Episode 204
Ep. 204 - Embracing Discipline: Hallie Reeves' Approach to Martial Arts
Today, we delve into the inspiring journey of Hallie Reeves, a remarkable second-degree black belt from St. George, South Carolina, who exemplifies the essence of perseverance and dedication in Taekwondo. As we approach the district championships, Hallie shares her insights on the importance of discipline and motivation in training, emphasizing that consistent effort leads to improvement and personal growth. She articulates her experiences in the Team Sync competition, highlighting the camaraderie and unique challenges of training with a partner despite geographical distances. Furthermore, Hallie offers sage advice to young athletes, encouraging them to focus on their individual progress rather than comparing themselves to others, thus nurturing a healthy mindset in the pursuit of excellence. Join us as we explore her aspirations for future competitions and her commitment to inspiring fellow martial artists in their respective journeys.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we delve into the significance of the upcoming district championships, emphasizing the hard work and dedication exhibited by the athletes preparing for these pivotal events.
- Our conversation with Hallie Reeves showcases her remarkable journey as an eleven-year-old second-degree black belt, highlighting her achievements and aspirations in the realm of Taekwondo.
- We explore the concept of Team Sync competition, where athletes collaborate, thereby enhancing their skills through partnership and shared practice, even when separated geographically.
- Hallie emphasizes the importance of discipline as a crucial life skill, underscoring how it fuels perseverance and commitment towards achieving one's goals in martial arts and beyond.
- The episode further discusses the importance of humility in martial arts, stressing that true excellence is measured not merely by accolades, but by one's character and willingness to support others.
- Lastly, we reflect on the essence of preparing for competitions, encouraging athletes to focus on personal growth and the invaluable lessons learned throughout their training journey.
Transcript
Districts, championships start this week and we've got quite the athlete to talk to today.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker A:Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.
Speaker A:Instructors, students, masters, grandmasters of Songam Taekwondo.
Speaker A:Welcome Back to the Ata Nation podcast.
Speaker A:This is episode 204.
Speaker A:Let me double check.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:204.
Speaker A:Can you believe it?
Speaker A:Oh, man, we are deep into the postseason.
Speaker A: championships with the Super: Speaker A:Do not miss out, guys.
Speaker A:Get over to atamartialarts.com and ata easy sign up and get registered for world championships.
Speaker A:Don't forget, this is two amazing tournaments.
Speaker A:You have the toc, the Tournament of Champions, what you know, everybody has been working so hard for, to get those red letters.
Speaker A:But then also the Super 20, which is the start of the new season.
Speaker A:This is the event that every single competitor in the ATA can, can compete in.
Speaker A:You don't have to, you know, be a world champ.
Speaker A:You don't have to be a black belt.
Speaker A:You don't have to be in, you know, a champion division.
Speaker A:Everybody can compete, get registered.
Speaker A:It's in Phoenix, Arizona in July.
Speaker A:It's going to be an amazing time.
Speaker A:We never miss it.
Speaker A:In ATA Nation.
Speaker A:The podcast is we're always there.
Speaker A:I'm always there.
Speaker A: illion years that they've had: Speaker A:We all missed it.
Speaker A:Let's not talk about it.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Let's get to our really awesome repeat athlete of the week, ATA Nation.
Speaker A:We are back with a repeat athlete of the week.
Speaker A:Could you introduce yourself again for us, ma'?
Speaker A:Am?
Speaker B:Yes, I Pile Reeves.
Speaker B:I'm 11 years old.
Speaker B:I'm a second degree black belt from St. George, South Carolina.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:And we're really excited to have you back.
Speaker A:I think a lot of atnation might have seen you out there.
Speaker A:Kind of some highlight reel, some things going around you and somebody else in an event would you know what event that was?
Speaker B:It's Team Sync, sir.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What do you.
Speaker A:What do you think about Team Sync?
Speaker A:You guys seem to be rocking it.
Speaker B:I think that it's one of the coolest events I've ever done because usually you're by yourself.
Speaker B:You know, you're just competing by yourself.
Speaker B:But now I have a partner, so I'm just like, yeah, wow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So I got a question about this.
Speaker A:You and your partner, are you near each other?
Speaker A:You Guys close.
Speaker B:We're like 10 years apart in age.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, and that's.
