtual judge at.
No.
Oh, man, I didn't know that.
I didn't know you were there.
That's fantastic.
Super cool, sir.
Okay, Ms.
Cox, what about you, ma'am?
Hey, T Nation, ATA brandambassador Karen Cox here.
I'm from Magnolia, Texas and Itrain at Cox Martial Arts with the
(02:57):
instructor, Mr.
Cox.
I heard bad things about him.
I don't know.
Trouble that Mr.
Actually, Mr.
Cox was one of my very firstinterviews on the AJ Nation podcast.
I can't remember.
Yeah, he was one of the early ones.
What about you, Brady?
Hey, everyone, I'm Brady Smakofrom I train in Henderson, Nevada,
(03:17):
under Rico Studio with masterRico and Mrs.
Rico.
Very cool.
And Liara.
What's up, 18?
It's 18 random master LiaraMonanaika, and I live in Cleveland,
Ohio.
I train at ATA Cleveland, andmy head instructor is master candidate
(03:38):
Donna Pappa.
Ooh, Master Canada this year.
That's super exciting.
Very cool.
Okay, well, I am super excitedto have all of you guys on today.
Let's start with Hannah.
Can you tell us, like, whatwas the idea behind highlighting
these athletes of the weekacross at nation?
(03:58):
Well, first off, it's toreally just celebrate all the amazing,
talented martial artists outthere, really bring them all together
and highlight people who arekind of under the cracks.
And we want to highlight themand have them give a chance to shine.
You know, I think.
Oops.
It's really important to justmake ATA closer and everyone to be
(04:20):
highlighted and everyone tohave their own moment to shine.
I love it.
I think it's been a reallyneat thing.
I mean, for me, I've got tomeet a bunch of these kids that I
haven't got to meet before.
I might have seen them outthere at events, but it's really
cool.
Ms.
Cox, what have you enjoyedabout getting to highlight these
(04:40):
different athletes?
Yes, sir.
That's a great question.
We did this because we havehad the opportunity to highlight
individuals that are amazing athletes.
There is very.
We only have highlighted veryfew of very many amazing athletes
in the at.
Yay.
So by doing that, it has beenso fun getting to know their journey
(05:04):
on how they train and alsowhat they do beyond the belt.
Oh.
Oh.
Thanks.
Yes.
Ms.
Cox, what has been excitingfor you in answering or in getting
to highlight these athletesacross ATA nation?
(05:26):
Yes, sir.
That's a great question.
We love doing this.
I know as ATA brandambassadors, because we get the opportunity
to highlight each individualall over ata, and there we've only
only done a few of very manyamazing athletes.
And by doing this, we get thechance to know a little more about
(05:47):
them and how they train intheir Taekwondo journey and how what
they do beyond the belt.
Yeah, I love that.
I mean, that's one of myfavorite things I've been hearing
is what it means to each ofthese athletes to go beyond the belt.
Brady, do you know any ofthese athletes in person?
Have you competed against anyof the ones that we've talked about.
Well, just like you said, youwere interviewing Omar, that was
(06:08):
my athlete of the week.
I saw that he's been workinghard and staying consistent with
his training, so I was like,if he's going to stay consistent,
he should be highlighted.
Yeah, excellent.
Well, I love that, that youguys have some personal connection
to these guys as well.
So speaking of being a brandambassador, because you guys are
getting to highlight theseother people, which is fantastic
(06:31):
because we know ata nation isfull of amazing athletes.
You guys are kind of gettingto be highlighted, you know, for.
For a long time, a biggerperiod of time getting to be out
there.
Liara.
What's it been like for you tobe a brand ambassador?
Well, to me personally, beinga TBR ambassador means to inspire,
encourage, and motivate others.
(06:53):
I love that.
I'm so happy to be a part ofletting everyone's light shine and
encouraging that.
Aw, very good.
I love that.
Augustus, what about you?
What's it been like for you tobe a brand ambassador?
Has it been something that hasbeen really exciting?
Are there times that you'rereally nervous about it?
(07:15):
What's it like?
There's times I've beennervous, but I let people speak and
tell me what I should do andlike, if I'm training, I need to,
like, if I.
