What Is ATA Taekwondo?

The American Taekwondo Association, also called ATA, is a type of taekwondo practiced in North America. It's one of the largest organizations that teaches martial arts in North America and has more than 30,000 members across the world. Locations that teach ATA-style taekwondo must be licensed, but they are managed independently.

  1. Taekwondo

    • Taekwondo's roots reach back about 1,300 years and to a Korean martial art called t'aekyon. Japanese and Chinese movements were added to the practice over time in the 1900s. The name "taekwondo" was adopted in Korea in 1955 in order to unify several different forms of the art that were being practiced in Korea. The word "tae" means kick or jump, the word "kwon" means hand or first and "do" means way.

    ATA origins

    • The ATA was founded by Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee in 1969. Lee was born in China in 1936 but relocated to Korea when World War II began. He began training in martial arts in Korea in 1953. He moved to the United States in 1962 and taught taekwondo in Nebraska before he founded the ATA. He wrote an instructor's manual for the ATA in 1973 and a school operations manual in 1978. Under his supervision, the ATA grew to be a massive martial arts organization in North America.

    Style

    • The ATA practices Songahm-style taekwondo, which encompasses kicking techniques, punching and blocking skills and self-defense techniques. The style is taught utilizing a method for which students learn in steps, with each new technique building on what was learned before. The style includes 18 forms, which are patterns of steps, kicks and punches that mimic fighting and self defense. A student learns a new form as he advances to a new belt. Songahm curriculum also includes one-step sparring segments and full sparring training.

    Belts

    • Students in the ATA advance through a series of colored belts and then through a series of ranked black belts. Each taekwondo system includes a series of colored belts, but the order differs between organizations. In the ATA, the color belt order is white, orange, yellow, camouflage, green, purple, blue, brown, red, red/black and finally black. Black is technically a first-degree black belt. The ATA has nine degrees in the black belt system, ending with Grand Master.