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Matt Thornton Interview
by Dagan Stafford, Team IronLife.com Writer
- Dagan Stafford/Ironlife: How old are you Matt?
Matt Thornton: I'll cop to 22. But my true age is within 15 Years of that.
- What is your height and weight?
6'7", and around 240 at the moment. (Matt is a big guy but he moves like a cat)
- Can you give me a little background on yourself?
Came from a boxing background, and began BJJ about 10 Years ago after meeting Rickson Gracie at a seminar. I started SBG about 8 Years ago, and have been teaching since.
- What's your competitive history?
I have competed no-gi, and gi BJJ in the past.
- Are you actively competing in MMA or BJJ these days?
No, at the moment my time is devoted to my students. And I am also very busy with travel to our other Gym's. I am on the road approximately half the Year now. The rest of the time is for my family.
- What was your life like before starting Straight Blast?
Normal, boring, book worm.
- What did you do for a living?
I've had various odd jobs. Primarily I sold kitchen cabinets. But I have
been self employed now for about 9 Years. So I am blessed in that I can do what I enjoy.
- How did the gym come to be? Give me a little history.
In 1991 I had the privilege of meeting and training with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie. It was the meeting, where 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! From there it just continued to flourish through personal experiences field testing everything others had taken for granted would work.
I eventually opened the first Gym in which he had complete control in Salem Oregon around 1993. At that time I was a blue belt with Rickson, and focused a lot on his ground game for the next several Years. I tried to keep the politics and nonsense out of the Gym, and just trained hard, and as the Months went by the place began to fill up.
In the past I had been told over and over again by all the Instructors I had known that you could NOT run a Gym the way I was running it. . .with no titles, no ritual, and lots of Alive drilling and sparring. . . 'people won't stay, they want the b*llsh*t drills, so teach them to keep them in the door, or you wont make any money!'. Long story short, they where ALL wrong. So many people where making the 40 minute commute from Portland to work out in the tiny Salem Gym that I needed to open a Portland location to respond to the market. Within 12 Months we had moved to a large Salem location, a fair sized warehouse, which was the first Portland Gym, and was able to
quite my job. I had assumed that those that had spoken about the need for those drills to me in the past, knew what they where talking about when it came to running schools. But I could not bring myself to teach people what I knew was nonsense, just to make money. So I figured I would also always have to work a 40 hour a week job. The thing that I am happiest about is that all those people where completely wrong, and it turned out to be just the opposite. People loved the way we trained, and I have been able to make a living without ever teaching anything I found questionable, or 'watered down'."
A few Years later I met Randy Couture, and that completely changed the way the SBG trained "trapping", or more aptly put clinch range. The SBG had always taught a strong boxing base at their facilities, and in addition BJJ had become a HUGE part of the curriculum from the start, now we had the full package.
In 2000 I was awarded a brown belt through the Machados, and in 2002 I was awarded a Black Belt.
I began doing seminars in 1995 at the request of the USA's first Savate Instructor, Daniel Duby, who asked if I would fly to his Island of Reunion to teach a series of seminars. Daniel provided the Savate influence we have at the Gym, and also became a great friend of the SBG. Since that time I have given over two hundred seminars and traveled all over the world. We now have SBGi Gym's in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Africa, Singapore, and all across the USA.
It has been this travel, teaching, training, and process of self-discovery that has shaped SBGi's philosophy on what training 'healthy' in the Martial Arts is all about.
- Can you give me an overview of the cirriculum at the gym?
Critics will say we are primarily a BJJ Gym, since we do so well in that environment. But the truth is the SBGi curriculum has always been stand up, clinch, and ground. And it still is. We work all three.
- Tell me about STAB, what's that about?
That's the bladed weapons defense method that was developed by our UK Instructor Karl Tanswell. It's the only functional method for defending against a blade I have ever seen, and all the SBGi's have adopted it.
- How do you feel about weapons training in general?