I need to hear what they'resaying to execute.
So.
And when people are talking tome, I have to, like, listen.
If I don't listen, I'm notgoing to exit.
(07:37):
I love that.
You need to let the people that.
Are athletes and trying tobecome a brand ambassador.
Let them speak.
Let them show their light.
Yes.
Yeah.
It's that communication thatwe talk about as a life skill, you
know, helping.
We have to be great listenersto be communicating, making sure
that we are highlighting thesepeople and showing off that super
(07:58):
cool.
Hana, you were a brandambassador like a billion years ago
when you were a tiny little person.
What's it been like for you asa brand ambassador and getting to
see all these other brandambassadors, it's gonna.
Make me tear up these.
I mean, I've gone through afew generations of ambassadors, and
particularly this group hasbeen my favorite because we were
(08:19):
just talking about this theother day.
They've gone from being littlekids to growing up to be young adults.
And they are just soinspiring, so talented, so hardworking.
And adding on to Gus is whathe was saying is I've seen their
light shine through them.
They are just so inspirationaland so just talented young adults.
And I love you guys so muchand I Can't wait to see what your
(08:40):
future holds.
Oh, that is super cool.
Brady, what about you?
What's it been like this yearbeing a brand ambassador?
I mean, for me, I.
For being AJ Brand ambassadorhas been.
It's given me the opportunityto share my passion to others, inspire
them to go even past master,to getting to that almost grandmaster
spot, never giving up andstaying consistent.
(09:03):
Love it.
And Kyrene, what about you?
Yes, sir.
It means that I have theopportunity every day to share the
visions and the values ofSangham martial arts to so many people
all around the world.
But it's not just currentmartial artists, but also sharing
it with people that haven'teven considered trying martial arts.
(09:25):
And it gives the opportunityfor me to go beyond the belt and
reach for them, and it keepsme accountable and to be my best.
And I'm so ready to continuemy ATA journey, and it has taught
me so many life lessons, andI've enjoyed every step of the way.
(09:46):
That's super cool.
I was thinking the other day Iwas interviewing one of your athletes
of the week, and they said oneof their goals is to be a master.
And I was like, man, you knowhow cool it's going to be when I
can look back at theseinterviews and be like, I remember
interviewing that kid whenthey were a kid and look at their
amazing.
I mean, I'll be an old manwith all gray hairs and beard and
all that, but I guess Ialready have a beard, but.
(10:09):
Okay, so here's some rapidfire questions.
Be prepared.
Yep, here we go.
Pretty easy.
I'm gonna start with.
Let's go, Liara.
Favorite weapon.
Ooh, my favorite weapon.
So originally I started offdoing the nunchucks, and I love them,
but then I tried both stuffand I loved it even more.
(10:32):
Okay.
BO staff is definitely myfavorite weapon.
Bo staff.
Very good.
Okay, Brady, combat sparringor traditional sparring?
I said traditional sparring.
Traditional sparring.
Very good.
Okay, Augustus, Traditionalforms or extreme forms.
(10:53):
Probably traditional.
Traditional.
Very good.
Okay.
Ms.
Cox.
Yes.
Extreme or creative?
I will have to say extreme, sir.
Extreme.
Hannah, what about.
Let's go with a hard one.
Creative or extreme or no weapons.
(11:16):
Creative or extreme weapons?
Extreme weapons for sure.
Extreme weapons.
Extreme.
Okay.
Okay, here we go.
Let's go.
You're going to have to raiseyour hands if you are.
Let's go.
More sparring.
Focused or more forms focused?
(11:37):
More.
Augustus is more sparring.
Who's more sparring?
Raise your hand if you're more sparring.
Okay.
Gus and Kyrene, Very good.
Okay.
What about weapons?
Over.
You like weapons more thanopen hand?
Kyrene, Hannah, Brady, Augustus.
Oh, liar, you're the one out.
(11:59):
You like open hand better than weapons?
Very good.
Okay.
I love it.
I just think it's super coolto see all the different kinds of
athletes we have in ATA Nation.
So I've been asking most ofthe athletes, like, what event they
don't like to do as much.
And I think sometimes that'slike a question that I don't.
I don't love to.
