MSK Summer Expo XXXV and Camp MSK '19

A FANTASTIC TWO WEEKS OF EDUCATION, ENDURANCE AND FUN!

The first two weeks of the summer of 2019, was an incredible  time for everyone in MSK, the AMASEA and the CTI!

First up was our 35th Moo Sul Kwan Summer Expo in Keystone.  Six days later followed Camp MSK '19 at Snow Mountain Ranch.

Our Moo Sul Kwan Summer Expo XXXV was a tremendous weekend in so many ways.  Mrs Yong J. Park attended this year's Summer Expo at the Keystone Lodge and Spa in Colorado.   Along with Mrs. Park, special guests included Richard Park and family, Great Grandmaster Bong  Yul Shin, Grandmaster Charles HIldebrand, Master Alan Williams, Master Fred Sautel and many others.

There were Expo seminars, classes and events for the participants of all ages and belt levels.  Each class was taught by an excellent MSK Expo Teaching Staff including grandmasters, masters, regional directors and chief instructors of Moo Sul Kwan and the AMASEA. 

Expo Saturday morning brought the return of the infamous Moo Sul RunThe challenging course tested the teams martial arts skills, reasoning skills and physical fitness.  The MSK Masters Team, featuring Erik Albrechtson, Fred Sautel, Alice Meyung and Clayton Garner set the time for everyone to beat.  (Some almost got close!)

One of the fun events dring the Expo was the Expo Saturday Evening Banquet.  It took place at the Keystone Convention Center and celebrated our Moo Sul Kwan's 50th Anniversary. 

On Sunday, after the several dynamic classes, Richard Park and Mrs. Yong J. Park gave a talk to the Expo attendees - a beautiful end to a perfect weekend.

Camp MSK '19 took place at Snow Mountain Ranch near Granby, Colorado, next.  The six day Moo Sul Kwan camp was an enormous success.  Perfect weather, wonderful food, dynamic classes and top-notch training made this year's Camp MSK one of the finest of all time!

Everyone received training in poomse, sparring, one-step sparring, self-defense, kicking, breaking and the many other areas of Moo Sul Kwan Martial Arts.  There were also fun classes in wall climbing, zip lining, bike riding, swimming, archery, tubing, basketball and more!

Black belts began training at 6:00 AM each day, with everyone accomplishing a magnitude of experiences and successes before lunchtime.  After lunch, everyone was back at it until dinnertime.  After dinner, special events took place each evening to round out the day including; Team Night, Minute to Win It, Camp Movie Night, Kamp Karoke and Musical Breaking Night.  During the Camp week, every one made the annual 2.5 mile hike to the waterfall.  Along the way there was a Moo Sul Snowball Fight (girls vs. boys), work on self-defense, jaunts up the testing hill for the testers, and more!

On the last morning, demonstrations with music were given by the each of the Camp MSK Teams.  Before the demos began for the many parents, family members and friends, a special Moo Sul Bike Demo took place to the delight of the crowd. 

Special thanks to Cindy Tusa and Pam Sautel for all of their fantastic help!

See you next year at Moo Sul Kwan Summer Expo XXXVI and Camp MSK '20!

Modesty

By Lara Buff, yellow belt

Modesty is a very useful life skill that requires practice for most people to successfully develop. Unfortunately in today’s society, with the ubiquity of social media and even among traditional news outlets, it’s very easy to find examples of arrogance and hubris. More air time tends to be granted to those who brag loudly than those who speak modestly, making it difficult to find examples of positive behavior to emulate.

It’s human nature to want to pay more attention to winners rather than losers: for example, in professional sports. After a big game, reporters are granted access to the locker room to interview key players, and press conferences are held.When one’s team has won the game, it’s enjoyable to listen (or read about) the players describing what they did right and how they played well, and examine highlights of the game. When one’s team has lost, it’s tempting to just turn the TV off and not ever even find out whether the players take responsibility for the loss, lay the blame elsewhere, or praise the other team for having played a good game. In this way, we tend to limit our exposure to these potential, important examples of humility.

