Ep. 179 - Celebrating Our Athlete of the Week: A Conversation with Shaun Simpson

In this episode, Shaun Simpson, a third-degree black belt from Pickerington, Ohio, shares his journey in martial arts, discussing his experiences in competitions, training goals, and the deeper meaning of being an athlete beyond just earning belts. He emphasizes the unpredictability of sparring, his aspirations for future titles, and the importance of dedication both on and off the mat.

Takeaways:

• The ATA Nation podcast episode featured a notable athlete of the week, Shaun Simpson, who is a third degree black belt from Pickerington, Ohio.
• Shaun Simpson shared his journey into martial arts, which he began at the young age of eight, inspired by martial arts films.
• The conversation emphasized the importance of dedication and discipline, highlighting that true athleticism extends beyond just competitive achievements.
• Shaun also articulated his short-term and long-term goals, which include striving for a state title and a world title in martial arts.
• The podcast encourages listeners to engage with the community by reaching out to ATA ambassadors for the opportunity to be recognized as athlete of the week.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Back from the HUL Classic.
Time for an athlete of the week.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.
Welcome back, Ata Nation toepisode 179 of the Ata Nation podcast.

(00:24):
Thank you for tuning in.
We really appreciate it.
Got to see a lot of greatpeople at the HUL Classic.
Going to do a wrap up of howthat event went and all the cool
things, but not today.
That's going to be for nextweek's episode.
Make sure you're tuning inevery single week.
Subscribe on YouTube.
Hit that like button.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast player.

(00:45):
Do not miss out today.
We got a short episode, but agreat episode because we have an
awesome athlete of the week.
Let's get right to it.
ATA Nation.
We have our athlete of theweek with us today.
Can you introduce yourself, sir?
Thank you, sir.
My name is Sean Simpson.

(01:06):
I'm a third degree black belttraining out at Pickerington, Ohio
and it's a pleasure to be onthe show today.
Well, we are super excited tohave you.
So, Pickerington, Ohio, ifthat I'm not mistaken.
That's some pick power.
To team stuff there.
You guys all in red and comein in full force, right?
Oh, always love the red.

(01:27):
It's always welcoming to showup to the tournament venue and to
immediately see the crimsonaura of the power team and just know
where where I need to be andwho's on my side that day.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, youguys had a tournament just this last
week, right?

(01:47):
Yes, we had the Three RiverShowdown over in Coraopolis.
Sorry, Pennsylvania.
Hosted by Master Stadthelb andhis school.
Very cool.
We got second at least the elites.
We got second in both teamcombat and team sparring.
Ooh, man.
Who took first for first for both.

(02:09):
Was.
Leg effect master.
Okay, team.
Yeah, Cool.
Excellent.
Okay, well, we'll talk moretournament in a minute.
But tell us, how did you getinto martial arts?
I got into martial arts at theage of eight.
Kind of growing up, I alwaysfancied the martial arts movies.

(02:33):
Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, DannyLee, all the great ones.
And so did my best friend,also in second grade.
Both of us decided to jointogether and we had a great time.
He's also kind of visited iton and off as much as I have through
school and just life stuff.
But I stuck to it.

(02:55):
And from then I made greatfriends within the ata.
Everyone from Pick Power andeveryone even in the world, all the
national events, all the worldevents, love to just see other martial
artists that are there and weall Sharing the same passion.
And it takes me back to thateight year old me where it's just
the fascination of the sportand of martial arts all together.

(03:20):
Love that.
Super cool.
It's so funny to see how manypeople like martial arts.
They started because of TV and movies.
So maybe I should tell kids towatch TV more.
Just the martial arts stuff though.
So competition wise, what'syour like go to event, what's the
thing that you like?
This is my favorite thing to do.

(03:43):
It's between combat andsparring and you can flip a coin
for me that day.
Sometimes it's a, it's acombat day, sometimes it's a sparring
day.
But between the two, I justlove it.
I love the, I love theunpredictability of the combat and
sparring.
Like I can do my best, butthere's still maybe something I haven't

(04:06):
seen before from this otheradversary that they could bring to
the match to make me thinkdifferently through that two minutes
that I wouldn't have ever done before.
Forms and weapons are awesome,but I know that if I get that down
to a T, chances are I mightwin with forms, with combat and sparring.

(04:29):
If I go on that mat,completely different situation every
single time.
And then there's just the, it, just.
The different styles of it too.
The other person can come frominternationally have a completely
different outlook on it.
That makes me that much betterand make me better as a martial artist

(04:54):
overall as well.
Very cool.
Yeah, the, theunpredictability, just the.
There's a give and take withsparring and combat that there isn't
the same of with with form.
Form is just me out theredoing my thing where you've got that,
you know, back and forth with,with sparring, combat.
Have you always.
Was that, have those alwaysbeen your, like, you know, from the

(05:16):
time you put on safety gear,you just love hitting people?
Actually, no.
Growing up I was always kindof the smaller kid.
So combat and sparring, I waskind of getting thrown around a little
bit more than.
Then I'd like I did all fourand then even all eight events in
my traditional ring at one point.

