September 26, 2025 • 21 mins
The upcoming Nationals event looms large on the horizon, prompting an engaging discussion among our hosts, Senior Master Zach Hayden, Milani Sookhoo, and Daniel Penton. This episode features insightful interviews with accomplished martial artists, including our Athlete of the Week, Milani Sookhoo, whose journey in Taekwondo showcases the transformative power of martial arts. We delve into her aspirations, training experiences, and the crucial life skills she has cultivated through her practice, emphasizing the significance of self-esteem and communication. Additionally, we are privileged to hear from Daniel Penton, a sixth-degree black belt and six-time world champion, who shares his reflections on personal growth and the importance of integrity in martial arts instruction. Together, we explore the vibrant community that unites us as we prepare for the forthcoming competitions and the valuable lessons learned along the way.
Takeaways:
- The upcoming Nationals event is a significant focus for the ATA community, emphasizing the importance of preparation and participation.
- Milani Sookhoo's journey into martial arts began with a reluctance that transformed into passion, demonstrating how initial apprehensions can lead to profound dedication.
- Daniel Penton, a sixth-degree black belt, exemplifies the integration of personal goals with martial arts, showcasing the significance of self-improvement.
- The podcast highlights the value of attributes learned through Taekwondo, such as self-esteem, discipline, and respect, which extend beyond martial arts and into daily life.
- The discussion reveals the impact of effective communication skills in martial arts training, as they contribute to both personal and professional growth.
- The concept of focus is illustrated through the metaphor of rockets, emphasizing that channeling energy in a positive direction is crucial for achieving one's goals.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Nationals is around thecorner, and we have another double
header for you.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation Podcast.
ATA Nation.
Welcome back to anotherawesome episode of the ATA Nation
(00:21):
podcast.
I am your host, Senior MasterZach Hayden, and I am thrilled to
be back with you.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen,have you checked out all of the ATA
social media platforms?
I know I say this all the time.
I know you're probably sick ofme saying it, but I was just uploading
a cool short to the ATA andyou should check them out.
If you're not subscribed onYouTube, make sure you check out
the YouTube channel.
(00:41):
Also, Chief Master Skiles waslive today as I make this recording
on the ATAs YouTube andFacebook page.
So if you haven't hit thosesubscribe buttons, you are missing
out.
All nationals right around the corner.
We're going to talk a littlebit about that right here after we've
got two awesome interviews.
We're going to start with ourathlete of the week, and then from
(01:04):
there, we're going to go to aninterview I did with a great friend
of the 18 Nation podcast, afan, a guy who's listened from, I
don't know, probably thebeginning, and was an awesome interview
I got to do at WorldChampionship, pulling it out to share
with you guys today.
So let's get to our awesomeinterviews at Nation.
(01:26):
We are excited to have anotherawesome athlete with us today.
Ma', am, can you introduceyourself for us?
Yes.
Hi, my name is Melanie Sugu.
I'm a Frisco black belt and Itrain at Excelsior Martial Arts in
Valparaiso, Indiana.
Excelsior Martial Arts, Valparaiso.
Who's your instructor over there?
Master Harrington.
Master Harrington.
You make sure you tell him Isaid hi because Master Harrington
(01:50):
and I went through ourmastership training together.
We had a great time.
He's a fun guy.
Master Harrington, so you havea free Saturday today.
That means you're not at atournament, which is a rare occurrence
in the fall, right?
Yes.
So before we get to kind ofyour athletic skills and the things
that you're working on, howdid you get into martial arts?
(02:12):
So my brother really wanted totry jiu jitsu, but he was younger
at the time, and my taekwondoinstructor at the time was like,
just try Taekwondo.
So he tried it, and then mymom wanted me to try it too, and
I was like, no, I do not wantto do it because I was not willing
to do it.
(02:32):
So I finally did it, and Iactually started liking it, and I,
like, now love it.
So much I breathe, sleep it.
I could do it for like everyday of my life.
So, you know, sometimes thosefirst opinions we have about something
just.
Just aren't quite right.
Yes.
So, you know, the tournamentseason's in full swing.
(02:55):
You got a free Saturday today,but usually you're out at a tournament.
What event at a tournament isthe thing that like really gets you
going.
I love extreme weapons becauseI like, love my bow staff.
I've only been doing it sincelike September, but I fell in love
with it ever since.
Okay, so now I have a.
This is a strange questionabout your experience.
(03:16):
Do you have a bow staff thatis like, you're like, this is the
bo staff.
I have to do it with this.
It's a metallic one and I love it.
Gotcha.
And do you, do you alwaystrain with the same one or do you
have other ones you train with?
And then this is like mycompetition BO staff.
I use the same one, but Iprobably need to get a new one so
(03:37):
I don't break it.
But yeah, very cool.
And you said extreme weaponsis your thing, so you like to throw
it up, do all those trickswhere you can release it.
What's your favorite thing todo tricky wise with your bo staff?
I like to pick it up with myfoot because I feel like not most
people can do it.
And I feel like it's really cool.
Very cool.
Excellent.
And what about like, if we'relooking at tournaments and saying,
(03:59):
hey, the event that is maybenot my favorite event, what would
that be?
Sparring.
I know it's Taekwondo and it'sfighting, but I don't really like
doing that.
I love combat, but sparring isjust not my thing.
Not your thing?
You know what, I love that,you know, when I started, combat
wasn't a thing.
