Today, we’d like to introduce you to Carolina Warnes and Antonio Rodríguez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Chief Master Antonio Rodriguez 8th Degree Black Belt and Senior Master Carolina Warnes 7th Degree Black Belt have been involved in the Worldwide Martial Arts industry for over 35 years. They started in their original countries, at the age of 10 yrs. old, Antonio in Uruguay, and at the age of 8 years old Carolina in Argentina.
Chief Master Antonio Rodriguez owned five schools in Uruguay, and he was the president of the Songahm Taekwondo Association, consisting of 25 schools, over 70 Instructors, 350 Black Belts, and over 2000 students. He was presented with the award of “Outstanding Regional Vice-president” for the fastest-growing business development and outstanding leadership displayed in South America.
Senior Master Carolina Warnes had her own school in her hometown, Mar del Plata; nowadays, that school is still open with even more locations and running under her Legacy. Following their passion, in 2002 they both moved to USA, invited by their Instructor Grand Master Cesar Ozuna, to manage some of his locations in Miami FL, where they worked for two years and then they moved to North Carolina (Lake Norman area) and opened a total of 5 locations.
They got married in 2007 and had their first son in 2011, their new family situation made them sell the schools in NC and move to Leesburg VA to open one school, a big location in Loudon County. They chose this change to the single school owners model to be able to balance their quality time for their school and family and to be able to plan on another baby who was born in 2016. The second baby was born right before they got an opportunity to expand ATA in Europe, so they moved to Valencia, Spain and open few locations over there.
They moved to Valencia in 2017, in only 1 year they were opening the second location, and by the second year they had 2 successful schools running in Valencia, Spain. While in Europe, they organized the European Instructors training in 2017 and 2019 hosted in Valencia, Spain with more than 100 European Participants and 10 high ranks which were special guests from United States.
It was a great adventure, but they decided to sell both schools and move back to the USA because, in their opinion, it’s the best country to provide opportunities for their kids and have a successful business.
When they came back to the USA, they had a partnership in some ATA locations in Orlando, which led their way to the Florida West Coast, managing some locations there until they were ready to open their own location in Trinity, FL.
Their dream was to open a very well-rounded family Studio where the students and their families could get the benefits of coaching in Martial Arts, Fitness, and Wellness, so they educated themselves and became certified in other fields that are very compatible with Martial Arts: Like health Coaching in modern nutrition plus Fitness and Wellness.
Their current studio opened in April 2023, and so far and at almost one year of being open, this has been the fastest growing location they’ve ever operated, reaching 150 active members in only 10 months.
Chief Master Rodriguez and Senior Master Warnes have an internationally recognized career.
Chief Master Rodriguez. Holds 10 National Championship titles in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Won seven Pan American Championships, and he is a 5 times world top ten competitor with 5 silver medals.
Chief Master Rodriguez is also a Krav Maga certified Instructor, and he is Certified to train the trainers and certify instructors on the ATA. Sr. Master Warnes has accomplished the highest competitive achievements in the ATA organization. In addition to her Argentinian National titles and South American champion titles, she ranked in the Top Ten in the USA five times, and NC State Champion four years in a row, S Master Warnes has placed in the Top Ten Nationally, five times. As the pinnacle of her competitive success, S Master Warnes also earned the title of World Champion four times, and she is running for another World Champ Title this year, in July 2024, at the ATA World Championship in Phoenix, AZ.
Master Warnes is an inspiration who all to meet her. Her Kind, friendly, and welcoming attitude is layered with a Fierce competitive spirit and a focus on precision and technique. This rare combination makes SM Warnes an excellent role model for all of her students, children, and adults.
Chief Master Rodriguez and Senior Master Warnes are happily married, they have two children, a 13 years old who is a 3rd degree black belt and a seven years old who is a blue belt. They have Ben awarded the gold collar award, which is the highest level of legacy, for testing more than 1000 students per year in the ATA, due to their legacy from USA, Spain and Latin America.
