June 27, 2025 • 10 mins
This podcast episode features an engaging discussion about the imminent World Conference seminars and the importance of timely registration to secure favorable pricing. It highlights the excitement surrounding the upcoming events and the anticipation for the live episode featuring Senior Master Taekwon Lee, who will share significant announcements. Additionally, we are introduced to our athlete of the week, Mr. Kane Church, who reflects on his experiences at the recent athlete development camp and discusses his aspirations for the upcoming world championships. The conversation delves into the athlete's journey, his preferences in sparring, and the challenges he faces in mastering forms. We conclude with a focus on the values of authenticity and leadership that transcend martial arts, emphasizing the holistic development of an athlete beyond their technical skills.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we discussed the significance of the upcoming World Conference seminars and the need for timely registration.
- We highlighted the remarkable experiences shared by our athlete of the week, Mr. Kane Church, during the athlete development camp.
- Kane Church expressed his aspirations to win both the world title for sparring and weapons this season, emphasizing his competitive spirit.
- The episode also featured a discussion on the importance of authenticity in martial arts and personal growth beyond titles.
- Listeners were encouraged to engage with our content on YouTube and social media for further insights and updates.
- We emphasized the camaraderie and competitive nature of international martial arts, particularly between Team USA and other nations.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Did you miss the live episode?
We've got more coming.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Welcome back, Ata Nation.
This is episode 156 of the AtaNation podcast.
(00:23):
I really appreciate you tuning in.
I hope you got to check outour live episode.
We did.
What an amazing lineup of guests.
Episode 155.
You can find the whole thingon YouTube.
Head over to the ATA MartialArts YouTube page and watch it.
It was fantastic.
We had great guests, amazing stuff.
Senior Master Isaacs jumped inat the end to talk with us as well,
(00:47):
on top of all the other things.
So if you missed out on that,make sure you go back and watch it.
Head over to YouTube and checkout that episode.
Now, as this episode comes out.
This episode comes out on June 27.
It is the last day to getregular online registration pricing
(01:08):
for the World Conference seminars.
So make sure if you haven'tregistered for that, if you want
to get a good money deal, youneed to go and register as soon as
you hear this.
Hopefully it's not too late.
You heard this after that?
Well, sorry.
So Worlds coming up, all kindsof amazing things, guys.
We also, I believe now I, I'vegot, I've got messages here and there
(01:32):
and everywhere, but I am 87.35sure that we're gonna have a, a special
live episode of the ATA Nationpodcast next Tuesday.
Right.
I think that's July 1st, maybewith Senior Master Tyquan Lee from
ATA headquarters.
I think he's got someannouncements and things you want
(01:53):
to talk about.
Get ready for Worlds.
So we're going to do a liveepisode next Tuesday, I believe at
noon.
That'll be.
You can find the informationabout that.
You will head over toatanation podcast.com live or you
can see some stuff on the ATAFacebook social media itself as well.
(02:17):
So don't miss out on that.
Now let's get to our amazingathlete of the week, ATA Nation.
I'm excited to have with usanother awesome athlete of the week,
Mr.
Kane Church.
How are you, sir?
I'm doing phenomenal.
How about yourself?
(02:38):
Wonderful.
Now, I don't think many peopleare going to wonder, uh, but can
you tell us where you're fromand where you train?
I'm from San Diego, Californiaand Las Vegas, Nevada, and I train
with my dad, Chief Master Church.
That's, yeah, I, I, I, Iassumed people would know, but you
(02:59):
know, there might be somepeople out there that don't know,
so.
Hey, sir, you're one of theseathletes of the week.
And before we get into myregular questions.
You just got back from theathlete development camp again?
How was AD camp this year?
It was a phenomenal experience.
I got to fight with a bunch ofpeople and train with a bunch of
different athletes, and it wasjust an overall great experience.
(03:24):
Everybody loves runningoutside in June in Arkansas, right?
It's perfect.
Oh, it's lovely.
Yes.
Everybody loves the heat down there.
It's so much fun.
Thank you, Senior MasterIsaacs, for always making people
run outside.
So that was.
(03:45):
We saw some videos online.
Looks like an amazing camp,working all about culture.
I'm gonna have my regularquestion, but I'm gonna guess I know
the answer.
Favorite event to compete withat a.
Tournament, it has to be sparring.
There's no question.
Has it always been sparringfor you?
Have you always been asparring guy?
(04:06):
Yeah, I've always been asparring guy ever since I started
and since I've been a kid.
