ATA Martial Arts

ATA Martial Arts, formerly the American Taekwondo Association, is a Taekwondo organization founded in 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Haeng Ung Lee. Its headquarters moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1977.^[1][3] Its licensed schools teach Songahm Taekwondo, a curriculum that Lee introduced in 1983. "Songahm" means "pine tree and rock", a name given by Lee's brother Soon Ho Lee.^[2][3]

Founder #

Haeng Ung Lee was born on 20 July 1936 in Manchuria and began martial arts training in 1953. He served as a martial arts instructor in the Republic of Korea Army, founded a private Taekwondo school in Osan, South Korea, in 1959, and immigrated to the United States in 1962. He died on 5 October 2000.^[2] After his death his brother Soon Ho Lee led the ATA, followed by another brother, In Ho Lee, in 2011. The title of Presiding Grand Master went to G. K. Lee in 2019 and to M. K. Lee in 2022.^[1]

Size and structure #

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports more than 300,000 members worldwide, with more than 900 licensed locations in 25 countries in 2019 and about 1,100 by 2024.^[1] The Songahm Taekwondo Federation, founded in 1984, serves South America, and the World Traditional Taekwondo Union, formed in 1990, covers the rest of the world.^[3] The ATA World Expo was held in Little Rock each year until 2019, after which it was renamed the ATA Worlds and moved to Phoenix, Arizona.^[1]

Curriculum and ranks #

Songahm Taekwondo covers forms (poomsae), sparring, one-steps, self-defense, board breaking, weapons and leadership. Students advance through a colored-belt series and a black-belt series with nine ranks each, and the 18 forms performed in sequence are called the Songahm Star.^[3]

Haeng Ung Lee and the original kwans #

The ATA's founder has his own page: Haeng Ung Lee. He began training in 1953 and earned his first-degree black belt in 1954, and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and the ATA's own biography name no teacher or kwan for him.^[2][6][7] Those sources and Wikipedia do not link him to the Song Moo Kwan, Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Ji Do Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan or Oh Do Kwan, the original kwans behind modern Taekwondo (see History of Taekwondo). Two other web pages name the Chung Do Kwan: one says the ATA originally taught the Chung Do Kwan style of Tang Soo Do, and the other says Lee was a student of the Chung Do Kwan and co-founded the ATA in 1969 with Suh-Chong Kang. Neither names a teacher or cites a source.^[12][13] One ATA-affiliated school's history page says General Choi Hong-hi, the founder of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, taught Lee the first Chang-hun forms; that claim has no independent confirmation.

Why the ATA stayed separate #

The sources give a reason for independence but record no break. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says Lee wanted to emphasize the kicking techniques of the original Korean style rather than the Japanese-influenced Taekwondo commonly taught in the United States, and wanted to standardize instruction across the country.^[2] The ATA says it first taught Chang-hun forms, then replaced them with its own Songahm forms in 1983 because Lee judged the Chang-hun forms to be influenced by Japanese arts and not to showcase kicking.^[6][8] No source found describes a dispute with the Korea Taekwondo Association, the Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo, the ITF or USA Taekwondo, and none describes a Kukkiwon recognition of Lee's rank; his 9th dan came from the ATA's own Master's Council in 1990.^[2][7] The result was a self-contained system: its own forms, its own nine-rank belt structure, licensed schools, and regional federations for South America (1984) and the rest of the world (1990), unified under the ATA name in 2014.^[3][4][8]

Why ATA ranks are not an Olympic route #

World Taekwondo is the federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and USA Taekwondo is the one organization the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee certifies as the national governing body for the sport; it was reaffirmed on 3 July 2024.^[9][10] USA Taekwondo's bylaws require it to belong to that one international federation.^[9] To join a U.S. national team, an athlete must be a USA Taekwondo member in good standing and meet World Taekwondo eligibility, which a Kukkiwon or World Taekwondo dan certificate can satisfy, alongside nationality or a recommendation from the national association.^[11] An ATA rank is an ATA rank: no official equivalency to a Kukkiwon dan was found, so the usual way to compete is to join USA Taekwondo and hold or earn Kukkiwon certification. The barrier is therefore one of structure and membership, not a ban on individuals.

Two paths compared #

See Major Taekwondo organizations compared for the wider picture.

Schools in Irvine #

See ATA Martial Arts Irvine.