I think that defense against weapons such as blades is fine. I think stick fighting can be a fun sport. But that is about it. I don't teach any offense, or knife versus knife, or any of that. I cannot think of a valid reason most people would ever need to know such things. I think proper firearms training can serve a need, but I don't teach that myself.
- Have you ever heard of the Dog Brothers down in Hermosa?
Never.
- If so, what do you think of their approach to fighting?
I think Erik Knauss was a true pioneer. I think the DB revolution was good for Martial Arts when it started.
- I know that you have been traveling quite a bit lately and doing seminars. Do you have any good stories related to recent seminars or your travels?
Too many to pick at the moment. But I am always having interesting trips, and meeting great people. It has taught me that really good people live everywhere, and as the Years go by people are going to have to learn that this is truly one world. There is really no healthy place for nationalism.
- Where have you been lately?
I just returned from Iceland. Which was an amazing place! Prior to that I was in the UK and Ireland with our Beaverton Coach Tom Oberhue, which was a fun trip. Tomorrow I leave for Boston, we have a thriving group there led by Steve Whittier, who has some solid skills and is a great teacher. So it's
all a lot of fun.
- What's the typical audience like at one of your seminars?
It really various. Sometimes raw beginners, sometimes brown and black belts in BJJ, sometimes a mixture.
- What kind of content is relayed?
Typically I cover a mix of stand up, clinch, and ground. But it's really up to the group. I try and tailor it towards them, and give them what they need and want for training in the future. Primarily I want to make sure they understand how to train. That is, they understand Aliveness, and what that means. And they don't train with dead patterns, or too roughly. That healthy middle ground is where I steer people.
- How long do they last?
10-12 Hours.
- Do you work with law enforcement much?
Sometimes, the main Coaches at SBGi for LE are Luis Guttierrez and Paul Sharp. Luis created the ISR, which is the SBG LE training method.
- When I took classes there, I worked out with several cops. I have to admit a certain guilty pleasure I got from tapping those guys. Outside of the gym that kind of stuff would land me under the jail :-)
It's true, but cops are like everybody else. That is, they are primarily very good people who need solid technology for training that will allow them to go home safely to their families.
- What is your vision for Straight Blast?
We are moving towards health and wellness. I see a Gym where people of all ages and skill levels feel comfortable. Where Yoga, and conditioning is taught alongside MMA classes, and BJJ with and without a gi. A healthy place where there is no pressure, people compete only because they really want to, and nobody lays their own trips on them. No high pressure car salesman bullshit.
- Where would you like the schools to go in the future?
Towards the healthy-happy idea I have laid out above.
- Are you a fan of the UFC & Pride?
I like Pride a lot.
- Do you follow any other shows?
On occasion.
- Who do you like to watch compete?
Bustamante is always a class act and highly skilled. I like Genki Sudo as well, and of course Couture.
- What are your thoughts on the state of competitive MMA? Do you see the sport growing in popularity? Do you think it will ever have mainstream acceptance?
I am not sure, I think it will depend primarily on the image that is put forth.
- Who are some of the guys that are affiliated with Straight Blast that are competing these days?
Too many to mention, but briefly in the UK and Ireland keep an eye on Dave Roach, he is a killer. John Kavangh will always have some good athletes coming up. In the UK we have the women's cage fighting champion, who also happens to be a PHD in Physics, Rosi Sexton, which is pretty cool. In the USA keep an eye on Forrest Griffin, and Rory Singer. Out of Oregon watch Ken Allen, and a few others who are just moving into MMA now. On the East Coast keep an eye out for Jonathan Wright, a young up and coming BJJ phenom.
- You have a great section on your website www.straightblastgym.com called the Coaches corner. There are some really good articles on nutrition and fitness there. What are you doing in terms of nutrition and conditioning these days?
My basic advise has not changed. But I am much more mellow now. Finding a healthy lifestyle involves moderation, and following guidelines that you can have for the rest of your life.
- Any last comments?
In the end everything you do has to be about Love, otherwise it's absolutely meaningless.
- Thanks again Matt
No worries.
* Article by Dagan Stafford, Team IronLife.com Writer.
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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