Coach Chris was introduced to BJJ when he was only 12 years old at a place called "Kick it with Ticket" in Duncan, OK. Needing a competitive and regimented outlet after leaving the army, he joined Titan Martial Arts in Norman, OK where he trained for 2 years. He picked it up again in 2016 at Springfield Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Springfield, MO, then joined Team Foster the end of 2018 and where he has been one of our most dedicated morning students.

The physical outlet is great, but Coach Chris really loves the critical and creative thinking opportunities BJJ brings to his life. It has amazing effect on his physical and mental health. He feels it forces us to relax in tough places, helps us recognize real threats or opportunities and re prioritize them accordingly. In his opinion, this is a microcosm of life.

Now as a coach, he's enjoying the experience of helping others reach their goals. "When someone has that 'aha' moment and you know it was you that helped them achieve it then it is a win. Its like climbing the ladder to success that someone held before you, and then you making sure the ladder stays strong for the next person so they too can benefit.  This is the beauty of this martial art: regimented training, putting in the years of blood, sweat, tears, injuries, wins, losses, highs and lows while perfecting and making hard the techniques that this art, its founders and the trusted professors that picked up that mantle have provided and knowing I will be a part of that for not only myself, but for others as well," Chris says.

Outside of BJJ, Coach Chris has trained in MMA (Titan Martial Arts 2007-2009), Japanese Jiu Jitsu (Army at Fort Stewart, GA 2004-2004), Boxing (All Army Boxing classes in downtime in Iraq 2005-2006) and Muay Thai (Titan Martial Arts 2007-2009).