This week, we have an athlete and an instructor.

Let's get started.

Sir, I will live with perseverance in the spirit of Taekwondo, courtesy for fellow students, integrity within myself, and to become a black belt leader.

Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.

Welcome back.

Instructors, students, parents, family all over ATA Nation.

We are so glad to have you.

It is another episode of the ATN Nation podcast.

I am your host.

Excuse me, Senior Master Zach Hayden.

It is just such a joy to be with you again.

We are featuring another amazing ATA martial arts athlete.

And this time we're.

We're getting another adult in.

And I just love getting all the different ages.

We've got some international people coming up, all kinds of great things.

So let's get right to our next interview.

Special guest interview.

AJ Nation.

Another awesome athlete with us today.

Hey, sir, can you introduce yourself?

Hey, Sir.

Yes.

I'm Mr.

Ulysses Paez.

I'm a 43 black belt out of Monroe, New Jersey, and I'm from Innovate Martial Arts.

Innovate Martial Arts is over with.

Senior Master Turner, right?

Yes, sir.

You and the pandas over there got some awesome stuff going on.

I am.

I'm keeping an eye on all the Innovate stuff and.

And seeing what kind of innovations I can have.

Hey, sir, tell us real quick, how did you get into martial arts?

So I got into martial arts when I was about, like, nine years old.

I was a big soccer family.

But my mom, I always.

She always wanted to see how active I could be.

So I tried out all the different sports, and I.

I really want to do martial arts.

I want.

I watched.

I grew up watching the Rocky movies.

I watched Terminator, and I was really interested in just that world.

So, you know, I begged my mom.

I was like, you know, can I.

Can I try martial arts?

Can I try martial arts?

And finally she let me.

She let me try at 9 years old.

And then there was a schedule confliction between soccer and then martial arts.

And she was like, hey, you got to pick one.

And I was like, I love martial arts.

I am sticking with it.

And I've just been since that.

Since growing on.

Yeah, well, yeah, it obviously turned out pretty good.

You're working at a martial arts school doing some great things.

Did you start.

Was your original school an ATA school or did you move.

Move into ATA later?

So I started a karate school where I was before I lived.

And then I moved and I found ata, and that's where I kind of joined the ATA system and how we do things over here.

Very cool.

So we've been talking to these athletes that the junior brand ambassadors have been picking across the country.

What for you as an athlete is like the event, the things in the tournament that you were like, this is what I really love doing.

Oh, man, that's a good question.

I would say I really love the camaraderie that all the competitors have with each other, even from things as simple as forms, weapons, sparring, combat, and of course, you know, the creative and extreme aspect of everything.

I think it's meeting different people from different backgrounds, different areas of life.

You know, I have some of my best friends come from different states, you know, not just here in New Jersey, but I have best friends in, you know, Florida, Arizona, Texas, California, even in other countries.

So I think it's the camaraderie that you can build with one sport and the relationships you can build.

So probably my favorite part.

Well, that's great.

You as an instructor and an athlete, what would you say to a young martial artist who's not yet sure about the competitive side of martial arts?

You know, they're in their school, they're working on their own stuff, trying to go up the ranks.

How would you encourage them to maybe take a step out of their comfort zone and go and compete?

I would say for all the students that I have here, I always tell my students, you know, it's always going to be a learning experience, whether you win or lose.

You know, medals are great, but I think it's the experience that you build with everybody and their friendships.

Like I said before, the relationships that you build, and it's truly, you know, it gives.

It brings out that competitive side of you.

But I'd say it's mostly based on, you know, the relationships you can build, you know, the friendships that you have with each other.

And besides the wins and losses, you forget, you know, all the wins, you forget all the losses.

What you really bring are the relationships and the memories that you build with these people.

I'll say that's the biggest thing that I tell my kids.

You know, go out out there.

You know, you go there to win.

But, you know, whatever you do out there, you know, you do your best and you go out there and the best thing is to have fun.

Love that.

Yeah, I.

I totally agree with you there.

Now, on the.

The competitive side of the eight events, nine, 10, I don't know how many we have.

