Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It's episode 100. Let's get started.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: 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.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: You. Um.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Ladies and gentlemen, masters, instructors, students, and parents of Ata Nation, welcome back to the ATA Nation podcast. We are super excited to have you back with us. This is our first episode of 2024, and it just happens to be episode number 100. If you haven't gone back and listened to our past episodes, make sure you check those out. There's a lot of great gems in there. I had talked about doing something fancy for episode 100, having a super special guest and whatnot. But you know what? I decided episode 100 is just going to be another episode. We can celebrate the milestone, but we're just going to keep trucking. Just like I had an interview recently that will be on the podcast, and we talked about goals that continue to move and continue to evolve.
Just like I got my first degree, I'm rolling right on to work towards my second degree. Well, I hit number 100 episode, and we're just going to keep on rolling. So I've got some announcements for you at the end, some cool things you might want to check out that we are doing here as part of the podcast, and just some personal stuff I'm doing, so make sure you stick around till after the interview for that. But let's get right to our interview.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: Today.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: We've got Miss Natalie Rios, who is an individual, a martial artist here in the ATA that I met at fall nationals, and she's actually part of Ata India, teaching in India. So I thought this was super cool. I think you guys will really enjoy this interview. So let's get started.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Special guest interview.
[00:02:15] Speaker C: Ata Nation. We are back again with Miss Natalie Rios. And I met you at world or, excuse me. It was nationals, all nationals. And there was something interesting on your uniform that made me go, hey, wait a second.
That's a little different. So before we hit that, just give us a little introduction, who you are, where you train, that might spoil things and kind of how you got involved in martial arts.
[00:02:43] Speaker D: Sure. So, my name is Natalie Rios. I'm originally from Taos, New Mexico, which is northern New Mexico.
Really beautiful place, but not a lot to do.
And that's where my martial arts journey began. So it started as my mom needed someone to do after school care or needed to be in an activity, and there was a really great martial arts school. So we actually started with chief master. Oh, I guess he's a 9th degree black belt Dan Thor now, which is really exciting. He did his testing at world last year. This last world. So great opportunity. But that's where we started. And little did we know we were working with such a high rank, right. We just were in this codunk town with this really great opportunity.
And after I had done it for maybe a year and a half, almost two years, my mom joined and since then she's caught up with me. But it was really great to have that journey together and we've really stuck together through the rest of it. And now she's my instructor and I guess this might spoil it, but we run Ata India, so that's, I guess, where my current school is.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Yes. Which is what I saw on your uniform. I was like, wait a second, India. I knew there was a school India, and I don't know anything about it. And I'm really interested to hear just kind of how that started. Especially you're from New Mexico, I don't think there's probably a lot of people from New Mexico who then are off in India. So tell us that story a little bit.
[00:04:22] Speaker D: Sure. So my mom had kind of a change in careers, actually. She switched from being a hotel owner to actually being a teacher. So that really started a switch in her career and is what brought her out to India originally. So she works as a school teacher at the american embassy School in New Delhi, India, and she's done that for the past eleven years. So that's how the first big jump happened. Martial arts had been a really core part of what we had done up to that point. And so it only felt natural to kind of start a program at the school. The program started out very different than it is now. It was originally like an after school program offering from the school itself, but we've now developed a program where we actually sell the program to the schools and then manage it ourselves, which is a real huge upgrade from what we were doing before. And now we've actually sold that program to a second location. So we now have two schools. So it's really grown over the time that we've been there as well.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: That's very cool. So did when your mom not just switched careers, some people switch from one thing to teaching. They go into education, but not necessarily education across the globe. How was that for you? Like, you guys just pick up and move.
How did you deal with that?
