Waiting to be Uncovered: Lakewood CTI

By Logan Gill, red belt

If you’re looking for genuine, quality martial arts training with master black-belt instructors, you’ve come to the right place. The Colorado Taekwondo Institute has classes for all ages and offers campuses in Denver and across northern Colorado. Our headquarters near Green Mountain services the Lakewood and the surrounding area. The Lakewood location offers evening classes Monday through Thursday for all ages and skill levels. Whether you’re retired, working, in school, or have children looking for a fun, after-school and rewarding athletic program, the Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers genuine martial arts training for everyone of any age or previous experience.

The Lakewood Campus offers classes almost every day of the week taught by certified Taekwondo Black Belt instructors.  Our classes range for all belt levels and ages. Our Taekwondo classes involve sparring, poomse (patterned moves), and various other techniques. On Mondays and Wednesdays we have 5:00 classes for ages 5 and up and classes at six for adults. Tuesdays and Thursdays provide classes at four, four-thirty, five, and six for all belt levels. The Lakewood campus is located at 12354 W. Alameda Parkway near Green Mountain in Lakewood.

The Taekwondo philosophy has roots in the ancient majesty of Korea thousands of years ago.  Our modern Taekwondo school has five tenets: courtesy, integrity, self control, perseverance, and indomitable spirit.  Every one of these is integrated into our practice every class.  Along with martial arts, the students also learn a bit about the history of Taekwondo and how it developed in Korea then spread to the rest of the world as a leading martial arts and education form.  Taekwondo classes also can increase memory and agility for older students and provide a safe energy outlet for younger ones.

Along with martial arts education, the Colorado Taekwondo Institute periodically hosts community service events such as food drives and donations to charity organizations.  Every year, students and instructors from every one of our campuses gather at Lakewood Campus and perform a food drive throughout the surrounding area, collecting thousands of meals worth of food for those less fortunate.  We donate everything to the Food Bank of the Rockies and other nonprofit organizations around Lakewood and Denver.  Anyone is welcome to join us as we give back to our community.

The story of how Taekwondo reached Colorado is long, but we can start with Lee H. Park bringing Taekwondo to the United States in 1969.  Lee H. Park was a ninth-dan black belt in Taekwondo and had black belts in Hapkido and Judo.  About two decades later, CTI’s founder and top instructor, Master Sautel, brought Taekwondo to Colorado and started the Colorado Taekwondo Institute with a mission of educating the community and providing genuine and quality black-belt instruction.

Every few months, our school holds tournaments to encourage friendly competition.  We usually compete in sparring, poomse, and board-breaking.  We also have overnight events, summer camps, instructional expos, private lessons, and many other Taekwondo-related events. All can be found on www.coloradotaekwondo.com.

Whether you are looking for a safe activity for you energetic children or are looking for good after-work exercise for adults, the Lakewood location of the Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers genuine, quality martial arts education for all.

Kicking and Screaming? How Kids Taekwondo can Help Your Child Overcome Obstacles

Hard Work in Class Pays Off!

It is not uncommon in our modern world for children to have difficulty navigating the vast amount of stimuli and remaining focused and alert. There are many different theories when it comes to parenting a child with certain challenges, and many professionals agree that the right kind of physical exercise can go a long way to helping your child gain self-confidence and concentration in other aspects of their life. Lakewood taekwondo classes at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute can take these benefits to another level. Kids’ taekwondo can help teach self-discipline, focus, and respect, along with physical strength, balance, and agility.

Even if your child already excels in these areas, they can still get a lot out of martial arts training. For families in Green Mountain and Lakewood, martial arts classes can be a great outlet for stress and an excellent opportunity for kids to find a competitive sport that allows them to advance and challenge themselves as they grow. With over thirty years of history teaching kids and adults the benefits of taekwondo and other martial arts, the Colorado Taekwondo Institute consistently guides strong participation in local and national tournaments. Here are just a few of the things your child will be able to develop as they learn and grow in the ancient art of taekwondo.

Physical Development
Martial arts shouldn’t be confused with fighting or self-defense. Generating focused power in the feet takes a high degree of discipline and training, and the results can lead to healthy muscle tone, physical stamina, and a great sense of physical balance. In martial arts, strength comes from practice and discipline, harnessing the lower-body power we are born with.
Taekwondo refers to the idea of the feet and hands, and being able to develop the same type of control and accuracy with strikes from the foot, as punches from the fist. Not a violent act, taekwondo kicks simply help students realize the full potential in the full body strength as they develop the skills to advance through their classes. For kids in Lakewood, taekwondo classes can follow them into adulthood.

Behavioral Benefits
The emotional benefits of taekwondo training may prove to be even more beneficial for your child than the development of physical strength. By utilizing the entire body in a focused and disciplined manner, taekwondo is a great way to relieve stress and help kids find an acceptable outlet for common frustrations that arise. According to Alison Hendrie of parenting.com, martial arts training can help children with ADHD or other attention and hyperactivity develop the underdeveloped aspects in their brain to overcome the challenges they face.

For all children, Green Mountain and Lakewood martial arts training helps to build respect, listening skills, social responsibility, and teamwork. Taekwondo, like many types of martial arts traditions, placing a high emphasis on meditation and calm, skills that children can transfer to other aspects of their lives, including school, where many parents can see their child able to boost their grades and improve their behavior in the classroom environment.

Goals to Grow On
Masters in martial arts often train for decades before they reach their status in order to be able to share their gifts with students. Their advancement is a lesson for beginners that there is virtually no end to the goals young children can set for themselves in taekwondo training. Even as beginners begin to build their skills, they can participate in tournaments to compete and display their developing techniques.

The Colorado Taekwondo Institute has nine different belts that can be achieved through mastering techniques and displaying the type of self-discipline and respect necessary to advance in their training. Beginners first earn their white belt which signifies purity and planting strong roots, with advancements likened to the development of a strong tree that takes years to reach full maturity, and the noted “Black Belt”.

A Safe Release in a Violent World
If your preconception of martial arts is derived from television or movies, you may equate it with violence or fighting. The truth is that kids’ taekwondo training promotes non-violent conflict resolution and other skills that breed a sense of peace in well-being in youngsters. Children learn self-control and discipline that help them avoid situations of physical confrontation and manage their stress and frustration as an invaluable asset that can help keep your kid safe.

Your child doesn’t think about the many benefits they might get from taekwondo and other martial arts. The greatest benefit that can keep them coming back, striving for the next goal and honing their techniques, is that taekwondo is fun. When children find a controlled way to have fun and be part of a team, they’ll want to keep coming back, year after year.


Sources:
http://www.parenting.com/article/karate-kids-the-benefits-of-martial-arts
http://www.taekwondo-information.org/benefits-of-taekwondo-for-children.html