Role models of modesty and decency don’t tend to garner the same amount of interest as those of arrogance and pride. Athletes in particular often create a sensation when they brag about how great they are, and how much better they are than their opponents past and future. It makes us want to stay tuned and find out whether they are worth the hype they have created for themselves; whether we root for them or want to watch them fail, our attention is fixed on the loudest braggarts rather than other, more modest competitors. Why is it important to find role models? We need to know what modesty looks and sounds like so we can learn how to emulate those features.

By behaving with modesty, we can avoid putting ourselves into embarrassing and even potentially risky situations. We are imperfect beings, and even the best of us can have bad days. I might be a very good skier; if I were to go around bragging about my skills, I would draw more attention to myself and make it more likely that someone would decide to make me prove my abilities by challenging me to a race. Pride would compel most people to accept the challenge, even if slope conditions were less than optimal. Now I’ve put myself in a position where I feel I must push myself harder than usual for the sake of my own pride. If I should fall, or lose the race in some other way, it would be considerably more humiliating the more time I had spent going on about how awesome I was; not only that, but a high-speed fall on skis can be very dangerous. If I had simply been modest from the beginning, a loss wouldn’t sting nearly so badly as if I hadn’t put myself on such a high pedestal, and a win would still feel just as good. Or, perhaps I would have felt comfortable enough in my skiing abilities that I would not have allowed my pride to goad me into racing at all!

Behaving with modesty rather than arrogance may require a conscious choice or series of choices, at least at first. Paying attention to positive role models and choosing to imitate them, rather than models of hubris, can be helpful as we practice humble behavior. As with most things, the more we practice, the easier it becomes to make the correct choice. Modesty can help us avoid embarrassing situations, and keep us from putting ourselves at unnecessary risk.

Why Our Family Makes the Expo a Priority Each Year

By Annie Jensen, blue belt

"THE EXPO SETS THE TONE FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER!"

We,  the Jensens, are faithful participants every MSK Summer Expo (except when the Expo was 3 days after our baby girl was born!). We are dedicated! We make it a priority and don’t miss it. And as a family we are very intentional about how we spend our time and money. It is a well considered decision to commit to this once-a-year experience.

Here are our three main reasons that we always make the MSK Summer Expo a top priority.

It is a Family Commitment to Health. 
There is probably no better way to kick off bathing suit season than by sweating with your hundred best friends, at altitude, in the beautiful Colorado mountains. When you put that much time and effort into exercise it actually becomes difficult to go back into your ‘lazy winter slump’. This is because (according to science!) an intense, immersive experience actually changes your brain.

It creates new pathways and habit patterns that ensure you put your health and wellness first - without any further effort. You heard me right. You get incredible lasting benefits from this immersive experience just by showing up and participating!  The work you do at The Expo not only changes your body for the better. It allows you to step into summer more confident, and happier than you were just days before. I see this in our family every year. And not only for my husband Brian and I but for our children. How cool is that?

It Eases Transition Time. 
We have three kids, 10, 7 and 1 - which means we have a busy school year and an even busier summer. And while kids are super excited for summer they don’t always adjust well. It goes from "We can’t wait for summer,” to, "I’m bored, there is nothing to do’”  within minutes. (If you have school aged kids you know exactly what I mean!)

I have a feeling that the MSK Grandmasters  know exactly what I meant because the Summer Expo is perfectly timed.  It's always just a few days after school is out providing the perfect transition from the classroom into summer. You have something exciting to look forward that bonds you as a family.  You are all together, working hard, striving to be your best.  You come away united and better able to take on all the upcoming summer adventures.

The Expo helps us start our summer on purpose instead of just letting it sneak up and happen to us. Which brings me to point #3….

It Sets The Tone. 
What I love about The Expo is that I know, without a doubt, that we never regret going. Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, you are pushed out of your comfort zone. But when its all said and done you never regret it.

You know that you are a better person for the days you spend pushing yourself to be your best. Pushing yourself beyond where you thought you could go. Sure, you improve your health and fitness but you also, and perhaps more importantly, improve your mental stamina. You decide on purpose  to live outside your comfort zone. And pushing yourself, living just outside your comfort zone, is truly a secret to a successful and fulfilling life.