Yeah, that's.
So I'm gonna guess then.
Well, let's.
Before I go to that.
Traditional sparring, yourfavorite, combat sparring, next to
it.
Is it close or is it way ahead?
Traditional sparring.
(04:27):
Traditional sparring is way ahead.
Way ahead.
It's like a conversation for me.
Sparring has always been myfavorite sport.
Well, I mean, it comesnaturally to you.
I'm guessing there's.
There's that family dynamicwhere you're.
You're basically born into it.
Yes, sir.
(04:47):
Your dad is kind of a sparring machine.
He.
He knows what he's doing, so.
Oh, 100.
So now I'm gonna guess again.
I think I know the answer, butif you had to pick an event that
you're, like, not my favoriteto do at tournaments, what would
that be?
I would have to say forms.
I'm shocked.
(05:09):
Just because that one.
That one part of Taekwondo hasalways been the hardest.
Weapons a little bit better.
I like weapons.
Forms has been hard, though.
I'll say that.
Well, and I love.
You know what?
When we do these interviewswith people, I think it's great to
hear people have things thatthey love and things that they're
struggling for them, becausethat's life, you know, like, not
(05:30):
everything is going to besuper easy for you.
There's parts that are harder,and that's normal.
You know, I think one of thejoys of Taekwondo is the.
The fact that it's not all easy.
You know, some of it's like,hey, I got to work a little harder
at this.
So you said weapons is closein there.
What.
What's your go to weapon.
What do you enjoy doing?
My.
My go to weapons.
The sword.
(05:51):
I've won two world titlesconsecutively with it so far, so.
Oh, I really like it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Traditional or one of theextreme creative things?
Traditional.
Traditional.
Traditional.
Are you extreme a creative guyat all?
No, I respect those guys.
I could never do that stuff.
You're a traditional guy.
(06:12):
That's.
So I'm going to guess you.
You seem like you lean moretowards, you know, Chief Master Church's
side of sparring and things.
Senior Master Church's side.
You're not.
She's.
That forms that kind of thing.
Not as.
Not as much.
You?
Not.
Not as much.
Very good.
(06:32):
Hey, you know, there are lotsof athletes out there.
We're getting ready to go toworld championships.
You know, season has ended.
You guys just went throughathlete development camp.
What kind of goals do you havethat might be for this season or
even just, like, lookingforward to the future as an athlete?
What are you looking for asyou set those goals?
(06:54):
I have a couple goals,especially this season.
One is to win the world titlefor sparring again, as well as win
the world title for weapons.
And then another goal is tomake sure Team USA wins the world
title again.
Excellent goals.
Those are fantastic.
I'm really excited to bewatching the team sparring again.
(07:16):
The International Song Cup.
So much fun to watch thedifferent competitions, different
countries come together.
I think Team USA won, like,all but one last year.
Was that correct, I think.
Or did they get all of themlast year?
No, I think we got all of them.
I think there was one yearrecently that I think they got.
They.
There was one that anothercountry got, but I'm trying to stoke
(07:39):
this rivalry.
There's not an actual rivalry,but I'm trying to stoke one between
Team USA and Team Mexico andthe Team Philippines.
Just.
Just because I think it's fun, though.
Oh, yeah, it'll definitely befun with the.
This year with their addition.
They have phenomenal fighterson their team.
Do you guys have any?
I was thinking I saw thatthere might be a fighter or two from
(08:02):
your guys's school on one ofthose teams.
Is that right?
Yes, sir.
Noah Mercado.
He's going to be on their team.
Excellent.
Very cool.
Well, I love that.
So let's look at you are.
You've been a lifelong martial artist.
You've been doing this longtime, if I'm not mistaken.
You've got some educationalthings, some things outside of Taekwondo
(08:25):
that you're doing that you're.
You're part of what kind ofgoals if you're looking outside of
Taekwondo.
Are you.
You're setting, are you.
What, what are you in school,out of school?
What?
Where are you school wise?
I'm currently in school.
I'm.
I attend the University of San Diego.
Okay.
Really?
It's actually a beautiful.
It's a beautiful school.
One of my current goals is toactually graduate.
(08:48):
I'm going to be a senior thisyear, so last year.
And then after that, I'm goingto apply what I've learned into the
Taekwondo schools.
Nice.
Excellent.
So, Mr.
Church, can you tell me what'sit mean to you to be an athlete that
goes beyond the belt?