If you count, like, team Sync and demo and then Team USA and all those kinds of stuff, what event is the one that you're like this?

I mean, we're all martial arts, we love all the events, we all love the things.

So it's hard to pick.

It's like a favorite child.

But if you had to pick one, what's your, what's your favorite?

Man, that's a hard question.

I'm going to say.

I'm going to give two answers, but I'll tell you why.

So I think I have a favorite one that I in my heart.

That's my favorite, but I think I have a favorite one that I perform.

So I'd say the favorite one that I can perform is probably my extreme form.

I love how I can give the energy, bring it to the crowd, how I put on this performance, soon as that music turns on, bam, I'm in it.

But I think truly I'm a traditionalist at heart.

I think most people know me, me for my creative streaming background and I think I see my Instagram and it's like, oh, he does a lot of creative machine.

But I'm a true traditionalist at heart.

So I would say the one I think I truly love the most is probably traditional forms, but I do love performing weapons the most.

I love that, I love that.

I'm a traditional forms guy myself.

That's the, that's the, you know, it's the, the base, it's the core of Taekwondo's traditional forms.

Don't let those Team USA guys hear me say that, but I just want to hit somebody in the head.

So event that again.

We love all of martial arts, we train in it all because that's what it means to be a well rounded athlete.

But if you had to pick one that maybe isn't your favorite, maybe is the one that you have to work a little harder to be good at, what would that be?

I mean, man, I think I do very well in all the events, but I'd probably say since I'm a little bit of the shorter stature, I would probably say sparring, but I still love doing it.

You know, I have, you know, some of the guys I train with, you know, Mr.

Kevin Walls, Ms.

Kashanovich, Mr.

Davey, you know, they're all on Team USA so, you know, I have to be good to in order to face those guys and help them out.

So I would say probably sparring though.

Yeah, you're in that.

If I'm not mistaken, you're the fourth of the degree 18 to 29 division.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

That is like the, the pinnacle of divisions, you know, right there.

Anybody want to go and watch the top division go to worlds?

Watch that fourth of it's 3, 18, 29.

Oh, it's some.

Some awesome stuff.

Hey, sir, this is awesome.

What for you, does it mean to be an athlete that goes beyond the belt?

It goes beyond the belt.

I would say everything that goes beyond the belt is all the life skills that you build, you know, that you learn here.

Discipline, respect, you know, perseverance, you know, courage, you know, I think it takes a lot to go out there and do a form in front of people watching you, and it takes a lot of pressure.

But I would say, you know, all those life skills and being able to not just know them, but be able to apply them into your real life, not just in the school, but outside in your school, outside in the society, outside in the world.

You know, my instructor, Master Turner, has a saying, Be 1% better every day.

So I would say, you know, that's something that in martial arts, I might be a little biased since I'm a martial arts instructor, but I think it's one of the best things about our sport and about our industry is the life skills that you can build and then the work ethic that you develop through martial arts and how you can apply it into everyday life.

And, you know, whether you stay with martial arts or whether you go on into your adult life into something else.

Excuse me.

Is something that I think is the best thing for martial arts that go beyond the belt.

I love that.

Now, usually we.

We end it with that question, but because you have, you know, you started as a kid, you loved martial arts, you kept going.

Now you're working at a.

At a martial arts school, you know, making a living doing this as a martial arts.

What would you say to somebody out there who's like, is that actually possible?

I can do that.

What.

What's that about?

That's.

That's a funny question you brought up, because I didn't think I could do this as a career until I was about, like, 16, maybe 17.

I always thought it was a hobby.

And, you know, I didn't really see it as, you know, something that I could do full time.

And then when I was 17, I was like, man, you know, I'm pretty good at this.

Again, I can probably do it.

And, you know, I'm in college right now currently, so I'm still working on a business degree and all that stuff, so I'm almost done.

But I think it's something that if you do very well and you truly enjoy it and you truly love it and you want to help build up the next generation, that's something you can do as a career.

Absolutely.

And I found that out probably when I was 17, that you can do this as a career and that if you're really good at it, then you should go for it.