As a result of kicking off summer at the Moo Sul Kwan Summer Expo we choose better, more fulfilling and healthier options all summer long.  For example, for the rest of the summer we are much more likely to chose a hike than a movie after the expo.  Something about the Expo not only sets the tone but awakens us as individuals and as a family determined to strive fore more than the status-quo in all our activities.

What's happening at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute in May 2019!

2019 All-City Championships Results!

339 Moo Sul Kwan students jammed Alameda International for an excellent weekend!

Two days of exciting competitions and demonstrations were had at this year's 2019 All-City Championships in Denver, Colorado!  Moo Sul Kwan students from many schools, campuses and programs gathered together at Alameda International Junior/Senior High School on April 26-27.

The action began on Friday evening with black belt competitions.  Sparring started off the night, followed by black belt poomse and breaking divisions.  Saturday began early with black belt staff competitions and more black belt board breaking,

Students of all ages and belt levels came on Saturday to compete, learn and have fun.  Special guests were on hand from the Lee H. Park Institute in Cape Girardeau, Missouri - instructors Jill Mills, Sharon Sink and Holly Dirnberger brought some wonderful students for the sparring competitions on Saturday.

Twice during Saturday, the CTI Demonstration Team performed for the crowds.  The demo, named "Fifty Years" with special music written and played live by our black belts, showcased the talented martial artists poomse, breaking, one-steps, self-defense, exercise, advanced kicking and more!

The day ended around 3:00 PM with the presentations of the Black Belt Grand Champion Awards to: Eileen Lindner, Kathleen Sautel, Merrick Oleszek and Emily Artman.

Here are the final results of the 2019 All-city Championships:

Poomse
1st place
Taneli Alahuhta, Max Babcock, Paxton Barnett, Mathias Bauer
Abby Booten, Gillian Boswell, Lindsey Boswell, Meredith Botnick
Anabella Briceno, Lucas Brown, Jonathan Cassatro, Averie Chavez
Alexis Chavez, Quynn Cotner, Benjamin Crowley, Payton Dahm
Lars Den Hartog, Konner Evans, Kyle Feagans, Ella Foster
Dane Frazier, Zach Greaves, Jacob Hoenmans, Junaid Jensen
Sabrina Jensen, Caden Johnson, Collin Kreutz, Ariana Lamb
Nate Larson, Eileen Lindner, Finn Linse, Evan McEwan
Annabel McLane, Katie Minden, Thomas Misiak-Kacsh, Brody Mitchell, David Moyer, Merrick Oleszek, Mitchell Oleszek, Ariana Ormsbee, Mason Rutz, Isabella Sandoval, Kathleen Sautel, Colton Shirley, Gabriella Sleight, Gregory Smagala, Sarah Smith, Jason Stencel, Ivy Stickland, Maddie Swartz, Austin Swartz, Alex Tan
Lydia Tan, Layla Tran, Tina Vo, Bradley Wangberg, Ali Wolfe, Ryan Wyngarden, Dylan Kiser, Eli Quinones

2nd place
Emily Artman, Avery Barden, Regan Beaver, Sophie Briceno
Thomas Burden, Emma Burden, Christopher Cardella, Karen Carreon
Candice Chandler, Tristyn Cvanciger, Sarah Dahle, Shekina DeTienne
Bruce Duong, Eli Eastment, Zoe Economou, Lincoln Ennenga
Eric Evans, Evelyn Fleetwood, Nate Florence, Tristan Garcia
Oliver Garner, Kaleb Guffey, Phineas Hallock, Thomas Hurst
Christian Jezek, Nathaniel Keckler, Logan Keckler, Amy Krupp
Evelyn LaMorgese, Josie Landis, Bella Lasater, Rowan Lasater
Sabrina Liu, Melvin Marine, Warren McDonald, Jennifer McDonald
Natasha McKernan, Tegan Moore, Hope Morgan, Caiden Murphy
Jackson Noller, Khristin Paisley, Zachary Palmer, Meryn Probasco
Connor Rhoden, Malachai Romero, India Ross, Jordan Rutz
Jasmine Salamera, Brecken Schubert, Keira Sherman, Grant Shirley
Dylan Soule, Ed Stanton, Garrett Thomson, Michael Veith
Maxwell Weaver, Evan Weber, Mia Wolfe, Ava Alvarado