(05:37):
But I don't know, I don't knowwhat clicked.
I think sometime in highschool when I started lifting a little
bit more, started getting alittle bit more weight behind me.
I think my, my mindset also changed.
I think the to compete is towin ideology really set forth for
me and allowed me to look atsparring and combat at a different

(06:01):
viewpoint, which allowed me tolike it that much more which allowed
me to like it more thaneverything else.
Well, I think that's, that's agreat thing for others to hear because
I think there are so many kidsthat might start when they put their,
you know, some kids put theirsafety gear on and they're just like,
I gotta hit people.
And I love to hit people andit's great.
And some, you know, start alittle hard, it's a little harder

(06:23):
for them.
Like you said, if you'resmaller, you know, you haven't hit
this growth spur, you know,other people have.
It can be a little intimidating.
And it's great to hear someonelike you who, now this is your thing.
You love to get out there,play the game, you know, interact
with the other person.
But it wasn't always like that.
So I think that's a, that's agood thing for our, you know, some
of our younger athletes outthere to remember.

(06:46):
So as you're looking at maybetournament season, maybe your, your,
your regular training, other things.
What kind of goals are youlooking at for you know, short term,
maybe midterm.
Short term and long term goals.
Short term for training.
I do want to get a state titlefor forms and weapons.

(07:07):
Nice.
My ring is pretty competitive,but I do want to challenge myself
and try to succeed in even acapacity where maybe it's not my
bread and butter, but I canstill show that I'm competitive in
that way and still aim for ahigh goal in that capacity as well.
And then long term, forcompetition, I do want that world

(07:29):
title in combat or sparringfor traditional or for the pick power
team to also get it and, orfor them as well.
I think I have a really greatteam and I think they deserve that.
We consistently place eachyear that we compete for combat team.
Combat and team sparring.

(07:50):
So.
Nice.
I think we have the, themanpower and the, the firepower if
you will, to attain that, thatgold and then.
Very cool.
Just gotta get that.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, yeah.
Gotta get to the top of that,gotta get to the top of that podium.

(08:10):
But you know, it doesn't, itdoesn't always happen that first
year, couple years could takea while.
But what do you say outsideof, outside of competition?
What kind of training outsideof competition, outside of ata.
I do like to get into the gym,lift some heavy circles here and
there.
So big goal by the end of thisyear is to hit a 400 pound barbell

(08:34):
squat.
I'm at, I'm in the 370's 380'sright now.
So my goal by the end ofDecember 31st is the push that much
weight on the barbell squat.
That's awesome.
What a great goal.
You know, not only is that,you know, keeping you healthy, whatnot,
but it's obviously, you know,going to help you in your martial

(08:55):
arts as.
As well.
You said you were a third degree.
Where's that?
You got a plans for fourth degree?
I have plans for fourth degree.
I've been a third degree for alittle bit through high school.
In college I kind of sloweddown with my testing my midterms
and kind of focus on school.
But as of late, I want todirect back to getting some more

(09:18):
colors on my collar and thenalso another degree on the belt as
well.
Excellent.
Great.
Those are excellent goals all around.
So for our students out there,what, what does it mean to you to
be an athlete that goes beyondthe belt?
I think as an athlete to gobeyond the belt.

(09:40):
The term itself, to go beyondthe belt.
I think your athleticism andyour commitment to your sport should
show even beyond being on themat, being in the doughbox and beyond
the belt.
I think your determination,your consistency in oneself, your

(10:03):
discipline.
I think those factors as anathlete should show outside of the
belt because I think when you,the higher you compete as an athlete,
the more that becomes alifestyle and the more that your
day to day life beyond thebelt will mimic the dedication you

(10:25):
have when you put on the beltas well.
I love that.
The dedication, the consistency.
What great things for us toall work on when it comes to our
martial arts training.
So.
Well, sir, I, I want to thankyou so much for your time and congratulations
on being one of the athletesof the week.
Thank you, sir.
It's a pleasure.
Thank you for the opportunityand I hope to maybe someday be on

(10:49):
the ATA podcast at a Nationpodcast again in the future.
Yes, certainly.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Man, are we full of awesomeathletes in the ata.
Which reminds me, if you wantto be an athlete of the week, reach
out to one of the ATA ambassadors.
They are looking right now for20, 26 athletes of the week.

(11:14):
So if you think you might makea great athlete of the week, send
a message over to one of ourATA ambassadors on Instagram, Facebook,
one of those social mediaplatforms and they will reach back
out to you and see if youmight qualify.
That's going to wrap it up forus today.
I know it's a short episode,but as I mentioned last week, as
we head into the holidays,we're going to have some of these

(11:36):
shorter episodes coveringsome, some athletes a week, some
other breaking news, somethings like that, and then we'll
be kicking off 2026 with a bang.
So stay tuned.
Make sure you hit thatsubscribe button.
Don't miss out.
Share it with your friends andget out there and go beyond the belt.

(11:59):
Welcome to the ada nation podcast.