June was another huge month for belt promotions at SBG! It seems like as each month goes by the strength and depth of the tribe increases, with the tribe not only growing, but adding more high level belts as it goes. This month, big promotions took place in Montana, Athens and Edmonton, with new blue, purple, brown and even black belts added to the tribe!

Congratulations to Kisa Davison of SBG Montana on her brown belt, Curtis Peter-Rennich at SBG Edmonton on his brown belt, and, over at SBG Athens, Jake Korona and Dr. Jon DeWitte on their blue belts, Lee McMichael on his purple belt, Travis Mackellar on his brown belt, and finally Steve Fogle and Ralph Ospina on their amazing black belt achievements!

The SBG Athens ironman promotion was the biggest in the gyms history, with over 100 students in attendance to celebrate the success of their fellow tribe members:

“On July 29, 2018 the best and biggest belt ceremony to date took place at SBG Athens. 6 members of The Tribe earned new belts as they grappled during the traditional Ironman Ceremony with approximately 100 friends and training partners.

The photos don’t do justice to the electric atmosphere and incredible time that was had by all those in attendance. It truly was something special.

Earning new Blue Belts were: Jake Korona and Dr. Jon DeWitte. Earning a new Purple Belt was Lee McMichael. Earning a new Brown Belt was Travis Mackellar. Lastly, two new Black Belts were recognized in Steve Fogle and Ralph Ospina.

Great displays of BJJ were shown by all and we are super proud of everyone. We are additionally very grateful to the members of The Tribe for sharing in this experience and making this the biggest and best Belt Ceremony in the history of SBG Athens.

Final congratulations to all those students that earned new white belts. It is because of students like you that SBG Athens has grown to become the best martial arts and fitness academy in Georgia. We thank you for your participation in our rituals and for entrusting us with helping you reach your goals”

Eryk Anders Back In The Octagon In August

SBG’s hottest UFC prospect, Eryk Anders, steps back into the octagon this month in a middleweight bout, taking on Tim Williams. Anders is hoping to get back to winning ways after a very tough decision loss to UFC veteran Lyoto Machida in Brazil back in February, and this time around Anders is using the event to raise funds for another sick child.

After helping a young Brazilian girl get a prosthetic leg before his last event, this time around, Anders is promoting a give-away to help out 14 year old Trey White, who was born with a heart condition. Best of luck to Anders, and to Trey, in the coming months!

 

Paul Sharp On Combat Sports for Self Defense

After the success of the interview with SBG President Matt Thornton, the Martial Arts Journey podcast interviewed SBG Illinois’ Paul Sharp on the subject of combat sports and self defense. Paul Sharp is SBG’s resident self defense expert, with a lifetime of real world experience on the front lines as a police officer and having worked with special units and as a firearms instructor, alongside extensive experience in boxing and a BJJ black belt. Above is just a short segment from the longer interview, in which Sharp discusses the usefulness of functional martial arts for self defense, and how with specific guidance, these arts can be made more effective in real life situations.

 

The Grandfather of SBG Rolls with the Next Generation

The legendary Chris Haueter, coach of SBG founder Matt Thornton, and all-around BJJ pioneer, has been doing the rounds in recent months, visiting the SBG HQ and sitting down with Matt Thornton before continuing on to Ireland. Among other memorable moments was this one captured by Keiran Davern.

Davern is one of SBG Ireland’s most exciting BJJ names, competing in elite tournaments in Europe, and recently picking up an impressive win over highly-regarded black belt Lloyd Cooper at Polaris 7. Davern was grateful for some time on the mats with the grandfather of SBG, sparring with a member of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ being truly a rare and special moment for any serious BJJ practitioner.

 

 

 

Steve Winjet featured on The Hustle

The Hustle is an Edmonton-based project seeking to tell the stories of great people who have taken time and energy to create and explore something beyond their comfort level and built their passions into a successful side hustle. SBG Edmonton coach Steve Winjet was featured last week, and Steve imparted a great deal of knowledge outside the traditional thinking on combat sports and MMA.