You know, we didn't have, youknow, the combat bong monkey.
(04:19):
And so there wasn't really anoutlet if you didn't like regular
sparring.
You know, the combat is likesuch a great intermediate between
like the full regular sparringand still getting the gear on and
getting to whack people and whatever.
So do you do any team eventwith combat?
No, I do not.
No, you're like, no, I wantto, I want to throw my, I want to
(04:40):
throw my bow staff around.
Did you, what, what about last season?
You said your bo staff is new.
Did you do some extremelycreative last.
So like my first liketournament was like, I did recreational.
I just started doingchampionship last year, September.
So like, I really was like,not like as like used to doing streams.
(05:04):
So I tried doing it and I fellin love with it because I love, like,
freestyling and I love theforms, but, like, making them is
so much cooler.
Gotcha.
Yeah, that, that, that makes sense.
Very cool that you're newerthe competition scene.
What kind of goals do you havefor this season?
I really want to get a title.
(05:25):
Last year in extreme weapons,I was one point away, but I really
want to get a title ratherthat state district or hopefully
worlds one day.
And yeah, I just really wantto get a title and I love doing it.
That's awesome.
Now, what about, like, goalsthat you might have outside of the
competition circuit?
(05:46):
Do you have things on newbelts, you know, training, that kind
of stuff?
What kind of goals do you haveat the school?
So right now I'm a Level 0 instructor.
I have the red collar and I would.
I love teaching.
I love, like the tigers andteaching the students.
And my goal is to hopehopefully one day open a school because
I love teaching it.
Excellent.
(06:06):
That is a fantastic goal anddefinitely an achievable goal.
So many great young people setthat goal.
And, you know, with all theopportunities we have in the ata,
it'd be awesome to watch youopen a school someday.
Now, as an athlete, as a, youknow, a martial artist, what's it
mean to you to be somebody whothat goes beyond the belt?
(06:28):
So going beyond the belt meansfor me is all those attributes that
you learn in Taekwondo, likeself esteem, discipline, respect,
communication.
You have to use it throughoutyour whole entire, like, life.
Like I do dance.
You have to do it in dance Taekwondo.
And you show that black beltattitude or a colorbell attitude
wherever you go.
You show how to perseverethrough everything and have all those
(06:48):
attributes.
Excellent.
I love that.
Now actually, speaking ofthose awesome attributes, sometimes
I like to see, you know, I wastalking to my leadership students
a little last night and wewere talking about some determination
with self esteem and stufflike that.
And what is the attribute orthe, the life skill that you like,
(07:09):
really love?
Like, it's the one that yousee and you're like, yeah, that's
the.
I like.
That's the one that I, I go to.
I would say self esteem,because you don't have anything without
self esteem.
You have to believe inyourself and that's all you have
to do.
You will get everywhere.
Yes.
No, that's super important.
I mean, self esteem, it startswith that believing in yourself.
Now, what about.
Okay, now it could be the sameone, but for a lot of us, we look
(07:32):
at Those life skills and wego, that's the one I need to work
on more sometimes.
It's the one that we like thebest too, that we have to work on
more.
But what, what's the one foryou that you might, you might see
and you're like, yeah, I gottaspend a little more time on that
one.
For me, I would saycommunication, because I'm not as
social as I would like to be.
And like, with taekwondo, Ilove doing taekwondo, but like, I
(07:56):
feel like I could be betterwith communicating and like, I just
think communication.
Yeah, no, that's a great one.
I, I love that you up andit's, it is, I think one that a lot
of us when we get started inTaekwondo is, is struggling with
sometimes.
You know, I was not a greatcommunicator, you know, being real
shy and whatnot and martialarts helped with that.
(08:17):
But like you said, it startswith that self esteem.
You know, you've got to buildthat self esteem to be able to be
more confident in yourcommunication, stuff like that.
So I love that.
It's just so neat to see othermartial artists that are training,
working hard.
We, we see guys at tournamentsand, and you know, it's an inspiration
and it's important for all ofour athletes and all of our martial
artists to see people as realhumans, not just like, oh, you're
(08:41):
always great at these things.
You know, sometimes westruggle with different things and
that's nice to hear sometimes.
So, hey, congratulations onbeing chosen and one of these athletes
of the week.
What a great thing and thankyou so much for your time today.
Thanks.
Have a good day.
Hi, ATA Nation.
We have an awesome guest withus today, a loyal podcast fan.
(09:04):
Absolutely.
Introduce yourself, sir.
Hi, I'm Daniel Penton.
I'm a fifth degree black belt.
I just tested for sixth degreeyesterday and I'm a six time world
champion.
You tested for sixth degree yesterday?
Yes, sir.
Were you in my pod?
You were in my pod?
I was, sir, yeah.
I recommended some people forthe podcast.
Yeah, yeah, that was excellent.
Very good.
So how do you feel about your testing?
I feel, I think possibly thebest way is I feel a level of certainty
(09:27):
that I did my best and that mybest was good enough and also that
there's room for improvement.
Excellent.
That is a great, a great mindset.
I think so often we have atesting and then we like beat ourselves
up or we do, you know, I'malways a little pessimistic about
my.
I'm always like, what's the lowest.
I think I Could have gottenthe highest.
(09:48):
We're all acutely aware of ourfaults and flaws usually.
Yes.
Yeah.
I do remember your sparring match.
There were some good sparringmatches that you had in testing yesterday.