(12:19):
To broadcast because, like,for myself as an instructor, I don't
want my students to not likepart of it.
Yeah, but we all have partsthat we.
We just don't like as much aswe like the other parts.
And I think it's nice to seesome of you people who are out there
in limelight who also havethings that they like.
Yeah, that's not my favorite either.
(12:40):
So let's do one.
Not a tournament event.
Let's go forms, which is atournament event, obviously.
So if you like forms better orboard breaking.
So raise your hand for forms over.
Board breaking.
Hana's over.
Hana.
This is a tough Irene, Brady.
(13:00):
Gus is like, no, I.
I want to break some boards.
Liar is like.
She's like one of thoseGrandmaster presentations she want
in her form.
That's what she wants.
That'd be super cool.
Okay, last one.
Oh, actually, you know what?
Let's go one by one so far favorite.
(13:21):
This is gonna be hard.
1.
I didn't prep you for this,but kind of like favorite experience
so far, being a brand ambassador.
Like, maybe you get to go to atournament, you know, a specific
tournament that was something,you know, filming something with
this Grandmaster or whatnot.
What would be your, like, thetop thing that you've gotten to do
(13:44):
as an ambassador?
Who wants to raise your handif you want to go first?
Oh, look, everybody wants to go.
I love it.
Gus, you go first.
There's two times GrandmasterLee I saw him and I forgot about,
so I was like.
And then you maybe go to theback of the line.
And then when I came back up,I bowed and then he signed a shirt
(14:05):
for me.
And I like watching my friendscompete and winning.
Ah, I love that.
Very good.
What about you, Brady?
I gotta say, World 2024,introducing all of us as a new ATA
brand ambassadors was a good experience.
That's super special.
Yeah, that.
That's pretty awesome.
Liara, what about you, ma'am?
(14:27):
So I actually also have two things.
One is when I get to inspireothers and people come up to me and
say how much I've inspired them.
It makes me feel on the inside.
And two is meeting all of youguys and like, getting to form this
relationship.
It's really, truly amazing.
Oh, that's a great answer.
(14:49):
I.
That's.
That's really cool.
Hana, what about you?
Probably filming the beyondthe Belt little campaign.
I think that was just sobeautiful and just like inspirational
to me personally.
I just.
I loved it.
Love it.
Those were very cool.
They turned out really great.
I heard some, lots of peoplereally enjoy those.
(15:10):
Yeah.
What about you, Kyrene?
Yes, sir.
I think it's kind of whateveryone said.
Meeting the HA Nation andgetting to know more about everyone
and being like, meetingeveryone last year or two years ago
at Worlds and beingintroduced, it was such an amazing
moment and it was so much fun.
(15:31):
Awesome.
Well, hey, I want to thank youguys for being such great junior
brand ambassadors.
It is awesome to see all ofyou out there on social media, at
tournaments.
I love when we're at likeWorlds and Nationals and you guys
are the greeters when you gointo the events.
I just think it's so great.
Thank you so much.
(15:52):
Thank your parents for all thetime that they have given in helping
you guys as well.
We really appreciate it.
Want to see you continue togrow as athletes, as leaders, as
martial artists.
Just thanks for being an inspiration.
Yes, thank you so much.
Thank you guys.
(16:13):
Have a great rest of your day.
Oh, Mr.
Brady.
Go for it, man.
I have one question for you, sir.
Oh, no.
Most important thing for you.
For you.
Being a senior master has beenthe most important thing to you?
For me?
Oh, man, that's.
That's tough.
I've got to do so much cool things.
I mean, I.
I've been really lucky in justgetting to meet so many amazing people,
(16:40):
you know, get to.
To be part of, you know,helping promote ATA and things like
that.
I don't know.
I'll tell you one really,really neat experience I had when
I was getting ready to go for Mastership.
A couple of masters in ourclass, in our master's class, got
to spend the weekend in acabin with Grandmaster Soon Ho.
(17:00):
It was just Grandmaster Soon Ho.
And like, like nine of us, youknow, we went on hikes, we did workouts
outside, fasted did somecalligraphy with us.
And that was an experiencethat, like, I will not ever forget.
That was.
That was so great.