3rd place
Annie Abbink, Ryann Beaver, Owen Bernath, McKenna Boehm
Briar Boehm, Peyton Brauch, Mattox Bubenik, Craig Cardella
Tyler Cobb, Mariah Cordova, Zachary Cotner, Amy Daly
Lainey Dokter, Grant Erickson, Garrett Falk, Jackson Foster
Shaylan Gangoo, Justin Gann, Noah Gomez, Hank Haubner
Clavin Haubner, Philip Hoenmans, Hannah Holmes, Miles Humphress
Sean Huntley, Cody Jacobson, Ivy Jensen, Don Johson
Irene Kim, Deb Larson, Everett Lasater, Christian Lloyd
Ryan Marine, Elsie McDonald, Tiffany McDow, Aiden Molina
Colleen Monahan, Mulligan Liam, Colin Palminteri, Toby Palminteri
Nathaniel Pierce, Caleb Romero, Kayla Romero, Abbey Salamera
Bridget Sautel, William Schwartz, Alex Schwartz, Mark Scott
Evan Shacklett , Oliver Shultz, Eleanor Smagala, Lauren Smith
Aiden Soule, Allan Stanton, Zoe Tormey, Da Minh Tran
Judson Ver Beek, Rhett Wallace, Hayden Welch

4th place
Jackson Babcock, Elan Bailey, Jeffrey Bowen, Colton Christensen
Sidney Clark, Julian Crawford, Deb Denny, Colin Duncan
Jonah Elstad, Colton Falk, Drake Ferguson, Elizabeth Hawkins
Miette Jandreau, Chase Johnson, Zane Kaulbach, Brandon Kirt
Xiaoxue Ada Koberlein, Zoey Krupp, Maxwell LaPlant, Rylan Lemons
Dean Loux, Owen Luarca, Audra Maes, Joshua Miller
Lucas Mischo Quint, Courtney Moen, Kaelyn Molina, Theryn Ochsner
Leto Ochsner, Lucy Paisley, Marley Powers, Sammy Powers
Kai Pratte, Ethan Price, Matthew Roberts, Kayla Roberts
Henry Rumph, Aubrie Schafer, Lance Schwartz, Brody Shaver
Thoams Sleight, Joshua Stencel, Lily Strickland, Atom Taylor
Lee Tomjack, Shaydon Tuttle, Jack Weichert, Nicholas Weichert
Dylan Wellensiek, Kaddie Williams, Beth Wolfe, Samuel Wolfe
Weston Wolfe, Rylan Wolfe, Jonathan Wright

Tiger Poomse
1st place
Amalina Tarr, Chase Gentry, Rebekkah Copel, Grace Bubenik
Joseph Eastment, Kaydance Veith, Maaryn Rolfing, Juan Monia
Donovan Ferguson, Evan Erickson, Lettie Chavez, Ray Clair
Caroline Nusbaum, Eddie Garner, Caleb Rios, Oliva Kent
Asatrid Christensesn, Noelle Brown, Daxton Frandsen, Rowan Beaver
Jameson Rhoden, Slyvia Kowalski, Ibenez Pankey, Henry Ratigan
Grant Boehm, Lilly Lloyd, Colin Kowalski

Breaking
1st place
Emily Artman, Reagan Beaver, Gillian Boswell, Meredith Botnick
Karen Carreon, Sidney Clark, McKenzie Cress, Lauren Dahlberg
Deb Denny, Shekina DeTienne, Jonah Elstad, Eileen Lindner
Julian Marine, Joshua Miller, Katie Minden, Caiden Murphy
Rick Orton, Henry Rumph, Abbey Salamera, Isabella Sandoval
Aidan Sturm, Lydia Tan, Lee Tomjack, Layla Tran
Shaydon Tuttle, Michael Veith, Dylan Wellensiek

