The Martial Art Instructors Behind the CTI

By Tyler Murphy, 2nd dan

All teachers or instructors have to be dedicated no matter what it is that they are teaching. Martial arts is no exception to this rule. Whether it is Taekwondo, karate or any other martial art the dedication of instructors is essential to the students success. Having dedication to the student is the only way to be with any type of education, especial with martial arts like Taekwondo and karate. Dedication is essential because it is the only way for a student to learn effectively while still experiencing enjoyment, and also passing on the art. If skillful teaching is completely absent from a school, it is impossible for anything to be taught through the generations. Taekwondo is an art that has been around for thousands of years; this has only been achieved through effective teaching and dedication, which is why there must continue to be good martial arts instructors. Any art that has already lasted thousands of years should be able to last even longer.

Taekwondo instructors with the Colorado Taekwondo Institute are only able to achieve their positions as teachers through dedication, persistence, and a desire to teach; Their hard work to become teachers guarantees that all CTI instructors are looking out for the student and have the student’s their best interest in mind. As the instructors continue to show their hardworking attitude they will gain more experience which will only improve their teaching ability. Experience is an essential part of learning; it can only be attained with time but with hard work and focus somebody can reach the same result in much less time than somebody who has not worked as hard. The most impressive part with CTI instructors is that they attend their own classes even when they are teaching classes. They never become stagnant with their training because they are always working hard to improve themselves on top of working for their students. it is essential for instructors to continue taking classes so that they can increase their body of knowledge so that it can be passed onto the student. By working hard towards growth instructors will ultimately become better instructors. Since the student can only be as good as their teacher it is important that the instructors continue to grow which is the case with all CTI instructors. A 1st dan black belt has to know, without mistakes, about 30 different forms along with hundreds of self defense techniques, and they must maintain what they know. As they become higher black belts they will learn even more which is plenty to worry about, but on top of that they are also instructors and have to worry about their students and have busy lives on the side. To be a Taekwondo instructor they must be dedication to the art, the school, and their students which is the case with all of them.

The Colorado Taekwondo Institute is definitely on the right track. There are many strong instructors and many of the master martial arts instructors also have degrees in teaching and are Jeffco school teachers. Teaching is the most important part when it comes to something like martial arts. If, as an organization, we continue focus on developing good instructors and skilled teachers we will be able to continue teaching Taekwondo and teaching skills so that CTI and Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo can live on for a very long time to continue helping people.

Team Champs Dedicated to MSK Founder

The 17th Lee H. Park Team Championships was a fantastic day and one to remember!  Taking place at Alameda International High School in Lakewood, Colorado, 339 students and instructors competed in Team Poomse, Team Basics, Team and Individual Breaking, Team One-Step Sparring, Most Kicks and Basics Challenge.  Along with the exciting team and individual competitions, each CTI Campus provided a Staff Demonstration set to music for everyone.

The Team Championsips, dedicated to Moo Sul Kwan founder Great Grandmaster Lee H. Park, became the largest event in MSK history.  Everyone prepared well and competed well in honor of GGM Park and the finest martial arts organizations (MSK and the AMASEA) that he founded.  This was also the Colorado Taekwondo Institute's 7th Hanmadang.  The CTI Hanmadang is a once a year event where there is no sparring and everyone gets together to enjoy the patterns routines and expertise of the many different areas of MSK training.  It's a day of peace and appreciation for Moo Sul Kwan martial arts and a unique opportunity for demonstrating and learning.

Moo Sul Kwan Martial Arts has always been a pioneer in the educational side of martial arts.  This year, each team picked a mineral name for their team.  From Borax to Thundereggs to Rhodocrystite, teams were represented by their mineral name and everyone learned a lot about minerals, some of which they've never heard of before!

The day started early for the black belts at 7:00 AM with a light warm-up consisting of poomse and one-step sparring.  This was followed by Black Belt Competitions.  After black belt competitions were done, the under black belts performed their routines.

Their were numerous highlights at this year's Lee H. Park Team Champs.  During Team Bascis competitions, each team had to perform their routine set to the music "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney.  Teams were scored on timing, technique and choreography.