“There is a natural assumption that violence, force, and aggression are at the core of martial arts…

The truth is the opposite, it requires patience and a calmness of mind. An awareness to read what your opponent wants to do, and using that to achieve your goal.”

New videos added to SBG University

SBG University continues to add new and exclusive content, sharing all the principles that make SBG’s approach to training the envy of much of the martial arts world. This month, SBG President shared knowledge on acquiring and maintaining mount top; material that he perfected over the course of an entire year dedicated to perfecting the position.

This is essential information for everyone, especially anyone who wasn’t fortunate enough to take part in one of his seminars on the topic last year. Alongside this, Matt also broke down Rickson Gracie’s theory of ‘connection’; an essential BJJ concept that sounds simple but is tough to master. Matt demonstrates using guard passing and headlock escapes and helps the concept become more accessible.

 

Arm Triangle Escape from SBG Australia

Check out this instructional video from the tribe down in Australia! SBG Australia’s Head Coach Ben Power breaks down a highly effective escape from the arm triangle submission. Moving away from the popular but not entirely useful “answering the phone” defense, Power utilizes his whole body to safely navigate away from the submission and back to a more neutral position.

 

Stella Davison At US Open Judo Championships

SBG Montana’s up and coming superstar Stella Davison headed down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the end of July to compete in the junior US Open Judo championships. Stella took the event in stride during her first outing at this level in Judo, competing with the very best to come away with a silver medal. More impressive still, Stella achieved this feat despite being sick throughout May with a bad case of pneumonia, and having only just received her promotion to the level of Sankyu in June. Despite her young age, Stella continues to inspire, competing with a degree of grit and professionalism surpassing those who are decades her senior.

Congratulations to Stella Davison on yet another truly amazing achievement in her still-young career!

No Excuses!

 

SBG Ireland Juniors Win Title!

With SBG Ireland being the leading name in BJJ and MMA across Europe, it can be of little surprise that the next generation of competitors are already separating themselves from the pack on the national level. Last month, SBG Ireland’s junior team took home the National Children’s Jiu Jitsu Championship in Ireland in an incredibly dominant fashion.

By both skill and sheer number of competitors, SBG Ireland were miles ahead of second place Gracie Barra. With performances like that, the future of SBG in Ireland is certainly very bright indeed. Congratulations to all the kids on their hard work and success!

 

 

Big Wins At SBG  Alabama

SBG Alabama made huge waves at the Strike Hard 50 event in Birmingham, AL at the end of July. In total, four SBG fighters had their hands raised, with Taylor Collett, Matt Elkins, Ethan Melisano and David Clark all scoring impressive victories.

Taylor Collett landed a sweet armbar win in the opening moments of the second round in his fight, while Matt Elkins opened the event with an emphatic TKO win in the first round. Clark and Melisano both earned decisive decision victories over their respective opponents. Congratulations to the whole SBG Alabama team on an amazing night of MMA!

 

Kristen Richmond on the Importance of Training

“This will probably be one of the rawest posts I’ll write. It’s not for glory or any of that shit. I debated posting anything but, in doing so, my hope is that it serves as a swift kick in the ass to a lot of cops.

Early this morning I found myself in a full-out fight with a 5’11, 195lb collegiate male athlete who was gooned up on an unknown drug (I’m assuming some sort of dissociative anesthetic). It was me and him for about five minutes. During said altercation, my glasses were shattered and knocked off my face, none of my radio transmissions got out, and a ton of equipment was stripped from my vest and duty belt. I managed to stay in the fight and maintain some control despite exchanging punches and knees with the subject. I secured one of the subject’s hands in cuffs and maintained that grip throughout the majority of the fight. I also released my K9 partner and she did exactly what she trains to do; however, all the K9 bites, punches, knees, and baton strikes did not deter this guy. He wasn’t there. The drug had consumed every part of him. After about 5 minutes of fighting, my partners finally found us (due to lack of comms) and, after several more minutes of fighting, we were able to secure him in cuffs ending the fight.

