October 31, 2025 • 11 mins
Quinton Chapple, a distinguished fourth-degree black belt exemplifies the dedication and passion that characterize the ATA community. In our conversation, he elucidates his journey into martial arts, transitioning from conventional sports to a fervent commitment to taekwondo at the age of twelve. With aspirations to not only compete but also to impart knowledge as an instructor, Quinton articulates his ambition of establishing his own martial arts school. Furthermore, he discusses his fervor for creative forms and combat sparring, highlighting the significance of rigorous training and work ethic in achieving his goals. This episode serves as an inspiring testament to the transformative power of martial arts and the life skills it cultivates beyond the dojo.
Takeaways:
- Quinton Chapple, a 4th degree black belt, began his martial arts journey at the age of twelve, transitioning from traditional sports to Taekwondo after being inspired by friends and family.
- Chapple's ambition extends beyond personal achievement, as he aspires to open his own martial arts school and teach others the values he has learned through his training.
- The importance of self-esteem is emphasized by Chapple, who acknowledges that overcoming nervousness has been a significant part of his development as a martial artist and competitor.
- Chapple's training philosophy revolves around the principle of training as if one is performing, ensuring that his preparation is always aligned with the standards he aims to achieve in competition.
- Competing in both traditional and creative forms, Chapple articulates his commitment to excellence by setting the ambitious goal of winning multiple world titles in the current season.
- The ATA life skills program has profoundly influenced Chapple, fostering not only his martial arts prowess but also enhancing his confidence and personal growth beyond the dojo.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Back from fall nationals andready for a spooky episode.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
Happy Halloween.
(00:21):
ATA Nation.
ATA Nation.
We're excited to have anotherawesome athlete of the week with
us.
Can you introduce yourself for us?
Sir, yes, sir.
My name is Quentin chapel.
I'm a 4th degree black beltout of Sam's, Alabama, and I train
at McCraney Martial Arts.
Ah, okay.
Alabama, yes, sir.
(00:44):
What brought you to martial arts?
Well, I first started playing sports.
I started off with football,and then I started off with baseball.
I got tired of playing those.
I wanted to try somethingdifferent and I always then I always
wanted to do martial arts.
So I told my dad about it andeverything like that.
He didn't believe me at onepoint, so he was like, all right,
(01:07):
let's see what he's going to do.
He took me to my first ATAschool and what I saw, I absolutely
loved it.
So I signed up the next dayand did my first class.
I had a blast doing it and Itold him I want to keep doing this.
I think this is going to bethe one I'm going to stick with.
And it seems like it's, Imean, four, three, black belt.
(01:28):
You seem to have stuck with itfor a while.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
I love it.
How, how old were you when you started?
I was 12 years old when I started.
Okay, excellent.
Very good.
And so now 4th degree blackbelt, I assume you're, you're, you
know, teaching some classes,doing some martial arts, more than
just competing, but maybefurthering it.
(01:50):
What kind of goals do you havein that area?
So I do want to continue to teach.
I do have a goal.
I do want to own my own schoolone day.
That is a big goal of mine too.
And I also want to, you know,train guys that also love to do this
thing too, and that's willingto do all the things that me and
(02:12):
all the other fourth and fifthdegree rings, not just them and all
the other athletes in the ATAwant to do as well.
So that is a goal of mine too.
Well, I'm going to guess, I'mgoing to guess you're in the 18 to
29 year old division, is that right?
Yes, sir.
Oh, yeah.
Okay, so the 4th and 5th 18 to29 year old division, that is like
the cream of the crop right there.
(02:32):
That is the one.
That is the ring right there.
It is.
So in, in that category,what's your.
What's like your go to event?
I. I think I know, but you,you tell us.
So my Go to event.
I. I love creative Forms.
That is Creative forms.
That is.
That is my.
(02:53):
That's my event right there.
Believe it or not.
I'm a really big combat spar, too.
And don't get me wrong, I lovehitting all the events, but those
two right there, those are theones I love the most out of all of
them.
That's great.
What.