Here are the results of the 17th Lee H Park Team Championships:

TEAM POOMSE

1st place
Bloodstones        Kryptonite        Sapphire        Rhodocrystite
Protomango...        Corundum        Adamantium        Obsidian
Diamond        Diamond        Sapphire        Topaz
Diamond        Gypsum        Sapphire        Cromite
Thunder Eggs        Piegonite        Amber

2nd place
Borax            Mica            Sodalite        Uranium
Diamond        Gold            Sapphire        Bronze
Diamond Platimum    Topaz            Gold            Emerald
Diamond        Clorifide        Ruby            Iceland Spar
Uranium        Topaz            Nuggets

3rd place  
Xocolatlite        Zinc            Coloradoite        Pluonium
Ruby            Dolomite        Topaz            Plumog    umite
Diamond        Topaz            Diamond        Crystals
Diamond        Emerald        Diamond        Emerald
Malachite        Gold            Emeralds

4th place  
Copper            Xirgzihite        Coal            Rhodochrosite
Mica            Rhodocrystite        Coloradorites        Gold
Diamond        Diamond        Emeralds        Emerald
Peridot            Sapphire        Einsteinite        Wads
Rotocrystite

TIGER POOMSE

1st place
Trace Jensen        Jensen Cook        Dameon Kielkowski    Silas Reese
Isabella Rai        Tait Shamus        Serena Rai        Alexandra Kennedy
Sage Shamus        Sam Farr        Lydia Farr        Sabrina Jensen
Oliver Smith        Aidan Soule        Trenton Wheat        William Krause
Lillian Eichelberger    Brady Young        Daric Ross        Cole Massa
Milo Aschermann    P.K. Lamb        Julian Strickland    Quentin King
Jackie Penrod

ONE-STEP SPARRING

1st place
Uranium        Coloradolite        Corundum        Titanium
Thunder Eggs        Zinc            Bloodstone

2nd place
Garnet            Granite            Dolonite        Obsidian
Gold            Labadorite        Peridot

3rd place
Rhodaceystite        Sodalite        ONK            Bismuth
Malachite        Berryite        Zinc

4th place
Mica            Borax

BLACK BELT TEAM BREAKING

1st place
Iceland Spar        Salt            Obsidian      

UNDER BLACK BELT INDIVIDUAL BREAKING

Lynne Dean        Kaddie Williams    Ryan Wyngarden    Jakob Deverell
Derek Simpson        Hudson Van Vorhee    Diesel DiPaola        Ethan Girard
Jason Stencil, Sr.    Deb Denny        Makayla Trapp        Zuzanna Janowska
Jacobi Field        Trish Nguyen        Keet Holdridge        Nikki Garcia
Zach Farr        Arkhip Saratovtsev    Chase Wyngarden    Nina Madayag
Jack Eller        Caiden White        Matthew Ordaz-Busto  

CREATIVE BASICS

1st place
Diamonds        Coloradolite        Rhodocrystite        Saspphire
Thunder Eggs        Corundrum        Aquamarine        Protomanganoferrophyllite
   
2nd place
Jasper            Uranium        Adamantite        Stroutium      
Malachite        Topaz            Sodium Chloride    Iceland Spark

3rd place
Salt            Emeralds        Little Leau        Hawkeye
Gold            Dallomite        Obsidian

4th place
Platinum        Gold            Topaz

BASICS CHALLENGE

1st place
J.R. Lanz        Lillian Eichelberger    Collin Tampa        Kylee Ryan-Rusher
Kylie Bickford        Robbie Crandell    Joy Farr        Shaydon Tuttle
Brady Young        Caleb Port        Turner Jensen        Sam Benjamin
Anya Trilk        Aidan Sturm        Alden Seashore        Ellie Stanton
Carson Mack        Luke Vanni        Owen Hughes        Autumn Manuelito
Quentin King        Ryan Hoffman-Boy    Tait Shamus        Kyle Janowski
Enzo D'Alessandro    Julian Marine        Jensen Cook        Isabella Lasater
   
2nd place  
Colton Hertel        Cole Massa        Isabella Sandoval    Eliseo Bandala
Max Bogdanoff        Keira Jacobo        Brendan Arink        Faith Lanz
Sam Farr        Channing Toal        Will Kennedy        Sebastian Popescu
Mitchell Oleszek    Nick Tibbetts        Colston Yoder        Alex Schwartz
Audrey Logan        Jack Weichert        Lily Strickland        Gaven DiNunzio
Oliver Faler        Kelsey Miller        Dameon Kielkowski    Aydon Lewis
Allan Stanton        Josh Stencel        Serena Rai        Jackson Baker