So World Championships, you are.
What'd you say, six time?
Yes, sir.
I've won six.
Six titles total.
Did you compete TOC this year?
(10:09):
Yes, sir.
How'd it go?
Well, it was.
Oh, yeah, somebody's laughing.
It was an opportunity todemonstrate fortitude.
And I was.
I was.
After my testing, I competedin the forms competition, and I hit
my first step spin heel kick,and the mat was so slippery I almost
wiped out.
But I kind of, like caughtmyself and continued on.
(10:31):
But the almost fall was enoughto knock me off the top of the podium,
and I ended up in a tie forthird place with the legendary Max
Van Eck.
And, you know, what a great competitor.
Anyway, we both did our formsagain, and I was fortunate to have
two votes my way and one votehis way.
But it was a great experience.
Well, I'm going to say that ifyou're going to leave World Championships
(10:51):
this year with either a titleor a sixth degree, I personally would
want to go with the sixth street.
That's just my thought, but,you know, to each his own.
Well, I went to Camp Jiangsuthis last.
Yes.
And one of the things that Igot from Chief Master Wegman was
that you should pick fourtargets for your life.
One in your Taekwondo career,one in your personal life, and then,
(11:13):
you know, two more like just.
Just have these differentareas that you're shooting for.
And the one I've been writingdown all year is test for 6, 3 black
belt.
So that was the number one.
That was the top.
That was the priority.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Good, good, good.
I'm sure you'll be anxiouslyawaiting results from at headquarters.
Well, you know, I know thatthey take some time, which is fine,
and I will just be patiently waiting.
(11:35):
I don't.
I don't have anxiety aboutsuch thing.
Of course not.
I will say that the amount oftime it takes them now is like half
the amount of time it used totake them years ago.
It used to be like two months.
Feel like it was forever andwe were dying.
So it's a little better now.
So how is.
You're a school owner, you'rejust recently rebranded.
This episode will probablycome out after our business beyond
(11:58):
the Mat episode about rebranding.
How's Rocket Taekwondo doing?
So Rocket Taekwondo is doingreally well.
We had this problem with our branding.
We knew about it becausewhenever our Students would say they
were coming to class.
They would say, I'm going to karate.
And this was a problem for usbecause we do taekwondo, not karate.
What?
(12:18):
I know it's banana pants, butwe thought about who we were.
We've changed logos before,but we never actually, like, thought
about, okay, who are we andwhat are we doing here?
And what makes us unique?
We are fortunate enough to bewhere they launch the rockets into
outer space.
So our school has lots ofpeople who work at the Space center,
(12:41):
their kids, and it just.
Rocket Taekwondo really fitswith one of the metaphors that I've
been using for the last 15years, which is about focus.
You know, when you talk aboutfocus, what's the difference between
a bomb and a rocket?
Focus.
And it's focus.
It's the same energy.
But if you channel that energyin a positive direction, it'll take
(13:01):
you anywhere you want to go.
And if you let that energy beunfocused, then it will hurt everyone
around you.
Oh, man, I love that.
Yeah, that goes right with it.
And obviously, being on Spacecoast, you.
Guys, you know, our team wasthe Rockets.
Our tournament was the SpaceCoast Rumble.
Like, we had everything rocket themed.
Except the name.
Except the name.
Finally get the name with the program.
Yeah.
Awesome.
(13:22):
So as we look at 20, 25, 26,tournament season, or just maybe
school, personal training.
What.
What kind of goals do you havefor this year?
I think it's important for,you know, we talk to a lot of athletes,
younger, you know, kids andwhatnot, but to see a guy who's been
(13:42):
doing taekwondo.
Actually, hold on.
Before we continue, how'd youstart taekwondo?
I always ask how you startTaekwondo, and I didn't do it.
That's okay.
It's okay.
I'll give you the medium version.
Okay.
So I always wanted to domartial arts.
Always.
From the time I was four, Ihad Ninja Turtles.
I worked extra around the neighborhood.
(14:03):
I would go knock on people'sdoors and say, hey, can I sweep your
driveway for $2?
Because I knew that NinjaTurtles were $4, and that therefore,
two driveways of sweepingequaled one Ninja Turtle.
And so I would just go door todoor and try to figure out.
And then it turned into rakingand mowing and all the things I'm
trying to buy.
Ninja Turtles the whole time.
Right.
Smart man.
What's your favorite Ninja Turtle?
So, Donatello, I knew I liked you.
(14:24):
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
So finally, I became ateenager, and I realized that I could
just sign myself up formartial arts classes.
It didn't have to be like,this fantasy that I was playing with
Ninja Turtles.
I could actually, like, train,do Ninja Turtle.
And I. I went to a martialarts school in town, and the master
(14:44):
there was wonderful, but hefelt like old school.
He'll tell you when you'repromoted, and the criteria wasn't
clear.
And one day he pointed someoneout to me, says, see that guy?
He's a brown belt.
He wants to be a black belt,but he's never going to be one because
this technique or thattechnique, he doesn't do the way
I want him to.
(15:05):
And so he's just going to be out.
And I was like, and you'reletting him train here?
You don't have any integrity, sir.
You're taking his money andyou're dangling the carrot, and you're
never going to give him whathe's so anxious for.
Or I didn't even know.
Or the tools to get there orto get there.
Right.
So it just felt like, well, Idon't really trust you.
