September 19, 2025 • 22 mins
This podcast episode features two remarkable interviews that delve into the experiences and insights of prominent figures within the ATA martial arts community. I engage in a profound discussion with Senior Master Mark Burns, who recounts the origins of his martial arts journey and the values he seeks to instill in his students. We explore the importance of empowerment and purpose, particularly in the crucial formative years of adolescence, emphasizing the role of instructors in guiding young practitioners toward leadership and community involvement. Additionally, we are privileged to hear from our athlete of the week, Bailey Legler, a third-degree black belt from Buckeye, Arizona, who shares her personal journey and aspirations within the realm of martial arts. As we navigate through these enlightening conversations, we aim to inspire our listeners to appreciate the depth and significance of their martial arts practice, transcending mere rank to embrace a life of growth and contribution.
Takeaways:
- The episode features insightful discussions with Senior Master Burns and highlights the impact of martial arts on personal development and community building.
- Bailey Legler, a dedicated athlete, emphasizes the importance of viewing belt rankings as milestones rather than ultimate goals in martial arts training.
- The conversation underscores the significance of empowering students to share their knowledge with others, fostering a culture of growth and expansion within the ATA community.
- Listeners are encouraged to participate in upcoming events such as fall nationals, reinforcing the idea of community engagement and shared experiences in martial arts.
- The discussion revolves around the evolving nature of competitive forms, with athletes adapting their routines to incorporate creativity and personal expression in their performances.
- The importance of mentorship and role models in martial arts is highlighted, as Senior Master Burns shares how his instructor inspired him to pursue a teaching career.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Not one, but two greatinterviews this episode.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Welcome back to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 168.
(00:22):
It is a pleasure to have youwith us all students, instructors,
parents, fans of ATA martial arts.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I am your host, Senior MasterZach Hayden.
And today we have an amazingshow ready for you.
I've got a fantastic interviewwith my friend Senior Master Burns
to start out with.
And then we have, of course,our amazing athlete of the week,
(00:44):
picked by the ATA brand ambassadors.
Lots of cool stuff.
Don't forget, fall nationalsis right around the corner.
There's still time to register.
I think we're.
We're past the deadline forthe, you know, the regular price.
I think it's on to late orhigher price.
I don't know what the name ofthe pricing is, but that doesn't
(01:06):
mean that you can't still signup and attend.
We would love to see you in Pittsburgh.
And then there's lots of otherevents coming up.
Just a couple episodes ago, wetalked with director of Training
Chief Master Skiles about allthe different things coming up across
the country over the nextcouple of months, from virtual trainings
(01:27):
to Camp Jong Su to the Huliclassic, all kinds of awesome things.
So make sure you're subscribedto the YouTube page for ATA martial
arts and of course, all oftheir social media channels.
So you're getting theinformation as it comes out.
You're not missing anything.
Make sure you're subscribed tothis because we want to make sure
(01:48):
that we inform you as well ofall the cool things going on.
Now, let's get to our first interview.
Okay.
ATA Nation.
I have with us a great friendof mine, Senior Master Burns.
How are you, sir?
I'm great, sir.
Nice to see you.
Yeah, always a pleasure.
Yeah.
So I'd like to just get alittle background on how you started
(02:11):
martial arts.
You want to be a Ninja Turtle, right?
That's where it started.
No, no, I didn't want to be aNinja Turtle.
It was.
They weren't.
They hadn't started yet, youknow, now you're aging yourself.
Yeah, no, it was kung futheater on mornings.
Okay.
And Sunday mornings afterchurch, I come home, and Kung Fu
theater would be on USA Network.
Is that even still a network?
I don't even know.
(02:32):
I don't know what are networks.
So I would see all these,like, really crazy kung fu movies,
and they're just doing allthis, like, awesome stuff.
And this was back in the 80s, right.
And so then in 89, my mom wasworking at a Chinese restaurant and
there was an ATA school thatopened up in the basement.
Okay, Chinese restaurant.
(02:52):
And so it sounds like a movieitself, right?
Yeah, that's how I started.
That's how I started.
But the school was not run byan Asian in the basement.
No, no, it was Clyde Presley,actually, his brother, Ray Presley.
But Clyde was the one that.
That ran that school.
And the late Kathy Calver, shejust passed away recently at the
(03:13):
beginning of this year.
So.
But yeah, that's how I startedmy ATA journey.
I've been in the ATA ever since.
Ever since.
Yeah, all ata.
I've seen it all.
Well, I've seen it all, butI've seen a majority of it all.
Yeah.
And you.
Have you started your schoolowner career.
What did you.
How early in your martial artswere you like, man, it'd be cool
(03:35):
if I got to teach this?
You know, this is the funnything is, like, everybody this week
I've had a conversation with.
It's gotten to that, when didyou decide or how long have you been
doing this and why did you do it?
Right?
And it's the same thing I tell them.
I go.
It was when I got my orangebelt, I was sitting and Mr. Presley
at the time was like talking,like into us, right?
(03:58):
He was like just speakinggreat values into us.
And it was that moment I waslike, I want to be him.
Not him as the martial artistthat could kick really high, super
fast, really good.
I mean, this is a guy thatcame to my.