Speaker A:You know what you're gonna have to check out.
Speaker A:Senior Master Turner came online and announced some age divisions in the Team Sync competition.
Speaker A:So y' all should check that out.
Speaker A:It's gonna be interesting.
Speaker A:But now, do you guys.
Speaker A:You guys practice together a lot?
Speaker A:Are you a virtual, like, practice or you learn your own part?
Speaker A:He learns his part, and then you come together and do it.
Speaker A:How does it work for you guys?
Speaker B:So usually we train on virtual and we try to.
Speaker B:Like when we go to the same tournament, we kind of like meet up and train there.
Speaker B:That's kind of how we do it.
Speaker B:But we're mostly virtual.
Speaker B:Like, we're mostly virtual trainers.
Speaker B:We trade overlap.
Speaker A:Is that hard to like?
Speaker A:It seems like it's hard to get the synchronization that's so important in Team Sync when you're not in the same place.
Speaker B:Yeah, most definitely is very hard.
Speaker B:But I feel like we've been doing it for a while now, so we're kind of used to it.
Speaker B:But I feel like for beginners and stuff, it'd be pretty, Pretty.
Speaker B:Pretty dang hard.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, you guys have been doing it for a while and you guys are rocking.
Speaker A:So I'm assuming.
Speaker A:I haven't looked at the standings for Team Sync at all.
Speaker A:I. I'm pretty sure you're probably up there pretty high.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:So you're getting ready to compete for World Champ at.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:We're coming back this year.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Did you guys.
Speaker A:I see you've got your world Champ shirt on and it's got like 300.
Speaker A:You're going to need a long sleeve version to get all the.
Speaker A:You're going to need a long sleeve version.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Do you have all of them?
Speaker A:What are you.
Speaker A:Are you missing anything?
Speaker B:I got one on the back and I got all this.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Team Sync.
Speaker A:Did you get Team Sync World Champ?
Speaker B:Not last year, sir.
Speaker B:We got second.
Speaker B:But we're coming back this year.
Speaker A:This year?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Did you see those?
Speaker A:The two ladies, the.
Speaker A:The older ladies that competed that.
Speaker A:I. I'm saying they're fantastic.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:You think you can take.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So we're getting ready for districts.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What are you looking forward to?
Speaker A:Districts, you know, bringing home a bunch of titles, hanging out with friends.
Speaker A:What are you looking forward to?
Speaker B:I'm looking forward to, you know, getting experience, competing, inspiring others, and meeting my friends from all around the world that I don't usually See?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Hey, speaking of all around the world, have you been to any of the.
Speaker A:I was talking to somebody yesterday and they had been to the European championships.
Speaker A:Have you been on any of the international championships?
Speaker B:No, sir.
Speaker A:Any plans?
Speaker B:I'm like state of the country, so I haven't really been on out of it yet.
Speaker A:That international travel, time zones a lot.
Speaker B:Since I'm person.
Speaker A:Do you, do you want to go to one someday?
Speaker B:Yes, sir, I do want to go to one.
Speaker B:At least one time in my lifetime.
Speaker B:I feel like that would be a really good experience for me to, like, kind of learn.
Speaker A:I think it'd be fun.
Speaker A:Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker A:Are you a.
Speaker A:Are you a European?
Speaker A:Like, I want to go over and see, you know, Portugal, France, Spain, England.
Speaker A:That or South America.
Speaker A:I want to go see Brazil and, and Chile or which way you want to go.
Speaker B:Kind of want to go on the European side.
Speaker B:I feel like that would be kind of cool.
Speaker B:But if I had opportunity to go to both, I definitely would because those are like, really cool.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's, that's me.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm going one of these days.
Speaker A:Okay, so you're a hard worker.
Speaker A:I mean, I see your, your reels and stuff out there.
Speaker A:You are training hard.
Speaker A:What keeps you motivated?
Speaker B:What keeps me motivated is remembering that all our life skills come into play, and that one of our most important life skills to remember is discipline, because discipline has got to keep you pushing every day.
Speaker B:Because we all go through phases to where we don't want to get up and we don't want to train.
Speaker B:But we have to remember that we're working towards something.
Speaker B:And that's why discipline is one of my favorite life skills.
Speaker A:It's a discipline.
Speaker B:So one of the hardest homes to master, so, yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:One of the hardest ones to master.
