Got another awesome athlete of the week and some amazing upcoming events.

Let's get started.

Welcome to the Ata Nation podcast.

Welcome back to the Ata Nation podcast.

This is episode 165 of the Ata Nation podcast.

We are thrilled to be back with you.

I am your host, Senior master Zach Hayden, and thank you for tuning in.

Always a pleasure to have you joining us, letting us be part of your ATA journey.

Now, we've got lots of stuff going on across ATA Nation, and so I wanted to hit some of those here real quick and then get to our athlete of the week, who I actually interviewed at World Championships.

And not only did we hit like, him and his.

His training and stuff, but a really exciting thing that we've talked about here on the podcast before, and that's this opportunity to go train in Whale Pass, Alaska.

So we'll get to Mr. Dempsey here in just a minute, but I wanted to hit a couple of these events that are going across the country.

I know last week we talked with the training department and if you didn't check out that episode, you need to make sure you do that.

Lots of great things coming from there.

But in addition to that, there's other events going on across the country.

And I want to really encourage you, if you've never stepped outside of your school, to do some other trainings.

One great chance that you might want to take is doing one of these regional seminars or even better, these regional camps.

Regional camps are so much fun.

I know I am part of running the one for my region and we just have such a great time.

The stories that we tell around the campfire, the.

The bonds that we make, these are the kind of things that we want to just continue to foster.

So we want to highlight those we've got.

Just like next weekend, September 5th through the 7th, region 102A is going to be having their training camp.

And then of course, we've got some of these max gathering or, excuse me, these max regional trainings coming up.

Then near the end Of September, Region 105 is going to be having their regional camp at the beginning of October, the first weekend in October, 118 in Arizona.

And then also my region, region 102B will be having our camp.

Don't want to miss these guys.

They're so much fun.

Region 106 is having their camp at the.

In the middle of October.

Again, these camps are for those of you who are higher rank.

You're going to be wanting to get these personal development points.

You get those by going to qualified camps.

Most of these are qualified camps to get those points.

These points are little like if you haven't talked to your instructor yet, if you are a fourth degree or higher, you need to be talking to them about how you get these points and making sure you understand the process because you could get way behind in setting your goals.

This is one of the things that they, they map out with you at Camp Jongsu to look at your path of long life in martial arts.

So you might want to, you might want to check that out.

And I would highly encourage if you are a black belt, checking out your local regions camp.

They are so much fun.

Then of course Camp Jongsu in Little Rock, December 3rd through 5th all the way.

You can plan ahead.

Get, get these on your calendar.

Now.

Region 109 has got their camp scheduled for March 2026.

And then we're.

Or excuse me, then in May 2026, 110B has their camp scheduled as well.

So those are some great opportunities to check out.

Make sure you're clicking on those.

You can go to the atamarcialarts.com website, click on the event and then at the top of the events, you know, you have these different classes of tournaments and then training and then camps and seminars.

So make sure you don't miss that.

Okay, guys, that's going to get us started with some events.

But let's talk to our athlete of the week.

Hey, so Jesse, you are in Whale Pass, Alaska, which some people might have seen that this is not the typical location.

Tell us a little bit about Whale Pass and you know how many people live there, how difficult it might be to get there.

Tell us a little bit about where you train.

Well, Whale Pass, Alaska is a small isolated town on Prince of Wales island which is right next to Ketchikan.

Okay, how many people do you live in there?

In the summertime there's 100 people, but year round it is 40.

Okay, so this is not your typical location you think of for training.

If somebody wants to hear a little bit about how you guys got there, there's a past episode they can watch about that.

But I want to hear a little bit about your.

This new thing they have coming in Whale Pass that like ATA students can come and visit.

They can come check it out.

What's the, what's the deal there?

So the deal for our program is the song.

On my academic program they will come up and they will train taekwondo, but they will also do cinematography, videography.

I think that's, I'm saying.

Yep, yep, you got it.

That's it and AI technologies and also work with fancy cameras.

What?

So I can.

I can apply to come up and do Taekwondo and, like, my regular school at Whale Pass is this, like, am I going to be there for a whole year?

Am I going to be there for a week?

What's kind of the time requirement that I'm looking at to go the time.

Range will be actually in Alaska, will be around five weeks, and then we'll go down to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Fall Nationals.

And then for a week, we'll do it on zoom.

We'll do it.

Okay.

Okay.

So.

So I'm gonna come to Whale Pass.