For me, it just means livingas I do, leading when I can, being
(09:13):
a great example to everyonearound me and just actually just
being who I am, someone who is honest.
Oh, I love that.
Yes, I like that.
Like being true to yourself,being authentic.
That is a great way to be a champion.
Beyond the belt.
I love it.
Well, sir, I really appreciateyour time today.
(09:36):
Thank you.
Especially for making timeafter getting back from athlete development
camp.
I know you got to be exhaustedand I'm sure you're right on to training
and getting ready for Worldsin just a couple weeks.
So thank you so much for yourtime today, sir.
Oh, thank you.
This is awesome.
(09:56):
We want to thank Mr.
Church for his time ata Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
It.
Did you miss the live episode?
We've got more coming.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Welcome back, Ata Nation.
This is episode 156 of the AtaNation podcast.
(00:23):
I really appreciate you tuning in.
I hope you got to check outour live episode.
We did.
What an amazing lineup of guests.
Episode 155.
You can find the whole thingon YouTube.
Head over to the ATA MartialArts YouTube page and watch it.
It was fantastic.
We had great guests, amazing stuff.
Senior Master Isaacs jumped inat the end to talk with us as well,
(00:47):
on top of all the other things.
So if you missed out on that,make sure you go back and watch it.
Head over to YouTube and checkout that episode.
Now, as this episode comes out.
This episode comes out on June 27.
It is the last day to getregular online registration pricing
(01:08):
for the World Conference seminars.
So make sure if you haven'tregistered for that, if you want
to get a good money deal, youneed to go and register as soon as
you hear this.
Hopefully it's not too late.
You heard this after that?
Well, sorry.
So Worlds coming up, all kindsof amazing things, guys.
We also, I believe now I, I'vegot, I've got messages here and there
(01:32):
and everywhere, but I am 87.35sure that we're gonna have a, a special
live episode of the ATA Nationpodcast next Tuesday.
Right.
I think that's July 1st, maybewith Senior Master Tyquan Lee from
ATA headquarters.
I think he's got someannouncements and things you want
(01:53):
to talk about.
Get ready for Worlds.
So we're going to do a liveepisode next Tuesday, I believe at
noon.
That'll be.
You can find the informationabout that.
You will head over toatanation podcast.com live or you
can see some stuff on the ATAFacebook social media itself as well.
(02:17):
So don't miss out on that.
Now let's get to our amazingathlete of the week, ATA Nation.
I'm excited to have with usanother awesome athlete of the week,
Mr.
Kane Church.
How are you, sir?
I'm doing phenomenal.
How about yourself?
(02:38):
Wonderful.
Now, I don't think many peopleare going to wonder, uh, but can
you tell us where you're fromand where you train?
I'm from San Diego, Californiaand Las Vegas, Nevada, and I train
with my dad, Chief Master Church.
That's, yeah, I, I, I, Iassumed people would know, but you
(02:59):
know, there might be somepeople out there that don't know,
so.
Hey, sir, you're one of theseathletes of the week.
And before we get into myregular questions.
You just got back from theathlete development camp again?
How was AD camp this year?
It was a phenomenal experience.
I got to fight with a bunch ofpeople and train with a bunch of
different athletes, and it wasjust an overall great experience.
(03:24):
Everybody loves runningoutside in June in Arkansas, right?
It's perfect.
Oh, it's lovely.
Yes.
Everybody loves the heat down there.
It's so much fun.
Thank you, Senior MasterIsaacs, for always making people
run outside.
So that was.
(03:45):
We saw some videos online.
Looks like an amazing camp,working all about culture.
I'm gonna have my regularquestion, but I'm gonna guess I know
the answer.
Favorite event to compete withat a.
Tournament, it has to be sparring.
There's no question.
Has it always been sparringfor you?
Have you always been asparring guy?
(04:06):
Yeah, I've always been asparring guy ever since I started
and since I've been a kid.
Yeah, that's.
So I'm gonna guess then.
Well, let's.
Before I go to that.
Traditional sparring, yourfavorite, combat sparring, next to
it.
Is it close or is it way ahead?
Traditional sparring.
(04:27):
Traditional sparring is way ahead.
Way ahead.
It's like a conversation for me.
Sparring has always been myfavorite sport.
Well, I mean, it comesnaturally to you.
I'm guessing there's.
There's that family dynamicwhere you're.
You're basically born into it.
Yes, sir.
(04:47):
Your dad is kind of a sparring machine.
He.
He knows what he's doing, so.
Oh, 100.