Yeah, that's great.

Are you looking at.

And I'm not.

Not trying to.

To get Master Turner employee, you know, going on his own or whatever.

You know, there's a lot of avenues for someone who wants to do this as a career.

Working for another licensee, another instructor, going off some, having your own school.

Are you, you know, thinking about different avenues.

Are you?

I mean, it's probably pretty awesome working there with all the pandas.

So it's amazing.

I love Innovate Martial Arts.

I did have a discussion Master Turner, and I know eventually I do want to open my own and he'll help me out with that.

But Master Nurse, he's a great instructor.

I don't have an exact timeline yet.

Eventually I would like to open one up in a couple of my own.

But, you know, I love Master Turner.

I love Innovate Martial Arts.

I love the.

The group and the.

And the culture that we have here.

So that's something eventually when I go down the line and have my own that I want to and have that impact, you know, just like Master Turner has over here.

That's great.

I know great leaders like Master Turner are always happy.

I mean, obviously as instructors, we're always sad to see somebody leave the nest, you know, and somebody that we've helped, but it's great to see them go out and succeed on their own, make something of their own, and just, you know, continue to move the vision of eternal Grandmaster forward.

So.

Hey, sir, we really appreciate your time today.

Thanks for being out there as an athlete.

Thanks for being out there as an instructor and inspiring others.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you so much, sir.

Thank you to the junior ambassadors for choosing me as the athlete of the Week.

That was amazing.

It's such an honor.

So thank you guys for having me.

Thank you, sir.

Love to see these awesome athletes training hard.

And we're going to see a bunch of you guys at Spring Nationals in Fort Worth when this episode comes out will be just like less than a week away from Spring National.

So if you are there and you see me and you're a listener or watcher of the the podcast, make sure you stop me and say hi.

I would love to say hi.

And I'll have some stickers with me, some ATA Nation podcast stickers.

So if you ask me, I might have a Couple left now.

One thing that I have barely been on my radar and I can't even believe it.

World Championships will be here before we know it.

We're.

I'm not used to having, you know, Spring national so late.

I remember back not that many years ago.

We had it in like February.

It wasn't anything like spring.

Now we're way into April and man, it's just going to be May, June, July, and there'll be World Championships time.

So make sure you're looking@atamarcialarts.com keep an eye on.

Make sure you get in your rooms for your districts.

All the information for districts is online.

And then don't forget to start booking those rooms for your trip to Arizona.

I know.

I just realized I don't have my room yet.

How did I not do this?

I.

I usually have one by now.

You gotta get it done.

World championships is on July 22nd through 27th.

It's technically 103 days from the time of this record.

So it'll be here before you know it.

Make sure you're looking at that and setting those goals.

We've got to be looking at the goals that you're going to set to finish up this tournament season.

But it is not too early to start planning your goals for the next tournament season.

And if you're not like going for a championship, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be setting goals even for tournaments.

Attending tournaments is just an awesome thing to work on.

And maybe your goal is just, I'm going to do three tournaments this year.

I'm going to do one national or world event this year.

I'm going to, you know, test for my next rank at this, you know, event or, you know, I'm going to compete in this new division or I'm going to try a new event.

It doesn't have to be district champ, world champ, state champ.

Doesn't have to be.

For me personally, those were never big goals of mine.

One year I did go like, you know what?

I think this year might be my year to go for district champ or something like that.

But that wasn't my big motivator.

You can be an athlete that goes beyond the belt and not have that as your main goal.

You can set other goals that will help you achieve your personal victories.

So just a quick side note, quick tangent there for you, ladies and gentlemen.

That's going to wrap it up for today.

I am super excited to see a bunch of you guys as Spring Nationals.

Until then, get out there and go beyond the Belt thanks for listening to.

Another episode of the ATA Nation podcast.

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I forgot to mention that in the regular part of the episode.

What am I thinking?

Ah, so much going on.

Nationals coming, getting ready for districts.

Got all the things things.

We're doing some recording of podcast stuff while we're in Fort Worth.

It's just going to be an awesome time.

Can't wait.

We'll see you there.