What got you into, you know,so for most people, like, they get
into forms and sparringbecause, you know, like, you kind
(03:13):
of gotta do it, you know, it'skind of part of it.
What got you into the creativeform side of things?
Well, what really.
I had a lot of friends thatdid X Man Creative.
I was one of the ones thatonly did traditional, and they were
the ones that did, you know,all eight events and everything too.
They were the ones thatmotivated me to do X Men Creative.
(03:35):
I was kind of doubting myselfat one point, but I was like, what's
the worst that can happen?
I might as well go in thereand try it anyway.
First time I did it, Iabsolutely loved it.
So from there on, I stuck with it.
And I think we've seen you,like, have you been on stage for
the Extreme and Creative ordone some of the max?
(03:57):
Aren't you one of the guysthat are, like, you know, showing
it off?
I have not been on the stagefor MAX yet.
Hopefully I will get a chance to.
It seems really cool.
But I have been.
I've been around one of theirmaster gatherings.
I have done one of the seminars.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very cool.
So what.
What.
(04:17):
What kind of things have youachieved in your competition and
what kind of things are youaiming for?
What.
What kind of goals you set?
So I am setting.
I did set a goal to, you know,become another world champion, gain
another world title this season.
And I've put.
Not just one.
I've set a goal to gain two ormore titles this season.
(04:41):
Not just in xma, but also inTraditional, too.
Oh, going for the.
For the traditional.
What, what, what?
An event in the traditional isthe combat.
Yes, sir.
Nice.
Very cool.
What.
When you're doing those, youknow, kind of double, you know, know,
like creative and extreme andthen sparring, you know, are a fair
(05:04):
amount different.
You know, there's a lot of.
And you usually find peoplethat are.
Are one or the other.
How are you seeing.
Are there any things thatyou're seeing that are helping you
on both sides that are reallyworking, or is it just the.
The work ethic that you'rehaving to build that is helping you
Achieve, you know, or worktowards those goals on, on both ends.
(05:26):
I believe it's the work ethicwhen it comes to training these type
of things.
I'm making sure I go all in.
I always tell myself before Istart my training, go in there, train
like how you're going to perform.
You train like how you'regoing to perform, you're going to
have a great outcome.
So that's been the thing thatI've really been telling myself the
(05:49):
most before I get on the mator before I walk in the building.
I love that.
All in.
That's an ATA core value right there.
Oh, man.
Yeah, you got to be all in.
I mean, that's the thing, right?
You're in the, the ata, yougotta, you gotta be all in.
Hey, with, you know, you'retraining yourself, you're teaching
other students.
(06:09):
If you're looking at the ATAlife skills, what's the life skill?
That maybe you can answereither way.
Either that you like to, tohelp with as much or teach other
people, or the one that maybeyou are like, that's the one I needed
to work on the most when I started.
One of the ones I really needto work on the most was self esteem.
(06:30):
Believe it or not, when,before I even get on the mat and
everything, I, I get, I getnervous sometimes and I get, that's
a normal thing.
So it was at one point too, Igot nervous and I didn't.
I wanted to kind of back out,but some of my friends kind of talked
to me too, and my parentstalked to me as well, and they made
me feel a lot better.
(06:50):
So after that competition,going through the life skills and
hearing about the life skillsthat I was taught in my Taekwondo
class, the one life skill thatI needed to learn and practice was
self esteem.
If you have good self esteem,you know, you can achieve anything.
I see that.
It's so great to hear thatfrom, you know, our fourth and fifth
(07:12):
degrees from athletes that wesee at tournaments that have been,
you know, highlighted athleteof the week.
Because I think so often ouryounger students just think that,
like, you know, you werealways this superstar, you're always
confident, you always get out there.
And so great to have them see,like, hey, no, we all struggled with
these things as well.
So thank you so much for that.
(07:33):
So what's it mean to you to bean athlete that goes beyond the belt?
Being an athlete that goesbeyond the belt, meaning, like I
said, learning those lifeskills and you're not just applying
them to, you know, you're notJust learning them just for Taekwondo
purposes.