Brought me home one day afterclass and jumped up and kicked the
backboard of my basketball hoop.
I mean, just standing under.
He's amazing athlete.
But it was how he empoweredme, how he gave me purpose.
(04:20):
And it was that moment I said,I want to be him.
I want to do that for other people.
And so that's always been my dream.
And then, you know, I workedfor Master Beisel at his school,
came up through his throughoutthe years, and then in 99, started
the process of.
Once I got certified at thelast certification camp.
I know I was jealous I didn'tmake that one.
I was too young.
(04:40):
I was.
But then opened the firstschool in Kalamazoo, 2000, so.
And now you are in Tennessee.
Yes, Franklin, Tennessee.
Franklin, Tennessee, Justoutside of Nashville.
Yeah, I know.
I was.
I was down in Tennessee on vacation.
Yeah.
Not that long ago.
A couple weeks ago.
And I was like, how far couldI go?
Dang it.
I can't take the day to go Over.
(05:01):
We were in.
I don't even remember now.
No, we were just in the hills somewhere.
Just in the hills.
In the hills.
We were just.
We were just sitting by ourselves.
There was a Buc ee's nearby, so.
Oh, yeah, that's great.
So I didn't make it to the BUCEE's this time.
I've been there.
But the.
So you've got honor martialarts there.
(05:22):
Yes.
And relatively new Ish school.
I mean, depends on how youcategorize new year.
A year.
Okay.
That is newer than I even wasthinking, which is.
And kicking butt.
I mean, I've seen your people here.
Really good.
How would you tell somebodyright now?
Like.
Like your instructor did originally.
(05:44):
Like, if they're interested inthis, what do they do?
What are the.
How can you inspire somebodyto go.
Like, maybe the next step forme is becoming an instructor.
So when it comes to that, it'show they feel they can utilize their
purpose.
Right.
If they don't even understandthat their purpose is whether it's
in a martial arts format likeours, there's basically two purposes.
(06:07):
You either become aninstructor or you become a competitor.
Right.
Other than that, you just.
You train to become a black belt.
Yeah.
Or.
And then it just kind of peaksat a certain point.
And then even in the athleterealm, that kind of peaks.
So it's like, well, what doyou want to do with all the knowledge
you have?
Right.
And do you want all of thatknowledge to stop with you?
(06:28):
And so it comes from.
From us as the chiefinstructor or the instructor, for
our students to empower themwith understanding that the culture
is about expansion.
Right.
Expanding all of the knowledgewe have.
Right.
If we gain knowledge and wedon't give it to somebody else, that's
a very selfish way of lookingat it.
(06:49):
And it stops the flow like a.
Candle just to myself insteadof lighting somebody else's.
Right.
And it's like, if you havesomething good, why would you not
want to give it to us people?
Right.
And create an opportunity oran environment for others to experience
the greatness that you are.
And so when we are able toinstill that into the students, especially
in that teen demographic from13 to where.
(07:13):
You feel a little lost anyway,and have that.
Find that purpose to be ableto share with others and something
bigger than yourself.
I mean, think about all thethings that get thrown at you.
You're.
You're going through, youknow, just hormonal stuff at teens.
Right.
And then you're going intohigh school.
You're.
You're you're transitioningthrough different friends.
You're.
Now, maybe you want a job,maybe you want a car.
(07:34):
Oh, now you got to startthinking about college or you.
All these things are gettingthrown at you.
It's like one of the mostpivotal points in a child's life
for, and, and.
Or a pre adult life.
Right.
So if we as instructors don'tgive them another option of being
like, look, you've been doingthis for 10 years.
Look at all you can do with.
This and how it's.
There's so much in that, the,the teen years especially, that ends
(07:58):
up being this.
Like, once you're done being ateen, all the stuff is gone.
You don't get to do any ofthese things anymore.
Right.
And so they, you know, youhave these people who are like, it's
the best years of your life orwhatever, which, if my teenage years
were the best years of mylife, like, what a horrible life
I would have had.
But they.
You can give them a vision forsomething that is something that
(08:19):
you can carry on for another20 years, 30 years, where there's
so much in that time that isfleeting as a teenager.
Also, I see your crew, you gota bunch of teenagers that have been
here, that have been around,I've been seeing.
So you're really making animpact there in that age.
And it's from speaking intothem and giving them other options.
(08:42):
Yeah, we have so much moreability as ATA instructors, especially
because we have the resourcesthat help us sharpen our saw, like
our life skills book, ourLegacy Pro book.
All of that information is there.
Now, if you only take thatinformation and you only use it as
it is, it may not be enough.
You have to go and research more.
You have to go outside of thatbox, outside of your comfort zone
(09:04):
of what you were just givenand expand on it and make it make
it better.
But the thing is, is that, youknow, some of these kids will come
to you and they'll be like,well, I just don't feel comfortable
in front of people.
And you go, well, don't you doX amount creative?
Well, I don't have the charisma.
Don't you do creative and extreme?
You've got charisma.
Do you.
Okay, maybe it's not the onesthat compete, sir.
(09:26):
I don't know if I have acommanding voice.
All right, do your form.
Yes, sir.
And then all of a sudden theyanswer yes or really loud.
