I think when someone says something negative about you, you have to ask yourself a question. Is it true? If it is, work on it to make it better...if not, forget about it. Same in this instance.
Normally I would agree with that, however, I was, strongly, responding because of the fact that I felt an ATA member whom I respect was having their name disrespected. If Mrs. Beddow or any of the other instrutors were on this forum, well, they are adults and they can take care of themselves.
As for ATA state champions, I think the program needs a bit of work and that color belts need to be removed from the program. There are a lot of black belts who are very talented, but for one reason or another can not accumilate the points needed to make the "Top Ten". I think having individual state champions is a good thing if implemented correctly.
And ANYONE can compete in ATA "closed" tournaments. Mr. Chat entered our organization as a 4th degree upon testing at our World tournament. Other black belts from other styles have entered our system with their black belt by testing into the system. ATA tournaments are schedule about a year in advance and they are all listed on the ATA web site. If somone wants to compete they can sign up at any ATA school, test in, and compete when the tournament hits. We do this in order to maintain quality control. If we have any problems with a competitor we can black list him and take care of the instructor who allowed him in in the first place. Sure it takes a lot more effort to enter our "closed" tournaments, but if you really care about competing in our tournaments and taking a shot at our title, then I would expect someone to at least partially commit to our organization or take the time and energy to fully become familiar with our customs, rules, regulations, and ways of doing things.
I was hoping an ATA supporter would have come to the conclusions that Zepp and Pakua did by now. Posting WHOSE championships (governing body) that the credentials came from would display more integrity in ATA advertizing. That is the whole point. Not doing so smacks of deceptive business practice. I am not pointing at any particular ATA school or student. I am pointing at the general ATA business practice pointed out above. Letting people know UP FRONT that you don't compete with the larger segment of the TKD population would show honesty. Then possibly some of the negative publicity would diminish.
I honestly do not believe any ATA member was purposely trying to deceive anyone. When ATA people talk about State, World, or National champs to other instructors or students everyone knows we are referring to the ATA. It is just part of our lingo which spills out when listing creditentials or talking about tournaments.
I must apologize on behalf of the organization and take more care in listing our accomplishments. Also, I must ask that others do not automatically assume foul play. Our certificates say "World Champ", our uniforms say "World Champ", we announce it as "World Champ" and since we have closed tournaments everyone knows what the title means. It is short for ATA World Champ. So when we talk about it, what do we say a lot of the time? World Champ, not ATA World Champ.