You know, you're learningthose outside of the ata, going to
(07:53):
school or any event dealingwith school, you want to make sure
you're showing confidence,stepping out of your comfort zone,
you know, to reach those goals.
That's what I believe goingbeyond the belt means.
Love it.
Well, um, first of all, thankyou for your time today.
And second, congratulations onbeing one of these athletes of the
week.
What a.
What a cool thing.
(08:14):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much for having me.
I got to say hi to Mr. Chapelout at Pittsburgh.
It was nice to see him out there.
Great young man.
So awesome Athlete of the week.
Hey, something I want you toguys make sure you're aware of.
I know we've mentioned this onthe episodes before, but this hu
League Classic going on inLittle Rock in December.
(08:36):
Now there are two otherawesome tournaments going on that
weekend, I think, one in St.Louis and one in Tempe, Arizona,
I believe.
And at all three of thesetournaments, they're going to have
these special commemorativecoins that are going to be for competitors
at these events and for kindof remembering Eternal Grandmaster
(08:57):
and the fact that we have had25 years since his passing.
20 is the 25th anniversarysince his passing.
And so if you attend one ofthese three tournaments around the
country, you're going to beable to get one of these cool commemorative
coins.
So I'm going to reallyencourage you to make plans to go
and attend one of those.
I just sent my wife some, youknow, some info about maybe heading
to a Little Rock for us that weekend.
(09:20):
Really neat events going onacross the country.
And the Hood Classic,especially getting to go visit ATA
headquarters.
I was talking with thelicensees and Senior Master Lee the
other day on an episode, andwe were talking about, you know,
ATA headquarters is your home.
This is your place, you know,go visit.
Um, enjoy.
Check it out.
(09:40):
If you've never been to LittleRock, I mean, as an ATA member, like,
Little Rock is home, you know, you.
You want to go, go check itout, be there, see headquarters,
participate, get to to.
There's a training with the.
A bunch of the Masters, theGrandmasters, I should say.
And they actually alsoannounced the.
The start of some expansion ofMasters competition outside of just
(10:04):
Worlds and Nationals.
So I think the first, like thetrial run is going to be Julie Classic
in Little Rock, but they'regoing to make some tournaments available
across the country.
East coast, west coast, middleof the country, that they're going
to have some Masterscompetition at as well.
Masters, you should have gotan email about that this week as
(10:25):
well.
So really cool things toexpand and I don't know if you've
watched these masters competitions.
Holy moly.
I was watching a video ofsenior master Ross Lee, his seventh
degree form and man, thisthing looked amazing.
It was such a great looking form.
So it made me think, man, Ineed to, I need to get to work.
My form needs to look betterbecause they're looking sharp.
(10:48):
So hey, that's going to wrapit up for today.
You need to get out there andtake some action.
Be a champion.
Beyond the belt.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
Back from fall nationals andready for a spooky episode.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
Happy Halloween.
(00:21):
ATA Nation.
ATA Nation.
We're excited to have anotherawesome athlete of the week with
us.
Can you introduce yourself for us?
Sir, yes, sir.
My name is Quentin chapel.
I'm a 4th degree black beltout of Sam's, Alabama, and I train
at McCraney Martial Arts.
Ah, okay.
Alabama, yes, sir.
(00:44):
What brought you to martial arts?
Well, I first started playing sports.
I started off with football,and then I started off with baseball.
I got tired of playing those.
I wanted to try somethingdifferent and I always then I always
wanted to do martial arts.
So I told my dad about it andeverything like that.
He didn't believe me at onepoint, so he was like, all right,
(01:07):
let's see what he's going to do.
He took me to my first ATAschool and what I saw, I absolutely
loved it.
So I signed up the next dayand did my first class.
I had a blast doing it and Itold him I want to keep doing this.
I think this is going to bethe one I'm going to stick with.
And it seems like it's, Imean, four, three, black belt.
(01:28):
You seem to have stuck with itfor a while.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
I love it.
How, how old were you when you started?
I was 12 years old when I started.
Okay, excellent.
Very good.