So now I'm gonna guess again.
I think I know the answer, butif you had to pick an event that
you're, like, not my favoriteto do at tournaments, what would
that be?
I would have to say forms.
I'm shocked.
(05:09):
Just because that one.
That one part of Taekwondo hasalways been the hardest.
Weapons a little bit better.
I like weapons.
Forms has been hard, though.
I'll say that.
Well, and I love.
You know what?
When we do these interviewswith people, I think it's great to
hear people have things thatthey love and things that they're
struggling for them, becausethat's life, you know, like, not
(05:30):
everything is going to besuper easy for you.
There's parts that are harder,and that's normal.
You know, I think one of thejoys of Taekwondo is the.
The fact that it's not all easy.
You know, some of it's like,hey, I got to work a little harder
at this.
So you said weapons is closein there.
What.
What's your go to weapon.
What do you enjoy doing?
My.
My go to weapons.
The sword.
(05:51):
I've won two world titlesconsecutively with it so far, so.
Oh, I really like it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Traditional or one of theextreme creative things?
Traditional.
Traditional.
Traditional.
Are you extreme a creative guyat all?
No, I respect those guys.
I could never do that stuff.
You're a traditional guy.
(06:12):
That's.
So I'm going to guess you.
You seem like you lean moretowards, you know, Chief Master Church's
side of sparring and things.
Senior Master Church's side.
You're not.
She's.
That forms that kind of thing.
Not as.
Not as much.
You?
Not.
Not as much.
Very good.
(06:32):
Hey, you know, there are lotsof athletes out there.
We're getting ready to go toworld championships.
You know, season has ended.
You guys just went throughathlete development camp.
What kind of goals do you havethat might be for this season or
even just, like, lookingforward to the future as an athlete?
What are you looking for asyou set those goals?
(06:54):
I have a couple goals,especially this season.
One is to win the world titlefor sparring again, as well as win
the world title for weapons.
And then another goal is tomake sure Team USA wins the world
title again.
Excellent goals.
Those are fantastic.
I'm really excited to bewatching the team sparring again.
(07:16):
The International Song Cup.
So much fun to watch thedifferent competitions, different
countries come together.
I think Team USA won, like,all but one last year.
Was that correct, I think.
Or did they get all of themlast year?
No, I think we got all of them.
I think there was one yearrecently that I think they got.
They.
There was one that anothercountry got, but I'm trying to stoke
(07:39):
this rivalry.
There's not an actual rivalry,but I'm trying to stoke one between
Team USA and Team Mexico andthe Team Philippines.
Just.
Just because I think it's fun, though.
Oh, yeah, it'll definitely befun with the.
This year with their addition.
They have phenomenal fighterson their team.
Do you guys have any?
I was thinking I saw thatthere might be a fighter or two from
(08:02):
your guys's school on one ofthose teams.
Is that right?
Yes, sir.
Noah Mercado.
He's going to be on their team.
Excellent.
Very cool.
Well, I love that.
So let's look at you are.
You've been a lifelong martial artist.
You've been doing this longtime, if I'm not mistaken.
You've got some educationalthings, some things outside of Taekwondo
(08:25):
that you're doing that you're.
You're part of what kind ofgoals if you're looking outside of
Taekwondo.
Are you.
You're setting, are you.
What, what are you in school,out of school?
What?
Where are you school wise?
I'm currently in school.
I'm.
I attend the University of San Diego.
Okay.
Really?
It's actually a beautiful.
It's a beautiful school.
One of my current goals is toactually graduate.
(08:48):
I'm going to be a senior thisyear, so last year.
And then after that, I'm goingto apply what I've learned into the
Taekwondo schools.
Nice.
Excellent.
So, Mr.
Church, can you tell me what'sit mean to you to be an athlete that
goes beyond the belt?
For me, it just means livingas I do, leading when I can, being
(09:13):
a great example to everyonearound me and just actually just
being who I am, someone who is honest.
Oh, I love that.
Yes, I like that.
Like being true to yourself,being authentic.
That is a great way to be a champion.
Beyond the belt.
I love it.
Well, sir, I really appreciateyour time today.
(09:36):
Thank you.
Especially for making timeafter getting back from athlete development
camp.
I know you got to be exhaustedand I'm sure you're right on to training
and getting ready for Worldsin just a couple weeks.
So thank you so much for yourtime today, sir.
Oh, thank you.
This is awesome.
(09:56):
We want to thank Mr.
Church for his time ata Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
It.
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