So, Gus, did you have aquestion, sir, too?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
What?
Go for it.
(17:22):
What was the best moment thatyou had?
Oh.
Oh, man.
Guys, you Guys, I'm supposedto be the interviewer.
What's going on here?
The best moment.
Oh, man, I really just.
I mean, there's so many.
That is.
There's so many moments,because as a.
As a instructor, you havethose moments of in your school,
(17:45):
you know, that kid breakingtheir board and that kid getting
their black belt.
You know, I have a studentthat is going through the mastership
process this year, you know,which is crazy to think of.
He started with me when hewas, like, 11 or whatnot.
And then all the things that Ihave gotten to do, you know, last.
This last year, I got to godown to ATA headquarters and interview
(18:06):
Senior Master Lee andGrandmaster Tammy and stuff.
I don't know if I could pickjust one.
It has been just a lifetime ofawesome opportunities, and I'm like,
I'm just getting started.
I'm going to keep doing thisstuff forever.
Please, please keep doing it.
I personally love it.
I think it's so amazing.
And I think just please keepon this amazing podcast.
(18:28):
You know, ATA is such a great organization.
You guys are greatrepresentations of ata.
We all know that it's morethan just a tournament circuit, more
than just a martial arts tool.
You know, this is a giantfamily I look forward to.
I was telling the last guy Iinterviewed that I want to go to
the Pan Am Championships, Iwant to go to the European Championships.
(18:48):
And I'm like, think aboutgoing to these other countries and
still being with a bunch offamily, because it's all ATA people.
So we've got the best organization.
We all know it.
We do.
Yeah.
Thank you for supporting usand thank you for bringing us on
here.
It's.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Well, thank you, guys.
You're great brandambassadors, great martial artists.
Keep up the great work.
Keep.
(19:08):
And keep highlighting thoseawesome other athletes across atNation.
Thank you for that.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, how cool was it to haveall of those brand ambassadors with
us?
We've got all these athletesthat they've been talking about and
highlighting on the show,which has been so much fun.
(19:30):
We've got another one comingout this Friday.
Just keep tuning into those.
Make sure you're sharing online.
And here's what I want you to do.
Head over to YouTube and makesure that you hit the subscribe button
on the ATA Martial ArtsYouTube page so you are getting notified
each time one of theseepisodes come out.
You want to watch the video,or, of course you can watch.
(19:52):
Listen to the audio on yourfavorite podcasting device.
But still go over to YouTube,hit the subscribe button we need.
There's no reason not to havea ton more subscribers on the ATA
page.
Come on, people, let's go.
ATA nation, let's hit that subscribe.
But that's going to take careof it for us today.
I am really excited we've gotthese athletes coming up, but then
(20:15):
we're just a couple of weeksfrom seeing all of our friends at
spring nationals in Fort Worth.
So you see me there, make sureyou stop and say hi until next time.
Get out there and go beyondthe bell.
(20:45):
Now that we're doing a lotmore of this on video, I really need
some, some video to go alongwith those intros and outros.
Just have to stare at me onthe screen.
Just like dancing around.
It's just not as cool.
So got to look into that.
Getting us some animated video.
Okay, guys, take care.
And do we have a full house today?
Let's get started, sir.
I will live with perseverancein the spirit of Taekwondo, courtesy
for fellow students, integritywithin myself and to become a black
belt leader.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
(00:24):
Ladies and gentlemen,students, instructors, masters, grandmasters
of Songam Taekwondo, welcomeBack to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 141.
I am your host, Senior masterZach Hayden, and I am excited to
have a first ever on today's episode.
We have five guests today.
(00:47):
Can you believe that?
Five guests.
We have all of our juniorbrand ambassadors on the show today.
It is a full house, a lot of fun.
Let's just jump right into it.
Special guest interview.
(01:08):
At Nation.
We have a very first this time.
I have never had an interviewwith five people at the same time
before and I am really excitedabout this.
We have our five junior brandambassadors on the line all at the
same time today.
Everybody.
This is the one time you getto talk over each other.
Everybody say hi.
(01:31):
We'll see if that works in the recording.
Anyways, at Nation, I am super excited.