[00:05:47] Speaker D: Sure. So I spent some time living with my grandparents in Lawrence, Kansas, and I did not let that deter my martial arts journey. I kept doing taekwondo with the ATA while I was out there. A really great bonus of the ATA, right, is that you can pick up and go to different schools and train and really continue your journey and then coming out of school. Before I went to study at university, I got to spend a big chunk of time out there in India. So from myself, I had kind of a probably pretty traditional high school journey, I guess. I think it's hard for anyone to pick up and move, especially in high school. High school is really hard, yes. But for my mom, I think it was a really big jump also for her to go to a place that has a totally different culture. And really, she's done so much to embrace that and really be a home for people, too, with our school, something unique about where she teaches, it's an international school, so it's people from tons of different countries, too. So not only are we in an international location, but we're actually catering to tons of different people from all over the globe. So it's really a cool opportunity to be a home base for people that are from all over.
[00:07:12] Speaker C: Yeah. So that's what I thought the school there was based in an international thing, so you have students there from all over the globe.
What's it like teaching? I mean, I assume there's a central language everybody's using most of the time. English is my guess.
And then what's like, though, with all that different cultures and all that kind of coming together?
[00:07:41] Speaker D: Yeah. So we do teach in English, and we have all of our instructors teach in English as well. The schools that we're at primarily also do their teaching in English. So there's lots of English as a second language classes offered by the schools themselves.
I think it really highlights, though, some of those other powerful things you have as an instructor, being a really good example, using your body, having leaders around to demo.
Oftentimes we do have people that maybe English is not their strongest language, and that doesn't mean they can't learn taekwondo or that they can't get better. It's all about how you can use some of those other teaching skills. I remember training with Barbara von Schwelling where she brought that up, that really, if you're just talking, you're missing out, because not everyone may know what you're saying, and that's always really stuck. And we really make sure we bring that when we teach.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: That's very cool. So how has the program grown?
You've got black belts, I assume you guys have been doing this for a long time.
What growth, what accomplishments have you seen from your students out there?
[00:08:50] Speaker D: Sure. Yeah. That's a really great question. So a unique thing about our school is we do have a lot of turnover. So usually people are on international postings for about two years. So we really have, like, two years to make potentially a lasting impact, especially if they go to a location that may not have Ata. Right. Because if they go somewhere else in the world, if they get in the US, they might get lucky and be able to come back to something like that.
So some growth, I think, that we see is every year we really try to bring a lot of students to world, and for some of them, that's their only opportunity where they really get to compete beyond people at their school or in a big setting. So really we push even color belts and other things to, if they have that ability to go push themselves, be a part of that competition, be able to see what ATA is all about. So that really feels like a huge amount of growth. Before the pandemic, we had over 20 students going to world at a time.
[00:09:50] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:09:51] Speaker D: Huge numbers for us.
We have competitive students. They often do very well in their rings.
So I think that's really rewarding, too. Even though that they haven't had that chance to compete, that they can still show up and do well for themselves.
And if they don't win, they learn a lot. Right. About competing there. Some other things I think that have been huge growth are of our instructors, we have one instructor who's been with us from the very beginning. His name is Harvey Al Kumar, and he works in the technology department at the school. But we brought him in at that after school program to support and try to become an instructor.
And he's had huge growth as a leader, as a program director. And then also his financial situation has really improved.
He was living in a slum behind the school, in a one room house with his family, and now he has his own apartment with running water, which is like a huge step.
So if anything, even if we walk away from it today, I know that's one person, but it helped their situation out a lot. So I think we make that. And one more thing, I feel like I could talk about all those great things we've done, but even when our students do leave. Right. I mentioned that turnover. We have a network of people that have been able to try to support them beyond. So sometimes we have students that train virtually with 9th degree black belt Dan Thor still, so that they still can maintain their martial arts journey. So we really try to also maintain that legacy and support people even when they leave our location.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: That's super cool.
Obviously you're in a school setting, so do you have adults coming in a fair amount then too? Parents, I'm assuming, or other people coming in that way? Because obviously mentioned some, but I wondered what that looks like.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: Sure. So we have a couple of programs that we also try to cater specifically to adults and maybe not adults that also may not want to do, like taekwondo per se. So we recently started, like, a kickboxing class to try to offer some of those things. I think it kind of ebbs and flows. We have definitely had periods where we have had super strong parent involvement, both in growing the school, and then of course, they're know. No, get out of the way, Liam. You're doing it wrong. It should look like this. And then you're like, okay, looks like you're ready for your, like, let's start. So I would say less adults than a typical school I would see in the US, but we definitely do have some adults, and the ones that we do, I feel like, are very passionate about the sport. So that's awesome.
