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Gene Simmons Was In The House

When Commander Ned Muffley walked out as Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS, he stunned the au-dience with his theatrical portrayal. His message was: “I don’t like what I appear to be, and I need a transfor-mation”! It was fitting that he trans-formed into a white angel later. New Year’s Resolution: Let’s resolve to switch on our transfor-mation buttons and become better and stronger!

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Demo: Shaolin Monks

Shi Deru Shawn Liu and his team achieved the absolute pinnacle of excellence in their demonstration of the Shaolin tradition.

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Ernie Reyes’s Legacy Demo Team

Not only did Master Ernie Reyes make a great pre-sentation, he interspersed it with a great demo performance that once again reaffirmed his iconic status. News flash: his body still defies explanation!

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Keynote Speakers

As always, Chairman Nicholas Cokinos, AKA the Guru, was full of insight when he spoke about how successful school owners must use their influence to give back to humanity.

Ernie Reyes spoke about the “12 Principles of Legendary Teaching,” which is firmly rooted in two of the oldest traditions of the martial arts: respect and discipline.

EFC President John Cokinos’s topic was “A Pathway to Transformation.” He made the point that rewriting one’s story is not only possible, it can be a powerful life exercise.

Two surprise guests were invited to the stage to speak about their own astounding transformations: Bam Johnson and Steve Doyon.

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Bam JohnsonChairman Nicholas Cokinos

President John Cokinos

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Steve Doyon Ernie Reyes

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Keynote Speakers continued...

The gang of four, Laura Belus-chak, Winnie Callahan, Sheeba Lee and Larry Batista, left their own imprint on the Summit by linking short video segments with inspiring messages.

David & Linda Deaton helped host Summit 2011 in their home state.

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Winnie Callahan Laura Beluschak

Larry BatistaSheeba Lee

Workouts

The EFC Summit cannot be complete without the fitness factor. This year, Luigi Cuellar, Alex Chan and Dave Kovar ex-hilarated attendees by guiding them through a thrilling work-out. Other stirring workouts were led by Roxanne Dunn and Jessy Norton.

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Luigi Cuellar, Alex Chan & staff

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Art Beins Dave Durman Ken Pankiewicz Charles Chi

Forums

Finally, the meat and potatoes: 2011’s presentations surpassed everyone’s expectations! Paul Garcia was the star of renewals, Dave Kovar sealed his stature as the master of instructor train-ing, Zulfi Ahmed spoke the lingua of international business, Jeremy Lewallen introduced 97 Display, Debbie Thompson shared the secret behind Tri-star’s low RQ, and Dave Durman explained a technique that can change students’ minds when they want to quit. We were pleased to see attendees jot-ting down copious notes.

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John Lynn

Dave Kovar CDR Ned Muffley introduces Chairman Cokinos & Steve LaVallee

Steven Sohn

Banquet

There’s a time for everything. And the banquet was the time for the glitz and the glamour to take center stage. The Gen-eral Jackson showboat was the perfect setting. Everyone was relaxed, entertained, well fed and happy!

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Tony Thompson's debut

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Debbie Thompson, Zulfi Ahmed, Tony Thompson & Margie Betke Laura & Tim Barchard & company

Robert McCarthy & family Bill & Jennifer Taylor Eri Baysinger & Jeff Wheeler

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Robert & Morgan Duzoglou Bridget & Garland Johnson Marcus Trainor (L), Neil Stone (2nd R) & John Mahaney (R)

Jerry (2nd R) & Michelle Chenault (R) with staff

Mark Boblowsky's staff

David & Sally Durman with Mark CokinosCharles (2nd R) & Myra (R) Chi & company

Laura Beluschak, Judy Modafferi-Tearney & Alexis Tearney

Social Hour

The gathering at the hotel lobby on Friday evening proved to be a big hit. People had a chance to relax and mingle be-fore leaving for the more formal banquet and entertainment at the General Jackson showboat.