There were some otherexperiences where, like, I didn't
(15:27):
trust him anymore.
So that was, like, a thing.
So I stopped at that time.
It was certainly not an ATA school.
No, no, no, it wasn't.
Because that wouldn't happen.
It was called sajido, not toshout anybody out.
I think he's probably still agreat person.
I know he's still there, but.
I joined the Coast Guard afterhigh school.
I did a year of college, and Irealized that if I continued on my
(15:49):
current path, I would findmyself in a desk for the rest of
my life.
And I was like, absolutely not.
Can't do it.
So I joined the Coast Guard.
I spent four years.
I did the tour in Alaska, andwe did law enforcement training,
which was ppct.
And it was.
So when I ended up in Florida,I had some hobbies that were not
as productive as they couldhave been.
(16:10):
And my fiance, now Mrs.Fenton, my wife, said, hey, honey,
you like that martial arts stuff.
Why don't you try that?
So I did find an ATA school,and I walked in now Master Burke,
and I said to her, she said,well, what do you want to get out
of your martial arts training?
I said, I want to be likeBruce Lee.
And she said, we can help with that.
And I said, okay, sign me up.
Let's go.
And it's been.
And that was 2008, so it hasbeen 17 years.
(16:33):
Excellent since.
How exciting.
What a good.
What a good first example ofhow not to be an instructor.
And don't dangle something youcan't provide.
In front of people.
It's just a jerky thing to do.
And now it's a core part of ofthe way that I teach and the integrity
that I feel like I bring to my program.
I don't want to string someonealong and not tell them what they
need for the next step.
(16:54):
Yeah, you got to prepare them.
If they've got goals and I'm just.
Letting them go and if theydon't want to advance, that is also
fine.
But I need to tell you, hey,this is what's required to go to
the next step for sure.
So speaking of goals, goalsfor your next year, what are you
looking forward to?
Well, hopefully I'm anxiouslyawaiting mastership training.
So the sixth degree black beltcomes with it.
(17:15):
The opportunity to go throughthe process of being mentored by
Grandmaster and hopefullybecoming a master next year.
I read all the encyclopediasas a color belt, so I knew about
the V Rong Bong staff of theFlying Dragon and I have been waiting
patiently for a Grandmaster tohit me on the in the head with it.
I hope that I'm not tooannoying between now and then because
(17:36):
I think he get me extra hard.
I feel like I have seendifferent speeds at which he will
hit people.
In the head with a. Yeah,well, you know, I mean, I'm just
ready for it.
A little bit of dragonimprintation on my forehead.
Yeah.
So that's one big goal.
Another big goal I have forour business is we have this amazing
team of instructors like Mrs.Hooley is running classes right now
(18:01):
while we're at Worlds and wehave some instructors here who are
competing.
So to be able to grow theschool and create more opportunities,
especially for the juniors,that is the direction of this next
season I think about not onlyin the year term, but longer term.
What's the direction thatwe're headed and I think that's it
is to create thoseopportunities for juniors so that
(18:22):
if they want them that they're available.
I mean you can't just shoot arocket into space without a trajectory.
You've got to make sure thatit's focused in the right place.
You want to go to the moon,you have to go for the moon.
Yeah, yeah.
You can't just go anywhere.
Well, thank you so much, sir.
I appreciate it.
Good luck.
Hopefully the testing resultsgo your way.
Yeah, I'm waiting patientlyfor the results.
(18:42):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.
Sure.
It still recorded while itwent to sleep.
Oh, it did.
Awesome.
I hope you enjoyed thoseinterviews as much as I Enjoyed having
them on the show.
I believe I forgot to mentionthat Mr. Petton, I believe is a 6
(19:05):
degree black belt now.
He tested at WorldChampionships as we were there and
I believe he got a passing result.
So pretty exciting.
I think at Fall Nationals iswhere they get to find out if they
become Master nominees.
That's the first step.
I always forget the wordswhich one goes when?
Anyways, ladies and gentlemen,all kinds of great stuff coming up
(19:26):
at Full Nationals.
If you haven't made plans toattend or if you're attending but
you haven't registered for oneof the seminars or some of the seminars.
I've got myself registered for seminars.
I'm taking both personaltraining seminars.
I'm taking some business seminars.
If you haven't heard about allthe seminars going on.
I know Chief Master Skiles hasbeen putting some stuff out on social
media.
Go to the website, make sureyou're checking those out because
(19:48):
there's still time to register.
You can still go to allNationals, still get registered for
some of these events.
And I don't know about you.
My favorite part of going tonational events is to train.
That's what I love to do.
I love to get more training inand it is just so much fun.
Speaking of training, not onlycan you check out Fall Nationals
(20:08):
coming right up around thecorner, but the HU League Classic
in Little Rock in December as well.
Going to be a huge event.
Lots of neat things going on there.
And it's right at the end ofCamp Jongsu.
So you want to make sure ifyou haven't registered for that,
that you check that out as well.
Head over toatamartialarts.com for all the info.
And a regional.
(20:28):
No.
Maybe you need to hit up aregional camp.
I know there's a couple left.
This fall I will be at ourregional camp, Region 102B's regional
camp in just another week or so.
So you don't want to miss outon regional camps.
These are great training opportunities.
My favorite thing about themis not just the training, but the
bonding.
You get to have the same thingwhen I go to Pole Nationals.
(20:49):
The bonding.
Any.
Any tournaments, any trainings.
