April 25, 2025 • 11 mins
The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the recent Spring Nationals event and the exhilarating experiences shared within the Taekwondo community. We return invigorated from Texas, where we witnessed remarkable displays of athleticism and camaraderie among participants. This episode features an engaging interview with Rhyland Gossett, a second-degree black belt from Cox Martial Arts, who exemplifies dedication to the martial arts and aspirations of achieving four world titles in various disciplines. Additionally, we delve into the exciting announcement regarding the ATA's involvement with the Special Olympics, a long-held vision finally realized. As we discuss future events, including the upcoming World Championships in Phoenix, Arizona, we encourage our listeners to engage actively in their martial arts journey and to strive for excellence both on and off the mat.
Learn more about spending 6 Weeks doing Songahm Taekwondo in Alaska - https://solo.to/songahm
Takeaways:
- The ATA Nation podcast discusses the recent Spring Nationals event held in Fort Worth, Texas, highlighting its significance for the Taekwondo community.
- During the episode, the special guest athlete Rylan Gossett shares his journey in Taekwondo and his aspirations for future competitions.
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of perseverance, integrity, and leadership within the practice of Taekwondo, as exemplified by the athletes featured.
- Listeners are encouraged to prepare for the upcoming World Championships in Phoenix, Arizona, which promises to be an exciting event for participants.
- The episode also introduces a unique opportunity for students to engage in a Taekwondo educational program in Whale Pass, Alaska, blending martial arts with academic exploration.
- The hosts express their commitment to showcasing the achievements of remarkable athletes within the ATA community, inspiring others to strive for excellence.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Back from Texas and ready formore athletes.
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.
(00:25):
Students, instructors,parents, families, masters, grandmasters
of Songam Taekwondo.
Welcome Back to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 146 of the podcast.
It is a joy to be back withyou today.
We got back from Spring Nationals.
What do you guys think?
It was a great time in springthat my first time to the Dallas
(00:47):
Fort Worth area for nationals.
I know it was a little laterin the year which was a little discombobulating
because like we you're goingand like get back and we've got like
just a week of not a week,like two, three weeks and then tournaments
(01:08):
are over and it's time fordistricts, it's time for Worlds.
But the events there in FortWorth were fantastic.
Some really neat things going on.
The licensee reception talkedabout some of the stuff.
I don't know if you guys sawit on the social media, but the ATA
being able to be part of thethe Special Olympics for Taekwondo,
(01:29):
a dream that eternalGrandmaster had years and years ago,
finally came true.
Today not possible.
Tomorrow possible.
We'll have more on that storyin the future.
We're going to have.
You can listen back as wetalked in a in a previous episode
about Special Olympics and the ata.
We'll have that in the futureas well.
They did not announce thelocation for the next Spring Nationals
(01:52):
because I don't believe it isin Texas again.
But we'll see so stay tunedfor that.
I'm sure ATA will beannouncing, but they did announce
registration open for World Championships.
You do not want to miss out onWorld Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.
Amazing time.
The training registration is open.
(02:12):
Competition registration is open.
Don't forget that WorldChampionship is actually two big
tournaments.
You've got the Tournament ofChampions the end of the season,
that is you have to qualifyfor that if you haven't been part
of the understanding thetournament circuit that you have
to qualify for.
And then the Super 20 is thenew season's kickoff and any person
(02:38):
can compete in that.
My wife, the first tournamentshe ever did was a Super 20 as a
white belt.
So you can get out there andcompete right away.
Cool things come in.
But let's get into talkingabout our.
Athlete of the week specialguest interview.
(03:05):
Hey, ATA Nation.
We are super excited to havewith us another awesome athlete,
Mr.
Rylan Gossett.
How are you Today, sir, I amdoing quite well.
How are you, sir?
I am wonderful.
It's so nice to talk toanother one of these awesome athletes
out there.
Before I ask you a couplequestions, can you just tell us where,
where you train, who yourinstructor is?
(03:26):
So I train at Cox Martial Artsin Magnolia, Texas, and my instructor
is Mr.
Cox, sir.
Oh, great guy.
Excellent.
How's the, how's the weatherthere in Texas today?