Speaker A:I think I'm going to be working on that one my entire life.
Speaker A:You know, there's some days where I'm like, I got great discipline at this.
Speaker A:And then that chocolate gate bit gets put in front of me and I'm like, ooh, I don't know about my discipline now.
Speaker A:What's the thing?
Speaker A:What's the thing for you that might be a hard discipline thing?
Speaker A:You know, like in Taekwondo, outside of Taekwondo, something that is hard for you,.
Speaker B:Discipline wise, I would say it's kind of like controlling screen time, how much time I spend on electronics, how much time I spend off of it.
Speaker B:It's kind of getting like a smooth balance.
Speaker B:I'd say that's what I'm working on this year because it's kind of new to me, and it's kind of not at the same time.
Speaker B:So I feel like that's going.
Speaker B:That's kind of my battle.
Speaker B:This year is kind of what I've been working on, too.
Speaker A:That is so smart.
Speaker A:I love.
Speaker A:Because that's a battle for me, you know, I mean, we talk about it with kids all the time.
Speaker A:Like, oh, not enough.
Speaker A:Too much screen time, screaming.
Speaker A:And then us parents are just like, you know, staring at our phones all the time.
Speaker A:You know, it's something that we got to work on, too.
Speaker A:It's a lot of discipline.
Speaker B:I feel like kind of a battle for everybody in this generation because, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's new.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:It's new to us, so we got to, like, we got to learn how to control it.
Speaker A:And it's just so easy to get on there and just start scrolling and scrolling.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:That's why I stay off the TikToks.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I'm not on there.
Speaker A:You won't find me.
Speaker A:I'll just get you just.
Speaker A:I just would be on all day scrolling and watching stuff, so.
Speaker A:Okay, what's something for you that is, like, easy discipline?
Speaker A:Like, I can go and do this, no problem.
Speaker A:You know, they say, do this thing, and they're like, nope.
Speaker A:Easy to get up and go.
Speaker A:Just go do it.
Speaker B:I'd say I've kind of mastered getting up every day and going and training.
Speaker B:I feel like I've gotten to enjoy it a lot more than what I thought I would.
Speaker B:I feel like, you know, because training's really hard in some days, but I feel like it's becoming funner and funner each time I do it, because it's becoming easier and easier because I'm training more, and it's just like.
Speaker B:It's fun, you know, it's like.
Speaker B:It's different.
Speaker A:And you build that habit if you just start doing it.
Speaker A:And you got to keep doing it and keep doing it, keep doing.
Speaker A:I tell people all the time in my school, I'm like, hey, I wasn't the most talented martial artist.
Speaker A:But if you just keep showing up for 30 years, eventually you get pretty decent at something.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:I mean, you've shown up for less time than that, and you're already way better.
Speaker A:But, you know, some of us have to keep trying.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:We all have different learning speeds, you know, Exactly.
Speaker B:How's the process?
Speaker B:Because one day you'll get there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, no, that's so true.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What kind of goals do you have looking forward, you know, for.
Speaker A:I mean, it can be for competition, for, you know, life Taekwondo.
Speaker A:What are you looking forward to as you progress in your training?
Speaker B:Well, I kind of have the same goal every year, and that is to at least improve on something like tricking, like give speed, power, kicks, anything, just like that.
Speaker B:And I also want to make sure that I work my hardest to inspire others to do the same, because I feel like it'll improve you as a person, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:How are you, you know, as a.
Speaker A:As a driven person who's worked this discipline and stuff like that?
Speaker A:Do you have specific ways that you're tracking this kind of thing, looking at your goals or the things that you want to achieve, you know, that could maybe help somebody else think about how they.
Speaker A:They could go about it?
Speaker B:It's kind of like mindsets, really.
Speaker B:I kind of, like.
Speaker B:I kind of remember, like, I kind of remember where I start and where I finish.
Speaker B:So, like, think of, like, say I'm working on my sidekick, right?
Speaker B:I do it.
Speaker B:I work for it.
Speaker B:I work on it for a month, all right?
Speaker B:At the beginning of the month, my sidekick's okay.
Speaker B:But at the end of the month, if I keep working on every day, it already looks 10 times better.
Speaker B:And I feel like it's kind of what I do.
Speaker B:It's kind of how I improve myself.