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Paul Garcia (2nd L) with daugher Jessica Garcia, Joe Fischbach & staff

Rachael Anouthai & EFC's Aruna John Lima & family

Chris Robinson, Buzz Durkin, Anthony Arango & Bill Taylor Kathy & Rob Olevsky

Jerry Fatjo (L), Eric Colon (5th R), B.J. Ganguly (4th R) & Bob Meyer (2nd R) with other attendees

Kristina Hwang, Donnalynn Patakos & Ally Almeida

Awards

EFC Vice President Mark Cokinos and Board Member Debbie Thompson recognized the accom-plishments of school owners and staff members in a memorable ceremony, and the recipients were of course delighted! Classic framed awards were handed out by digni-taries Dave Kovar and Fred Deger-berg in the Red Carpet room.

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Craig Haley

Frank Scaccia Dave Herman Rick Hall

Amanda & Hideki Frazier Margie Betke & Donna Bernardi

Curtis Hammond

Eric Colon

Brian & Sandy Hayes

Michelle Burchick

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Rick Hall

Rohini Perera

Jason Franklin

Ally Almeida, Greg Tearney, Debbie Thompson & Mark Cokinos

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Dennis Brown (R) with Bam Johnson & famiily

Hideki Frazier, Jonas Mayo, Louis Hurtado & Kenny Kuek

Jeorge Alves & Pedro Xavier Gary Steele

Wassim Khechen & staffVictor Luke, Mark & Robyn Gildemeester, Claude Bergeron, Veronica DeSantos & Chris Robinson

David Valle, Donnalynn Patakos, Roxanne Dunn & Steve Doyon Phil Sage (center)

Networking

Networking works! And you don’t have to take our word for it:

“Often the informal parts of the Summit, after breakouts are over or during the banquet, are really valuable.”

—Jim ClappAmerican Karate Studios

“I’m going to the Summit for the networking. Mr. C. says you should learn from experience, but it shouldn’t always be from your own painful experience!”

—Mary TreacyEagle Academy of Martial Arts

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Matt Dorsey (center)

Larry Childs (2nd L) & Kirk Payne (3rd L) with Kenny Kuek (3rd R) Dwight Werner (2nd R) & staff

Larry Batista (3rd R) & staff

John Lynn's Black Belt Academy, UK

Selva (R), EFC Summit Coordinator, greets friends Randy McElwee & son

Gerard Silva’s International World-Class Demo Team

Last year Gerard Silva’s demo team performed along with Dennis Brown’s Wu-Shu Team. The team’s performance was so impressive that they were in-vited to perform solo. And they outdid themselves.

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Dennis Brown and the United Nations of Martial Arts

This was a visually striking representation of the different kinds of martial arts practiced in the world. What a perfect way to close the 2011 Summit!

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Summit 2011 Is A Hit!Here’s some great feedback (including some criticism) that we received post-EFC Summit 2011. Are you looking forward to coming to DC in 2012 already? Take a look at how attendees have gained from this experience…

My favorite session was the Q & A session with Chairman Cokinos. He answered some of the hard-core questions owners asked. Some of those issues weren’t covered in any of the other sessions, so I really ap-preciated his feedback. My second most fa-vorite class was “Developing a World-Class Team” with Steve LaVallee. It empowered me because he shared with us his personal experiences, which made him successful and I feel I can apply that information to my life.

Due to a flight delay, I met John Cokinos at the airport. We had a great conversation. He shared some of the things that would be covered at the Summit and recom-

BrAInStormIng AfterwArd

One of the best things I did at the end of this year’s Summit was to have an extended private discussion with each staff member. I did it right at the lobby of the hotel before we left for the airport. Together, it helped me and each staff member discover our personal goals, as well as my goals for my staff members and goals for our school. Monday morning, we met as a staff and the thinking was way out of the box. We know where we are going as a team. Our students will benefit from the Summit injection of informa-tion, sharing, great time with staff members and martial arts friends. See you all in September 2012 at the Gaylord in DC!