Sparring
1st place
Emily Artman, Paxton Barnett, Abby Booten, Meredith Bonick
Jeffrey Bowen, Mattox Bubenik, Chris Cardella, Craig Cardella
Karen Carreon, Jonathan Castro, Alexis Chavez, Mariah Corova
Quynn Cotner, Benjamin Crowley, Evan Erickson, Kyle Feagans
Justin Gann, Oliver Garner, Noah Gomez, Phiheas Hallock
Calvin Haubner, Keira Haubner, Jacob Hoenmans, Miles Humphress
Sean Huntley, Isaac Jensen, Caden Johnson, Logan Keckler
Brandon Kirt, Josie Landis, Nate Larson, Deb Larson
Bella Lasater, Jennifer McKernan, Joshua Miller, Roman Montoya
Tegan Moore, Hope Morgan, Caiden Murphy, Merrick Oleszek
Mitchell Oleszek, Marley Powers, Caleb Romero, India Ross
Mason Rutz, Michael Sandusky, Lorianna Shultz, Eleanor Smagala
Ed Stanton, Maddie Swartz, Amalina Tarr, Layla Tran
Judson Ver Beek, Tate Wallace, Hayden Welch, Dylan Wellensiek
Lydia Willis, Rylan Wolfe, Felicity Pingkian, Ethan Adams
Maxwell Shelly

2nd place
Ava Alvardo, Elan Bailey, Owen Bernath, Gillian Boswell
Peyton Brauch, Candice Chandler, Evan Charlton, Averie Chavez
Lennix Chavez, Bryce Cole, Dalton Cole, Zachary Cotner
Julian Crawford, Amy Daly, Colin Duncan, Jonah Elstad
Drake Ferguson, Gwen Gutierrez, Thomas Hurst, Cody Jacobson
Miette Jandreau, Nathaniel Keckler, Amy Krupp, Zoey Krupp
Eileen Lindner, Christian Lloyd, Ryan Marine, Seth McCallin
Tiffany McDow, Evan McEwan, Natasha McKernan, Michael Eric Meadows
Katie Minden, Ariana Ormsbee, Lucy Paisley, Marshall Peck
Nathaniel Pierce, Diego Quezada, Eli Quinones, Connor Rhoden
Owen Robertson, Dylan Rodgers, Abbey Salamera, Isabella Sandoval
Mark Scott, Brody Shaver, Keira Sherman, Colton Shirley
Aidan Sould, Jason Stencel, Joshua Stencel, Patrick Stolle
Lydia Tan, Michael Veith, Tina Vo, Kai Wallace
Bradley Wangberg, Mia Wolfe, Beth Wolfe, Ryan Wyngarden
Colston Yoder, Lily Lloyd

3rd place
Annie Abbink, Taneli Alahuhta, Mathias Bauer, Reagan Beaver
McKenna Boehm, Briar Boehm, Charlie Booten, Lindsey Boswell
Lucas Brown, Vivi Brown, Emma Burden, Adrianna Carreon
Eva Carreon, Rebekkah Copel, Lars Den Hartog, Sheina DeTienne
Eli Eastment, Eric Evans, Alex Hancey, Hank Haubner
Jameson Healy, Philip Hoenmans, Sabrina Jensen, Zane Kaulbach
Evelyn LaMorgese, Maxwell LaPlant, Sabrina Liu, Julian Marine
Warren McDonald, Elsie McDonald, Frank Merritts, Thomas Misiak-Kacsh
Brody Mitchell, Tyler Murphy, Theryn Ochsner, Leto Ochsner
Khristin Paisley, Toby Palminteri, Kai Pratte, Meryn Probasco
Matthew Roberts, Kayla Romero, Oliver Schultz, William Schwartz
Lance Schwartz, Evan Shacklett, Allan Stanton, Ellie Stanton
Aidan Sturm, Alex Tan, Atom Taylor, Garrett Thomson
Rhett Wallace, Maxwell Weaver, Weston Wolfe, Mason Zerbib
Brooke Johnson, Eddie Garner