Even if they have one wordthat they say really loud, they have
the ability to build thecharisma and the behavior they need.
And it just takes four key things.
Right.
Confidence, which we givethem, connection, which is our community.
Right.
Compassion.
To know that not everybody'sgoing to be you, but can learn from
(09:50):
you.
Right.
And that's probably the.
Do you think that's the harderone to, to teach in that age group?
Yes, because it's just at thatage, you're just full of you anyways.
I mean, what's your.
Try to figure yourself out?
I don't know, Getting themthat compassion to go look at this
through other people's lenses,through, you know, how, you know,
give them a little grace.
That kind of thing is probablya tough one.
(10:11):
Well, and one of the, one of the.
My, one of my pressure pointsI put on my teens is they're getting.
They want acceptance fromtheir peers and from outside, but
when they walk in the schooland they hear, Mr. Perez, you're
here.
I'm so glad you're here, andthey're hearing it from these kids,
(10:33):
they forget that that's more powerful.
That's more powerful.
And that's what I try to getthem to see and expand their, their
focus.
Right.
Because I'm like, if you wantto sharpen your focus, expand your
view.
Right.
And so I'm like, look at it inthe bigger picture and you're going
to see where you can put yourfocus better.
But that last component is conviction.
(10:53):
Giving them the conviction,which is hard.
Teens don't have a high levelof discernment.
And so we want to help themwith that, you know, as well.
And you know, I, I don't want to.
I want to.
I don't want to super speak orpre frame too much, but there's a
high probability we havesomething super exciting happening
(11:14):
in Pittsburgh that'sspecifically for that, that, that
group, that demographic.
Excellent.
And I think it's.
It's been long overdue andneeded in our organization, and I'm
really, really excited to be apart of it.
That's exciting.
And I think if I can giveanything, it's to build a stronger
community in that group.
Awesome.
It's going to help with that.
(11:35):
Very cool.
Well, I'm going to leave it atthat teaser then, because that's
a good place to end.
You don't want to missPittsburgh, then make sure you head
out to Pittsburgh.
Master Burns, always a pleasure.
Love it, sir.
Love what you're doing.
Thanks.
Thanks, Hea nation.
Thank you, sir.
Well, it was great to sit downwith my friend, senior Master Burns,
(11:57):
at world championships andjust get to talk about all the awesome
things, you know, ata, what weget to do, where we start.
Anyways.
Always a blast.
Looking forward to seeing allmy ATA friends out in Pittsburgh.
You know, we haven't signed up.
You know, there's still time.
But let's get to our athletesof the week.
(12:24):
ATA nation.
We're back with anotherawesome athlete of the week.
Ma', am, can you introduce yourself?
Yes, of course.
I am Bailey Legler and a thirddegree black belt, and I go to an
academy in Buckeye, Arizona.
Oh, and who's your.
Your.
Who's your instructor downthere in Arizona?
Mr. Delgado.
Excellent.
Okay.
And hey, how did you getstarted in martial arts?
(12:46):
I actually started in Louisiana.
I go to visit family everysummer break and I visit my grandparents
in Louisiana.
And while I was there, she hadasked me, like, do you want to do
any sports?
Are you interested in anything?
And I had said just for fun,like karate.
And we found a taekwondoschool out there, and I started there
for.
I only did for like two days.
(13:07):
And then I came back and I waslike, I want to continue this.
So we found a school that wasjust 10 minutes away.
That is awesome.
Well, thank you.
For grandparents, right?
Like that, That's.
And so how long have you beendoing martial arts now?
Seven years now.
I just hit seven years.
Seven years.
Congratulations.
Very nice.
Well, it seems like thatsummer trip turned out well for you.
(13:31):
You.
You're one of these athletesthat the brand ambassadors have picked.
We love interviewing theseathletes for you.
What's one of your favoritethings you like to do in martial
arts?
Just as a whole, and thenwe'll talk about tournament.
I love xma, mainly extreme forms.
That's definitely my category.
Um, I love tricking.
I love creating forms to music.
(13:52):
It's just.
It's so much fun.
Very cool.
Okay, so I'm gonna guessthat's your favorite event for tournaments
then.
Yes, sir.
Okay, what's.
What would be your.
I don't like to say, leastfavorite because we all, you know,
you know, everything's great.
We love kicking people anddoing all kinds of things.
But what would be the eventthat would be maybe at the.
(14:14):
Maybe not at the top of the list.
Maybe traditional weapons.
Okay.
Okay, interesting.
Do you do extreme or creativeweapons at all?
No, sir.
I just do open hand.
You like the open hand weapons?
Yeah.
Too much.
You.
You can't drop your open hands.
You know, I mean, that's.
(14:36):
It's much easier to hold on to those.
Cool.
Now when you are creating aform, an extreme form, actually hold
on before I ask that.
Any titles.
Do you got any titles so far?
I do.
I have state titles anddistrict titles.
Very good.
So I'm guessing one of ourgoals is going for one of those elusive
(14:58):
red letters.
Yes, sir.
I'm trying.
Yeah.
No, it's tough.
What.
What age division are you in?
I am in.
I'm 15, so I'm in the.
15 to 17.
To 17.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15 to 17.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's a tough one.
Yes.
That's not an easy division.