We have been featuring theseathletes of the week that these brand
ambassadors have beenhighlighting and I'm really excited
to get to talk to the brandambassadors about how they're doing
that, why they're doing that,all that kind of stuff.
But before we get started, incase you've been living under a rock
(01:52):
somewhere and haven't seen orheard from these brand ambassadors,
we're going to go through andlet them introduce themselves.
We're going to have them saywhere they're training, who their
instructor is, maybe what yourrank, you are, that kind of stuff.
So we're going to start with Hana.
What about you, ma'am?
Hi, it's ATA brand ambassadorHana Zeitung.
I am from San Diego,California, at World Class Martial
(02:14):
Arts with Chief Master Church.
Very good.
Okay, Gus, what about you, sir?
My name is Gus and I work at South.
I am at Southwest Arkansas atsouthwest dojo with Mr.
Morgan.
That's my intern.
You're at Mr.
Morgan school?
(02:35):
Yeah.
Was I at the testing?
The virtual.
Were you at the testing?
I was a virtual judge at.
No.
Oh, man, I didn't know that.
I didn't know you were there.
That's fantastic.
Super cool, sir.
Okay, Ms.
Cox, what about you, ma'am?
Hey, T Nation, ATA brandambassador Karen Cox here.
I'm from Magnolia, Texas and Itrain at Cox Martial Arts with the
(02:57):
instructor, Mr.
Cox.
I heard bad things about him.
I don't know.
Trouble that Mr.
Actually, Mr.
Cox was one of my very firstinterviews on the AJ Nation podcast.
I can't remember.
Yeah, he was one of the early ones.
What about you, Brady?
Hey, everyone, I'm Brady Smakofrom I train in Henderson, Nevada,
(03:17):
under Rico Studio with masterRico and Mrs.
Rico.
Very cool.
And Liara.
What's up, 18?
It's 18 random master LiaraMonanaika, and I live in Cleveland,
Ohio.
I train at ATA Cleveland, andmy head instructor is master candidate
(03:38):
Donna Pappa.
Ooh, Master Canada this year.
That's super exciting.
Very cool.
Okay, well, I am super excitedto have all of you guys on today.
Let's start with Hannah.
Can you tell us, like, whatwas the idea behind highlighting
these athletes of the weekacross at nation?
(03:58):
Well, first off, it's toreally just celebrate all the amazing,
talented martial artists outthere, really bring them all together
and highlight people who arekind of under the cracks.
And we want to highlight themand have them give a chance to shine.
You know, I think.
Oops.
It's really important to justmake ATA closer and everyone to be
(04:20):
highlighted and everyone tohave their own moment to shine.
I love it.
I think it's been a reallyneat thing.
I mean, for me, I've got tomeet a bunch of these kids that I
haven't got to meet before.
I might have seen them outthere at events, but it's really
cool.
Ms.
Cox, what have you enjoyedabout getting to highlight these
(04:40):
different athletes?
Yes, sir.
That's a great question.
We did this because we havehad the opportunity to highlight
individuals that are amazing athletes.
There is very.
We only have highlighted veryfew of very many amazing athletes
in the at.
Yay.
So by doing that, it has beenso fun getting to know their journey
(05:04):
on how they train and alsowhat they do beyond the belt.
Oh.
Oh.
Thanks.
Yes.
Ms.
Cox, what has been excitingfor you in answering or in getting
to highlight these athletesacross ATA nation?
(05:26):
Yes, sir.
That's a great question.
We love doing this.
I know as ATA brandambassadors, because we get the opportunity
to highlight each individualall over ata, and there we've only
only done a few of very manyamazing athletes.
And by doing this, we get thechance to know a little more about
(05:47):
them and how they train intheir Taekwondo journey and how what
they do beyond the belt.
Yeah, I love that.
I mean, that's one of myfavorite things I've been hearing
is what it means to each ofthese athletes to go beyond the belt.
Brady, do you know any ofthese athletes in person?
Have you competed against anyof the ones that we've talked about.
Well, just like you said, youwere interviewing Omar, that was
(06:08):
my athlete of the week.
I saw that he's been workinghard and staying consistent with
his training, so I was like,if he's going to stay consistent,
he should be highlighted.