Just bonding you get to havewith these people.
So I love to take as manyopportunities as possible to hit
those trainings up.
And of course you get thebonus of personal development points
if you're a.
A rank that needs those as well.
And you know, just being partof the ATA Nation family is so much
fun.
That's going to wrap it up forus today.
(21:10):
I really appreciate your time.
If you are in South Bend thisweekend, make sure you hit me up
and say hi.
And I believe I have a couplemore of my I just ordered some new
AtNation podcast St.
So I have one of those.
A couple of those you might beable to get from me if you're in
South Bend for the weekend forthe awesome tournament.
I know there's a few of youout there I need to send stickers
(21:31):
to.
I got bad about sending those.
I'm so sorry.
So sorry.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Get out there and go beyond the.
Belt ATA Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
Nationals is around thecorner, and we have another double
header for you.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation Podcast.
ATA Nation.
Welcome back to anotherawesome episode of the ATA Nation
(00:21):
podcast.
I am your host, Senior MasterZach Hayden, and I am thrilled to
be back with you.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen,have you checked out all of the ATA
social media platforms?
I know I say this all the time.
I know you're probably sick ofme saying it, but I was just uploading
a cool short to the ATA andyou should check them out.
If you're not subscribed onYouTube, make sure you check out
the YouTube channel.
(00:41):
Also, Chief Master Skiles waslive today as I make this recording
on the ATAs YouTube andFacebook page.
So if you haven't hit thosesubscribe buttons, you are missing
out.
All nationals right around the corner.
We're going to talk a littlebit about that right here after we've
got two awesome interviews.
We're going to start with ourathlete of the week, and then from
(01:04):
there, we're going to go to aninterview I did with a great friend
of the 18 Nation podcast, afan, a guy who's listened from, I
don't know, probably thebeginning, and was an awesome interview
I got to do at WorldChampionship, pulling it out to share
with you guys today.
So let's get to our awesomeinterviews at Nation.
(01:26):
We are excited to have anotherawesome athlete with us today.
Ma', am, can you introduceyourself for us?
Yes.
Hi, my name is Melanie Sugu.
I'm a Frisco black belt and Itrain at Excelsior Martial Arts in
Valparaiso, Indiana.
Excelsior Martial Arts, Valparaiso.
Who's your instructor over there?
Master Harrington.
Master Harrington.
You make sure you tell him Isaid hi because Master Harrington
(01:50):
and I went through ourmastership training together.
We had a great time.
He's a fun guy.
Master Harrington, so you havea free Saturday today.
That means you're not at atournament, which is a rare occurrence
in the fall, right?
Yes.
So before we get to kind ofyour athletic skills and the things
that you're working on, howdid you get into martial arts?
(02:12):
So my brother really wanted totry jiu jitsu, but he was younger
at the time, and my taekwondoinstructor at the time was like,
just try Taekwondo.
So he tried it, and then mymom wanted me to try it too, and
I was like, no, I do not wantto do it because I was not willing
to do it.
(02:32):
So I finally did it, and Iactually started liking it, and I,
like, now love it.
So much I breathe, sleep it.
I could do it for like everyday of my life.
So, you know, sometimes thosefirst opinions we have about something
just.
Just aren't quite right.
Yes.
So, you know, the tournamentseason's in full swing.
(02:55):
You got a free Saturday today,but usually you're out at a tournament.
What event at a tournament isthe thing that like really gets you
going.
I love extreme weapons becauseI like, love my bow staff.
I've only been doing it sincelike September, but I fell in love
with it ever since.
Okay, so now I have a.
This is a strange questionabout your experience.
(03:16):
Do you have a bow staff thatis like, you're like, this is the
bo staff.
I have to do it with this.
It's a metallic one and I love it.
Gotcha.
And do you, do you alwaystrain with the same one or do you
have other ones you train with?
And then this is like mycompetition BO staff.
I use the same one, but Iprobably need to get a new one so
(03:37):
I don't break it.
But yeah, very cool.
And you said extreme weaponsis your thing, so you like to throw
it up, do all those trickswhere you can release it.
What's your favorite thing todo tricky wise with your bo staff?
I like to pick it up with myfoot because I feel like not most
people can do it.
And I feel like it's really cool.
Very cool.
Excellent.
And what about like, if we'relooking at tournaments and saying,
(03:59):
hey, the event that is maybenot my favorite event, what would
that be?
Sparring.
I know it's Taekwondo and it'sfighting, but I don't really like
doing that.
I love combat, but sparring isjust not my thing.
Not your thing?
You know what, I love that,you know, when I started, combat
wasn't a thing.
You know, we didn't have, youknow, the combat bong monkey.
(04:19):
And so there wasn't really anoutlet if you didn't like regular
sparring.
You know, the combat is likesuch a great intermediate between
like the full regular sparringand still getting the gear on and
getting to whack people and whatever.
So do you do any team eventwith combat?
No, I do not.
No, you're like, no, I wantto, I want to throw my, I want to
(04:40):
throw my bow staff around.
Did you, what, what about last season?
You said your bo staff is new.
Did you do some extremelycreative last.
So like my first liketournament was like, I did recreational.
I just started doingchampionship last year, September.
So like, I really was like,not like as like used to doing streams.
(05:04):
So I tried doing it and I fellin love with it because I love, like,
freestyling and I love theforms, but, like, making them is
so much cooler.
Gotcha.
