Coach Thornton in a ‘different’ role

SBG’s founder, Matt Thornton, was recently featured in the December issue of Portland magazine.

You can read the article here: 

http://sbgi-pdx.com/news/2012/12/22/martial-arts-portland-skepticism-critical-thinking-matt-thornton/

The Straight Blast Philosophy – Matt Thornton has a skeptic’s approach to fighting—and life.

At Northeast Portland’s Straight Blast gym, a string concerto echoes from the stereo. The atmosphere feels like a well-behaved library, not a macho sweatbox. Even so, within martial arts Straight Blast is known for its full-contact training style: students are more likely to battle each other than execute karate’s traditional kicks into thin air.

This two-fisted approach lends gym founder Matt Thornton renown as a trainer, but he’s now gaining notoriety for a different combative pursuit: philosophy.

In blog posts, videos, and interviews, Thornton propounds an arch-skeptic’s approach to both fighting and life. He takes issue with both rival schools of martial arts and anyone who pursues what might be called faith-based thinking. “Belief absent evidence is a vice,” says the imposing 6-foot-8 fighter. After establishing a pugnacious rep online, Thornton is at work on a book that could introduce his muscular personality—and reverance for scientific method and rigorous testing of any belief— to a wider audience.

In the gym, Thornton holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and adapts that style’s emphasis on sparring to disciplines like boxing, judo, and Thai kickboxing. He meanwhile rejects traditional noncontact exercises and martial-arts mysticism as having limited self-defense value. “Once you train my way, you can’t do other stuff anymore,” he says. “It would be like being a doctor, but also practicing witchcraft on the side.”

After 20 years, Straight Blast enjoys global appeal: 15 affiliated gyms or training groups in the US and 10 abroad, in places like Seoul, Cape Town, and Dublin. Traditionalists, on the other hand, don’t care for Thornton’s criticism of “dead” martial arts. San Francisco–based instructor Gary Moro scoffed: “The only people practicing ‘reality based’ fighting skills are … in the military.”

Meanwhile, quotes from British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell and astronomer Carl Sagan weave through the tattoos that crosshatch Thornton’s forearms. Peter Boghossian, a Portland State philosophy professor and Straight Blast student, hopes the fighter’s book-in-progress can strike a blow for rationality. “Thornton can make complex ideas clear to a wide audience,” Boghossian says.

In all, Thornton seems to apply the spirit of contact sports to intellectual argument. “To get good at jiu-jitsu, you have to lose thousands of times,” he says. “If you say, ‘I’m never going to tap out,’ you’re never going to be any good.”

We are proud to see our head coach, and the SBG founder receive some recognition from the broader community. When we asked Matt for comment, he offered the following:

“Here is one of my favorite quotes, one I try and keep in mind,

“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit; the second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”

That’s from Marcus Aurelius.

If you’re constantly troubled, if you can’t be calm, then it is very hard to be rational, to solve problems wisely.

Regardless of how good your intentions may be, if you are not right as it relates to the facts, you may end up doing much more harm than good. So the first step is critical, and for me the martial art of Jiu Jitsu has helped provide that. For twenty years now I have been able to step onto the mat, roll, and walk away calmer, clearer, more untroubled. Jiu Jitsu teaches you to stay centered while under pressure, to be able to relax in positions that would otherwise be extremely uncomfortable, or for the average person perhaps even create panic. Jiu Jitsu teaches a lot about life, provided we are mature and open enough to listen to it.

As for the second part, seeing things for what they actually are, that too is essential. To do that we have to basically do two things. The first, stop pretending to know things we don’t actually know. That in and of itself is the end of faith, and as a consequence the end to all religion and superstition. The second part, is to have good critical thinking skills at your disposal. To understand the scientific method, what constitutes evidence, and above all else to value truth.