Yeah, excellent.
Well, I love that, that youguys have some personal connection
to these guys as well.
So speaking of being a brandambassador, because you guys are
getting to highlight theseother people, which is fantastic
(06:31):
because we know ata nation isfull of amazing athletes.
You guys are kind of gettingto be highlighted, you know, for.
For a long time, a biggerperiod of time getting to be out
there.
Liara.
What's it been like for you tobe a brand ambassador?
Well, to me personally, beinga TBR ambassador means to inspire,
encourage, and motivate others.
(06:53):
I love that.
I'm so happy to be a part ofletting everyone's light shine and
encouraging that.
Aw, very good.
I love that.
Augustus, what about you?
What's it been like for you tobe a brand ambassador?
Has it been something that hasbeen really exciting?
Are there times that you'rereally nervous about it?
(07:15):
What's it like?
There's times I've beennervous, but I let people speak and
tell me what I should do andlike, if I'm training, I need to,
like, if I.
I need to hear what they'resaying to execute.
So.
And when people are talking tome, I have to, like, listen.
If I don't listen, I'm notgoing to exit.
(07:37):
I love that.
You need to let the people that.
Are athletes and trying tobecome a brand ambassador.
Let them speak.
Let them show their light.
Yes.
Yeah.
It's that communication thatwe talk about as a life skill, you
know, helping.
We have to be great listenersto be communicating, making sure
that we are highlighting thesepeople and showing off that super
(07:58):
cool.
Hana, you were a brandambassador like a billion years ago
when you were a tiny little person.
What's it been like for you asa brand ambassador and getting to
see all these other brandambassadors, it's gonna.
Make me tear up these.
I mean, I've gone through afew generations of ambassadors, and
particularly this group hasbeen my favorite because we were
(08:19):
just talking about this theother day.
They've gone from being littlekids to growing up to be young adults.
And they are just soinspiring, so talented, so hardworking.
And adding on to Gus is whathe was saying is I've seen their
light shine through them.
They are just so inspirationaland so just talented young adults.
And I love you guys so muchand I Can't wait to see what your
(08:40):
future holds.
Oh, that is super cool.
Brady, what about you?
What's it been like this yearbeing a brand ambassador?
I mean, for me, I.
For being AJ Brand ambassadorhas been.
It's given me the opportunityto share my passion to others, inspire
them to go even past master,to getting to that almost grandmaster
spot, never giving up andstaying consistent.
(09:03):
Love it.
And Kyrene, what about you?
Yes, sir.
It means that I have theopportunity every day to share the
visions and the values ofSangham martial arts to so many people
all around the world.
But it's not just currentmartial artists, but also sharing
it with people that haven'teven considered trying martial arts.
(09:25):
And it gives the opportunityfor me to go beyond the belt and
reach for them, and it keepsme accountable and to be my best.
And I'm so ready to continuemy ATA journey, and it has taught
me so many life lessons, andI've enjoyed every step of the way.
(09:46):
That's super cool.
I was thinking the other day Iwas interviewing one of your athletes
of the week, and they said oneof their goals is to be a master.
And I was like, man, you knowhow cool it's going to be when I
can look back at theseinterviews and be like, I remember
interviewing that kid whenthey were a kid and look at their
amazing.
I mean, I'll be an old manwith all gray hairs and beard and
all that, but I guess Ialready have a beard, but.
(10:09):
Okay, so here's some rapidfire questions.
Be prepared.
Yep, here we go.
Pretty easy.
I'm gonna start with.
Let's go, Liara.
Favorite weapon.
Ooh, my favorite weapon.
So originally I started offdoing the nunchucks, and I love them,
but then I tried both stuffand I loved it even more.
(10:32):
Okay.
BO staff is definitely myfavorite weapon.
Bo staff.
Very good.
Okay, Brady, combat sparringor traditional sparring?
I said traditional sparring.
Traditional sparring.
Very good.
Okay, Augustus, Traditionalforms or extreme forms.
(10:53):
Probably traditional.
Traditional.
Very good.
Okay.
Ms.
Cox.
Yes.
Extreme or creative?
I will have to say extreme, sir.