3rd place
Jillian Peck        Trace Jensen        Sophia Sandova    l    Sophia Laws
Daivd Bogdanoff    Mariah Cordova    Aiyana Godwin        Lasuren Dahlberg
Allison Van Der Heyd    Oliver Smith        Trenton Wheat        Isasbella Rai
Ahas Weerapura    Ryan Cubbage        Henry Kelly        Aidan Dalby
Jonah Olson        Ben Techmeyer        Sean Haverkamp    Isaac Jensen
Lainey Faler        Jaxson Wheat        Chloe Churchill        Amadeo Sandoval
Jacob Hoenamns    Tristan Garcia        Rachel Bakkum        Preston Smith
Henry Rumph        Jackie Penrod        P.K. Lsamb        Siri Seashore
Quynn Cotner        Elijah Alire        Caiden Murphy        Colin Paslminteri
Silas Reees        Ivy Strickland        Zach Bickford        Jason Stencel, Jr.
William Maes        Rusty Martino        Lydia Farr        McKenna Erbes
Simon Padilla        Yosef Rutan
   

4th place
Julian Strickland    Dylan Soule        Andrew Meyers        Libby Girard
Andrei Amihalachio    Angeleena Amaducci    Aleena Jones        Daric Foss
William Krause        Milo Aschermann    Lenox Jacobo        Kylia Warren
Jasmine Salamera    Dean Gunther        Lance Schwartz        Shaun  Lehr
Everett Tompkins    Owen King        Anika Olson        Elaina Cassidy
Tyler Gibbs        Alexandra Kennedy

CTI CAMPUS STAFF POOMSE

Green Mountain
Littleton
Westminster
Golden
Conifer

MOST KICKS

1st place
Logan Rumph        Diego Quez        Mariah Cordova    Kylia Warren
Simon Padilla        Ivy Strickland        Caiden Murphy        Zach Bickford
Will Kennedy        Brady Young        Channing Toal        Kylee Ryan-Rusher
Mitchell Oleszek    Dylan Soule        Lillian Eichelberger    Ella Von Der Heyd
Shaydon Tuttle        Brendon Arink        Patrick Konrad        Lydia Willis
Ellie Stanton        Owen Hughes        Amadio Sandoval    Nick Tibbetts
Gaven DiNunzio    Quentin King        Luke Vanni        Tait Shamus
Jensen Cook        Tyler Gibbs      

2nd place
Kristin Dries        Lars Den Hartog    Sigourney Zager    Jonah Olson
Isabella Lasater        Enzo D'Alessandro    Quynn Cotner        Rusty Martin
Turner Jensen        Sam Farr        Ahas Weerapura    Sophia Laws
Sean Haverkamp    Sophia Sandoval    Cole Massa        Jillian Peck
Faith Lanz        Joy Farr        Colston Yoder        Libby Girard
Lainey Faler        Owen King        Audry Logan        Tyler Cobb
Autumn Manuelito    Oliver Faler        Jack Weichert        P.K. Lamb
Serena Rai        Elaina Cassidy

3rd place
Bryce Cole        Gabe Zinser        Dalton Cole        Evan Zdec
Max Bogdanoff        Robbie Crandell    Sebastian Popescu    Jackson Baker
Allan Stanton        Kyle Janowski        Julian Marine        Oliver Smith
Trenton Wheat        Milo Aschermann    Isabella Rai        Elliot Logan
Dean Gunther        Isabella Sandoval    Jensen Turner        Julian Strickland  
Grant McKissack    Evan O'Fihelly        Alden Seashore        Kylie Bickford
Alex Schwartz        Lily Strickland        Carson Mack        Lance Schwartz
Keenan Dalby        Sabrina Jensen        Jacob Hoenmans    Cooper Ivie
Lydia Farr        Kelsey Miller

The Colorado Taekwondo Institute: Golden School

Are you looking for karate classes in Golden, CO? The Colorado Taekwondo Institute Golden Campus offers dynamic classes for all ages and abilities. Each class provides hands on instruction from our Black Belts. Students learn the Korean Martial art of Taekwondo while developing self control, self esteem, physical endurance and self defense skills. At the Golden location our students are offered goals and challenges to complete throughout their training.

Instructors at the Golden Campus include Mr. Fred M. Sautel is our 4th Degree Black Belt and head instructor, Mr. Michael Sandusky, 3rd Dan; Mr. Brian Steward, 3rd Dan; Mr. Eric Evans, 2nd Dan and Mr. Justin Lautrup, 1st Dan. Each instructor is rooted in our Moo Sul Kwan basics and is dedicated to the safety and success of our students. Each Black belt has trained for multiple years within the Colorado Taekwondo institute and continues to receive Black Belt training on a weekly basis. All instructors focus on the safety and training of our students.

