FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2022

INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chief Master Scott Skiles

scott.skiles@ataonline.com

ATA International Announces Partnership with SKILLZ

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS (September 21, 2022) – ATA International is pleased to announce its latest partnership with SKILLZ, a child development center created by Melody Johnson.

With over 30 years in the martial arts, Johnson has achieved many accomplishments in her Martial Arts journey, including dedicating a lot of her time to researching and developing some of the best methods for teaching children. Her latest career move is the development of her age-specific curricula brand, SKILLZ.

SKILLZ is an innovative child development program that uses martial arts as a vehicle through which children can gain self-confidence, discipline, and focus. This program is getting a lot of attention for its systematic approach to skill-based Martial Arts training and is endorsed by some of the nation’s leading child psychologists, including the late Dr. Ruth Peters. Currently, there are over 1,100 licensed SKILLZ schools on almost every continent.

Johnson has been working directly with ATA’s Director of Training, Chief Master Scott Skiles, on the implementation of her program with current ATA programs. Thus, introducing, the ATA SKILLZ Instructor Certification Program. This program will be broken into the following 4 levels.

• Entry Level – Speaking SKILLZ and Life SKILLZ
• Level 1 - Teaching SKILLZ and Brain SKILLZ
• Level 2 - Stages of Development
• Level 3 - Parent SKILLZ and Talent SKILLZ

More information on this new Instructor Certification Program will be released to ATA Licensees and Instructors this Fall.

About ATA International

The ATA was founded in 1969 by Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee. The organization is internationally headquartered in Little Rock, AR and has called the state capital home since 1977. With active membership approaching 300,000 worldwide, ATA is North America’s largest martial arts organization dedicated to the discipline of Taekwondo. ATA is a pioneer in the martial arts industry because of its unique Songahm style curriculum.