my friend's kid competed at an ATA event in San Diego...

[dancingalone]

While I subscribe personally to the romantic karmic notion of 'teacher/student being ready', I have to agree to disagree on the 'different markets'. I think people don't know WHAT they want when they walk through the door...although on a subconscious level other things are happening. I tell them 'you may not get what you want...but you may get what you need.'

Well, I do agree that people can be steered in a direction to an extent, but there is also a whole lot of 'I just know what I like when I see it'. We aren't perfectly rational creatures and in fact a lot of personal preferences like food or clothing can be hard to explain from a scientific foundation try as we might to do it.

Those TKD students that can't empty their cups..it's like saying don't bother forcing kids to read books when they can just 'google' something. A whole lot easier doesn't make it right.

Not necessarily easier or harder. Just different. Kobudo is not Protech or XMA weapons, just as Goju-ryu is not TKD. However, hopefully all those things can be practiced with rigor and discipline so that in the end, the student has something that he found worthwhile.

 

[Twin Fist]

*smh

 

[KingDiesel]

in my opinion the ATA has some good Athletes meaning inside the confines of the ATA they are good, dont get me wrong they have some people although very far and few in between that actually can fight because they cross train with legit people or they came from a great MA background. I was a former ATA instructor many many years ago but i will say this ATA is tailored for upper middle class families, who dont know alot about martial arts, and want there kids to be some kind of athlete but in a private setting and the ATA caters to this by fluffing up these kids egos and telling them how good they are in exchange for mom and dads money,credit cards whatever method of payment they are using i agree with those who say in the right hands the sonhgam system isnt totally useless but by the time you have finished all the ATA instructor training physical and business even if someone was "the right hands" its too late the ATA system has brainwashed them

i say this from experience and im no longer involved with the ATA because i was one of those instructors who Crosstrained and encouraged my students to do MMA or whatever else they wanted to do and i was outcasted because my skill set was a threat to upper ranks in the organization

 

[Balrog]

He was super jazzed and asked if "Uncle", meaning me, could come. I don't like ATA but he asked so I went. Wow. They have everyone snowballed into believing that they are the best TKD and that their crap don't stink. It does.
Forms were OK. I don't like tricking or pause/go/pause/yell/go style forms so the XMA was pointless to watch.

XMA is a joke anywhere. It's movie-fu, nothing more.

But I don't think this was an ATA tournament. He could not have competed in it unless he's a student in good standing with an ATA school.

Lots of attitude but It was apparent in sparring that all they knew how to do was play tag and bareley touch each other. The MMA was laughable.

ATA does not do MMA at their tournaments, which is another reason that I don't think this was an ATA tournament.