4th place
Andrei Amihalachio, Jackson Babcock, Avery Barden, Thomas Burden
Colton Christensen, Sidney Clark, Tyler Cobb, William Crowley
Lauren Dahlberg, Payton Dahm, Deb Denny, Zoe Economou
Konner Evans, Nate Florence, Ella Foster, Maley Griffin
Kaleb Guffey, T.J. Gutierrez, Jennifer Hancey, Elizabeth Hawkins
Don Johnson, Chase Johnson, Rowan Lasater, Rylan Lemons
Dean Loux, Audra Maes, Jacob Mayberry, Courtney Moen
Liam Mulligan, Pau Paisley, Colin Palminteri, Ethan Price
Jordan Rutz, Alex Schwartz, Grant Shirley, Sarah Smith
Lauren Smith, Jason Stencel, Jr., Austin Swartz, Katelynn Ward
Jude Weaver, Evan Weber, Eva Welch, Jonathan Wright
Brandon Brech, Kaydence Veith

First Point Wins!
1st place
Meredith Botnick, Mattox Bubenik, Chris Cardella, Jonathan Castro
Evan Erickson, Justin Bann, Oliver Garner, Phineas Hallock
Calvin Haubner, Keira Haubner, Brandon Kirt, Deb Larson
Roman Montoya, Caiden Murphy, Merrick Oleszek, Mitchell Oleszek
Marley Powers, Mason Rutz, Eleanor Smagala, Ed Stanton
Amalina Tarr, Dylan Wellensiek, Lydia Willis, Felicity Pingkian
Maxwell Shelly, Ava Alvarado, Candice Chandler, Averie Chavez
Bryce Cole, Amy Daly, Colin Duncan, Cody Jacobson
Miette Jandreau, Amy Krupp, Ryan Marine, Tiffany McDow
Michael Eric Meadows, Katie Minden, Lucy Paisley, Doegp Quezada
Dylan Rodgers, Isabella Sandoval, Aidan Soule, Ryan Wyngarden
Vivi Brown, Eric Evans, Evelyn LaMorgese, Toby Palminteri
Oliver Schultz, Alex Tan, Nate Florence, Rowan Lasater
Austin Swartz, Dane Frazier, Zach Greaves, Everett Lasater
Payton Reynolds, Kathleen Sautel, Brecken Schubert, Gregory Smagala
Da Minh Tran, Jack Weichert

2nd place
Jeffrey Bowen, Craig Cardella, Alexis Chavez, Mariah Cordova
Sean Huntley, Caden Johnson, Josie Landis, Bella Lasater
Joshua Miller, Hope Morgan, Caleb Romero, India Ross
Lorianna Shutz, Gillian Boswell, Evan Charlton, Zachary Cotner
Julian Crawford, Jonah Elstad, Drake Ferguson, Gwen Gutierrez
Nathaniel Keckler, Eileen Lindner, Ariana Ormsbee, Marshall Peck
Nathaniel Pierce, Owen Robertson, Colton Shirley, Joshua Stencel
Michael Veith, Kai Wallace, Beth Wolfe, Lindsey Boswell
Lucas Brown, Rebekkah Copel, Eli Eastment, Alex Hancey
Sabrina Jensen, Maxwell LaPlant, Warren McDonald, Tyler Murphy
Theryn Ochsner, Khristin Paisley, Kayla Romero, Allan Stanton
Aidan Sturm, Rhett Wallace, Mason Zerbib, Brooke Johnson
Eddie Garner, Payton Dahm, Don Johnson, Dean Loux
Jordan Rutz, Eva Welch, Brandon Brech, Kaydence Veith
Grant Erickson, Christian Jezek, Zachary Palmer, Dylan Soule

Staff Poomse
1st place
Kathleen Sautel, Merrick Oleszek, Emily Artman, Eric Evans
Hope Morgan, Bridget Sautel

2nd place
Michael Sandusky, Ryan Wyngarden, Collin Kreutz, Jennifer McKernan
Shekina DeTienne, Ethan Price

3rd place
Kyle Feagans, Gwen Gutierrez, T.J. Gutierrez, Cody Jacobson
Tyler Murphy

Grand Champions:  Eileen Lindner, Kathleen Sautel, Merrick Oleszek and Emily Artman

Fitness

By Kayla Roberts, green belt, CTI BBC Member

Most of us have heard about the obesity epidemic in America and other western countries such as Canada and Britain. It's hard to miss health related headlines linking the rise of overweight and obesity with increased rates of heart disease, diabetes, asthma and other respiratory illness, cancers, and many more horrible afflictions. We see tons of information about the effectiveness of diets and exercise and the disastrous effects of increased sugar, fat, and caffeine consumption.

