What different seminars have you attended? I am not asking for critique, just variety. Also have you noticed different types of styles at these seminars compared to others.
For myself:
Pedro Sauer: smooth and very technical
Jeff Curran: same
Caique: Defensive minded and tight
Pat Miletich: Aggressive and attacking
matt serra - the day after ufc 38. good instructor, funny guy and paid good attention to everyone that was in attendence
erik paulson- right at the start of my training, some of the stuff blew me away. again funny guy and good instructor who was able to help everytone, beginners and advanced alike. seminar was probably too early to me to pick up as much stuff as i would do now.
marcio feitosa - good seminar. good english also. half gi and half no gi, but adapted the gi stuff to work for guys like me who didnt have a gi. showed the sickest sweep i think ive ever seen, that said ive still not hit it yet lol
London Shootfighters - Good seminar, billed as a super seminar lol had trained with these guys before but the lenghth of the seminar meant they were able to show alot of stuff they hadnt previously been able to show. Full progression from standing to clinch to ground. well worth the money and the travel
Royce Gracie- Very well organized. Shows more for if points dont count, and that it doesnt matter unless you submit them. Been to probably 3 or 4 of his.
Leonardo Xavier- To me he is the best teacher. Mostly Sport Jiu-Jitsu, but still keeps things basic. I dont think I have ever been to one of his seminars and saw something that I would consider "hollywood".
Roy Harris: I've never taken more notes in my life. TECH-NI-CAL! I love it!
Matt Thornton: get ready to sweat. it's all about the training methodology (also, get ready to laugh. The jokes keep coming once someone asks a question about TMA)
Wendell alexander
modern day Gi wizzard, an encyclopedia shows technique so clearly that I understood it on my first day ever in a BJJ class, and he was showing what I now recognize was intermediate to advanced.
Dede
the second half of Nova Uniao's dynamic duo, when you see Charuto anf B.J. Penn, you understand that what he teaches works
Leo Santos
Wendell Junior, it's like he is teaching from a book that everyone can read, even though the techniques are new to everyone. So smooth, and everything was done so that the techniques were integrated into each other.
Shaolin
What can you say, he knows what works. He shows you winning moves.
I liked all these seminars.
I could only watch Shaolin's, so I'll go with Leo's as my favorite. Wendell ran the best class i have ever seen in my life, and Dede is just vicious.
Top 5 favorites that I attended
Matt Thornton - Haven't seen anything like it before or since
Shaolin - Awesome techniques, Awesome instruction, Awesome person
Leo Vieira/Romero "Jacare" - A smorgisborad of BJJ & Submission Grappling
Luis Heredia - Not only my first ever seminar but also my first ever experience with BJJ
Romero "Jacare", Roberto Traven & Alexandre "Grandao" - Great seminar from the triple threat of the Alliance Team
The worst were :
Larry Hartsell - Grappling my ass!!!
Ricco Rodriquez - IMO, not a very good instructor/coach and not a pleasent person to know either
(Seminars still to come!)
Jean-Jaques Machado in 2 weeks!!!
Randy Couture & Matt Lindland in May!!!
2 or 3 more Matt Thornton seminars this year!!!
I'm surprised that no one on here as pointed out Michael Jen. Of all the seminars i've been too Michael's was the best. He showed a lot of escapes.
Leonardo Xavier was also very good.
Daniel "Montanha" Lima did a pretty good job.
The biggest wasted of money goes to Bart Vale.
Came close to attending a Michael Jen seminar in Poughkeepsie, NY but had to back out due to a funeral.
I have heard that Roy Harris is fantastic and obviously Matt Thorton must be good as well. I really would like to see Eddie Bravo along with Jacare.
My friends went to a Eddie Bravo seminar in Kingston, ON Canada. They said it was awesome! They came back twisting everybody!!!
Those bastids!!!