I get to do all this training, Taekwondo training, as well as some of these neat things.

And you guys live in, like, a rainforest, which, like, if I were going to tell people that there's a rainforest in Alaska, most people would be like, what are you talking about?

So there's things that you're going to be checking out outside, things like that as well, right?

Yes, sir.

We will be traveling across the island to other towns and we will look at stuff like totem poles.

Oh, the car systems.

We'll learn about that.

And we'll go to karst caves.

You guys got caves in Alaska?

Yes, sir.

What?

I've never heard of this.

You have a rainforest and caves.

Okay, what?

And then.

So you're going to train there.

You'll be there for, you said five weeks, and then the end of that five weeks lines up with Fall Nationals and they'll.

You guys will come to Pittsburgh, compete, do stuff there.

So with this, what.

What age do I have to be?

Who can do this?

So the main people we're aiming to get for the program are middle school.

To high school, middle school and high school students, okay?

Yes, sir.

Excellent.

And how, if somebody is interested, how do they jump on board?

This is it.

Are they.

Can they still.

I know we're probably getting close to time.

I don't know.

Yes, sir.

We currently have 10 more spots available to join the program, and we do have a website to join.

Excellent.

We'll stick that in the link so people can check it out as well.

And I know you guys are on social media.

They can find information there as well.

So let's pivot back just a second, though.

That is super cool.

I like, I can't imagine, like, as a, you know, a middle school or a high school or getting to go for five weeks to Alaska to do Taekwondo and learn all this other stuff and then go to full national.

I mean, I don't want necessarily I would like feel bad.

I'd miss some of my students, but students, if you want to go this, I will let you.

This sounds like an awesome opportunity.

And you got to take pictures and maybe bring your instructor.

Anyways, so competition, we're here at World Championships.

You've been to Worlds before.

What are you thinking about this world?

How are you liking it?

This world has been great so far and it still has more time to be even better.

Yes.

Yeah.

You've got.

What do we still have going on today?

Kickoff.

Tonight we've got the.

Oh, the Super 20 is starting.

So you're competing in the Super 20?

Yes, sir.

What events are you doing?

All of them.

All of them.

You're doing everything.

Very good.

Did I see that, you guys?

You were at districts not that long ago.

How did districts go for you this last season?

So I got three titles in districts and I got three second place as well and one third place.

That's not a bad district at all.

That sounds fantastic.

Excellent.

Okay, so we will.

You're getting ready for the Super 20.

All the exciting events going on there.

What are the kind of goals do you have just maybe for you short term or even long term in Taekwondo.

So my goals for Taekwondo, for short term, I want to make a school excellent.

Become a full time instructor, that is.

And for long term, I eventually want to become a Grandmaster.

Oh, I love that.

Very cool.

Were you able to be here for the Master ceremony or you guys weren't able to get in yet for that, right?

No, sir.

Yeah, that's a bummer.

Have you seen the Master ceremony before?

No, sir.

Okay, one of these years.

I know it's so early in the week, it makes it hard.

One of these years you got to check it out.

It's one of my favorite things at World Championship.

So inspiring.

And then you can just picture yourself up there getting dubbed in the head with that cool b rong bong.

Okay, last but not least, what does it mean to you to be an athlete that goes beyond the belt?

To me to go beyond the belt, it means to push your limits, to do what other people said was impossible.

I love that.

Do what other people said is possible.

A little like today not possible, tomorrow possible.

Yes, sir.

Well, thank you so much for your time today, sir.

Good luck in your competitions.

And if anybody's interested, going up to Alaska, hanging out with this guy, make sure you check him out.

Thanks, sir.

Thank you, sir.

How neat is it to have an athlete with us like Mr. Dempsey who is doing some really cool things.

His instructor just what they're doing in Whalepas, Alaska and how you can participate in that is super cool.

So make sure you check that out.

Lots of still things developing there and so make sure you find him online and follow what they're doing or sign up.

You know they're still, you might be able to still get in, I don't know.

Um, but this week we had a little bit of short episode for you, a little quick one because I know last week went real long and it might be still in your feed somewhere.

Don't worry.

We've got a lot of great interviews to come.

Some amazing athletes of the week we've got.

If you want to be an athlete of the week, reach out to one of the new ambassadors and they can get you hooked up in that possibility.

So until next time, get out there and go beyond the Bell ATA Nation podcast.

Be sure to subscribe and share with your ATA family.