That is something we need to begin instilling in an age appropriate ways starting very early in a childhood education, both at home and within the school systems. That is why I am a big fan of the work of people like Dr Peter Boghossian (@peterboghossian on twitter), and I hope to play a larger role in helping make that a reality in whatever way I can. I want to help improve the world for my children and those that come after us, and critical thinking skills are at the heart of all practical solutions.” – Matt Thornton

We agree, and we look forward to seeing more of coach Thornton in his growing non coach roles. And we also hope to see you on the mat at the Portland academy, where Martial Arts in Portland, continues to evolve forward.

                SBG has a new BJJ black belt!

SBG founder Matt Thornton awards his 9th Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt to long time SBG coach Priit Mihkelson.

Priit is an SBG coach from Estonia. He’s been with SBG for over a decade now, and has been teaching fulltime for several years. He is known for a no nonsense, practical approach to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game, as well as a fantastic, scientifically driven teaching style.

Here is what long time SBG coach Cane Prevost had to say after attending Priit’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu workshop held at the SBG world headquarters in Portland Oregon:

“I want to give a bit shout out to Priit Mihkelson for his seminar on Saturday. I’ve had the good fortune to have attended my share of BJJ seminars. More often than not I leave feeling more confused about BJJ than before the seminar. Most seminar hosts present a buffet style of techniques. Mostly a bunch of random stuff and flashy moves. By the end of the day your head is spinning. Priit does none of that. Instead of teaching a bunch of techniques he took a simple set of 3 basic movements and built a complete game around them. The upside is that anyone can learn the three movements quickly and putting them together the way Priit taught us is an immediate game changer. I knew he had it right when in his black belt ironman I saw 4 different people use the stuff he taught against him that same afternoon. In addition to great BJJ Priit also gave everyone there a master class in coaching. I’m grateful as the benefits of the seminar will be two fold for me. He’s given me some things to immediately improve both my game and my coaching. If you get the chance to train with Priit and learn his unsweepable curriculum take it! It represents everything that SBGi is about- Beautifully delivered fundamentals that work for every body. Thanks Priit!”

Priit recently gave an Brazilian Jiu JItsu seminar at SBGi Worl Headquarters,

the Portland Academy. His subject was his popular unsweepable series. Here is a brief glimpse into some of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu material Priit taught:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSQfFXP2d_c

You can see the entire seminar at our Brazilian Jiu JItsu members forum located here:

http://www.sbgiforum.com/

You can also schedule private lessons in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Priit at the Portland Academy.

Members of Portland SBG’s Ultimate Athlete/ICC program will be getting personal Brazilian Jiu JIstu instruction from coach Priit for the next month. He will be teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu through January at Portland Oregon’s SBG.

SBG BJJ black belts from Coach Thornton: from L to R, Cane Prevost, Travis Davison, Matt Thornton, Priit Mihkelson, John Diggins and Ricks Davison.

 SBG adds another BJJ black belt & brown belt in the UK!

After rolling for a solid two hours with around 40 white, blue, purple, brown and black belts in what is know as being ‘iron manned’ Jason Tan thoroughly earned a well deserved black belt.

James Owen also from the MMA Academy was also awarded his brown belt from SBG Head Coach and BJJ black belt Karl Tanswell after being ‘iron manned’ in similar fashion.

Here is what Jason had to say after his promotion:

“Last night was without doubt one of the toughest moments I’ve ever had on the mats. The ‘Ironman’ is horrendous, ha. I want to thank everybody who has been part of the journey so far, started martial arts 16 years ago, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 11 years ago, and it is a massive part of my life. Thank you to all family and friends who have supported me along the way, a big thank you to my partner at

The MMA Academy, Peter Davies, who I have learnt SO much from and has been absolutely crucial in the creation of our team. Huge thank you to the Coaching staff at the academy, who have been doing an outstanding job and who are always pushing me and the students to achieve more. To the students, past and present, without you guys who train at the academy doing that Ironman wouldn’t have been possible (maybe a good thing ) and reaching blackbelt wouldn’t be possible, I am always so very very grateful that you have chosen to learn Martial Arts at The MMA Academy Liverpool. Last but not least a huge thank you to Karl Tanswell and his team SBG Mainline, to be awarded the Black Belt from somebody I respect immensely as a Coach and Martial Artist is a great honour for me. Thank you everybody, I love everybody!”