Yeah.
(15:18):
Okay.
So you create your form.
You.
I was talking to somebody,actually, just last week.
Do you do music before?
Do you do music after?
Do you do a little mix?
How do you.
How do you do your music choice?
I prefer to have my musicbefore I start creating the form.
That way, when there's, like.
(15:39):
Especially for the intro,that's really important for me because
there's all the, like, moredramatic parts of the form in the
intro, and it's easier tocreate whatever I have to when I
have the music and the beats already.
That makes sense that.
That I've heard people do itboth ways, and I'm always a little
(16:00):
interested in being like, ooh,what's your process?
And how do you do that?
And how do you pick music foryour extreme?
I'll just find a song that Ireally like that I think has a good
upbeat that people around myring would like vibe to, and then
I'll ask to get it mixed.
Cool.
And when you.
When you plan your extremeform, are you.
(16:24):
What kind of vibe do you liketo do?
Like, how did you pick?
Like, you know, you have somepeople who are very.
Like, the intensity is just sohigh, and then you have some that
are a little more on theplayful side and, you know, these
different vibes.
First of all, how did you,like, decide what works for you?
And do you.
Do you ever changed?
(16:46):
I definitely started off a lotmore serious.
My songs were very intense andslow with, like, a lot of big beat
drops, I'd say.
But I think I've started toget more into that, like, fun vibe
recently.
Just so that I feel like themore fun that your song is, your
(17:08):
mix is, the more the crowdrecognizes you.
And it's just.
I think it improves your score overall.
I. I think it's fun to watchthese different forms and just the
different vibes that peoplehave with it.
And I think you're probably right.
Like, I think the intensity iseasier to start with because you
can, like, just push theintensity, and the fun might be a
(17:30):
Little harder, a little more vulnerable.
It's a little different that way.
So have you new tournamentseason started?
Do you start with a new form?
Do you take your old form andjust keep using that or tweak it?
What's your process as youenter a new season?
Yeah, I have changed my formula.
(17:52):
I keep the same form.
I'll just take like certainsegments and I'll switch them up
a little bit, make certainhand combinations different, certain
kicks or add things, or I'llswap out flips for harder tricks
that I've learned.
Just make the form morecomplicated but not too tiring for
me to perform.
That's good.
(18:12):
Yeah, that's good.
I've seen some people gas outin the middle of their forms before
and it's not good.
Yeah.
Now tricking, what.
What's like your favoritetrick kind of to throw?
I'd say I just landed my cartfull a few times, so I'd say definitely
that one as of Right.
Other than that, I really dolike flash kicks.
(18:34):
Those are cool.
Those look great.
They're just such a cool kick.
Okay, what kind of goals areyou looking at for maybe this season
as a.
As a tournament competitor orjust in your martial arts career?
All around.
Yeah, of course.
World champion is definitelyup there.
I say every time I go to atournament, I want to at least place
(19:00):
in extreme forms.
Of course, if I don't place inthe other categories that I do compete
in, it's still.
I still want to train harderand like, improve myself for those.
But extreme forms isdefinitely like my main thing.
I always reach to get first atevery tournament for that and then
(19:20):
just rack my points up andhopefully take it to worlds.
Smart.
What if you had to pick one ofthe traditional events?
That's your.
Your top traditional event.
What event would that be?
Probably traditional forms.
That's.
That's cool.
I. I was interviewing one ofthe athletes just recently, and he
(19:41):
was talking about howtraditional forms is like, one of
the things he doesn't like at all.
And I was like, that's such a.
Just such a disconnect.
But he likes being creative somuch that creative form or traditional
forms is just too much in a box.
And like, I get that, but Ikind of.
Yeah, go ahead.
I'd say that traditional formsdefinitely helps your creative form
(20:03):
or extreme form a lot becauseonce you know all the techniques
and everything, it justtransfers over so much easier.
I see.
I'm with you there.
I think it's that and makingsure you have the clean technique
on your traditional form justgoes to the extreme form.
If you don't have a clean,traditional form, like, your chances
of having a clean, extremeform are probably not great.
(20:25):
Yes.
I don't know.
I don't have a title onextreme, so.
Okay.
Hey, what.
What's it mean to you to be a.
An athlete that goes beyondthe belt?
To me, I say going beyond thebelt means remembering that the belt,
each belt, is a milestone andnot the finish line.
(20:46):
I feel like a lot of kidsthink like, oh, I can't wait to get
this new belt.
Or like, it's not aboutcollecting belts or ranks.
It's more so like, each beltshows your progress and like, you
get stronger both mentally andphysically along the way.
I love that.
Yes.
Yeah, it's not a, you know,belt aren't an end goal.
(21:08):
They're just a marker on the way.
So, ma', am, thank you so muchfor your time today.
Thank you for being aninspiration for ATA nation and congratulations.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you for your time as well.
I hope that athlete was justas inspiring as all our other athletes
(21:29):
to you.
So cool every week getting tosee these amazing athletes.
Make sure you guys arefollowing all of the brand ambassadors
on Instagram, putting somereally cool things out there.
Not only, obviously theirambassador corner that comes out
every Thursday.
And you can watch thatambassador corner.