Steve SohnSteve Sohn’s Jujitsu Concepts and Krav Maga

deBBIe tHompSon’S preSentAtIon toucHeS A cHordI am the program director at LaVallee’s USA Black Belt Champions in Rochester, NY. Hands down, the best seminar I attended was Debbie Thompson’s “First 100 Days.” She gave tons of valuable information and was very direct in her presentation. The packet of info she handed out to attendees was straight out of Tristar’s Program Direc-

tor’s Handbook, and it is the best thing I’ve seen in a while! I loved it and implemented some of her tracking systems immediately!

Mary HartProgram Director LaVallee’s USA Black Belt Champions

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A fIrSt-tIme Attendee IS ImpreSSed

mended some classes. He also shared how to encourage people to become members. I consider him a friend now, someone I can trust with my questions.

 I wanted to go to the Summit to see what it was all about and if it could help me. My impression of it was that it was well organized, informative, and allowed me to network with other owners and vendors. Witnessing how successful it was makes me excited for the EFC X-Factor in Boston in May. Greg Lazarus8th DanNew England Kenshin Kan Karate Dojo

The Summit was very well organized. It was smart to have the trade as the central hub of activity with all of the breakout rooms, banquet room and general assembly room off from the hub. Thus, everything was set for success.

KISS Was In The House. Commander Ned’s theme this year was outstanding and what he shared while being “Gene Simmons” was both timely and meaning-ful. We are all amazed at his ability to use his knowledge of theater to always give a powerful and effective message.

What can you say about Kyoshi LaVal-lee? He does such a wonderful job in find-ing the good in others and shouting from the rooftop about their accomplishments.

A detAIled AnAlySIS

He has developed into a fine professional public speaker who can deliver a powerful and worthwhile message for any audience.

The Monks Delivered. Hats off to the monks again this year. They did a wonder-ful job on taking us all on a journey and showing us the path of enlightenment without even saying a word!

“The Chairman” Came Through Again. Thank you Chairman Cokinos for your Keynote Speech. I know all who were in attendance heard your points on how we must use our power and influ-ence to give back and develop “human-ity.” I am not alone when I say what you shared and the way you shared it was so very valuable.

President John Gets Better And Better. President John gets better each year. He really out did himself in having Steve Doyon come up. It was so good to see Steve tell his story. You can tell he has grown and matured over these past few years. Thank you for welcoming him back with open arms.

The Martial Arts Show. Dennis Brown and the team he put together did an out-standing job. What a great concept to bring closure to the Summit of Summits. It sent everyone home inspired and re-charged.

Garland and Bridget JohnsonUniversal Kempo Karate

Here are some of the best classes I attended:

Just a Slice of Pizza Pie: Steve SohnThis was all about finances, marketing, students, safety, etc. It was an overview of just about everything. The handout was amazing; the presentation was awesome. I love Steve and Erika. I learn something new during every single presentation that I’ve attended of theirs.would I go again? Doesn’t matter what they’re teaching, if it’s Steve and Erika, I’m goin’. I encourage others to go too. You always learn something!

Create a Flood Tide of Enrollments & Renewals: Paul GarciaIt was informative and motivational – al-most paradigm shifting.would I go again? Most likely.

First 100 Days/Program Directors: Debbie ThompsonThis was everything I needed. would I go again? I don’t know what it is about Debbie Thompson, but she is simply amazing. She tells you like it is and what you need to do. You feel like you learned a whole lot when you leave her presentation. She handed me the holy grail of what needs to be done at our academy! Her presentation alone was worth the entire trip for me.

Other comments: » I do wish check in didn’t take so long,

but I was very grateful that the staff handled themselves very gracefully under pressure. » It was nice to see the executive team

and the President during the presenta-tions as well.

AnotHer detAIled BreAkdown

» 97 Display was a disappointment to me, since they were presenting something that not all EFC members can take part in. » I do wish there were more vendors

and more time to see the vendors. However, I do appreciate that the pre-sentations I went to were educational classes and people were not trying to sell me something! » The presenters had to rush a little, since

there was so much information to teach. I would have appreciated a 2-3 hour ses-sions. A real class or training session with Debbie Thompson and Steve Sohn could really help me turn my business around!

Giselle Sharpe Chief Instructor and Program Director Family Martial Arts Academy

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