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History of Colorado Taekwondo Institute
The mission of the CTI has always been, "To encourage world-class leadership through educational excellence and Moo Sul Kwan martial arts traditions."
The CTI was founded by Jim Sautel on October 1, 1983.
CTI Tournament competitions began in 1984, along with countless demonstrations and community events which helped establish the MSK program as an educational leader in the martial arts.
During the summer of 1985, the first Moo Sul Kwan Summer Expo was held. The Expo was set up for all belt levels and ages of MSK students and instructors. The MSK Expo has been held in Winter Park, Vail, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Colorado Springs and other wonderful places. Based on Great Grandmaster Lee H. Park’s annual AMASEA National Convention, the Summer Expos provide the added touch of the Colorado outdoors. Special Expo guest instructors have included Master David LeGrand, Grandmaster Charles Hildebrand, Great Grandmaster Bong Yul Shin, Master Bill Jones, Master Bill Evans, Master Ralph Hendrickson and others.
In 1991, Grandmaster Sautel opened the Green Mountain Campus in Lakewood, Colorado. Other campus locations were opened over the years beginning with the Littleton Campus and followed by the Westminster, Golden and Conifer Campuses.
In 1996, the MSK Black Belt Symposium was first held in Winter Park, Colorado. The Black Belt Symposium takes place each year in the fall and is dedicated to the training of MSK instructors and leaders.
In 1998, the first Camp MSK took place at Snow Mountain Ranch, just outside of Granby, Colorado. Ever since then, Camp MSK, which takes place in June, has been a fantastic six-day training playground for students and instructors alike.
The CTI Black Belt Team World Tour began with a trip to Russia (1993). Since then, the CTI Black Belt Team has visited, trained, competed and demonstrated in South Korea (2001), Ireland (2004), Mexico (2006), and New Zealand (2007) and Germany (2011).
Other dynamic annual events the CTI sponsors has sponsored each year are: the CTI Super Bowl, the CTI All-City Championships, the Lee H. Park Team Championships and the Denver Martial Arts Championships. There are also CTI Masters Seminars given throughout the year on subjects ranging from free-sparring, poomse, and judging technique to breaking and self-defense.