As a short, if you aresubscribed to the ATA's YouTube channel,
(21:50):
we would love for you to headover to YouTube, go to ATA Martial
Arts, and make sure you hitthe subscribe button.
We right now we've gotsomething like 33.5 thousand subscribers.
And to me, that's.
That's silly.
We should be having way morethan that with all the students in
the ATA.
100,000.
That's what we want.
A hundred thousand subscribers.
Go over there, hit thatsubscribe button.
(22:10):
You'll get this podcastepisode video every week on there,
you'll get the athlete.
Excuse me, the ambassadorscorner as shorts, other clips, things
going on.
And then later, we've got someother stuff we'll be putting out
there as well.
So head over to the YouTube channel.
Make sure you hit thesubscribe button, and until next
(22:33):
week, get out there and gobeyond the bell.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
Not one, but two greatinterviews this episode.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Welcome back to the Ata Nation podcast.
This is episode 168.
(00:22):
It is a pleasure to have youwith us all students, instructors,
parents, fans of ATA martial arts.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I am your host, Senior MasterZach Hayden.
And today we have an amazingshow ready for you.
I've got a fantastic interviewwith my friend Senior Master Burns
to start out with.
And then we have, of course,our amazing athlete of the week,
(00:44):
picked by the ATA brand ambassadors.
Lots of cool stuff.
Don't forget, fall nationalsis right around the corner.
There's still time to register.
I think we're.
We're past the deadline forthe, you know, the regular price.
I think it's on to late orhigher price.
I don't know what the name ofthe pricing is, but that doesn't
(01:06):
mean that you can't still signup and attend.
We would love to see you in Pittsburgh.
And then there's lots of otherevents coming up.
Just a couple episodes ago, wetalked with director of Training
Chief Master Skiles about allthe different things coming up across
the country over the nextcouple of months, from virtual trainings
(01:27):
to Camp Jong Su to the Huliclassic, all kinds of awesome things.
So make sure you're subscribedto the YouTube page for ATA martial
arts and of course, all oftheir social media channels.
So you're getting theinformation as it comes out.
You're not missing anything.
Make sure you're subscribed tothis because we want to make sure
(01:48):
that we inform you as well ofall the cool things going on.
Now, let's get to our first interview.
Okay.
ATA Nation.
I have with us a great friendof mine, Senior Master Burns.
How are you, sir?
I'm great, sir.
Nice to see you.
Yeah, always a pleasure.
Yeah.
So I'd like to just get alittle background on how you started
(02:11):
martial arts.
You want to be a Ninja Turtle, right?
That's where it started.
No, no, I didn't want to be aNinja Turtle.
It was.
They weren't.
They hadn't started yet, youknow, now you're aging yourself.
Yeah, no, it was kung futheater on mornings.
Okay.
And Sunday mornings afterchurch, I come home, and Kung Fu
theater would be on USA Network.
Is that even still a network?
I don't even know.
(02:32):
I don't know what are networks.
So I would see all these,like, really crazy kung fu movies,
and they're just doing allthis, like, awesome stuff.
And this was back in the 80s, right.
And so then in 89, my mom wasworking at a Chinese restaurant and
there was an ATA school thatopened up in the basement.
Okay, Chinese restaurant.
(02:52):
And so it sounds like a movieitself, right?
Yeah, that's how I started.
That's how I started.
But the school was not run byan Asian in the basement.
No, no, it was Clyde Presley,actually, his brother, Ray Presley.
But Clyde was the one that.
That ran that school.
And the late Kathy Calver, shejust passed away recently at the
(03:13):
beginning of this year.
So.
But yeah, that's how I startedmy ATA journey.
I've been in the ATA ever since.
Ever since.
Yeah, all ata.
I've seen it all.
Well, I've seen it all, butI've seen a majority of it all.
Yeah.
And you.
Have you started your schoolowner career.
What did you.
How early in your martial artswere you like, man, it'd be cool
(03:35):
if I got to teach this?
You know, this is the funnything is, like, everybody this week
I've had a conversation with.
It's gotten to that, when didyou decide or how long have you been
doing this and why did you do it?
Right?
And it's the same thing I tell them.
I go.
It was when I got my orangebelt, I was sitting and Mr. Presley
at the time was like talking,like into us, right?
(03:58):
He was like just speakinggreat values into us.
And it was that moment I waslike, I want to be him.
Not him as the martial artistthat could kick really high, super
fast, really good.
I mean, this is a guy thatcame to my.
Brought me home one day afterclass and jumped up and kicked the
backboard of my basketball hoop.
I mean, just standing under.
He's amazing athlete.
But it was how he empoweredme, how he gave me purpose.
(04:20):
And it was that moment I said,I want to be him.
I want to do that for other people.
And so that's always been my dream.
And then, you know, I workedfor Master Beisel at his school,
came up through his throughoutthe years, and then in 99, started
the process of.
Once I got certified at thelast certification camp.
I know I was jealous I didn'tmake that one.
I was too young.
(04:40):
I was.
But then opened the firstschool in Kalamazoo, 2000, so.
And now you are in Tennessee.
Yes, Franklin, Tennessee.
Franklin, Tennessee, Justoutside of Nashville.
Yeah, I know.
I was.
I was down in Tennessee on vacation.
