Over seventy dedicated Martial Arts School owners and their staff battled their way for up to six dark hours through torrential rain and high winds to John Lynn’s Black Belt Academy in sometime sunny Rhyl in North Wales.  Some might question why these men and women were so enthusiastically giving up their time and energy, but to these  ‘Business Black Belts’ the journey was a minor hurdle.

These outstanding entrepreneurs were travelling to attend one of EFC UK’s famous Meeting of Minds Business Seminars, featuring top USA school owners Keith and Debbie Thompson, top UK school owner John Lynn and new super star Vince Cassar.

The meeting was a fantastic experience for every one.  John and Lynne Lynn and their staff were wonderful hosts making every one feel welcomed and their school was a superb venue.  Keith and Debbie Thompson are very busy people running two terrific schools (soon to be three), as well as their extensive duties as members of the EFC Board of Directors and EFC Advisory Board respectively.  Somehow they managed to find the time to make their second visit to our shores to help their friends in the UK and Ireland.

Keith kicked off the meeting to talk to us about the essential elements of professional martial arts success, which was

very illuminating.  Following a very tasty buffet lunch the attendees were split with Debbie talking to the staff and Keith the owners.  Debbie talked to the staff about how they should best use their time when they start in the morning, how they should start thinking like an owner and how they can improve their income.  Meanwhile Keith talked to the owners about staff training and building staff to ensure that you have bench strength.  John Lynn explained the systems he uses, which not only allow him to run JLBBA, but also enable him to run his Merit Badges business, all while living in the USA for much of the year, very impressive!   The attendees then reconvened together and Debbie talked about event planning and how to run a successful Pizza party and Keith told us the keys to student retention.

It was then time to get on the floor for some Ninjutsu training with Keith before retiring to a local hotel for a very pleasant evening meal and lot’s of networking.

Sunday morning started with a bang as the ever enthusiastic John Lynn taught every one his famous chants or ‘Focus Anchors’.  This was not only useful for waking up any sleepy heads, but also taught great techniques for use in any martial arts school.  John was followed by Vince Cassar who was speaking at his first EFC seminar.  At the Summit I asked Vince how he had managed to grow by 300% in just nineteen months from £5K to over £15K.  He said ‘I just stopped getting in my own way!’ and that was the subject of his talk.  Vince detailed in a very practical commonsense way how he broke down his own objections in order to make sure that he introduced all of the EFC systems and the success followed.  Vince’s advice to every one was ‘Stop getting in your own way’, which I think could well become a popular maxim within EFC.

Keith then spoke about marketing to attract more children and the purpose and value of networking followed by a lively and enjoyable Q&A session.  After a great deal of networking over another excellent buffet lunch the attendees said their goodbyes to their host, the presenters and their new EFC friends.   Loaded with notes and action plans they made their way home on a warm and pleasant afternoon all now clearly knowing exactly where they are going!

The feed back from the meeting has been very positive and we are all grateful to our hosts John and Lynne Lynn, Vince Cassar and of course to the wonderful team of Keith and Debbie Thompson.

Mike Allen
EFC UK General Manager