Brendan Loughnane displaying some awesome fighting skills!

In case you missed it, SBG UK’s Brendan Loughnane put on one hell of a fight.

Here is a play by play, and what the judges had to say:

Round 1

John Sharp is the ref for this lightweight bout. Loughnane opens up with inside leg kicks, switching between orthodox and southpaw stances, sticking his jab in the shorter Wilkinson’s face. A side-kick to the body connects for Loughnane, who keeps moving backward as Wilkinson tries to get inside. Two minutes into the round, Wilkinson hits a takedown at the base of the cage and Loughnane closes up his guard. Loughnane throws elbows from his back while Wilkinson postures up and tries to create space to strike. Wilkinson goes to the body and throws an elbow over the top just before Loughnane scrambles back to his feet. Loughnane lands a few knees to the body and gets out of the clinch, steps in and thumps Wilkinson with a right hook. Another leg kick from Loughnane lands and he steps away from another Wilkinson shot to finish the round standing.

Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Round 2

More leg kicks from Loughnane to open up round two, and he keeps on his back foot while Wilkinson tries to strike. Another Wilkinson shot is dodged, but he cracks Loughnane with a pair of hard right hands before shooting a single-leg against the fence. Loughnane stays up, gets an overhook and exits the clinch. A left hook from Loughnane connects and immediately opens up a cut above Wilkinson’s right eye. Loughnane continues to move around the outside, pumping his jab and trying to dodge Wilkinson’s offense. They exchange leg kicks inside and Wilkinson sneaks a right hand up the middle. He shoots a single and Loughnane sprawls on the fence, then circles out. Wilkinson won’t let up with his punches, even if Loughnane seems to be slipping most of them. A hook to the body by Loughnane is followed by a knee. Wilkinson stays up and comes forward again, eating another right hand.

Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Loughnane

Round 3

Wilkinson gets through with a pair of punches and a leg kick before taking a leg kick inside from Loughnane and receiving a finger in the left eye. Referee Sharp calls for a pause and Wilkinson signals that he’s alright to continue. When they resume, it’s Loughnane leg-kicking again and snapping off left hands in Wilkinson’s face. Wilkinson shoots a single against the cage, gets stood up and is shoved away. Swiping right hands from Loughnane but he nearly gets taken down as Wilkinson catches a high knee. Wilkinson just keeps coming forward, pressing the action and again trying for a single-leg takedown. Loughnane reverses, scores with a knee to the breadbasket; Wilkinson, with his back to the fence, keeps busy with short right hands to Loughnane’s face and body. With 90 seconds to go, Loughnane wilts Wilkinson with a big right hand and tries to finish on the ground. Wilkinson recovers quickly, scrambles up and shoots. He can’t get the takedown and eats a knee for his trouble. Loughnane presses Wilkinson into the fence as the fight enters its final 30 seconds. Wilkinson rushes his man at the horn, bombing with heavy right hands and connecting with a few while Loughnane pulls up short on his counters.

Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Loughnane (30-27 Loughnane)

Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Loughnane (30-27 Loughnane)

Mike Whitman scores the round 10-9 Loughnane (30-27 Loughnane)

Official result: Mike Wilkinson def. Brendan Loughnane via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) R3 5:00

Hows that scoring work? We don’t know either, but there you go.

                   Rickson Gracie’s influence on the SBG

Martial Arts in Portland Oregon were never the same after Rickson Gracie introduced the amazing art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the founder of SBG International, and the Portland Academy, Matt Thornton.