Yeah, that, that, that makes sense.
Very cool that you're newerthe competition scene.
What kind of goals do you havefor this season?
I really want to get a title.
(05:25):
Last year in extreme weapons,I was one point away, but I really
want to get a title ratherthat state district or hopefully
worlds one day.
And yeah, I just really wantto get a title and I love doing it.
That's awesome.
Now, what about, like, goalsthat you might have outside of the
competition circuit?
(05:46):
Do you have things on newbelts, you know, training, that kind
of stuff?
What kind of goals do you haveat the school?
So right now I'm a Level 0 instructor.
I have the red collar and I would.
I love teaching.
I love, like the tigers andteaching the students.
And my goal is to hopehopefully one day open a school because
I love teaching it.
Excellent.
(06:06):
That is a fantastic goal anddefinitely an achievable goal.
So many great young people setthat goal.
And, you know, with all theopportunities we have in the ata,
it'd be awesome to watch youopen a school someday.
Now, as an athlete, as a, youknow, a martial artist, what's it
mean to you to be somebody whothat goes beyond the belt?
(06:28):
So going beyond the belt meansfor me is all those attributes that
you learn in Taekwondo, likeself esteem, discipline, respect,
communication.
You have to use it throughoutyour whole entire, like, life.
Like I do dance.
You have to do it in dance Taekwondo.
And you show that black beltattitude or a colorbell attitude
wherever you go.
You show how to perseverethrough everything and have all those
(06:48):
attributes.
Excellent.
I love that.
Now actually, speaking ofthose awesome attributes, sometimes
I like to see, you know, I wastalking to my leadership students
a little last night and wewere talking about some determination
with self esteem and stufflike that.
And what is the attribute orthe, the life skill that you like,
(07:09):
really love?
Like, it's the one that yousee and you're like, yeah, that's
the.
I like.
That's the one that I, I go to.
I would say self esteem,because you don't have anything without
self esteem.
You have to believe inyourself and that's all you have
to do.
You will get everywhere.
Yes.
No, that's super important.
I mean, self esteem, it startswith that believing in yourself.
Now, what about.
Okay, now it could be the sameone, but for a lot of us, we look
(07:32):
at Those life skills and wego, that's the one I need to work
on more sometimes.
It's the one that we like thebest too, that we have to work on
more.
But what, what's the one foryou that you might, you might see
and you're like, yeah, I gottaspend a little more time on that
one.
For me, I would saycommunication, because I'm not as
social as I would like to be.
And like, with taekwondo, Ilove doing taekwondo, but like, I
(07:56):
feel like I could be betterwith communicating and like, I just
think communication.
Yeah, no, that's a great one.
I, I love that you up andit's, it is, I think one that a lot
of us when we get started inTaekwondo is, is struggling with
sometimes.
You know, I was not a greatcommunicator, you know, being real
shy and whatnot and martialarts helped with that.
(08:17):
But like you said, it startswith that self esteem.
You know, you've got to buildthat self esteem to be able to be
more confident in yourcommunication, stuff like that.
So I love that.
It's just so neat to see othermartial artists that are training,
working hard.
We, we see guys at tournamentsand, and you know, it's an inspiration
and it's important for all ofour athletes and all of our martial
artists to see people as realhumans, not just like, oh, you're
(08:41):
always great at these things.
You know, sometimes westruggle with different things and
that's nice to hear sometimes.
So, hey, congratulations onbeing chosen and one of these athletes
of the week.
What a great thing and thankyou so much for your time today.
Thanks.
Have a good day.
Hi, ATA Nation.
We have an awesome guest withus today, a loyal podcast fan.
(09:04):
Absolutely.
Introduce yourself, sir.
Hi, I'm Daniel Penton.
I'm a fifth degree black belt.
I just tested for sixth degreeyesterday and I'm a six time world
champion.
You tested for sixth degree yesterday?
Yes, sir.
Were you in my pod?
You were in my pod?
I was, sir, yeah.
I recommended some people forthe podcast.
Yeah, yeah, that was excellent.
Very good.
So how do you feel about your testing?
I feel, I think possibly thebest way is I feel a level of certainty
(09:27):
that I did my best and that mybest was good enough and also that
there's room for improvement.
Excellent.
That is a great, a great mindset.
I think so often we have atesting and then we like beat ourselves
up or we do, you know, I'malways a little pessimistic about
my.
I'm always like, what's the lowest.
I think I Could have gottenthe highest.
(09:48):
We're all acutely aware of ourfaults and flaws usually.
Yes.
Yeah.
I do remember your sparring match.
There were some good sparringmatches that you had in testing yesterday.
So World Championships, you are.
What'd you say, six time?
Yes, sir.
I've won six.
Six titles total.
Did you compete TOC this year?
(10:09):
Yes, sir.
How'd it go?
Well, it was.
Oh, yeah, somebody's laughing.
It was an opportunity todemonstrate fortitude.
And I was.
I was.
After my testing, I competedin the forms competition, and I hit
my first step spin heel kick,and the mat was so slippery I almost
wiped out.
But I kind of, like caughtmyself and continued on.
(10:31):
But the almost fall was enoughto knock me off the top of the podium,
and I ended up in a tie forthird place with the legendary Max
Van Eck.
And, you know, what a great competitor.
Anyway, we both did our formsagain, and I was fortunate to have
two votes my way and one votehis way.
But it was a great experience.