[00:12:47] Speaker C: And martial arts in general in India, is there a national martial art? Is there something that is pretty common there?
What is the martial arts atmosphere there?
[00:13:00] Speaker D: Sure, that's a great question.
Before martial arts, really, yoga is huge there.
It's the place of yoga, so there's a ton of yoga. There's yoga in the park, there's yogas in studios. So I think that's a really good model for organized individual fitness.
There is a traditional indian martial art, and it actually has to do a lot with combat, with gong mongi, like sticks.
If you watch it, it also kind of has some dance like aspects to it. It's very lively, but I wouldn't say that's widely practiced. I don't think that's really pushed as like something people learn the martial arts. And I actually recently listened to this podcast with Master Tangier when he came in chatted. But yes, it's not super organized in India as well. There's very few standing locations that teach martial arts.
There's people that teach it in the park, like the, you know, you have people that's there, but it's not really like a structured thing. The other issue, and it's not necessarily across India, but specifically in the cities, it's very hard to get from place to place, which is why we chose to stay in schools. Because if you think about your commute after school, if you get out of school at three and you're trying to get across town, which may, with no traffic, take ten minutes. It's probably going to take close to 40 minutes to an hour just because Delhi has a million people and it's very hard to get around and everyone's trying to move. So that also is kind of a barrier to having standing locations in places is how do you actually get people to be able to come at a reasonable time?
[00:14:51] Speaker C: That makes sense. That makes sense. It's so interesting, having done a couple of these interviews with people internationally at these other schools, how in the US we take for granted the fact that professional martial arts schools are everywhere. We've got places that have competition that it can throw across the street. There's five other schools and in other countries, it's just not the same kind of thing, which is really interesting to see.
[00:15:22] Speaker D: And also an opportunity though, right? So there's not a lot there, but it sounds like on that interview, Pastor Tangier is really setting up what that looks like for people, though. Ours, I don't think is going to look exactly like professional martial arts school with the way we're going, we're still setting a model for how you can develop that within a space that is reasonable for where we're at.
[00:15:47] Speaker C: And that makes a lot of sense to partner and do some things, like you said, with travel and just that. I've seen a little video of driving in India and it seems like there's a whole different level of self defense that needs taught when it comes to being in a vehicle.
So I want to get wrapping up, but you're obviously doing the younger because of how it's in with the school and you've got that turnaround. But do you get any of these kids that are getting like, hey, maybe I'll start one of these somewhere when I go off to another place, start to see these places pop up, other countries.
[00:16:34] Speaker D: Absolutely. So we definitely get really motivated students that leave and want to continue. I think our prime example, they didn't go to another country, but they did move to another part of India. We have Samia and Myra actually began a blanking on their last name, which is not the time to blank on it, but they started a program for girls, like, again, slum girls to learn self defense. So a neighborhood that's near where they live, they bring girls into a community area and she actually teaches martial arts and self defense to them. So though that's not necessarily like a formal ata school, she's not know, a black health instructor, some of those things, but she's definitely pushed her journey and she continues to train virtually with my mom and then also 9th degree black belt band Thor. So we're definitely trying to support her in what we can and hope to see her at worlds this year. So we try to where we can for sure.
[00:17:33] Speaker C: That's super cool. And you never know when you're planting those seeds to see what blossoms years down the road. Well, this is super cool.
I think there's a lot of people who at world championships we see like, hey, here's. Wait, that uniform is from somewhere else, whatnot. But it's really neat to hear the stories behind these schools and get to see all the at nation is everywhere. And we're just trying to connect and make sure everybody knows about everybody and can support each other. So I want to thank you for your time today. Any last things you'd like people to know about the school or anything like that?
[00:18:14] Speaker D: No, but I did hear Master Tingier make a plug for instructors that want to come over.
