Skip to main content

ATA SA Worlds Team Competed at the 2015 ATA World Championships


Well, they trained, they cried, they shouted, they travelled 40 hours via Hong Kong to the USA, arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and they conquered! 
The full ATA SA Team at the ATA Headquarters in 
Little Rock Arkansas
ATA SA performed exceedingly well for a small federation (ATA SA compares to some clubs in member total, so I heard). There were about 20,000 participants and supporters from about 26 countries, and South Africa brought back 17 medals!
It was a difficult road to the Worlds 2015 for all. There were financial concerns (attending members had to fund themselves, and I must say, it brought out entrepreneurial skills in some), Visas had to be obtained, vehicles rented, rooms booked in hotels and inns, and then of course the administration issues had to be dealt with by ATA SA administrators, oh yes, in between it all, they had to train as well.










But in the end they arrived in Little Rock, acclimatised, (the team travelled from mid winter (15C avg to mid summer 35C avg), trained with the Grand Master and were true ambassadors of South Africa.  It was the first time ever that the participants represented ATA SA as a team and a National Team at that!

Then they participated in the World Championships, after all, that is why they went to Little Rock in the first place!
The results at the end of the weekend were:
In the Top 10 Competition (Black Belts), no one placed.
Some of the Medals

 At the Family Festival, South Africa brought back 6 Gold Medals, 4 Silver Medals and 7 Bronze Medals, there were some try outs for 3 rd place and our members came 4th. (Unfortunately there were some injuries as well).

All-in-all it was a successful tour for the ATA SA National Team. It is not all about the Medals and Placings, it is also about the camaraderie between the participants.The team members made great friends and FaceBook is abuzz with friendship requests, congratulating each other and just catching up. 
As Ruan Verwey put it during the interview "We face each other on the floor as opponents, but we walk off as friends".  

The team members also experienced a different level of competition, a different level of training and a different way of participation that they were not always prepared for. But they brought back the experience and lessons learnt at the Arkansas Convention Centre. Vital experience for the rest of ATA SA. Experience that can take ATA SA to a higher level.
Some ATA SA National Team Members arriving at
OR Tambo Airport






Welcome Back to the ATA SA National Team, you have done South Africa proud!

 Disclaimer: These are my own impressions and ideas and in no way constitutes an official press release by ATA SA.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Every day you are beaten

I came across this post from Bryan Ward this morning: Every day you are beaten :  Beaten by the leaky sink you keep avoiding. Beaten by the applesauce on the wall you keep not scrubbing off. Beaten by the dent in the drywall you keep putting off fixing. You long to conquer mountains, yet every day you are beaten by molehills. All these little problems… they should be so easily solved. Yet they go on defeating you, day after day, until at last you conclude that you are not a capable man: If you are this easily defeated, “surely” you do not have what it takes to win the bigger fights: to become your fittest self, to create a business empire, to create works of art that will outlast you. Hell, you can’t even fix a leaky sink: might as well f*** off and go watch TV. But you’ve misdiagnosed the problem entirely. … One summer day when I went into the workshop, I saw that the plastic gas cans by the tractor were bulging like balloons. I had left the vents closed, and the heat of
Post a Comment
Read more

The Journey of the Bonsai

At times I place posts from other people, posts that show that Taekwondo is not just about kicking and punching, but Taekwondo is about changing people, about changing lives.  Here is one such post, the life story of Debro van Wyngaard. She wrote this as part of her Black Belt assignment. She is practicing Taekwondo at  TTA Pretoria . Debro is married with two children (a boy of 11 years and a girl of 5 years).  For the past 17 years she has been working as a social worker, working with children in alternative care (specifically children in children’s homes).  She has been doing Taekwondo since 2009 and started to introduce Taekwondo to the children of Jakaranda Children’s home in June 2012.  The Journey of the Bonsai My journey as bonsai started in the wide expanse of rural South Africa, there where time seem to stand still and one's soul is set free. Never in my wildest dreams did I think, that I, a humble fig tree, will be on the threshold of such a big ho
Post a Comment
Read more

The heresy of worshiptainment | Mike Livingstone

The heresy of worshiptainment | Mike Livingstone : "More recently, David Platt has asked: “What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?” (Radical)"
Post a Comment
Read more