Is it warm, cold?
What's it like?
It's quite cold, but it'spretty sunny out, so.
Oh, yeah, beautiful day.
Nice.
Excellent.
All right, cool, cool.
So what, what rank are you, sir?
(03:47):
I'm a second degree blackbelt, sir.
Second degree.
Fantastic.
Well, so you are an awesome athlete.
Super inspiring to see youguys out there.
You were chosen by the brandambassadors to be one of the athletes
of the week.
What's your favorite?
Like, if you had to pick anevent at a tournament that was like,
this is the event that I haveto do no matter what, what event
(04:09):
would that be?
Probably extreme weapons, sir.
Extreme weapons.
And what's your weapon of choice?
Song nuts.
Oh, Song knots.
Very good.
You like to spin those things,catch them and try to.
Oh, yes, sir.
Spin them, like, hit theceiling tiles and then come down
and try to catch them and.
(04:31):
Nice.
Awesome.
Well, what if.
So I asked one of the otherathletes this, and I don't.
You know, we all know we love Taekwondo.
We love all the things in Taekwondo.
We don't like to think ofanything as bad necessarily, but
if you had to pick one eventthat you were like, you know what?
I'm not going to do that onethis time.
I'm not allowed to do one event.
(04:52):
What event would be the firstone that you'd be like, no, I will
skip that one.
I would have to say combatsparring, sir.
Really?
Yes, sir.
That is fascinating.
Okay, excellent.
You just don't.
Hitting people with that stickis just not your go to, huh?
No, sir, not necessarily.
Well, that's fascinating.
(05:13):
I love.
I, I think what's neat to hearfrom athletes is, you know, we do
all these different things inmartial arts and everybody has something
that they gravitate towardsand something that, you know is a
little harder for them or is alittle less enjoyable for them.
But we're all TR.
In all the things and it'sokay to have different things that
we like and different thingsthat are a little more struggle for
(05:34):
us, you know, that's just theway it is.
Competed in any bigtournaments recently?
Well, I'm.
We had the Texas Twister butnot necessarily any big national
type tournaments.
Well, couple of weeks, it'llbe down there in.
(05:54):
In Fort Worth, right?
Yes, sir.
Nice, easy trip for you.
All right.
Do you guys drive to that?
Do you.
You guys really close?
I don't know.
Texas is like the size of, youknow, half of the country, so I don't
know how close you are to Fort Worth.
2 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours.
(06:16):
We're around 2 to 3.
Oh, that's not bad.
Possibly.
Oh, that's not bad.
Depending on traffic.
Yeah, well, traffic, ofcourse, that.
That is always the thing.
Always the thing.
Well, so one of that I love toask our athletes as we're highlighting
them, is what does it mean foryou to be an athlete that goes beyond
the belt?
(06:37):
For me, it means, like,everything, because I see all these
people becoming athlete of theweek, and I'm like, I want to be
them.
I want to be an athlete beyondthe belt.
So it just.
It doesn't mean just on themat, but also, like you said, athlete
off the mat, and it's just so wonderful.
(06:58):
Oh, that's.
That's great.
I am.
You know what I love isgetting to see kids like you be highlighted
because ATA nation is made upof so many amazing athletes, and
it's hard to, you know, get tosee all of them.
You know, like, there's justso many out there that it's super
cool that the brandambassadors have been choosing people
(07:19):
like you.
And I really want to thank youfor being an inspiration to other
students.
I forgot to ask, how old are you?
I'm 10 years old, sir.
10 years old.
And.
And so how long have you beendoing taekwondo?
How.
What got you into martial arts?
Your parents drag you into aschool somewhere?
No, sir, I've always wanted to.
(07:40):
Well, first off, I've beendoing taekwondo for four years, and
I've always wanted to play asport, but my parents were really
worried about how small I was,that I would get hurt really easily.
So they signed me up for anintro lesson with Mr.
Cox at Cox ATA.
And immediately after that, it clicked.
(08:00):
And I just said, this is whatI want to do.
This is what I want to beremembered for.
Oh, I love it.
Do you.
What kind of goals do you havemaybe for this year in competition
or whatnot, or maybe in thefuture for your martial arts training?