The Golden location opened in September of 2005 and serves students from a wide range of locations such as Lakewood, Evergreen, Golden, Westminster, Arvada, and Denver. The workout area contains a custom built suspension floor, targets, falling mats and Wavemaster bags. Our workout area is cleaned weekly by the Golden location students. Students also enjoy our other activities such as Tournaments, Expos, Symposiums, Camps and Seminars. In addition to the campus events, each year the Golden Campus hosts the annual CTI Picnic in the Park. Student, family and friends are encouraged to attend as we celebrate the accomplishments of the year, eat great food and participate in the many games and activities.

Located near the Applewood Shopping Center, the Colorado Taekwondo Institute Golden location is conveniently located within a short distance of Colorado Mills Shopping Center and various shopping at Applewood and Wheat Ridge shopping. Nearby businesses include Tafolino’s Mexican Restaurant, King Soopers, Walmart, Target, United Artist Theaters and many more. Highway access is only minutes away with access to I-70, and 6th avenue.

Our dynamic martial arts classes provide training for all ages ranging from our Tigers starting at 2 years old, Juniors starting at 5 years old, teen classes and our adult class. Classes are held Monday through Friday with convenient afternoon sessions. All students can attend the Friday specials class to enhance their training.. Students are encouraged to enroll as the class provides additional training outside of the basic routine taught in the Monday/ Wednesday and Tuesday/ Thursday classes. We also host an after school program at Our Lady of Fatima School.

Come stop by for our summer special for new students. We are located on the North West corner of 20th and Youngfield, next to Tafolino’s Mexican Restaurant. We have summer specials as well as new student specials that allow you to experience our program without the stress of a long term commitment. When it comes to karate classes in Golden, CO, we're second to none. Give us a call at 303-233-0039 today!

CTI Christmas Party

We packed the gym with family members, friends, students and instructors at this year's annual CTI Christmas Party.  Held on December 4, at Faith Mountain, everyone had a fantastic time.  There was excellent food, lots of fun and other surprises!

During the evening, even Santa Claus made a guest appearance.  Jolly St. Nick joined his "elves" for a dance and then sat for photos with all the good boys and girls.  Look for some photos on our Facebook page.

Moo Sul Rock, our own black belt band, provided music for the Christmas Party.  Early during the party, each band member was presented with special JD Kelly Hats from JD's brother Bob Downey.

This year there was also a special CTI Cake Walk with a huge number of cakes and pies that was the first fundraiser for our CTI Black Belt Team that is travelling to Sweden/Norway in 2017.  Some 70 delicious treats went to many happy person that night!

Thanks to everyone who came to to everyone who helped put on this special evening.  We raised a nice amount of food for the Kings Cupboard Food Bank!  Way to go CTI!

Kids Taekwondo Classes: So Many Benefits!

By Zach Greaves, 2nd dan

Childrens Taekwondo is a great way to get your children into something new and cool. For kids Taekwondo the best school in Denver is the Colorado Taekwondo Institute. We have many classes that have our students strive to become more focused, disciplined and become leaders in our community. With exciting workouts that range from thirty minutes (for our toddler classes) to an hour (for our junior classes), kids get to express themselves and work hard through kicking and punching. The CTI has a great environment for kids to have a safe place to learn to be themselves through martial arts excellence.

Speaking from personal experience, Taekwondo has lead me to be more confident and disciplined. It helped me throughout school and other activities. I can also see now how it teaches students focus and developing motor skills (though when I was a kid and first starting I was just having fun learning). Going through life with something to lean back on physically and emotionally is really important.

Parents, I know your kids will always have you but having that something else when they get older is great!  Especially when going through school Taekwondo for your kids can really help. The focus and discipline that they get out of our classes will be very valuable. We at Colorado Taekwondo Institute are very serious about the education of our organization. We help kids to go in the right directions to be scholarly and get homework in on time and be early. Each month, students have homework to complete which focuses on some other aspect we instill in our students: self-control, perseverance, positive mental image, etc. And the exercises that we do and we encourage them to lead by example and get to places early and get everything in on time. This provides opportunities for our students later when it's already easy for them.

I really appreciate that I've learned in my time with the Colorado Taekwondo Institute. It has taught me so much, and I continue to learn and grow even now as an adult. I'm thankful my parents put me into classes here when they were looking for kids Taekwondo, and I hope you do the same for your children!