Yeah.
Not that long ago.
A couple weeks ago.
And I was like, how far couldI go?
Dang it.
I can't take the day to go Over.
(05:01):
We were in.
I don't even remember now.
No, we were just in the hills somewhere.
Just in the hills.
In the hills.
We were just.
We were just sitting by ourselves.
There was a Buc ee's nearby, so.
Oh, yeah, that's great.
So I didn't make it to the BUCEE's this time.
I've been there.
But the.
So you've got honor martialarts there.
(05:22):
Yes.
And relatively new Ish school.
I mean, depends on how youcategorize new year.
A year.
Okay.
That is newer than I even wasthinking, which is.
And kicking butt.
I mean, I've seen your people here.
Really good.
How would you tell somebodyright now?
Like.
Like your instructor did originally.
(05:44):
Like, if they're interested inthis, what do they do?
What are the.
How can you inspire somebodyto go.
Like, maybe the next step forme is becoming an instructor.
So when it comes to that, it'show they feel they can utilize their
purpose.
Right.
If they don't even understandthat their purpose is whether it's
in a martial arts format likeours, there's basically two purposes.
(06:07):
You either become aninstructor or you become a competitor.
Right.
Other than that, you just.
You train to become a black belt.
Yeah.
Or.
And then it just kind of peaksat a certain point.
And then even in the athleterealm, that kind of peaks.
So it's like, well, what doyou want to do with all the knowledge
you have?
Right.
And do you want all of thatknowledge to stop with you?
(06:28):
And so it comes from.
From us as the chiefinstructor or the instructor, for
our students to empower themwith understanding that the culture
is about expansion.
Right.
Expanding all of the knowledgewe have.
Right.
If we gain knowledge and wedon't give it to somebody else, that's
a very selfish way of lookingat it.
(06:49):
And it stops the flow like a.
Candle just to myself insteadof lighting somebody else's.
Right.
And it's like, if you havesomething good, why would you not
want to give it to us people?
Right.
And create an opportunity oran environment for others to experience
the greatness that you are.
And so when we are able toinstill that into the students, especially
in that teen demographic from13 to where.
(07:13):
You feel a little lost anyway,and have that.
Find that purpose to be ableto share with others and something
bigger than yourself.
I mean, think about all thethings that get thrown at you.
You're.
You're going through, youknow, just hormonal stuff at teens.
Right.
And then you're going intohigh school.
You're.
You're you're transitioningthrough different friends.
You're.
Now, maybe you want a job,maybe you want a car.
(07:34):
Oh, now you got to startthinking about college or you.
All these things are gettingthrown at you.
It's like one of the mostpivotal points in a child's life
for, and, and.
Or a pre adult life.
Right.
So if we as instructors don'tgive them another option of being
like, look, you've been doingthis for 10 years.
Look at all you can do with.
This and how it's.
There's so much in that, the,the teen years especially, that ends
(07:58):
up being this.
Like, once you're done being ateen, all the stuff is gone.
You don't get to do any ofthese things anymore.
Right.
And so they, you know, youhave these people who are like, it's
the best years of your life orwhatever, which, if my teenage years
were the best years of mylife, like, what a horrible life
I would have had.
But they.
You can give them a vision forsomething that is something that
(08:19):
you can carry on for another20 years, 30 years, where there's
so much in that time that isfleeting as a teenager.
Also, I see your crew, you gota bunch of teenagers that have been
here, that have been around,I've been seeing.
So you're really making animpact there in that age.
And it's from speaking intothem and giving them other options.
(08:42):
Yeah, we have so much moreability as ATA instructors, especially
because we have the resourcesthat help us sharpen our saw, like
our life skills book, ourLegacy Pro book.
All of that information is there.
Now, if you only take thatinformation and you only use it as
it is, it may not be enough.
You have to go and research more.
You have to go outside of thatbox, outside of your comfort zone
(09:04):
of what you were just givenand expand on it and make it make
it better.
But the thing is, is that, youknow, some of these kids will come
to you and they'll be like,well, I just don't feel comfortable
in front of people.
And you go, well, don't you doX amount creative?
Well, I don't have the charisma.
Don't you do creative and extreme?
You've got charisma.
Do you.
Okay, maybe it's not the onesthat compete, sir.
(09:26):
I don't know if I have acommanding voice.
All right, do your form.
Yes, sir.
And then all of a sudden theyanswer yes or really loud.
Even if they have one wordthat they say really loud, they have
the ability to build thecharisma and the behavior they need.
And it just takes four key things.
Right.
Confidence, which we givethem, connection, which is our community.
Right.
Compassion.
To know that not everybody'sgoing to be you, but can learn from
(09:50):
you.
Right.
And that's probably the.
Do you think that's the harderone to, to teach in that age group?
Yes, because it's just at thatage, you're just full of you anyways.
I mean, what's your.
Try to figure yourself out?
I don't know, Getting themthat compassion to go look at this
through other people's lenses,through, you know, how, you know,
give them a little grace.
That kind of thing is probablya tough one.
(10:11):
Well, and one of the, one of the.
My, one of my pressure pointsI put on my teens is they're getting.
They want acceptance fromtheir peers and from outside, but
when they walk in the schooland they hear, Mr. Perez, you're
here.