The average American lifestyle is generally unhealthy and getting worse. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average American ate 20% more calories in 2000 than they did in 1983 with these calories mainly coming from increased consumption of meats and added fats. At the same time, America experienced the fast food boom that ultimately resulted in fast food taking up 11% of our diets. This is before you add in the more recent effect of increased soda and energy drink consumption.

Health organizations and doctors will recommend a healthy diet and exercise to combat overweight and obesity. For exercise, one of the best high calorie, high fat burning exercises is Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo. In a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, researchers found that a 160 pound person will burn an average 730 calories per hour in a Taekwondo class. That's at least 200 more calories burned than the average hour-long run. It’s also a full body workout meaning you’ll burn fat in every part of your body, including problem areas, not just the stomach.

Taekwondo can help people maintain their diets. Classes don't just focus on physical exercise, they also teach self-discipline and self-confidence. These three areas build on each other to teach students the skills they need to make healthy changes and build good habits. Habit building is where most people fail when trying to lose weight and to keep that weight off. This why fad diets will fail every time. Fad diet programs target very fast weight loss but never allow for a well-rounded, nutritional lifestyle that will result in weight maintenance. Learning self-discipline is critical to keeping weight at a healthy level and MSK Taekwondo does a far better job at teaching the skills needed to meet long term, healthy goals.

The community in a Colorado Taekwondo Institute class is incredibly supportive which makes this whole journey that much easier. Between the amazing community and new, lasting skills, maintaining a healthy weight will be far more attainable for most than with the classic magazine diet and gym membership. Students will also have the bonus of learning valuable self-defense skills not available through other courses.

Modesty

By Kyle Feagans, 2nd dan

Definition of Modesty:

The quality of not being too prod o confident about yourself or your abilities – by Merriam Webster

Definition of Arrogance:

An attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions – by Merriam Webster

How can modesty help one in their daily life?  While there is nothing wrong in being proud, excited, passionate and confident about your accomplishments or your goals, it is important to exercise modesty in one’s successes.  Exercising modesty in success shows true understanding that those achievements were not solely attained on your own merits…that the support of friends and family was needed too.   CTI Martial Artists understand that this through success in learning basic and advanced punching, blocking, striking and kicking techniques.  The enhancement of this knowledge is realized through the progression of and achievement of each belt on their way to black belt and beyond.

Modesty is a key ingredient in developing relationships with friends, family and co-workers.  It is exciting and fascinating to hear about the successes of others when there is a sense of modesty involved.  Most of us already know and understand that it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and effort on our end to achieve our goals and these same disciplines were exercised by those who helped us.  Modesty can be a challenging characteristic.

In today's society, accomplishments are indicators of one’s character and they show a desire to gain knowledge and advance in understanding.  It is good to talk about, to communicate our accomplishments with others, and if done in the right way, could be the cause of inspiration for someone to persevere through that very same obstacle in the way of their own goal!

2019 All-City Champs This Month!

Everyone mark your calendars for April 26th & 27th, as the Colorado Taekwondo Institute will be hosting the 2019 All-City Championships tournament at Alameda International High School. This tournament is open to all AMASEA students.

Events include:

• Poomse (all ages and belts)
• Free-Sparring (ages 5 & up, all belts)
• First Point Wins! Sparring (ages 5 & up, all belts)
• Breaking (age 9 & up, orange belts and above)
• Staff Poomse (all black belts)

You can pre-register for the tournament online and you can learn more about the tournament on the All-City Champs page.