We also are looking for instructors. We have plans to open other locations. We're working on our third, but there's easily 15 to 20 different schools that we could have just in Delhi, but that's also kind of instructor limited. So if someone's really looking for a career and an adventure of a lifetime, please feel free to reach out for sure.
[00:18:44] Speaker C: Oh, that's an excellent plug. Yeah, I mean, what an adventure that would be to go out and be teaching martial arts in India.
A lot of mean. One of the things Covid taught us was that we can do so much training online.
You guys are doing trainings with headquarters and grandmaster nominee candidate Thor. I don't know which title goes where anymore, but it's so cool that you could go out there, continue your training with your instructor, and get to training with you guys and all kinds of stuff. So, yeah, let us know if you guys want to go out to India and do that and we can say the podcast, help connect people. That'd be great.
[00:19:30] Speaker D: And thank you to all those instructors, the masters that have come out for our different camps and stuff, that have really supported us along the way. Because even if you don't want to come work for us, you definitely have a lot to offer us. So thank you for your support. Those that have done that already.
[00:19:43] Speaker C: Yeah, and those guys keep sharing those pictures. I just saw Mr. Berkeley, they came just recently and always great to see some cool pictures. So awesome. Well, thank you very much again for your time and have a great holiday season. Awesome.
[00:20:00] Speaker D: Thank you for this opportunity. Have a good one.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Hey, tnation I thought that was super cool. How neat to hear about India. You might have noticed we did have a little audio issue there. Hopefully didn't bother you too much. But ladies and gentlemen, two big things I wanted to mention to you today. One we talked about in our solo episode before the end of the year, if you want to get a month's worth of at home training set up in a really smart way for athletes, I've prepared that for you with just a bunch of the knowledge that I've been gaining over the last couple of years. And you can pick that up at Atama Ninja 2024 athlete. Atama Ninja 2024 athlete. The link will be in the show notes as well. Just an opportunity to get a free month training layout, things that you can work on at home. And if you want to hear a little bit more about that, make sure you check out the last episode, episode 99. And then.
[00:21:04] Speaker C: I was having a conversation.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: With some people and talking about health and fitness and all that kind of stuff, weight loss.
And I think a lot of times we will use the excuse that we're working out to eat whatever we want and we're not really fueling our bodies the way we need to. I just was listening to a podcast episode of another show with a dietitian on it, and they were talking about reframing diet to fueling. How are you fueling your body? And I thought, this is something I've been conscious, my wife and I, we have been conscious about the last year, two years working on, and we go through times where we do a better job and at times when we do worse jobs. But a lot of times, accountability can be a fun part of it. So I set up a challenge, and I invited my ATa Nation friends on my social media and in the private Facebook group for our ATA Nation podcast to join me in this little challenge. So if you want to go and do a healthy eating challenge with us, there's just this app called the Challenge app, and you log your food and it gets you points.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: If you eat your fruits and vegetables.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: And do your activity and stuff pretty easy, doesn't cost you anything. Whatnot. If you want to join us for that challenge, you can either check out the link in our private Facebook group or the ATA Nation podcast Facebook group, or I'll stick a link on our instagram. Or you can go to atama ninja Challenge. Atama ninja Challenge. And we would love to have you join us for that. So until next time, ladies and gentlemen, keep kicking butt in 2024 and make sure you're out there taking action thanks.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: For listening to another episode of the ATA Nation Podcast. Be sure to subscribe and share with your ATA family.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Super secret part.
So guys, hey, really, let me know what you think about the athlete layout. Have you downloaded that?
I'd really appreciate your insight on what you think about it. Have you done it? Are you training like that? And then join us for the nutrition challenge.
This was a hot button topic with some people I was mentioning it to the other day, but I'm going to be honest with you. I really think we could do a better job of the way we eat as martial artists.
We're Americans, most of us. Not all of you, luckily ATA nations across the world, but a lot of us are Americans and the standard american diet is pretty sad and we need to be working on that as athletes and it's part of our self defense. So come check it out. See you guys.