Well, I'm going to say that ifyou're going to leave World Championships
(10:51):
this year with either a titleor a sixth degree, I personally would
want to go with the sixth street.
That's just my thought, but,you know, to each his own.
Well, I went to Camp Jiangsuthis last.
Yes.
And one of the things that Igot from Chief Master Wegman was
that you should pick fourtargets for your life.
One in your Taekwondo career,one in your personal life, and then,
(11:13):
you know, two more like just.
Just have these differentareas that you're shooting for.
And the one I've been writingdown all year is test for 6, 3 black
belt.
So that was the number one.
That was the top.
That was the priority.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Good, good, good.
I'm sure you'll be anxiouslyawaiting results from at headquarters.
Well, you know, I know thatthey take some time, which is fine,
and I will just be patiently waiting.
(11:35):
I don't.
I don't have anxiety aboutsuch thing.
Of course not.
I will say that the amount oftime it takes them now is like half
the amount of time it used totake them years ago.
It used to be like two months.
Feel like it was forever andwe were dying.
So it's a little better now.
So how is.
You're a school owner, you'rejust recently rebranded.
This episode will probablycome out after our business beyond
(11:58):
the Mat episode about rebranding.
How's Rocket Taekwondo doing?
So Rocket Taekwondo is doingreally well.
We had this problem with our branding.
We knew about it becausewhenever our Students would say they
were coming to class.
They would say, I'm going to karate.
And this was a problem for usbecause we do taekwondo, not karate.
What?
(12:18):
I know it's banana pants, butwe thought about who we were.
We've changed logos before,but we never actually, like, thought
about, okay, who are we andwhat are we doing here?
And what makes us unique?
We are fortunate enough to bewhere they launch the rockets into
outer space.
So our school has lots ofpeople who work at the Space center,
(12:41):
their kids, and it just.
Rocket Taekwondo really fitswith one of the metaphors that I've
been using for the last 15years, which is about focus.
You know, when you talk aboutfocus, what's the difference between
a bomb and a rocket?
Focus.
And it's focus.
It's the same energy.
But if you channel that energyin a positive direction, it'll take
(13:01):
you anywhere you want to go.
And if you let that energy beunfocused, then it will hurt everyone
around you.
Oh, man, I love that.
Yeah, that goes right with it.
And obviously, being on Spacecoast, you.
Guys, you know, our team wasthe Rockets.
Our tournament was the SpaceCoast Rumble.
Like, we had everything rocket themed.
Except the name.
Except the name.
Finally get the name with the program.
Yeah.
Awesome.
(13:22):
So as we look at 20, 25, 26,tournament season, or just maybe
school, personal training.
What.
What kind of goals do you havefor this year?
I think it's important for,you know, we talk to a lot of athletes,
younger, you know, kids andwhatnot, but to see a guy who's been
(13:42):
doing taekwondo.
Actually, hold on.
Before we continue, how'd youstart taekwondo?
I always ask how you startTaekwondo, and I didn't do it.
That's okay.
It's okay.
I'll give you the medium version.
Okay.
So I always wanted to domartial arts.
Always.
From the time I was four, Ihad Ninja Turtles.
I worked extra around the neighborhood.
(14:03):
I would go knock on people'sdoors and say, hey, can I sweep your
driveway for $2?
Because I knew that NinjaTurtles were $4, and that therefore,
two driveways of sweepingequaled one Ninja Turtle.
And so I would just go door todoor and try to figure out.
And then it turned into rakingand mowing and all the things I'm
trying to buy.
Ninja Turtles the whole time.
Right.
Smart man.
What's your favorite Ninja Turtle?
So, Donatello, I knew I liked you.
(14:24):
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
So finally, I became ateenager, and I realized that I could
just sign myself up formartial arts classes.
It didn't have to be like,this fantasy that I was playing with
Ninja Turtles.
I could actually, like, train,do Ninja Turtle.
And I. I went to a martialarts school in town, and the master
(14:44):
there was wonderful, but hefelt like old school.
He'll tell you when you'repromoted, and the criteria wasn't
clear.
And one day he pointed someoneout to me, says, see that guy?
He's a brown belt.
He wants to be a black belt,but he's never going to be one because
this technique or thattechnique, he doesn't do the way
I want him to.
(15:05):
And so he's just going to be out.
And I was like, and you'reletting him train here?
You don't have any integrity, sir.
You're taking his money andyou're dangling the carrot, and you're
never going to give him whathe's so anxious for.
Or I didn't even know.
Or the tools to get there orto get there.
Right.
So it just felt like, well, Idon't really trust you.
There were some otherexperiences where, like, I didn't
(15:27):
trust him anymore.
So that was, like, a thing.
So I stopped at that time.
It was certainly not an ATA school.
No, no, no, it wasn't.
Because that wouldn't happen.
It was called sajido, not toshout anybody out.
I think he's probably still agreat person.
I know he's still there, but.
I joined the Coast Guard afterhigh school.
I did a year of college, and Irealized that if I continued on my
(15:49):
current path, I would findmyself in a desk for the rest of
my life.
And I was like, absolutely not.
Can't do it.
So I joined the Coast Guard.
I spent four years.
I did the tour in Alaska, andwe did law enforcement training,
which was ppct.
And it was.
So when I ended up in Florida,I had some hobbies that were not
as productive as they couldhave been.