I'm so glad you're here, andthey're hearing it from these kids,
(10:33):
they forget that that's more powerful.
That's more powerful.
And that's what I try to getthem to see and expand their, their
focus.
Right.
Because I'm like, if you wantto sharpen your focus, expand your
view.
Right.
And so I'm like, look at it inthe bigger picture and you're going
to see where you can put yourfocus better.
But that last component is conviction.
(10:53):
Giving them the conviction,which is hard.
Teens don't have a high levelof discernment.
And so we want to help themwith that, you know, as well.
And you know, I, I don't want to.
I want to.
I don't want to super speak orpre frame too much, but there's a
high probability we havesomething super exciting happening
(11:14):
in Pittsburgh that'sspecifically for that, that, that
group, that demographic.
Excellent.
And I think it's.
It's been long overdue andneeded in our organization, and I'm
really, really excited to be apart of it.
That's exciting.
And I think if I can giveanything, it's to build a stronger
community in that group.
Awesome.
It's going to help with that.
(11:35):
Very cool.
Well, I'm going to leave it atthat teaser then, because that's
a good place to end.
You don't want to missPittsburgh, then make sure you head
out to Pittsburgh.
Master Burns, always a pleasure.
Love it, sir.
Love what you're doing.
Thanks.
Thanks, Hea nation.
Thank you, sir.
Well, it was great to sit downwith my friend, senior Master Burns,
(11:57):
at world championships andjust get to talk about all the awesome
things, you know, ata, what weget to do, where we start.
Anyways.
Always a blast.
Looking forward to seeing allmy ATA friends out in Pittsburgh.
You know, we haven't signed up.
You know, there's still time.
But let's get to our athletesof the week.
(12:24):
ATA nation.
We're back with anotherawesome athlete of the week.
Ma', am, can you introduce yourself?
Yes, of course.
I am Bailey Legler and a thirddegree black belt, and I go to an
academy in Buckeye, Arizona.
Oh, and who's your.
Your.
Who's your instructor downthere in Arizona?
Mr. Delgado.
Excellent.
Okay.
And hey, how did you getstarted in martial arts?
(12:46):
I actually started in Louisiana.
I go to visit family everysummer break and I visit my grandparents
in Louisiana.
And while I was there, she hadasked me, like, do you want to do
any sports?
Are you interested in anything?
And I had said just for fun,like karate.
And we found a taekwondoschool out there, and I started there
for.
I only did for like two days.
(13:07):
And then I came back and I waslike, I want to continue this.
So we found a school that wasjust 10 minutes away.
That is awesome.
Well, thank you.
For grandparents, right?
Like that, That's.
And so how long have you beendoing martial arts now?
Seven years now.
I just hit seven years.
Seven years.
Congratulations.
Very nice.
Well, it seems like thatsummer trip turned out well for you.
(13:31):
You.
You're one of these athletesthat the brand ambassadors have picked.
We love interviewing theseathletes for you.
What's one of your favoritethings you like to do in martial
arts?
Just as a whole, and thenwe'll talk about tournament.
I love xma, mainly extreme forms.
That's definitely my category.
Um, I love tricking.
I love creating forms to music.
(13:52):
It's just.
It's so much fun.
Very cool.
Okay, so I'm gonna guessthat's your favorite event for tournaments
then.
Yes, sir.
Okay, what's.
What would be your.
I don't like to say, leastfavorite because we all, you know,
you know, everything's great.
We love kicking people anddoing all kinds of things.
But what would be the eventthat would be maybe at the.
(14:14):
Maybe not at the top of the list.
Maybe traditional weapons.
Okay.
Okay, interesting.
Do you do extreme or creativeweapons at all?
No, sir.
I just do open hand.
You like the open hand weapons?
Yeah.
Too much.
You.
You can't drop your open hands.
You know, I mean, that's.
(14:36):
It's much easier to hold on to those.
Cool.
Now when you are creating aform, an extreme form, actually hold
on before I ask that.
Any titles.
Do you got any titles so far?
I do.
I have state titles anddistrict titles.
Very good.
So I'm guessing one of ourgoals is going for one of those elusive
(14:58):
red letters.
Yes, sir.
I'm trying.
Yeah.
No, it's tough.
What.
What age division are you in?
I am in.
I'm 15, so I'm in the.
15 to 17.
To 17.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15 to 17.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's a tough one.
Yes.
That's not an easy division.
Yeah.
(15:18):
Okay.
So you create your form.
You.
I was talking to somebody,actually, just last week.
Do you do music before?
Do you do music after?
Do you do a little mix?
How do you.
How do you do your music choice?
I prefer to have my musicbefore I start creating the form.
That way, when there's, like.
(15:39):
Especially for the intro,that's really important for me because
there's all the, like, moredramatic parts of the form in the
intro, and it's easier tocreate whatever I have to when I
have the music and the beats already.
That makes sense that.
That I've heard people do itboth ways, and I'm always a little
(16:00):
interested in being like, ooh,what's your process?
And how do you do that?
And how do you pick music foryour extreme?
I'll just find a song that Ireally like that I think has a good
upbeat that people around myring would like vibe to, and then
I'll ask to get it mixed.