The following saying comes to mind: Sometimes I had a bad day means that I almost didn’t make it home. While fighting with this guy, he reached for my duty weapon. Given the circumstances (full details are not being disclosed in this post), deadly force was warranted and it was probably getting close to my last resort. Thankfully, it did not reach that point … I think the majority of the credit goes to my training outside of work. I’ve been beat to hell and back in training so I knew how to react and fight through being repeatedly being struck in the face and head. I didn’t freak out … I knew I was okay and still in the fight. This post isn’t to be all bravado … I got my ass kicked this morning (there’s no doubt about it), but I also gave it right back. Another huge reason it ended the way it did was due to my partners (all 3 of them). My guys found me and my K9 engaged. If it wasn’t for them intervening when they did the outcome probably would have been much worse. I am so thankful for them! They are literally the best partners I could ask for. One of them apologized because I was fighting for so long, which was obviously not his fault at all. My Sergeant was also injured. He left his hospital room to come to mine and said, “I’m probably not supposed to leave my room but fuck it.” He leaned over my bed, gave me a hug, and said, “I love ya, K-Rich!” I trust them fully and know that I never have to worry about if they’re coming.

The purpose of this post is three-fold. First and foremost, I implore you to train! Thank God I do. You don’t want to be in the fight for your life wishing you had done more to prepare for that exact moment. Second, bond with your partners. They’re your family and when you find yourself in a dark corner at 0300 praying for backup, they’re gonna be the ones who come running. Last, but not least, this is for the families, friends, and/or critics. After hours at the hospital and being treated for a broken nose, a fractured sinus, and some other minor bumps and lacerations to my hands, face, and head I went home. I took my bloody uniform, duty belt, and gear inside with me and dropped it on the floor. I took my tired K9 partner to her crate so she could get some much deserved rest. I went upstairs, undressed, turned on the hot water in the shower, stepped in, and washed his and my blood off my body. I watched it circle the drain not knowing whose exactly it was. Not a lot of people know what it’s like to do that. No, we don’t get into fights like these everyday but they do happen … along with situations that are far worse. Please take a few moments to consider everything that we go through before jumping to conclusions based off slanted media and facts. At the end of the day, we are exactly like all of you “normal” people. We just want to go home after work.

I would like to thank EMS personnel for treating and starting to clean me up on scene, hospital staff for their excellent care, and all of my family, friends, fellow officers, and community members for their calls and messages.”

Matt Thornton – Remember Where You Come From

If we grant that human beings in their current form, homo-sapiens, have existed for roughly 200,000 years, and we assume the average lifespan of our ancestors to be around 20 years of age, keeping in mind that the farther back you go the more brutal and short our lives were – than there have been approximately 10,000 generations of human beings on this planet so far. You, the reader, sitting here in the 21st century, are the product of an unbroken, and given the nature of nature, unprecedented, streak of success. The kind of accomplishment most creatures, most lineages, and most species, never come close to attaining. Each one of your grandparents, all 10,000 of them, lived long enough to have children. And all of their children, all 9,999 of them, all the way to you, did as well. To do that, to accomplish such an improbable feat, required unimaginable sacrifices. Most of them saw the majority of their children die in their arms. Many were murdered defending their babies, or their tribes, so they too could procreate in their own time; and many more killed others, so they could remain alive. High levels of intelligence, nurturing love, social guile, adaptability, awareness, and yes – violence, were all required for those who gave birth to your great grandparents. These were people who could fashion a spear and kill a 6-ton wooly mammoth, just so they could feed their families through long winters that never seemed to end. So remember this – YOU come from THAT!

 

 

Happy Belated Fourth of July From All At SBG!