ATA Martial Arts in the Phoenix Area: What the Affiliation Behind a School Means

You’re comparing schools for your child, and you keep seeing three letters on the signs and websites. You searched “ATA martial arts Phoenix” to find out what they mean, and most of what came back was a logo, a locator, and very little explanation.

Here’s the explanation. An affiliation tells you a great deal about the structure behind a school, and it tells you nothing at all about the adult who’ll be teaching your child on Tuesday afternoon.

I hold an 8th degree black belt in ATA Songahm Taekwondo, and our school teaches within that system. I’ll explain what the affiliation does for a child, what it can’t do, and how to judge the part no logo can show you.

What is ATA martial arts?

ATA martial arts refers to ATA Martial Arts, one of the world’s largest taekwondo organizations, and to Songahm Taekwondo, the style its member schools teach.

The organization was founded in 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Haeng Ung Lee, who later moved its headquarters to Little Rock, Arkansas. He introduced Songahm Taekwondo in 1983, a system built around strong, athletic kicking and character development (ATA Martial Arts, n.d.-c).

Today the ATA reports more than 300,000 members and more than 1,000 licensed locations around the world (ATA Martial Arts, n.d.-a, n.d.-c). There’s a local connection, too. The ATA’s World Expo moved to Phoenix in 2020, bringing its biggest annual event to our corner of the country (Horton, 2026).

What does an affiliation give my child that an independent school might not?

An affiliation gives your child a defined curriculum, a rank recognized beyond one building, an optional tournament circuit, and instructor standards set by the organization.

Many independent schools are excellent, and plenty of them build every one of these things on their own. What an affiliation does is guarantee that the structure exists, so a parent doesn’t have to take it on faith.

A defined curriculum. In an affiliated school, what your child learns at each belt comes from the organization’s curriculum, not from one instructor’s preferences that week. ATA licensees teach the Songahm curriculum (ATA Martial Arts, n.d.-a).

A defined curriculum also helps a child see the road ahead. Your child knows what the next belt asks for, and you can practice those pieces together at home.

Rank recognition. Licensed schools share a rank system, so a belt earned in one building carries meaning in another. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

A tournament circuit, if you want it. Affiliated students can compete against kids from other schools at the same rank and age, all judged on the same standards.

Instructor standards. This is the piece parents rarely ask about. The ATA requires black belt instructor trainees to teach at least 300 hours under a senior instructor’s supervision over two to three years, and to hold CPR and Youth Protection certification (ATA Martial Arts, n.d.-b).

That last point matters to me as an educator. My doctorate is in special education, and I’ve spent decades watching gifted athletes struggle to teach. Being able to do a technique beautifully and being able to teach it to a nervous six-year-old are two separate skills, and a supervised training requirement treats them that way.

Does an ATA rank mean anything outside the school?

Yes, an ATA rank is recognized across ATA’s licensed schools, and the organization lists rank recognition among what it provides to licensees (ATA Martial Arts, n.d.-a).

That matters most when life moves. If your family relocates for work, a child with an ATA belt can look for a licensed school in the new city and continue within the same system, under the same curriculum, without starting over as a white belt.

It also matters at tournaments. Students compete in divisions grouped by age, rank, and gender, so a green belt meets other green belts who’ve learned the same material (ATA Martial Arts, 2018).

A rank from an independent school can mean just as much inside that school. What changes is how far the recognition travels.

What does affiliation not guarantee?

An affiliation doesn’t guarantee the quality of the adult standing in front of your child.

The same curriculum can be taught with patience or impatience, with warmth or coldness, and with real attention to each child or with a whistle and a stopwatch. A logo on the door tells you the floor plan. The instructor decides what happens on the floor.

A gifted instructor at an independent school can outshine a weak one at an affiliated school, and the reverse is true too. That’s exactly why the visit matters more than the sign.

Here’s a short summary of the difference:

Before I opened a school, I worked as an aerospace engineer. We relied on standards for every part, and we still inspected each one, because a standard tells you what a part should be and an inspection tells you what it is. Treat an affiliation as the standard, and your visit as the inspection.

How do I judge the instructor instead of the logo?

Judge the instructor by watching three things in one beginner class: what happens after a mistake, how well the instructor knows each child, and how much of the class the kids spend moving. 

The thirty seconds after a mistake. Wait for a child to miss a technique, lose a point, or blank on a form. Listen to the instructor’s tone, notice whether the correction is about the technique or the child, and count how fast that child is back in line trying again.

Names and eyes. A strong instructor calls children by name and adjusts for each one. Watch whether the shy kid gets a quieter correction and the bouncy kid gets a clearer boundary, or whether everyone gets the same treatment at the same volume.

Time spent moving. Count how long the youngest kids stand still waiting for a turn. Long lines and long speeches lose young children fast, and a well-run class keeps them busy, learning, and engaged.

Then ask one question after class: “What does my child need to show, besides technique, to earn the next belt?” A thoughtful answer about focus, self-control, and effort tells you the school teaches more than kicks.

Which ATA schools are near Cave Creek?

KarateBuilt Martial Arts is an ATA Songahm Taekwondo school in Cave Creek, at 29850 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 105, and several other licensed ATA schools operate around Phoenix and Scottsdale.

The ATA’s website has a school locator, which is the most reliable way to see current locations near you. Use it, then visit more than one school at the hour your child would train and apply the three checks above at each.

At our school, I designed our age-sequenced program within the Songahm system when I founded KarateBuilt in 1995, and I still teach on the floor. Families from Anthem, Carefree, and across north Phoenix train with us. Over thirty-plus years, we’ve trained more than 18,000 students and produced more than 1,800 Black Belts, and our school has been named Go2Karate Nation’s #1 Martial Arts School eight consecutive times.

New students start with two weeks FREE plus a free uniform, a $199 value. Bring the three checks with you, and judge us by the same standard.

Pick one afternoon this week to watch a beginner class. Then call or text (602) 737-2098 to book your child’s first one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is KarateBuilt an ATA school?

Yes. KarateBuilt teaches ATA Songahm Taekwondo, and our founder holds an 8th degree black belt in the system.

What is Songahm Taekwondo?

Songahm Taekwondo is the style taught in ATA schools, introduced by ATA founder Haeng Ung Lee in 1983. It emphasizes powerful, athletic kicking along with character development and self-esteem.

Does my child have to compete?

No. ATA tournaments are optional, and students choose whether to enter any event. Many students train for years without competing.

What rank does the head instructor at KarateBuilt hold?

Chief Master Greg Moody, Ph.D., holds an 8th Degree Black Belt in ATA Songahm Taekwondo and has taught for more than thirty years.

References

• ATA Martial Arts. (n.d.-a). Become an ATA licensee. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://www.atamartialarts.com/about/become-an-ata-licensee
• ATA Martial Arts. (n.d.-b). Become an instructor. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://atamartialarts.com/programs/advanced-training/legacy-academy/become-an-instructor
• ATA Martial Arts. (n.d.-c). The story of Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://atamartialarts.com/about/the-story-of-eternal-grand-master-hu-lee/
• ATA Martial Arts. (2018, April 30). Tournaments 101. https://atamartialarts.com/about/newsroom/tournaments-101/
• Horton, A. D. (2026, February 16). American Taekwondo Association. In CALS encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/american-taekwondo-association-4798/

Sincerely,