Fitness

By Tom Hurst, yellow belt

Benefits of five different aerobic exercises:

1. Endurance.  Developed by long interval exercise, such as running, involving the use of major muscle groups and requiring copious amounts of oxygen.
2. Efficient gas exchange.  Expanding the lungs and developing the alveoli to pass oxygen into the blood stream and pulling CO2 from the blood stream during long interval exercise such as running.
3. Muscle strength and flexibility.  Developed by strenuous exercise at a medium level holding the heart rate at a medium level for an extended time period.  An example is primary techniques such as punches and blocks but not at the same level of activity as Jumping jacks or running.
4. Muscle efficiency. Developing the ability to clear waste products from the muscle such as lactic acid, both to the long muscle and to the cardiac muscle as well as building red blood cells. Poomse is an example of both types of exercise and utilizes both aspects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise depending on the length of the poomse.
5. Reduce body fat.  Aerobic activity burns fuel, first glycogen then when the ready stores are depleted the body converts fat to glycogen and ketones.  The ketones are excreted, hydration, hydration, hydration, and the glycogen is burned for energy.  Long periods of extended effort well below maximum effort, such as marathon running.
   

Benefits of five different anaerobic exercises:

1. Muscle recovery.  Interval training is most commonly associated with this exercise.
2. Muscle bulk.  Weight lifting is generally associated with anaerobic exercise.  Some bulk is desired for strength but excessive bulk decreases mobility and flexibility.
3. Muscle strength can be increased when aerobic exercise is interspersed with anaerobic exercises.  Quickly moving from jumping jacks to push-ups or basic moves to sit-ups are a couple of examples.
4. Flexibility. Stretches are a form of anaerobic exercises, remember to burn off the lactic acid by moving the lactic acid laden blood up to the lungs and blow it off as CO2.
5. Develops more efficient transfer of blood products and oxygen by the growth of more red blood cells. Interval training and short period, high intensity exercise.

A benefit of both types of exercise is the increased blood flow through the brain carrying more oxygen and more nutrients to the brain leading to enhance concentration and focus. This can lead to an overall feeling of wellness, self-esteem and self-image.  This is a huge benefit for the developing child and cannot be underestimated in its value to the older adult.

Team

By Brain O'Reilly, purple belt, CTI BBC Member

On any given team, is any one person more important? Why?
This is a question of team roles not people. Teams consist of individuals with unique skill sets, strengths and weaknesses.  The role that an individual plays can vary based on the mission and long-term goal(s) of the team or the short-term task at hand. Often the roles are predetermined; based on job description, hierarchy, experience, specialty, etc.  Often those predetermined roles fit well with an individual’s current level of expertise, seniority and skill-set.  Yet roles within a team are rarely static. As people gain more experience and responsibility they move up in the team and as others fail to maintain their current role they move down or out of the organization.  Teams need leaders, and leaders need followers; it is symbiotic.  A lone leader is not a team and a team without a leader is lost and often disbands.  One can argue that an effective team leader is the most important role on a team.  Leadership team roles are replicated in nature because they effectively ensure the survival of the team.  For example; wolf packs have an alpha male and as he loses the ability to protect, provide and lead, a new leader rises from the pack to replace him.  The wolf pack also has an Alpha Female, protecting and nurturing the upcoming Alpha’s and the rest of the pack. Individuals/people are replaceable, but roles are rarely replaceable.  It’s easier for a good leader to find a team and take it to the next level than it is for a mediocre team to find a good leader.  All members are important, but the immediate strength of the team is built around its leadership and then the quality and growth of upcoming members. The X-Factor that complements strong leadership and strong membership is the empowerment of members with unique skills sets to experiment and expand opportunities to the pack which then takes the team to a new and higher level of productivity and competition.


How can people achieve more whey they work together?
There is a compounding effect to team work. A team’s resources and portfolio of wealth are built around its active participants. The rich get richer because they have more resources to work with and they invest those resources with greater effectiveness.  Productive members learn from the success and diversity of others, tapping into those resources and expanding their own skill sets and contributions to the team.Each positive individual contribution is multiplied by other members and then reinvested as the team attracts more investors and new opportunities.Like any wise investment, the greater the resources the greater the return and the greater the ability to reinvest.  High productivity and success offers the luxury of experimentation and investment in new disciplines which then leads to a new and higher level of growth.  The active individual shareholder of a team who adds to the value of the team also adds to the health of his/her own individual portfolio of resources.  A healthy individual and team can perform at a higher level of output and then continue to grow beyond its “less-healthy” competitors.The healthy ideal for growth and productivity relies on each contributing share or each contributing team member; expanding individually and for the benefit of the team.  “...A team of the people, for the people, by the people.” –Abe Lincoln