To quote Matt:

“I watched Rickson wrestle a room of Judo black belts. He taped them all out within seconds, without using his hands, and I knew this is for me!”

After that experience, the Martial Arts in Portland Oregon have never been the same.

If you want a better look at just how Rickson has effected the core of the philosophy of SBG, Portland’s oldest functional/practical Martial Arts school, and therefore Martial Arts in Portland Oregon in general, look no further than SBG’s very own Portland Academy.

Take a class, meet our students, coaches and athletes, and see for yourself why those that are looking for the best possible martial arts training in Portland, make SBG their home.

Here is a quote from Rickson where he expresses his overall view of Martial Arts:

“Today, MMA has simply turned into a circus, extreme, violent, and sensationalist, which only attracts people who like barbarianism and all that blood…My philosophy is to bring to Jiu-Jitsu, for those interested in martial arts, a transparent philosophy, one where he can apply it to defend himself. One he can use to teach to his children, so that his son becomes a better person within society, whether he’s a doctor or a fighter with balance, with force, with dignity, and with respect. That’s my life’s motivation.” – Rickson Gracie

That quote expresses perfectly our philosophy here at SBG. And this is what we bring daily in terms of martial arts in Portland Oregon.

                Why the ‘ironman’ is an SBG tradition

At left Matt awards SBG athlete Hamilton Ash his brown belt.

For more than a decade now the ‘ironman’ has been an SBG tradition whenever one

of our athletes recieved a new Jiu Jitsu promotion.

Anywhere from 30 to 70 students will line up around the man. One person enters the center, and over the course of 45 minutes to two hours, depending on the Jiu Jitsu belt level, the athlete in the middle wrestles everyone on the mat, one after the other.

The first Jiu Jitsu belt promotion in SBG, which was held almost twenty years ago, featured the classic line up, and belt whipping. Each newly belted Jiu Jitsu athlete walked the line, while being hit all the way down. Sadly, this Jiu Jitsu ‘ritual’ continues to this day in many Gyms.

We dropped the Jiu Jitsu belt whipping in SBG after that first promotion, and the reason we did so is because, speaking bluntly, it’s stupid.

Whipping people with belts is a form of hazing, and hazing is both idiotic and degrading.

Would you whip female students? If not, do you hold them to a different Jiu Jitsu standard?

At SBG the measurements we hold for all our athletes, male or female, remain consistent.

Would you subject your child, your son or daughter, to a “belt whipping”?

These are questions every Jiu Jitsu student and instructor must ask themselves, but for SBG, these questions have been answered for the last fifteen years.

Each Jiu Jitsu promotion is something to celebrate. It has usually taken years for the athlete to achieve the skill level that is merely represented by the color of the Jiu Jitsu belt. In the case of brown and black belts, this often means a decade of hard training, or longer.

During that time everyone, from the newest white belt to the most seasoned upper belt, helped play a part in that athletes growth. It is the entire Jiu Jitsu community, the entire meritocracy that you will find on an SBG Jiu Jitsu mat, that helped mold that individual athletes game.

This is why the entire Jiu Jitsu community plays a part in the ironman ritual.

One by one each student steps forward and has a match with the athlete being promoted. It is at once both a very tangible and very symbolic representation of the entire Jiu Jitsu process itself, that is, when it is done in a healthy manner.

Here is a video shot by SBG Portland coach Chris Stearns, which shows

our tradition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEySUuAYNGw

One of the questions that often gets asked is why we start with the white belts?

The answer to that is safety. It is healthier for everyone involved that the least experienced athletes wrestle the Jiu Jitsu athlete being promoted when they are most fresh.

One by one each member of the academy rolls, ending with the black belts.

Jiu Jitsu belts mean something to the degree that they are sincerely valued by both the one recieving the belt, and the one giving it. The SBG standard is renowned for being at a very high level. But for those of us in the SBG Jiu Jitsu community, that isn’t because our level is so far above everyone else, it is because we have never compromised on our standards. And that, is why it has such meaning.