(16:10):
And my fiance, now Mrs.Fenton, my wife, said, hey, honey,
you like that martial arts stuff.
Why don't you try that?
So I did find an ATA school,and I walked in now Master Burke,
and I said to her, she said,well, what do you want to get out
of your martial arts training?
I said, I want to be likeBruce Lee.
And she said, we can help with that.
And I said, okay, sign me up.
Let's go.
And it's been.
And that was 2008, so it hasbeen 17 years.
(16:33):
Excellent since.
How exciting.
What a good.
What a good first example ofhow not to be an instructor.
And don't dangle something youcan't provide.
In front of people.
It's just a jerky thing to do.
And now it's a core part of ofthe way that I teach and the integrity
that I feel like I bring to my program.
I don't want to string someonealong and not tell them what they
need for the next step.
(16:54):
Yeah, you got to prepare them.
If they've got goals and I'm just.
Letting them go and if theydon't want to advance, that is also
fine.
But I need to tell you, hey,this is what's required to go to
the next step for sure.
So speaking of goals, goalsfor your next year, what are you
looking forward to?
Well, hopefully I'm anxiouslyawaiting mastership training.
So the sixth degree black beltcomes with it.
(17:15):
The opportunity to go throughthe process of being mentored by
Grandmaster and hopefullybecoming a master next year.
I read all the encyclopediasas a color belt, so I knew about
the V Rong Bong staff of theFlying Dragon and I have been waiting
patiently for a Grandmaster tohit me on the in the head with it.
I hope that I'm not tooannoying between now and then because
(17:36):
I think he get me extra hard.
I feel like I have seendifferent speeds at which he will
hit people.
In the head with a. Yeah,well, you know, I mean, I'm just
ready for it.
A little bit of dragonimprintation on my forehead.
Yeah.
So that's one big goal.
Another big goal I have forour business is we have this amazing
team of instructors like Mrs.Hooley is running classes right now
(18:01):
while we're at Worlds and wehave some instructors here who are
competing.
So to be able to grow theschool and create more opportunities,
especially for the juniors,that is the direction of this next
season I think about not onlyin the year term, but longer term.
What's the direction thatwe're headed and I think that's it
is to create thoseopportunities for juniors so that
(18:22):
if they want them that they're available.
I mean you can't just shoot arocket into space without a trajectory.
You've got to make sure thatit's focused in the right place.
You want to go to the moon,you have to go for the moon.
Yeah, yeah.
You can't just go anywhere.
Well, thank you so much, sir.
I appreciate it.
Good luck.
Hopefully the testing resultsgo your way.
Yeah, I'm waiting patientlyfor the results.
(18:42):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.
Sure.
It still recorded while itwent to sleep.
Oh, it did.
Awesome.
I hope you enjoyed thoseinterviews as much as I Enjoyed having
them on the show.
I believe I forgot to mentionthat Mr. Petton, I believe is a 6
(19:05):
degree black belt now.
He tested at WorldChampionships as we were there and
I believe he got a passing result.
So pretty exciting.
I think at Fall Nationals iswhere they get to find out if they
become Master nominees.
That's the first step.
I always forget the wordswhich one goes when?
Anyways, ladies and gentlemen,all kinds of great stuff coming up
(19:26):
at Full Nationals.
If you haven't made plans toattend or if you're attending but
you haven't registered for oneof the seminars or some of the seminars.
I've got myself registered for seminars.
I'm taking both personaltraining seminars.
I'm taking some business seminars.
If you haven't heard about allthe seminars going on.
I know Chief Master Skiles hasbeen putting some stuff out on social
media.
Go to the website, make sureyou're checking those out because
(19:48):
there's still time to register.
You can still go to allNationals, still get registered for
some of these events.
And I don't know about you.
My favorite part of going tonational events is to train.
That's what I love to do.
I love to get more training inand it is just so much fun.
Speaking of training, not onlycan you check out Fall Nationals
(20:08):
coming right up around thecorner, but the HU League Classic
in Little Rock in December as well.
Going to be a huge event.
Lots of neat things going on there.
And it's right at the end ofCamp Jongsu.
So you want to make sure ifyou haven't registered for that,
that you check that out as well.
Head over toatamartialarts.com for all the info.
And a regional.
(20:28):
No.
Maybe you need to hit up aregional camp.
I know there's a couple left.
This fall I will be at ourregional camp, Region 102B's regional
camp in just another week or so.
So you don't want to miss outon regional camps.
These are great training opportunities.
My favorite thing about themis not just the training, but the
bonding.
You get to have the same thingwhen I go to Pole Nationals.
(20:49):
The bonding.
Any.
Any tournaments, any trainings.
Just bonding you get to havewith these people.
So I love to take as manyopportunities as possible to hit
those trainings up.
And of course you get thebonus of personal development points
if you're a.
A rank that needs those as well.
And you know, just being partof the ATA Nation family is so much
fun.
That's going to wrap it up forus today.
(21:10):
I really appreciate your time.
If you are in South Bend thisweekend, make sure you hit me up
and say hi.
And I believe I have a couplemore of my I just ordered some new
AtNation podcast St.
So I have one of those.
A couple of those you might beable to get from me if you're in
South Bend for the weekend forthe awesome tournament.
I know there's a few of youout there I need to send stickers
(21:31):
to.
I got bad about sending those.
I'm so sorry.
So sorry.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Get out there and go beyond the.
Belt ATA Nation podcast.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
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