March 27, 2017

Meet Jerry Driscoll of ATA Martial Arts of Woodstock

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerry Driscoll.

Jerry, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After wanting to be a teacher in public schools but being discouraged by the potential income, I changed my direction, learned the trade of Telecommunications from the United States Air Force. After 22 years in that career field I was laid off. I had already studied Martial Arts since age 11 or 12, I already had a small club teaching I decided to take that endeavor to the next level. Unfortunately, in the beginning things did not go as well as I had hoped. I spent 14 years working at Home Depot before I realized the problem was me, I wasn’t really working my business the way I should. So I committed myself to learning more about business and doing things correctly. I have learned from mentors, self-help books, internet classes, any source I can find. My business is turning around now that I am running more like a business than a hobby.

I personally believe that we turn out students that are more than just good competitors, they truly are really good people. I like to think that our teaching of Life Skills has a lot to do with that. Nearly all of our younger students get really good grades and have no real issues in life.

I continue to work on myself in all areas of my life thanks to the Martial Arts. Two years ago, I earn the title of Master Martial Arts Instructor, a title which I personally hold in high esteem. With this in mind I make it a point to put out the effort to live up to the level I feel a Master should. I make every effort to live the Life Skills that we teach. I am by no means perfect and I stumble like everyone else does but I continue to get up every time I stumble and I work hard to be the really great example for our students. I want them to be the absolute best person that they can be, I can’t in all honesty teach them to do that if I am not making every effort to do the same.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My obstacles and challenges have mostly come from myself, thinking I was ready and knew what I needed to know in order to run my business. I guess the main obstacles have been my stubbornness to make it work my way and my lack of knowledge that I did not recognize. In the last few years I have come to realize just how little I do know; this realization has led me to learn more and more. One of my main mentors is Grand Master Soon ho Lee, whose most famous quote is “there is always something more to learn.” This along with Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee’s saying of “Today not Possible, Tomorrow Possible’ and Grand Master In Ho Lee’s saying of “Change Yourself First.” I do my best to live by these three sayings.

Thanks to my mentors I have become a better person and continue to improve not only in Martial Arts and Business but also in life. Now I try not to see obstacles but opportunities, opportunities to learn more and become better.

Please tell us about ATA Martial Arts of Woodstock, GA.
Our Business is a Martial Arts School and I liken us to those entries that always show up on Facebook, this is what my mom thinks I do, this is what my students think I do, this is what parents think I do and this is what I really do. I try hard to keep my school going in the right direction of a Martial Arts School. Our focus is to improve our students but NOT just in martial arts, we want them to succeed in whatever they do and to succeed the right way and not at the expense of anyone else. We want them to constantly do their best in whatever they are doing be it school, work relationships, our community, our families etc.

So to answer your questions: what do I do – I teach martial arts; what do I specialize in – I specialize in provide a village of support to individuals and/or families; What am I known for – I’d like to think I am known for helping us; and lastly What am I most Proud of as a company? I am very proud of the now adults that I have taught as children that are now successful in many aspects of their lives, they are in management or they own businesses, or they are married with children and they credit their martial arts training in helping them to reach their level of success. I am most proud of the adults that I have trained that made changes in themselves to the positive and realize that they did so at least partially due to their martial arts training. I am not sure what sets me apart from the other. I’d like to think that it could be my approach to teaching and my business, in that I am here to serve, to help others be all that they can be in life. This does not mean that I build them up telling them how great they are. It often times means that I am telling them things that they do NOT want to hear. I can’t make people better at anything by telling them how great they are. I often use the analogy of a famous sculptor who said that he did not create his masterpieces he merely chipped away what was not needed. I like to believe that every person is born great but their lives and society pack things on that they do not need. I merely chip away of their negatives to help them see the great person that they can be.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have believed in myself much sooner!!! I would have taken the business side much more serious much sooner. I would have taken my education much more serious, much sooner. And last but certainly not least I would have taken my health and conditioning much more serious much earlier in life. I look back and think of the much greater number of people I could have helped had I done these things. But as they say I can’t change the past only the future, so I choose focus on the future.

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