The ironman, an SBG Jiu Jitsu tradition.

    Coach Cane Prevost & the winning the race paradox

Portland Coach Cane Prevost recently wrote an excellent article on ‘the race paradox’, enjoy:

Suppose there are 2 people who are trying to see who can run the fastest through a field to the other side. One person takes off as fast as he can. On the way he hits brambles and thickets. He falls a couple of times but manages to make it to the other side fairly quickly never taking his eyes off the goal. He’s breathing heavy. His body is bruised and scratched up but he clearly won.

The second guy takes his time. Instead of focusing his gaze on the other side of the field he look down. With care and precision he makes his way across noting the location of all the holes and thickets along the way. He’s careful to keep himself safe as he moves to the other side of the field. He’s obviously lost the race but then an interesting thing happens.

He asks his friend to try again. This time the battered and bruised runner takes a bit longer to get through while the careful runner picks up his pace as he knows the course better. It’s obvious that the fast runner is breaking down. His body isn’t handling the repeated scrapes and bruises and falls nearly as well the second time through.

By the 4th or 5th time through the careful runner is easily winning. His performance gets incrementally better as he learns the territory and finds more and more efficiency in his routes. By this time it’s no contest. The fast runner has to admit defeat as his body can’t endure anymore.

What does this have to do with BJJ you ask? Plenty. One of the paradoxes of  Jiujitsu is that if you focus too hard on winning you kill your ability to make progress.  I’ve seen this over and over. As instructors we often don’t do a good job of articulating it to students. We tell them to “relax” over and over again. This is good advice but hard to do when someone is driving their shin into your cheekbone. What we mean by “relax” and “slow down” is that for learning purposes the journey is more important than the destination. It’s cool to pull off an escape or even a submission but the important part, the part that creates the learning, is what happens prior to that. It’s the journey. If you don’t recognize the brambles and bushes that left you bruised you will likely get bruised the same exact way your next time through.

This is the be in the moment idea that we often hear talked about in BJJ circles. It is nothing more than noticing and using your senses to record what is happening in the moment. How does it feel? Where are your partner’s legs and arms and elbows? How is his weight loaded? How is he creating pressure? This noticing is an important job. It is what creates the efficiency that allows us to avoid the brambles next time through. It’s a bit counter intuitive though. The noticing isn’t exactly action. You aren’t escaping or subbing when you are noticing. So, on the surface it may not look like much.

On the flip side you can sometimes see with beginners a great effort. They thrash and struggle and move with all their might to pull off an escape. What they don’t realize is that they are accomplishing nothing much. Even if they get the escape it isn’t efficient, or effective. It’s no way to build a BJJ game.

The best part of this mindset is that you find yourself enjoying the game so much more. There is much to see and notice and feel from the bottom of a good cross sides position! And, if you do notice and feel and experience in the moment while there-you will learn to love all parts of the game. That’s the real benifit. When that happens even a shin on the cheek can be pure bliss.  That’s a much better win than any submission can ever be. No contest at all.

       Matt Thornton introduces Dr Michael Shermer

Matt recently had the honor of introducing best selling author, lecturer and publisher of Skeptic magazine, Dr Michael Shermer.

If you’ve never seen Matt without a gi on, here is your chance.

You can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq1dFIC7PeY

                                   SBG & belt testing

SBG Coach Steve Whittier recently wrot an excellent piece on BJJ belt testing, and it included a Q and A session.

Enjoy:

When SBG was first started, the concept of a Mixed Martial Arts gym hadn’t been born yet. SBG was the first commercial location to do such a thing, the pioneers of the idea, forever changing the way Martial Arts would be viewed. Because we were first, and this was all new, a break with the old dead patterns of Martial Arts, the worn out superstitions and fantasy based training methods, was a must.

