Matt Thornton Heads To Edmonton
“Another weekend in the world’s best office. SBG Canada = thriving.” – Matt
Well Earned To Two Of SBG’s Newest Black Belts
From Coach Matt-
“One of the best parts of my job is being able to acknowledge the progress of others in our art. And acknowledge is the right word. A black belt means something to the degree it’s a symbol of a tangible, measurable skill. Something you cannot fake anymore than you can fake playing the piano, or speaking French. It’s earned. And when the student is there, the coach acknowledges that with the belt.At the highest levels that’s a black belt. For me, being able to roll and perform at that technical level is just the first part. It’s a necessary but not sufficient piece of the puzzle. For black belt, they also have to be able to pass on the art to others, the way I did with them. And, they need to be able to evaluate the progress of others, the way I have with them – maintaining the high standards SBG is know for.And finally, there is an ethical piece. Because from the day they receive that belt they will always be representing myself, and all of us, all of SBG. And all of us together make up a very high bar.So far I’ve given 34 black belts. Today I gave out 35, and 36.Curtis has been with SBG for years. He’s always been a beast on the mat. A technical beast. But he’s also turned into someone who can safely train and help anyone improve, and I was proud to award him his black belt today.Steve has all the technical skill needed. But more than that, he’s shown a rare level of leadship skill. He’s a tribe builder, a tribe leader. Bringing together people of all backgrounds under our banner, and making them stronger, healthier, and more dangerous. With Steve I have no doubt that SBG is in good hands. It was also an honor to award him his black belt today.Please welcome SBG’s two newest black belts.In addition, Katy earned her well deserved purple. And many others received promotions (I’ll let coach Steve update everyone on those specifics).One Vibe – One Tribe. The future of SBG is in capable and strong hands.”
Septembers SBG Podcast Featuring Rob Wolf
From coach Matt Thornton- “This month, I talk with diet and nutrition expert, Robb Wolf. When I have a question on this topic, Robb is the man I turn to. And, as we discuss, 6 years ago when I had a stroke his advice helped me get my numbers where they need to be.Pay attention to the last part of our talk. If Robb’s experience with big tech platforms doesn’t disturb you, you’re not paying close enough attention. Enjoy.”
SBG Coach John Frankl Visits With Bernardo Faria
Any SBG athlete who has trained with Frankl has heard his verbiage for timing and the concept of being “early”. Check out Bernardo’s clip where Frankl breaks it down.
As Matt Also Say’s
SBG Athens Working The Blade
Although SBG is often refereed to as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or Mixed Martial Arts association, SBG has never steered too far away from Matt’s original obsession with martial arts. How to fight, and what works in a fight.
Small Girl BJJ World
SBG has a lot of talented bloggers, vloggers, writers, and creators of all kinds of content. Be sure to check out Jessica Locke’s . Small Girl BJJ World.
From Jessica –
“I’m not JUST anything.I’m not JUST a girl.I’m not JUST too small.I’m not JUST a blue belt.I’m not JUST anything.A few months ago, I realized that this tiny little word kept creeping up into my everyday language and conversations. “I’m not that great of a BJJ coach because I’m JUST a blue belt,” or “I shouldn’t put my thoughts out in the form of a website yet because I’m JUST a blue belt.”.This word had actually always been a part of my Jiu Jitsu language, but time had continued to prove each little statement wrong, morphing always into the next negative idea springing up. The first, of many, was, “I’m just a girl, who would want to partner with me?” You see, when I started rolling with my coach, Ray, we didn’t have a “home” yet. There were 5-7 guys…and me. And forever, I thought that surely, they didn’t want to work with me or be my partner. Not only was I JUST a girl, but I was at least 50 pounds lighter than the lightest guy-and I was certain I was JUST too small to give anyone else any kind of work..Overtime I learned these were made up in my own head, and not a true reflection of what any of those guys thought of me..My thoughts turned elsewhere as I began coaching women’s only classes. Now they said, “you’re JUST a blue belt.” Only this time, I recognized it a bit quicker (which was still way too slow). I AM a blue belt, but there’s no “just” about it. I know plenty of Jiu Jitsu to pass on the foundational knowledge to new women starting, and in doing so, I am getting even better, too..The last couple months, my “JUST a blue belt” thinking prevented me from pushing the “publish” button on my new website. “No one wants to hear the processing of someone who is JUST a blue belt!” BUT. I’m not JUST anything, and I have things to say.(From my new site: smallgirlbjjworld.com)
What Is The Correct Scissor Sweep?
Depends on the base. From Matt – “This is an interesting photo that came up in my newsfeed. Underneath it was an ongoing argument about which was the “correct” posture.
If you understand how base works then you know both positions can be correct, as it depends entirely on which post you’re taking their silhouette over.
There’s a good lesson here that applies to just about everything. To truly understand how something works you need to grasp it at the level of first principles. If you don’t, if instead your reasoning runs no deeper than person A does X, so person B responds with Y, then you can always be misled.
Go deeper.”
As Chris Haueter Says – It’s not just who’s good, it’s who’s left.
From Matt Thornton – “Great video. The thing I find most inspiring about Helio was the fact that he stayed on the mat his entire life. Training grandkids and great grandkids. A goal I share.”
“We aren’t anarchist”
“We’re just everything Aikido pretends to be”.
Self Defense In Action
People often compare more live training to sports, that fallacy, the idea that sport training needs to be different from the fundamental delivery system of a fight, is one of the last strands of hope that philistine martial artist cling to. Here’s SBG coach Alex Enlund interviewing one of his students who had to cope “in the streets”.
“In the past 24 hours – @alex_williams359 has been all over the internet after we shared a video of him dealing with a much older attacker.He may kill me for saying this as being caring may not be cool at 16 but when talking about the incident he said…“Yeah and I’m glad it was me rather than my friend or anyone else who is unable to defend themselves”Top kid from a great family 
Follow his page and his journey from this point on – one of the good guys!”
Two New Podcast Featuring Coach Matt Thornton
From Robert Verdell
From Matt Thornton –
“Some of you may know coach Robert Verdell. He’s run the SBG clinch Facebook page for a long time. But what you may not know is that in addition to being a great grappling coach, Robert’s historical knowledge of wrestling and grappling runs very deep.This hour long conversation related to all things grappling, Jiu-Jitsu, and wrestling history is one of my favorites so far. After watching it I’m sure you’ll see why.”
From Dwight D. Woods
From Coach Matt –
“Someone forwarded me this interview I did with Dwight D. Woods last year. We have some sound issues in the beginning, but after that I think I offer of the most comprehensive explanations of the SBG methodology that I’ve given publicly. We also talk a lot about the JKD community, for those interested in that topic.Dwight and I have another conversation set to be released soon for our SBG Podcast.”