Well, something big.
I've always wanted to try tobe a master, but then again, for
(08:21):
this year, I've set the goalto have four world titles in all
creative and extreme weaponsand open hand Fence, sir.
Oh, that is fantastic.
What great goal setting.
I love that.
Short term, you know, ormidterm this year and then long term
become a master.
That is amazing.
Well, sir, thank you for beingsuch an inspiration to all of the
(08:43):
athletes out there in ATA nation.
Keep working hard and wereally appreciate your time.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Another great athlete.
I was excited to meet someathletes in person at Spring Nationals
and even got to interview acouple of our upcoming athletes of
(09:06):
the week in person, which wasa lot of fun.
I think it's going to take mesome more editing work, which is
kind of a pain because Imessed a little bit of it up, but
I'm excited.
It's going to be great.
Now, ladies and gentlemen,before we go today, I wanted to let
you know about something thatis super cool and we will have a
future episode about, but Ithought you should know right now
(09:28):
you have the opportunity to goand participate in school in Whale
Pass, Alaska and do thisschool program where you're going
to be doing song on Taekwondoin like elementary, middle school.
You can go up and spend sixweeks in Whale Pass, Alaska, doing
taekwondo, getting to explorethe climate there and the ecology
(09:51):
there and learning to do somecool media stuff there as well.
This is all part of some ofthe work that's being done with tying
Songam Taekwondo witheducation in different ways, the
Songhum University, some stuffthat's being done in other ways.
Really neat stuff.
We're gonna have some episodeson this in the future, but right
(10:16):
now if you're interested, youneed to go check out Jesse Dempsey.
Is the, the guy up there, thekid up there kind of talking about
this online?
We'll include a link to someof his information and of course
you can reach out to seniormaster Demetrius Hill as well and
links in the show notes forfinding information about maybe,
(10:37):
maybe you, your kid to go andspend six weeks in Whale Pass, Alaska
doing taekwondo and all kindsof cool stuff.
I mean, honestly, that justsounds bananas that I could go to
school and do that.
That, that, that's going towrap it up for us today, guys.
We really appreciate time.
Hopefully you had a great timeat Spring Nationals.
If you did not head to SpringNationals, you need to make sure
(10:59):
that you are making plans.
Head to World Championships,Phoenix, Arizona.
You don't want to miss it.
Until then, get out there andgo beyond the belt.
Thanks for listening toanother episode of the ATA Nation
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
(11:26):
Hey guys, man, there's a lotgoing on I there's I am so busy doing
lots of different things and Iwant to keep I've got guests that
I want to get on and talk tohere on the podcast.
We've got lots of stuff comingup, so hit the subscribe button and
encourage others to hit thesubscribe button.
Also, whether it's on YouTube,whether it's on your favorite podcast
(11:50):
player, Spotify, whatever,make sure you hit subscribe.
Talk later.
Back from Texas and ready formore athletes.
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.
(00:25):
Students, instructors,parents, families, masters, grandmasters
of Songam Taekwondo.
Welcome Back to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 146 of the podcast.
It is a joy to be back withyou today.
We got back from Spring Nationals.
What do you guys think?
It was a great time in springthat my first time to the Dallas
(00:47):
Fort Worth area for nationals.
I know it was a little laterin the year which was a little discombobulating
because like we you're goingand like get back and we've got like
just a week of not a week,like two, three weeks and then tournaments
(01:08):
are over and it's time fordistricts, it's time for Worlds.
But the events there in FortWorth were fantastic.
Some really neat things going on.
The licensee reception talkedabout some of the stuff.
I don't know if you guys sawit on the social media, but the ATA
being able to be part of thethe Special Olympics for Taekwondo,
(01:29):
a dream that eternalGrandmaster had years and years ago,
finally came true.
Today not possible.
Tomorrow possible.
We'll have more on that storyin the future.
We're going to have.
You can listen back as wetalked in a in a previous episode
about Special Olympics and the ata.
We'll have that in the futureas well.
They did not announce thelocation for the next Spring Nationals
(01:52):
because I don't believe it isin Texas again.
But we'll see so stay tunedfor that.