Extreme.
Hannah, what about.
Let's go with a hard one.
Creative or extreme or no weapons.
(11:16):
Creative or extreme weapons?
Extreme weapons for sure.
Extreme weapons.
Extreme.
Okay.
Okay, here we go.
Let's go.
You're going to have to raiseyour hands if you are.
Let's go.
More sparring.
Focused or more forms focused?
(11:37):
More.
Augustus is more sparring.
Who's more sparring?
Raise your hand if you're more sparring.
Okay.
Gus and Kyrene, Very good.
Okay.
What about weapons?
Over.
You like weapons more thanopen hand?
Kyrene, Hannah, Brady, Augustus.
Oh, liar, you're the one out.
(11:59):
You like open hand better than weapons?
Very good.
Okay.
I love it.
I just think it's super coolto see all the different kinds of
athletes we have in ATA Nation.
So I've been asking most ofthe athletes, like, what event they
don't like to do as much.
And I think sometimes that'slike a question that I don't.
I don't love to.
(12:19):
To broadcast because, like,for myself as an instructor, I don't
want my students to not likepart of it.
Yeah, but we all have partsthat we.
We just don't like as much aswe like the other parts.
And I think it's nice to seesome of you people who are out there
in limelight who also havethings that they like.
Yeah, that's not my favorite either.
(12:40):
So let's do one.
Not a tournament event.
Let's go forms, which is atournament event, obviously.
So if you like forms better orboard breaking.
So raise your hand for forms over.
Board breaking.
Hana's over.
Hana.
This is a tough Irene, Brady.
(13:00):
Gus is like, no, I.
I want to break some boards.
Liar is like.
She's like one of thoseGrandmaster presentations she want
in her form.
That's what she wants.
That'd be super cool.
Okay, last one.
Oh, actually, you know what?
Let's go one by one so far favorite.
(13:21):
This is gonna be hard.
1.
I didn't prep you for this,but kind of like favorite experience
so far, being a brand ambassador.
Like, maybe you get to go to atournament, you know, a specific
tournament that was something,you know, filming something with
this Grandmaster or whatnot.
What would be your, like, thetop thing that you've gotten to do
(13:44):
as an ambassador?
Who wants to raise your handif you want to go first?
Oh, look, everybody wants to go.
I love it.
Gus, you go first.
There's two times GrandmasterLee I saw him and I forgot about,
so I was like.
And then you maybe go to theback of the line.
And then when I came back up,I bowed and then he signed a shirt
(14:05):
for me.
And I like watching my friendscompete and winning.
Ah, I love that.
Very good.
What about you, Brady?
I gotta say, World 2024,introducing all of us as a new ATA
brand ambassadors was a good experience.
That's super special.
Yeah, that.
That's pretty awesome.
Liara, what about you, ma'am?
(14:27):
So I actually also have two things.
One is when I get to inspireothers and people come up to me and
say how much I've inspired them.
It makes me feel on the inside.
And two is meeting all of youguys and like, getting to form this
relationship.
It's really, truly amazing.
Oh, that's a great answer.
(14:49):
I.
That's.
That's really cool.
Hana, what about you?
Probably filming the beyondthe Belt little campaign.
I think that was just sobeautiful and just like inspirational
to me personally.
I just.
I loved it.
Love it.
Those were very cool.
They turned out really great.
I heard some, lots of peoplereally enjoy those.
(15:10):
Yeah.
What about you, Kyrene?
Yes, sir.
I think it's kind of whateveryone said.
Meeting the HA Nation andgetting to know more about everyone
and being like, meetingeveryone last year or two years ago
at Worlds and beingintroduced, it was such an amazing
moment and it was so much fun.
(15:31):
Awesome.
Well, hey, I want to thank youguys for being such great junior
brand ambassadors.
It is awesome to see all ofyou out there on social media, at
tournaments.
I love when we're at likeWorlds and Nationals and you guys
are the greeters when you gointo the events.
I just think it's so great.
Thank you so much.
(15:52):
Thank your parents for all thetime that they have given in helping
you guys as well.
We really appreciate it.
Want to see you continue togrow as athletes, as leaders, as
martial artists.
Just thanks for being an inspiration.