Titles, terminology and “belts” which had no connection to functional skill, were discarded.

One thing remained the exception, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu belt system. Why? Because demonstrating skill in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is similiar to being able to speak spanish or play the guitar. It is a testable, empirically testable, functional skill. It cannot be faked.

This authenticity is what gives the ranking system in BJJ it’s meaning.

When it comes to martial arts in general, especially martial arts in Portland Oregon, the skill and high standards of SBG’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athletes is renowned. But it isn’t just the martial arts community in Portland that recognizes this fact.

One of the things most impressive about SBG, is that we’ve been able to maintain our high standards for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu belt promotion, world wide. Not just within the Martial Arts of Portland Oregon community.

This letter recently written by SBG Master Instructor Steve Whittier, is a great example.

If you want to understand how we belt at the Portland Martial Arts SBG academy, then all you need to do is read this:

I got an email question this week and immediately thought it deserved an article onto itself as it relates to belt testing within the martial arts:

“We had belt testing this weekend and some of my fellow bjj’ers received stripes some their blue, purple etc. how do you deal or advise some of these white belt bjj’er that think they should  have more stripes or moved up a color? i will admit the mats this week have been violent and pecking order is being reset…lol. i enjoy watching the young guns gun for each other. i’m just a 40yr old with the passion and love of the art. this is just entertainment to me but i do have a lot of them voicing their disappointment to me. it must be my calm yoda like jiujitsu you have been covering.”This brings up a very, very common phenomenon in BJJ: rank promotions.

I have written about some of the pitfalls of ego-driven attitudes within martial arts, and many of the subtle ways they can manifest in individuals as well as in cliques within martial arts schools. Hand-in-hand with common problems like keeping score (who taps who) is where the student believes he or she should be with respect to rank.

I’ve seen a lot of this over the years. And I do understand that some instructors within the martial arts, frankly, have some weird, inconsistent standards, play favorites, etc., and in some cases it’s understandable that these can lead to students being frustrated.

For me, however, I have to be 100% clear. When it comes to belt promotions, it is not a democracy. I have a clear criteria for what I’m looking for and do not compromise on those standards, period. This is true within the martial arts of Nexus, the UK, or the martial arts in Portland Oregon. It is true at all SBGs.

But no matter how explicit you make these martial arts criteria, there will be some whose egos and insecurities will get in the way. Often to the tune of “But I can tap that

     This Holiday Season, remember what truly matters

All of is at SBGi wish all of you a hapy, safe and joyful holiday season.

It’s easy to get caught up in things that, in the big picture, don’t truly matter.

As a reminder, enjoy this video:http://youtu.be/T3JzcCviNDk

Sam Harris sums it all up nicely.

“We do not know what awaits each of us after death, but we know that we will die. Clearly, it must be possible to live ethically–with a genuine concern for the happiness of other sentient beings–without presuming to know things about which we are patently ignorant. Consider it: every person you have ever met, every person you will pass in the street today, is going to die. Living long enough, each will suffer the loss of his friends and family. All are going to lose everything they love in this world. Why would one want to be anything but kind to them in the meantime?”

Yes, we have a HUGE announcement as it relates to SBGi!

We mentioned this in the last newsletter, and we were not kidding; some major changes are coming to the SBG International (SBGi)organization in 2013.

The progress, growth and improvements many of the acadamies experienced in 2012 (our biggest year yet, if by biggest we mean almost tripling in size), are serving as lessons for how we at SBG can help you, our indivdual members and acadmey owners, take things to another level.

A much higher level in terms of performance, professionalism and vibe.

SBG founder Matt Thornton, and the first BJJ black belt from the Portland Gym itself, Travis Davison, are shooting a video together this Sunday, Dec 23. It wll be made available to SBG members only, and spell out step by step what, why, and how these changes will be occuring.

Brace yourself, 2013 is going to be a much better and much more epic year for us all.