Ata?

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XxTKDPenguinxX

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Just wondering how many people here were members of the ATA? How many instructors, trainees, etc.?
 
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songstrike

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ATA here Penguin,

I am red decided, been training for 2 years.
 

bignick

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American Taekwondo Association...

p.s....are you guys the ones that use the camoflauge belt?
 

hardheadjarhead

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Camo belts have a very "slimming" effect on the waistline, provided the wearer is standing in heavy jungle. One can't see the middle as easily.


Regards,


Steve
 

bignick

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hardheadjarhead said:
Camo belts have a very "slimming" effect on the waistline

in that case i'm gonna go order me a whole camo dobok
 
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XxTKDPenguinxX

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Yes... We have Camo belts. The kids love the "Army Belt."

I think Camo was used because Eternal Grand Master needed a cross between two different types of green belts.

Camo is the rank that students are now required to free spar for testing. The meaning behind the belt is, "the sapling must now fight its way among the other trees."

ATA uses Song Ahm style TKD. Song Ahm translates to mean "Pine Tree Temple" So the belts have a great meaning behind them with nature.
 

Marginal

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Doesn't the cammo belt only help represent that great meaning to children?
 

bignick

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thanks...i thought that was the ata...Penguin...sorry about kinda hijacking your thread....
 
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XxTKDPenguinxX

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Marginal said:
Doesn't the cammo belt only help represent that great meaning to children?
I have never heard of this. I, personally, feel that the addition of the different belts was to help show progress better as well as help add to the financial aspect of it all.
In the begining there were only 5 color belts. White, yellow, green, blue, and red. The addition of orange, camo, purple, and brown came later. I don't know the true reason as to why. I just have my opinion.

Nick,

No worries... I rather see the questions asked and hopfully answered than never asked at all :) .
 

Shu2jack

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ATA member, 10 years and an instructor.

At first there was the "basic" color belts. (White, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Red.) Since the number 9 is important in Korean culture, our late Grand Master added new belts between each of the "basic" belts. So now,

WHITE, orange, YELLOW, camo, GREEN, purple, BLUE, brown, RED.

As it was mentioned, all of our forms, basics, belts, etc. have a strong tie to our philosophy. Our students are like a pine tree in our philosophy. We already used the colors of the rainbow and none of the other colors really fit, thus "camo" belt, which ties in perfectly.
 
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Chozen One

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Yeah my brother has a "Rambo" belt in ATA, he catches allota flack at my dojo when he visits since he has a "non_traditional belt"
 

Shu2jack

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If you look at the entire history of the martial arts, Belts are a very new thing. So I don't really understand why, or how, someone could get on another's case for having a non-"traditional" belt when belts are not really traditional in the first place.

Also, one of our Senior Masters once wrote a short story about when our late Grand Master announced the new color belts he was adding during a training camp around a camp fire. When our late Grand Master asked his most senior students what they thought, they all told him that they hated the "camo" belt. He then asked them if they had a better color, to which no one spoke up.

Function over Looks was what the Senior Master was talking about. Doesn't have to look good, it just has to effectively accomplish its purpose.
 

MichiganTKD

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Wouldn't a plain green belt accomplish the same thing? In traditional TKD, the green belt represents growth. Why would a camoflage belt express that idea better than a plain green belt? I'm not attacking ATA, BTW, just trying to figure out why a camo belt is needed.
On the other hand, in this age of American flag uniforms and doboks in every possible color combination, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
 

Shu2jack

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We have a green belt already. All of our belts represent growth. Each belt shows where you are in terms of growth.

For the camo belt specifically, our style of TKD is Songham, or pine tree in other words.

Our white belt represents purity- no knowledge of TKD (or our system)

Our orange belt represents that the seed has broken through the soil and sees the rays of light of the morning sun. (Orange is one of the colors of the sun rise.)

Our yellow belt represents that the young tree now completely emearged from the ground and can see the sun. (A "light" has been turned on and the students begins to see what TKD is about.)

Our CAMO belt represents that now that the tree has it's roots firmly in the ground it notices that is in a forest among other pine trees. It must now fight in order to grow. (At this level students need to spar to advance in rank and the forms start becoming much more difficult.)

Our GREEN belt represent that the young tree now has a full set of needles (thus, very green looking and not the scraggly thing it once was) and is continueing to grow along with the other trees.

Sorry to go so indepth, but that is the break down of our beginning ranks and why we have a green and camo belt, there was a step that needed a color to represent it and Camo belt fit the best.
 

BrandiJo

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i did ATA for a while i got to camo befor i droped out ....now im back in another organization UTA this time :)
 
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NW Boiler

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Shu2jack,

Well said, I belive that our Eternal Grandmaster once said that the fighting portion of TKD is just the tip of the iceberg, which leave the personal growth of the person training in TKD as the majority of what we teach. Just my humble opinion, but I think many here are missing the big picture. To become a good fighter is one thing, but to become a solid individual that is a good fighter is a completely different concept. The later is the jist of Eternal Grandmasters (and Grandmasters) vision.
 

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