Yes, thank you so much.
Thank you guys.
(16:13):
Have a great rest of your day.
Oh, Mr.
Brady.
Go for it, man.
I have one question for you, sir.
Oh, no.
Most important thing for you.
For you.
Being a senior master has beenthe most important thing to you?
For me?
Oh, man, that's.
That's tough.
I've got to do so much cool things.
I mean, I.
I've been really lucky in justgetting to meet so many amazing people,
(16:40):
you know, get to.
To be part of, you know,helping promote ATA and things like
that.
I don't know.
I'll tell you one really,really neat experience I had when
I was getting ready to go for Mastership.
A couple of masters in ourclass, in our master's class, got
to spend the weekend in acabin with Grandmaster Soon Ho.
(17:00):
It was just Grandmaster Soon Ho.
And like, like nine of us, youknow, we went on hikes, we did workouts
outside, fasted did somecalligraphy with us.
And that was an experiencethat, like, I will not ever forget.
That was.
That was so great.
So, Gus, did you have aquestion, sir, too?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
What?
Go for it.
(17:22):
What was the best moment thatyou had?
Oh.
Oh, man.
Guys, you Guys, I'm supposedto be the interviewer.
What's going on here?
The best moment.
Oh, man, I really just.
I mean, there's so many.
That is.
There's so many moments,because as a.
As a instructor, you havethose moments of in your school,
(17:45):
you know, that kid breakingtheir board and that kid getting
their black belt.
You know, I have a studentthat is going through the mastership
process this year, you know,which is crazy to think of.
He started with me when hewas, like, 11 or whatnot.
And then all the things that Ihave gotten to do, you know, last.
This last year, I got to godown to ATA headquarters and interview
(18:06):
Senior Master Lee andGrandmaster Tammy and stuff.
I don't know if I could pickjust one.
It has been just a lifetime ofawesome opportunities, and I'm like,
I'm just getting started.
I'm going to keep doing thisstuff forever.
Please, please keep doing it.
I personally love it.
I think it's so amazing.
And I think just please keepon this amazing podcast.
(18:28):
You know, ATA is such a great organization.
You guys are greatrepresentations of ata.
We all know that it's morethan just a tournament circuit, more
than just a martial arts tool.
You know, this is a giantfamily I look forward to.
I was telling the last guy Iinterviewed that I want to go to
the Pan Am Championships, Iwant to go to the European Championships.
(18:48):
And I'm like, think aboutgoing to these other countries and
still being with a bunch offamily, because it's all ATA people.
So we've got the best organization.
We all know it.
We do.
Yeah.
Thank you for supporting usand thank you for bringing us on
here.
It's.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Well, thank you, guys.
You're great brandambassadors, great martial artists.
Keep up the great work.
Keep.
(19:08):
And keep highlighting thoseawesome other athletes across atNation.
Thank you for that.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, how cool was it to haveall of those brand ambassadors with
us?
We've got all these athletesthat they've been talking about and
highlighting on the show,which has been so much fun.
(19:30):
We've got another one comingout this Friday.
Just keep tuning into those.
Make sure you're sharing online.
And here's what I want you to do.
Head over to YouTube and makesure that you hit the subscribe button
on the ATA Martial ArtsYouTube page so you are getting notified
each time one of theseepisodes come out.
You want to watch the video,or, of course you can watch.
(19:52):
Listen to the audio on yourfavorite podcasting device.
But still go over to YouTube,hit the subscribe button we need.
There's no reason not to havea ton more subscribers on the ATA
page.
Come on, people, let's go.
ATA nation, let's hit that subscribe.
But that's going to take careof it for us today.
I am really excited we've gotthese athletes coming up, but then
(20:15):
we're just a couple of weeksfrom seeing all of our friends at
spring nationals in Fort Worth.
So you see me there, make sureyou stop and say hi until next time.
Get out there and go beyondthe bell.
(20:45):
Now that we're doing a lotmore of this on video, I really need
some, some video to go alongwith those intros and outros.
Just have to stare at me onthe screen.
Just like dancing around.
It's just not as cool.
So got to look into that.
Getting us some animated video.
Okay, guys, take care.
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