American Taekwondo Association

[sentry]

what is everybody's opinion on the ATA?

[monkeygirl]

I don't think I've even heard of it before... what's yours?

[ZR440]

I seen a demo of our local ATA a few weeks ago and thought they had some great kicking ability. Not much punching during the sparring though. I'm not sure how the ATA compares to the ITF, but it seemed fairly traditional. I just couldn't figure out why their forms were so robotic.

[whitematt]

Old thread, but I'm an ATA'er. Happy to answer any questions you guys might have.

 

Matt White

[TangSooGuy]

Well, I saw a presentation given by Master William Clark of the ATA earlier this year. I would have to say that my overall impression of him was that he was an outstanding businessman, and something of a marketing genius even, but the entire presentation was based on different ways instructors can create programs that progressively make you more money because the students pay more to be a part of each program.

 

Frankly, some of it seemed a little shady, but i'm not going to begrudge the guy his success. Some of what he said made a lot of sense, some of it seemed to fit the "McDojo" profile, but as I've never personally visited an ATA dojang, I can't really make that blanket statement. I know of schools in my own association I would consider having the "McDojo" philosophy, so it's not like I'm saying any one Association can be judged more harshly than any other on that front. I just question the validity of multi-tiered pricing setups that don't seem to offer much advantage to those who are paying the higher levels, which is basically what master Clark presented. It's possible i wasn't getting his message clearly, but that's what I got out of it.

 

That said, I have absolutely no basis on which to judge Master Clark's martial arts abilities, nor his teaching abilities, nor those of any member of the ATA, so I won't deign to do so.

[ZR440]

Yes, marketing success is correct. The ATA is probably the most popular MA where I'm at. They advertise quite a bit and have public demos whenever possible. It's very popular with the kids.

[monkeygirl]

I went to Williamsburg, Virginia with my family during summer vacation. We stopped in at an ATA school to watch class, just for fun. The school seemed pretty good and the instructor was nice enough. My family seemed to think it was pretty good. I didn't care for it much, though. The students all say "ATA!" when they bow...creepy! I'm sure it's a great place, but it wasn't the TKD that I'm used to. I think I would pursue a different style altogether before I went to an ATA school, but that's just me.

[CloudDragon]

I have attended ATA schools with friends who were students, watched classes in a few different schools, and sparred with about 8 or 9 ATA stylists. I even wrote a term paper on the ATA in college. My opinion is that they are a great place to take your kids, they encourage moral thinking and a healthy lifestyle. They are very success oriented. The ATA used to be a very closed organization, but they are opening up and incorporating elements of JuJitsu and Krav Maga in their advanced training. But, they do have McDojo tendencies, there are anicllary programs and weapons training that, to me, should be included with regular fees. The instructors are well trained in the business end of running a school, which explains their commercial success. Overall I think that these schools are great for anyone under 16 who wants to add a sport to their life, but I wouldn't go there to add to my knowledge base for use in real world situations.

[Mole78]

Isn't this true of the majority of Associations that grow up around the more popular martial arts?

[shazaam]

mole78 is right.