Speaker A:I like it.
Speaker B:We'll see.
Speaker A:Good deal.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:So right now, what's.
Speaker A:What's the thing that you're training on?
Speaker A:Kind of hardcore as you're getting ready for districts and world championships.
Speaker A:I mean, I know it's a little of everything, but is there something that you're like, I gotta.
Speaker A:You know, I'm spending a little extra.
Speaker B:Time on this, I would say.
Speaker B:You know, I've been coming out with comments this year, and I am kind of still an amateur with it.
Speaker B:Cause I, like, I just started learning it, but I feel like that's what I've been focusing on a lot, because it's important to learn as much as you can and do all the weapons that you can.
Speaker B:And I feel like I've been doing nunchucks and BO staff for so long that I needed something new, something sharp, and something really impressive to do it.
Speaker A:Man, how have you.
Speaker A:Have you.
Speaker A:How have you liked doing the.
Speaker A:The song knots, the commas?
Speaker B:I mean, they're really fascinating.
Speaker B:They're like.
Speaker B:You could do all this kind of stuff.
Speaker B:It's kind of crazy.
Speaker B:They're really sharp.
Speaker B:So it's, like, dangerous.
Speaker B:It's like, extremely fun to do it because, like, once you start experiencing it, you don't want to stop twirling them around your fingers.
Speaker B:Like, I'll be walking, I won't even be noticing that they're in my hands.
Speaker B:They'll just be twirling around.
Speaker B:It's just so much fun.
Speaker A:And that's a good way to get used to, you know, a weapon more, just holding them in your hand, just doing stuff with them.
Speaker A:It's a little easier to do with song knots than it is, like, BO staff.
Speaker A:It's harder to walk around the house, to just be spinning BO staffs around.
Speaker B:Yeah, I feel like you'll hit somebody if you do that.
Speaker A:Yes, exactly.
Speaker A:I hear you.
Speaker A:Okay, so what?
Speaker A:You know, we've got lots of students out there in ATA nation, all different levels.
Speaker A:You know, they see you out there doing the team thing, you know, arms back, everything full of world championships, you know, just, you know, in your sleep, spinning weapons.
Speaker A:What would you say to the kid who might just be like, man, I'm not very good at any of this.
Speaker A:And I don't know, look at her, she can do all this amazing stuff, you know, to.
Speaker A:To keep them motivated, to show that discipline, to keep training, to keep working.
Speaker B:Well, I would tell this kid that you should never compare yourself to anybody, because, you know, like I've said before, we all learn at different speeds, and I feel like if we compare ourselves to other, we kind of disencourage ourselves, and we kind of don't see our worth as a person.
Speaker B:So I feel like if you just keep training and keep doing what you do best, then you'll be okay.
Speaker B:I mean, you don't have to be just as good as someone right now.
Speaker B:You could keep working, and then someday, you know, you might even be better than them.
Speaker B:You know, you just got to keep going.
Speaker A:That's fantastic.
Speaker A:That is great advice.
Speaker A:I love that, you know, because they're.
Speaker A:I mean, you look at world championships, how many people go into the TOC and then there's only.
Speaker A:Only one world champion.
Speaker A:Each event for each division.
Speaker A:You know, you've got 10, 15 people in each of those, so awesome.
Speaker A:Hey, what's it mean to you to be an athlete that goes beyond the belt?
Speaker B:To be.
Speaker B:It means that, like, means staying humble and not kind of bragging about stuff.
Speaker B:Kind of staying humble.
Speaker B:It means to help others off or on the mat.
Speaker B:To me, it's just like, you gotta, like, show others and make them great leaders, too, because everybody's different.
Speaker B:So you kind of need to.
Speaker B:Sometimes you need to help others, too.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I love the.
Speaker A:The aspect adding humility in there.
Speaker A:That's so important.
Speaker A:I mean, because it can be hard, you know, when you, you know, we see this with, you know, high ranks, even in your own, you know, in a.
Speaker A:In a school, you could be like, oh, I'm the highest rank in the school.
Speaker A:And they start getting a little, like, you do push ups, you do pushups, you know, you know, you're world champs or whatever.
Speaker A:You're like, I'm the best.
Speaker A:So humility, so important.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Well, congratulations on getting to be a repeat athlete of the week.
Speaker A:That's a select club of people.