I'm sure ATA will beannouncing, but they did announce
registration open for World Championships.
You do not want to miss out onWorld Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.
Amazing time.
The training registration is open.
(02:12):
Competition registration is open.
Don't forget that WorldChampionship is actually two big
tournaments.
You've got the Tournament ofChampions the end of the season,
that is you have to qualifyfor that if you haven't been part
of the understanding thetournament circuit that you have
to qualify for.
And then the Super 20 is thenew season's kickoff and any person
(02:38):
can compete in that.
My wife, the first tournamentshe ever did was a Super 20 as a
white belt.
So you can get out there andcompete right away.
Cool things come in.
But let's get into talkingabout our.
Athlete of the week specialguest interview.
(03:05):
Hey, ATA Nation.
We are super excited to havewith us another awesome athlete,
Mr.
Rylan Gossett.
How are you Today, sir, I amdoing quite well.
How are you, sir?
I am wonderful.
It's so nice to talk toanother one of these awesome athletes
out there.
Before I ask you a couplequestions, can you just tell us where,
where you train, who yourinstructor is?
(03:26):
So I train at Cox Martial Artsin Magnolia, Texas, and my instructor
is Mr.
Cox, sir.
Oh, great guy.
Excellent.
How's the, how's the weatherthere in Texas today?
Is it warm, cold?
What's it like?
It's quite cold, but it'spretty sunny out, so.
Oh, yeah, beautiful day.
Nice.
Excellent.
All right, cool, cool.
So what, what rank are you, sir?
(03:47):
I'm a second degree blackbelt, sir.
Second degree.
Fantastic.
Well, so you are an awesome athlete.
Super inspiring to see youguys out there.
You were chosen by the brandambassadors to be one of the athletes
of the week.
What's your favorite?
Like, if you had to pick anevent at a tournament that was like,
this is the event that I haveto do no matter what, what event
(04:09):
would that be?
Probably extreme weapons, sir.
Extreme weapons.
And what's your weapon of choice?
Song nuts.
Oh, Song knots.
Very good.
You like to spin those things,catch them and try to.
Oh, yes, sir.
Spin them, like, hit theceiling tiles and then come down
and try to catch them and.
(04:31):
Nice.
Awesome.
Well, what if.
So I asked one of the otherathletes this, and I don't.
You know, we all know we love Taekwondo.
We love all the things in Taekwondo.
We don't like to think ofanything as bad necessarily, but
if you had to pick one eventthat you were like, you know what?
I'm not going to do that onethis time.
I'm not allowed to do one event.
(04:52):
What event would be the firstone that you'd be like, no, I will
skip that one.
I would have to say combatsparring, sir.
Really?
Yes, sir.
That is fascinating.
Okay, excellent.
You just don't.
Hitting people with that stickis just not your go to, huh?
No, sir, not necessarily.
Well, that's fascinating.
(05:13):
I love.
I, I think what's neat to hearfrom athletes is, you know, we do
all these different things inmartial arts and everybody has something
that they gravitate towardsand something that, you know is a
little harder for them or is alittle less enjoyable for them.
But we're all TR.
In all the things and it'sokay to have different things that
we like and different thingsthat are a little more struggle for
(05:34):
us, you know, that's just theway it is.
Competed in any bigtournaments recently?
Well, I'm.
We had the Texas Twister butnot necessarily any big national
type tournaments.
Well, couple of weeks, it'llbe down there in.
(05:54):
In Fort Worth, right?
Yes, sir.
Nice, easy trip for you.
All right.
Do you guys drive to that?
Do you.
You guys really close?
I don't know.
Texas is like the size of, youknow, half of the country, so I don't
know how close you are to Fort Worth.
2 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours.
(06:16):
We're around 2 to 3.
Oh, that's not bad.
Possibly.
Oh, that's not bad.
Depending on traffic.
Yeah, well, traffic, ofcourse, that.
That is always the thing.
Always the thing.
Well, so one of that I love toask our athletes as we're highlighting
them, is what does it mean foryou to be an athlete that goes beyond
the belt?
(06:37):
For me, it means, like,everything, because I see all these
people becoming athlete of theweek, and I'm like, I want to be
them.
