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Chris Hauter seminar review

This past weekend I flew to Athens, Georgia to attend a seminar conducted by Machado BJJ black belt Chris Hauter. All I can say is "wow!"

Chris is simply one of the best coaches I have ever trained with. He actually cares about improving his athletes performance. He shows things that NO ONE shows, and the things he shows that others teach he presents in a new way or with a new training method, or with some subtle tweak that is unique.

The weekend started off with takedowns to warmup. He show some new ways of getting your opponent to the mat off an over/under lockup. One of the methods had the entire 60+ attendees fighting to be the first ones to try it. As a matter of fact, there is a good chance the public might see it this coming tuesday on Spike TV (just a hint, because there was two UFC fighters there, one competing on Tuesday, and the other competing on the next PPV ). From there, we went to holding posture in guard where Chris showed a trick that I know pretty much no one does, but makes holding posture so much easier. Basically, he bows the lower spine out a little. You will not believe the difference this makes. Sounds simple, but it works. After that, we moved to guard passing. Again, more "tricks" that anyone can use to perform better. His phrase of "hips pass hips" is now engraved on my mind. Then, he went to ways to attack that from the point of the guy holding guard. Real good stuff.

The second day was even more of an eye opener. The majority of time was spent on guard retention. I will state this publicly. This material was some of the best, most unique stuff I have ever seen. Chris' way of getting this material across is so good and different, he should patent it. No one presents it in such an easily understood and digestible manner. He teaches a simple progression of "lines" that represent what response is appropriate. Just mind blowing. One of the things I feel is a weakness of mine that is holding me back from getting my brown belt is my ability to retain guard against any pressure, without relying on athleticism. This material addresed it completely. I am trying to get Chris into releasing this stuff on DVD. Hopefully he will listen. Both days ended with a lot of rolling where I got to witness Chris Connelly (a great guy from Alabama) get his well deserved brown belt, 3 new purples, and some new blues.

The seminar was put together by Adam Singer at his HardCore Gym. A great facility, run by great people, with a gym full of great guys, both on and off the mat. If you get a chance to go there, DO IT! There is a reason they are producing guys who actually fight in the UFC.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I cannot wait to train with Chris again. If anyone out there is thinking about bringing him in for a seminar, or attending a Hauter seminar, or training with him one on one, you will be richly rewarded. Training with Chris is on my small list of things to absolutely do, no matter what.

Cecil Burch