Speaker A:And good luck with all your competitions, and we'll see you at world Championships.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I just wanted to say thank you for having me on ata Nation podcast, and I just want to thank all the ambassadors out there for having me on the ambassador corner as athlete of the week.
Speaker B:It was an honor the first time, but it means so much to me to be invited again, and I hope that I can do my best to inspire others to keep working and believe in theirselves.
Speaker B:So thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:You're awesome.
Speaker A:We'll see you soon.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker A:It's always inspirational to see Ms. Reeves talking and, you know, her.
Speaker A:Her athleticism, the talent is just out of this world.
Speaker A:I love watching clips of her and her team member doing their team sync.
Speaker A:It's really cool.
Speaker A:If you haven't checked out, you need to for sure Now.
Speaker A:District championships.
Speaker A:Some of you guys have your district championships this weekend.
Speaker A:So if you are Northeast District, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Speaker A:If you are the south district, that is in Allen, Texas.
Speaker A:If you are the Southeast district, that's in Duluth, Georgia.
Speaker A:If you are the Southwest district, that's in Glendale, Arizona.
Speaker A:And if you are which one?
Speaker A:Midwest District in Fenton, Missouri.
Speaker A:I believe I'm doing the abbreviations right.
Speaker A:And Northwest District, Hillsboro, Oregon.
Speaker A:And that's going to be it.
Speaker A:But that's six district championships this weekend.
Speaker A:Holy moly.
Speaker A:That's the vast majority of them.
Speaker A:We only have three more the weekend after.
Speaker A:That's where mine is.
Speaker A:But ladies and gentlemen, do us a favor.
Speaker A:A couple of things to remember.
Speaker A:Number one, make sure you're prepared.
Speaker A:Make sure you're ready.
Speaker A:Number two, make sure you get your spectator admission in advance.
Speaker A:You got to go online.
Speaker A:Go to atamartialarts.com, go to the district section, go to your district.
Speaker A:You'll find a little link there to buy your spectator admission.
Speaker A:Get that in advance.
Speaker A:It'll save you so much time.
Speaker A:And hassle as you get there.
Speaker A:So you can't buy it there.
Speaker A:You got to do it online.
Speaker A:So if you get there, they're going to have you scan a QR code and you're going to have to do online number two or no, sorry, number three.
Speaker A:Last but certainly not least, remember, this is not the most important thing that will ever happen in your life as a competitor.
Speaker A:Remember, you've worked hard.
Speaker A:We want you to succeed, we want you to do well.
Speaker A:But we have to remember, in each division, only one person becomes a district champion in each event.
Speaker A:There are 10, 15 lots of people in each division who want to be the district champ.
Speaker A:One gets to be.
Speaker A:So what does Eternal Grandmaster say?
Speaker A:In victory, be humble.
Speaker A:In defeat, be strong.
Speaker A:In all things, be fair.
Speaker A: going to Write District Champ: Speaker A:What's more important than the outcomes are the things that you've done to prepare the person that you've become working for this event.
Speaker A:That's what I want you to remember.
Speaker A:Remember, the judges are volunteers, the workers are volunteers.
Speaker A:Everybody there is a volunteer working hard so that everybody can have a great event.
Speaker A:No one, I absolutely promise you, no one wakes up the morning of district championships and goes, I can't wait to ruin someone's day today that doesn't happen.
Speaker A:So let's go in to our district championships and all championships, all tournaments with a.
Speaker A:A beyond the belt attitude, remembering that it is not just about the martial arts, is about what we're learning as we're becoming these martial arts.
Speaker A:Super, very important.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So I hope that will get you ready for district championships now.
Speaker A:Oh, ladies, gentlemen, the very, very last thing before we go out, we want to wish grandmaster Tammy a very happy birthday.
Speaker A:This episode is coming out on her birthday.
Speaker A:And ma', am, we here at the ATA Nation podcast appreciate you and all of ATA Nation is so proud to have you as one of our amazing grandmasters.
Speaker A:Thank you, ma'.
Speaker A:Am.
Speaker A:Big bow.
Speaker A:Until next time, ATA Nation, get out there and go beyond the belt, especially bureau districts this weekend.
Speaker A:ATA Nation podcast.
Speaker A:Be sure to subscribe and share with your ATA family.
