The Gorilla Press, Issue 139

November 8th and the release of The Universal Sprawl, By John Frankl. Coach Matt on The Universal Sprawl- “Coming next Monday, Nov 8th!Did you know that virtually all of the thousands of techniques in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sweeps, submissions, escapes, and pins actually boil down to just 12 mechanical motions?Knowing what those motions are, and understanding […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 138

Last Month’s Podcast From coach Matt- “October’s SBG Podcast is here!“Feeling good about a problem and actually solving a problem are two very different things.” – Steve

The Gorilla Press, Issue 137

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 […]

The Gorilla Press, Issue 118

More Free Content From Portland, Rickson Gracie’s number one rule, and more. Rickson Gracie’s number one rule. From Coach Matt- “As coach Paul Sharp says,

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 competed in four matches, finishing each of them via ippon. Even more incredibly, in her final match, Stella dislocated her shoulder, before soldiering on to finish the match victorious. This […]

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. On his first stop, Matt headed up to Canada to visit SBG Scarborough. There he continued to provide the tribe with the fundamentals of surviving and escaping from any position. […]

Exploring the Map: On The Journey Through the Belt System

An essay on the journey through the belt system of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’ originally published in 2004 One of the most common questions I am asked when I travel and teach is this: ”What do I need to work on?” As a coach, you will need to get used to being asked this. It is part […]

Coaching: The SBGi Way

An essay on the coaching done by SBGi coaches originally published in September 11, 2005 There are three main principles, which I feel define the curriculum, methodology, and mission of SBGi. The first is Aliveness, and we covered that in depth in the last entry. The second is Adaptability and I will write, in detail, about […]

Notes on Drilling

Originally published in 2004: Some of the questions I get asked about the most are related to Alive drilling methods. So I decided I would devote this article to some details on that subject. As most of you who follow SBGi to some degree know, my main message is that of Aliveness. If Aliveness doesn’t come first, […]

Why Aliveness?. . . – Aliveness in Martial Arts

I have traveled, literally, all over the world over the last several years and it has been a great privilege for me to do so. The reason for my travels has been seminars, and regardless of where I am, I always start them the same way. I explain that my main message, the thing I […]