And so now 4th degree blackbelt, I assume you're, you're, you
know, teaching some classes,doing some martial arts, more than
just competing, but maybefurthering it.
(01:50):
What kind of goals do you havein that area?
So I do want to continue to teach.
I do have a goal.
I do want to own my own schoolone day.
That is a big goal of mine too.
And I also want to, you know,train guys that also love to do this
thing too, and that's willingto do all the things that me and
(02:12):
all the other fourth and fifthdegree rings, not just them and all
the other athletes in the ATAwant to do as well.
So that is a goal of mine too.
Well, I'm going to guess, I'mgoing to guess you're in the 18 to
29 year old division, is that right?
Yes, sir.
Oh, yeah.
Okay, so the 4th and 5th 18 to29 year old division, that is like
the cream of the crop right there.
(02:32):
That is the one.
That is the ring right there.
It is.
So in, in that category,what's your.
What's like your go to event?
I. I think I know, but you,you tell us.
So my Go to event.
I. I love creative Forms.
That is Creative forms.
That is.
That is my.
(02:53):
That's my event right there.
Believe it or not.
I'm a really big combat spar, too.
And don't get me wrong, I lovehitting all the events, but those
two right there, those are theones I love the most out of all of
them.
That's great.
What.
What got you into, you know,so for most people, like, they get
into forms and sparringbecause, you know, like, you kind
(03:13):
of gotta do it, you know, it'skind of part of it.
What got you into the creativeform side of things?
Well, what really.
I had a lot of friends thatdid X Man Creative.
I was one of the ones thatonly did traditional, and they were
the ones that did, you know,all eight events and everything too.
They were the ones thatmotivated me to do X Men Creative.
(03:35):
I was kind of doubting myselfat one point, but I was like, what's
the worst that can happen?
I might as well go in thereand try it anyway.
First time I did it, Iabsolutely loved it.
So from there on, I stuck with it.
And I think we've seen you,like, have you been on stage for
the Extreme and Creative ordone some of the max?
(03:57):
Aren't you one of the guysthat are, like, you know, showing
it off?
I have not been on the stagefor MAX yet.
Hopefully I will get a chance to.
It seems really cool.
But I have been.
I've been around one of theirmaster gatherings.
I have done one of the seminars.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very cool.
So what.
What.
(04:17):
What kind of things have youachieved in your competition and
what kind of things are youaiming for?
What.
What kind of goals you set?
So I am setting.
I did set a goal to, you know,become another world champion, gain
another world title this season.
And I've put.
Not just one.
I've set a goal to gain two ormore titles this season.
(04:41):
Not just in xma, but also inTraditional, too.
Oh, going for the.
For the traditional.
What, what, what?
An event in the traditional isthe combat.
Yes, sir.
Nice.
Very cool.
What.
When you're doing those, youknow, kind of double, you know, know,
like creative and extreme andthen sparring, you know, are a fair
(05:04):
amount different.
You know, there's a lot of.
And you usually find peoplethat are.
Are one or the other.
How are you seeing.
Are there any things thatyou're seeing that are helping you
on both sides that are reallyworking, or is it just the.
The work ethic that you'rehaving to build that is helping you
Achieve, you know, or worktowards those goals on, on both ends.
(05:26):
I believe it's the work ethicwhen it comes to training these type
of things.
I'm making sure I go all in.
I always tell myself before Istart my training, go in there, train
like how you're going to perform.
You train like how you'regoing to perform, you're going to
have a great outcome.
So that's been the thing thatI've really been telling myself the
(05:49):
most before I get on the mator before I walk in the building.
I love that.
All in.
That's an ATA core value right there.
Oh, man.
Yeah, you got to be all in.
I mean, that's the thing, right?
You're in the, the ata, yougotta, you gotta be all in.
Hey, with, you know, you'retraining yourself, you're teaching
other students.
(06:09):
If you're looking at the ATAlife skills, what's the life skill?
That maybe you can answereither way.
Either that you like to, tohelp with as much or teach other
people, or the one that maybeyou are like, that's the one I needed
to work on the most when I started.
One of the ones I really needto work on the most was self esteem.