I want to be an athlete beyondthe belt.
So it just.
It doesn't mean just on themat, but also, like you said, athlete
off the mat, and it's just so wonderful.
(06:58):
Oh, that's.
That's great.
I am.
You know what I love isgetting to see kids like you be highlighted
because ATA nation is made upof so many amazing athletes, and
it's hard to, you know, get tosee all of them.
You know, like, there's justso many out there that it's super
cool that the brandambassadors have been choosing people
(07:19):
like you.
And I really want to thank youfor being an inspiration to other
students.
I forgot to ask, how old are you?
I'm 10 years old, sir.
10 years old.
And.
And so how long have you beendoing taekwondo?
How.
What got you into martial arts?
Your parents drag you into aschool somewhere?
No, sir, I've always wanted to.
(07:40):
Well, first off, I've beendoing taekwondo for four years, and
I've always wanted to play asport, but my parents were really
worried about how small I was,that I would get hurt really easily.
So they signed me up for anintro lesson with Mr.
Cox at Cox ATA.
And immediately after that, it clicked.
(08:00):
And I just said, this is whatI want to do.
This is what I want to beremembered for.
Oh, I love it.
Do you.
What kind of goals do you havemaybe for this year in competition
or whatnot, or maybe in thefuture for your martial arts training?
Well, something big.
I've always wanted to try tobe a master, but then again, for
(08:21):
this year, I've set the goalto have four world titles in all
creative and extreme weaponsand open hand Fence, sir.
Oh, that is fantastic.
What great goal setting.
I love that.
Short term, you know, ormidterm this year and then long term
become a master.
That is amazing.
Well, sir, thank you for beingsuch an inspiration to all of the
(08:43):
athletes out there in ATA nation.
Keep working hard and wereally appreciate your time.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Another great athlete.
I was excited to meet someathletes in person at Spring Nationals
and even got to interview acouple of our upcoming athletes of
(09:06):
the week in person, which wasa lot of fun.
I think it's going to take mesome more editing work, which is
kind of a pain because Imessed a little bit of it up, but
I'm excited.
It's going to be great.
Now, ladies and gentlemen,before we go today, I wanted to let
you know about something thatis super cool and we will have a
future episode about, but Ithought you should know right now
(09:28):
you have the opportunity to goand participate in school in Whale
Pass, Alaska and do thisschool program where you're going
to be doing song on Taekwondoin like elementary, middle school.
You can go up and spend sixweeks in Whale Pass, Alaska, doing
taekwondo, getting to explorethe climate there and the ecology
(09:51):
there and learning to do somecool media stuff there as well.
This is all part of some ofthe work that's being done with tying
Songam Taekwondo witheducation in different ways, the
Songhum University, some stuffthat's being done in other ways.
Really neat stuff.
We're gonna have some episodeson this in the future, but right
(10:16):
now if you're interested, youneed to go check out Jesse Dempsey.
Is the, the guy up there, thekid up there kind of talking about
this online?
We'll include a link to someof his information and of course
you can reach out to seniormaster Demetrius Hill as well and
links in the show notes forfinding information about maybe,
(10:37):
maybe you, your kid to go andspend six weeks in Whale Pass, Alaska
doing taekwondo and all kindsof cool stuff.
I mean, honestly, that justsounds bananas that I could go to
school and do that.
That, that, that's going towrap it up for us today, guys.
We really appreciate time.
Hopefully you had a great timeat Spring Nationals.
If you did not head to SpringNationals, you need to make sure
(10:59):
that you are making plans.
Head to World Championships,Phoenix, Arizona.
You don't want to miss it.
Until then, get out there andgo beyond the belt.
Thanks for listening toanother episode of the ATA Nation
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
(11:26):
Hey guys, man, there's a lotgoing on I there's I am so busy doing
lots of different things and Iwant to keep I've got guests that
I want to get on and talk tohere on the podcast.
We've got lots of stuff comingup, so hit the subscribe button and
encourage others to hit thesubscribe button.
Also, whether it's on YouTube,whether it's on your favorite podcast
(11:50):
player, Spotify, whatever,make sure you hit subscribe.
Talk later.
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