Cool.
And when you.
When you plan your extremeform, are you.
(16:24):
What kind of vibe do you liketo do?
Like, how did you pick?
Like, you know, you have somepeople who are very.
Like, the intensity is just sohigh, and then you have some that
are a little more on theplayful side and, you know, these
different vibes.
First of all, how did you,like, decide what works for you?
And do you.
Do you ever changed?
(16:46):
I definitely started off a lotmore serious.
My songs were very intense andslow with, like, a lot of big beat
drops, I'd say.
But I think I've started toget more into that, like, fun vibe
recently.
Just so that I feel like themore fun that your song is, your
(17:08):
mix is, the more the crowdrecognizes you.
And it's just.
I think it improves your score overall.
I. I think it's fun to watchthese different forms and just the
different vibes that peoplehave with it.
And I think you're probably right.
Like, I think the intensity iseasier to start with because you
can, like, just push theintensity, and the fun might be a
(17:30):
Little harder, a little more vulnerable.
It's a little different that way.
So have you new tournamentseason started?
Do you start with a new form?
Do you take your old form andjust keep using that or tweak it?
What's your process as youenter a new season?
Yeah, I have changed my formula.
(17:52):
I keep the same form.
I'll just take like certainsegments and I'll switch them up
a little bit, make certainhand combinations different, certain
kicks or add things, or I'llswap out flips for harder tricks
that I've learned.
Just make the form morecomplicated but not too tiring for
me to perform.
That's good.
(18:12):
Yeah, that's good.
I've seen some people gas outin the middle of their forms before
and it's not good.
Yeah.
Now tricking, what.
What's like your favoritetrick kind of to throw?
I'd say I just landed my cartfull a few times, so I'd say definitely
that one as of Right.
Other than that, I really dolike flash kicks.
(18:34):
Those are cool.
Those look great.
They're just such a cool kick.
Okay, what kind of goals areyou looking at for maybe this season
as a.
As a tournament competitor orjust in your martial arts career?
All around.
Yeah, of course.
World champion is definitelyup there.
I say every time I go to atournament, I want to at least place
(19:00):
in extreme forms.
Of course, if I don't place inthe other categories that I do compete
in, it's still.
I still want to train harderand like, improve myself for those.
But extreme forms isdefinitely like my main thing.
I always reach to get first atevery tournament for that and then
(19:20):
just rack my points up andhopefully take it to worlds.
Smart.
What if you had to pick one ofthe traditional events?
That's your.
Your top traditional event.
What event would that be?
Probably traditional forms.
That's.
That's cool.
I. I was interviewing one ofthe athletes just recently, and he
(19:41):
was talking about howtraditional forms is like, one of
the things he doesn't like at all.
And I was like, that's such a.
Just such a disconnect.
But he likes being creative somuch that creative form or traditional
forms is just too much in a box.
And like, I get that, but Ikind of.
Yeah, go ahead.
I'd say that traditional formsdefinitely helps your creative form
(20:03):
or extreme form a lot becauseonce you know all the techniques
and everything, it justtransfers over so much easier.
I see.
I'm with you there.
I think it's that and makingsure you have the clean technique
on your traditional form justgoes to the extreme form.
If you don't have a clean,traditional form, like, your chances
of having a clean, extremeform are probably not great.
(20:25):
Yes.
I don't know.
I don't have a title onextreme, so.
Okay.
Hey, what.
What's it mean to you to be a.
An athlete that goes beyondthe belt?
To me, I say going beyond thebelt means remembering that the belt,
each belt, is a milestone andnot the finish line.
(20:46):
I feel like a lot of kidsthink like, oh, I can't wait to get
this new belt.
Or like, it's not aboutcollecting belts or ranks.
It's more so like, each beltshows your progress and like, you
get stronger both mentally andphysically along the way.
I love that.
Yes.
Yeah, it's not a, you know,belt aren't an end goal.
(21:08):
They're just a marker on the way.
So, ma', am, thank you so muchfor your time today.
Thank you for being aninspiration for ATA nation and congratulations.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you for your time as well.
I hope that athlete was justas inspiring as all our other athletes
(21:29):
to you.
So cool every week getting tosee these amazing athletes.
Make sure you guys arefollowing all of the brand ambassadors
on Instagram, putting somereally cool things out there.
Not only, obviously theirambassador corner that comes out
every Thursday.
And you can watch thatambassador corner.
As a short, if you aresubscribed to the ATA's YouTube channel,
(21:50):
we would love for you to headover to YouTube, go to ATA Martial
Arts, and make sure you hitthe subscribe button.
We right now we've gotsomething like 33.5 thousand subscribers.
And to me, that's.
That's silly.
We should be having way morethan that with all the students in
the ATA.
100,000.
That's what we want.
A hundred thousand subscribers.
Go over there, hit thatsubscribe button.
(22:10):
You'll get this podcastepisode video every week on there,
you'll get the athlete.
Excuse me, the ambassadorscorner as shorts, other clips, things
going on.
And then later, we've got someother stuff we'll be putting out
there as well.
So head over to the YouTube channel.
Make sure you hit thesubscribe button, and until next
(22:33):
week, get out there and gobeyond the bell.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
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