Beginning of SBG

SBG began officially in Portland Oregon, in 1992 – when its founder and head coach, Matt Thornton, had an epiphany regarding exactly what type of environment he himself wanted to train in. To quote Matt: “I wanted to learn how to really fight. If that meant an Asian martial art, I would do that. If that meant […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 117

Founder Matt Thornton Reflects on Aliveness & Fantasy Martial Arts Discussing his views on fantasy martial arts such as Jeet Kune Do, Matt shares the reality and truth that aliveness brings to the functional martial arts community: “It is an interesting thing, anytime Aliveness is removed from a Martial Art the Martial Artists ends up […]

Gorilla Cup and Humane Society Fundraiser

-Saturday Classes Are Cancelled- For The Gorilla Cup And Humane Society Fundraiser! Click HERE To Register This weekend is right around the corner though so do yourself and the coaches a favor and REGISTER EARLY. This will greatly speed up the tournament allowing coaches to set up brackets before the day of. Early Registration May Be Over […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 115

Stella Davison Receives Judo Promotion Congratulations to Stella Davison, who last month received the honor of being  awarded her 1st Grade (Ikkyu) Brown belt certificate. The promotion is well deserved. Stella has been tearing up the competition on a national level for the last two years, becoming a two time Washington state IJF Junior champion […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 114

New Videos On The SBG Youtube Page! Be sure to check in frequently to the SBG Youtube page! Every single week, SBG uploads an amazing range of top quality content, from instructional videos to in-depth interviews with SBG’s top coaches. In the last month alone, brand new coaching covering everything from cross sides top to […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 113

Stella Davison Wins Judo Nationals Congratulations to Stella Davison, who headed to the US National Judo  Championships and came away as a national champion! Stella

The Gorilla Press, Issue 112 

The Matt Thornton Seminar Tour Continues! This month saw the SBG President head out into the world far and wide to spread more top level BJJ knowledge.

The Gorilla Press, Issue 111

New Podcast with Matt Thornton & John Kavanagh – To Watch Click Here Check out the latest SBG video podcast. This month, SBG President Matt Thornton sits

Coaching 201: An Introduction

An essay on the of coaching done by SBGi originally published in October 24, 2005 In the last entry I talked about the core principles I

The Gorilla Press, Issue 110

Paul Sharp Releases MDOC Series Paul Sharp, SBG’s resident self defense and weapons training expert, has a decades-long background in law enforcement, self defense and martial arts. Not only is he a BJJ black belt, but he recently retired from a long career as a law enforcement officer, where he also trained as a firearms, […]