(06:30):
Believe it or not, when,before I even get on the mat and
everything, I, I get, I getnervous sometimes and I get, that's
a normal thing.
So it was at one point too, Igot nervous and I didn't.
I wanted to kind of back out,but some of my friends kind of talked
to me too, and my parentstalked to me as well, and they made
me feel a lot better.
(06:50):
So after that competition,going through the life skills and
hearing about the life skillsthat I was taught in my Taekwondo
class, the one life skill thatI needed to learn and practice was
self esteem.
If you have good self esteem,you know, you can achieve anything.
I see that.
It's so great to hear thatfrom, you know, our fourth and fifth
(07:12):
degrees from athletes that wesee at tournaments that have been,
you know, highlighted athleteof the week.
Because I think so often ouryounger students just think that,
like, you know, you werealways this superstar, you're always
confident, you always get out there.
And so great to have them see,like, hey, no, we all struggled with
these things as well.
So thank you so much for that.
(07:33):
So what's it mean to you to bean athlete that goes beyond the belt?
Being an athlete that goesbeyond the belt, meaning, like I
said, learning those lifeskills and you're not just applying
them to, you know, you're notJust learning them just for Taekwondo
purposes.
You know, you're learningthose outside of the ata, going to
(07:53):
school or any event dealingwith school, you want to make sure
you're showing confidence,stepping out of your comfort zone,
you know, to reach those goals.
That's what I believe goingbeyond the belt means.
Love it.
Well, um, first of all, thankyou for your time today.
And second, congratulations onbeing one of these athletes of the
week.
What a.
What a cool thing.
(08:14):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much for having me.
I got to say hi to Mr. Chapelout at Pittsburgh.
It was nice to see him out there.
Great young man.
So awesome Athlete of the week.
Hey, something I want you toguys make sure you're aware of.
I know we've mentioned this onthe episodes before, but this hu
League Classic going on inLittle Rock in December.
(08:36):
Now there are two otherawesome tournaments going on that
weekend, I think, one in St.Louis and one in Tempe, Arizona,
I believe.
And at all three of thesetournaments, they're going to have
these special commemorativecoins that are going to be for competitors
at these events and for kindof remembering Eternal Grandmaster
(08:57):
and the fact that we have had25 years since his passing.
20 is the 25th anniversarysince his passing.
And so if you attend one ofthese three tournaments around the
country, you're going to beable to get one of these cool commemorative
coins.
So I'm going to reallyencourage you to make plans to go
and attend one of those.
I just sent my wife some, youknow, some info about maybe heading
to a Little Rock for us that weekend.
(09:20):
Really neat events going onacross the country.
And the Hood Classic,especially getting to go visit ATA
headquarters.
I was talking with thelicensees and Senior Master Lee the
other day on an episode, andwe were talking about, you know,
ATA headquarters is your home.
This is your place, you know,go visit.
Um, enjoy.
Check it out.
(09:40):
If you've never been to LittleRock, I mean, as an ATA member, like,
Little Rock is home, you know, you.
You want to go, go check itout, be there, see headquarters,
participate, get to to.
There's a training with the.
A bunch of the Masters, theGrandmasters, I should say.
And they actually alsoannounced the.
The start of some expansion ofMasters competition outside of just
(10:04):
Worlds and Nationals.
So I think the first, like thetrial run is going to be Julie Classic
in Little Rock, but they'regoing to make some tournaments available
across the country.
East coast, west coast, middleof the country, that they're going
to have some Masterscompetition at as well.
Masters, you should have gotan email about that this week as
(10:25):
well.
So really cool things toexpand and I don't know if you've
watched these masters competitions.
Holy moly.
I was watching a video ofsenior master Ross Lee, his seventh
degree form and man, thisthing looked amazing.
It was such a great looking form.
So it made me think, man, Ineed to, I need to get to work.
My form needs to look betterbecause they're looking sharp.
(10:48):
So hey, that's going to wrapit up for today.
You need to get out there andtake some action.
Be a champion.
Beyond the belt.
Be sure to subscribe and sharewith your ATA family.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.