They have over 30 years of practicing Martial Arts, over 25 years of teaching experience and over 20 years of experience running their own schools as an ATA licensees. Both of them are active members of the Trinity, FL community, they and their team often donate their time and knowledge by participating in community events and school events such as the GATI, providing education on life skills, fitness, and wellness through Martial Arts.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been a fun and challenging road. Starting from moving from another country at a young age, teaching and transmitting our knowledge in a different language and having a little bit of a culture shock in the beginning, 22 years ago, all that made us think if the decision of moving far away from home was the right one. Nowadays, we are convinced it was! And we are glad we did it!
Starting a small business in a foreign country twice! USA and then Spain, was also a challenge, it was a whole learning experience with goods and bads. But, with our positive mindset, our experience, the people we found along the way that were huge support to us, and the desire to pursue our dreams, we were able to overcome the hard situations and get good things out of it and most importantly make it work!
We are so thankful of this road and everything that happened along the way, because it made us grow and learn.
Thanks. So, what else should our readers know about our business? Elite 360 Studio?
Elite 360 Studio’s Mission is to empower and help individuals and families to a healthier lifestyle, overall wellness, and strength for their bodies and minds, while offering a reinforcement of a more positive mindset and attitude towards life through life skills, modern nutrition, and Martial Arts.
We are a very family oriented school, we have an amazing community, in a very positive environment. Our expertise is Martial Arts, specially Taekwondo and Krav Maga.
Our qualified staff of Instructors sets Elite 360 Studio apart from others. Starting from Chief Master Rodriguez, whose rank is within the highest in the ATA and the highest rank in the area, followed by Senior Master Carolina Warnes, who is a 7th-degree Black Belt and they are still involved in the teaching and on the mat along with other high ranks that also teach. The instruction is not only under the Highest ranks in the area, but also the entire team is internationally certified to teach kids and adults, has CPR knowledge and background checks, and is up to date on the latest updates regarding teaching and training.
We not only have an amazing team but, most importantly, a caring team! At Elite 360 Studio, you will find a very high level of caring, and that is one of the most important things for us! Creating leaders for life is our goal through our very well-designed Leadership program. We focus on teaching not entertaining, even our youngest students in class work on their Listening, paying attention and following directions skills through discipline and confidence, while having fun!
We also have a really good stranger danger and bullying prevention program, as well as a fun challenge for teens and a great workout for adults. But most importantly we have many families training together, we think that families that kick together, stick together!
Brand wise, we have a huge support from ATA, it’s great not to be just a small family owned Martial Arts Studio, we are a lot more than that, with being part of ATA we can offer our students and staff the best trainings, competitions, seminars and options to have special classes with special guests, at a national and international level!
We have classes for kids from 4 years old to adults. We give everyone interested a Free Trial Class by appointment. We offer Martial Arts classes and Krav Maga, which is a great self-defense and conditioning program. Our classes are good for beginners, but we also offer advanced and Black Belt classes, as well as competition classes for those who like the challenge; we have a very designed instructor’s program and a demonstration team, so the students who want to get an expertise, can choose from different areas of training.
What were you like growing up?
Chief Master Rodriguez was born in a small farm town, he was always very fun and outgoing, as a kid he liked playing soccer with his friends, and when he moved to the big city he started Taekwondo to make new friends. He fell in love with Martial Arts because it kept him focused through his teenage years, when he decided he wanted to become an instructor, which required taking more responsibilities with a lot of discipline. His nature is very goal-oriented, and he was like that as a kid, too. During his teenage years, he knew he wanted to open his own Martial Arts Studio, and he had a lot of support from his mom, who made it to Black Belt, too, under his training.
Senior Master Warnes as a kid was shy and very reserved, she felt much more comfortable in small groups an settings, she is very thankful to Martial Arts because it helped a lot with her communication skills, specially when she wanted to become an instructor! She was always very focused as a child, disciplined, and goal-oriented, which helped a lot in her martial arts tournaments and at school, as she was a good student.
Besides Martial Arts, she enjoyed swimming, being part of her Volleyball team in high school, and going to the beach with friends. What she always valued was her family time and all the opportunities her parents created when she was a child to share time together, including going camping, traveling, taking taekwondo classes with her father and her younger brother, and having her mom being her support team by taking her to all the Taekwondo seminars, tournaments, demonstrations, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: Elite360studio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elite360studio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Elite360Studio
