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Matt Thornton's Functional JKD Series Two Review
by Dagan Stafford, Team IronLife.com Staff Writer
First off let me say, don't let the name throw you. I know for some people Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is associated with Bruce Lee wannabes who do a lot of trapping, high kicks, and flashy non-functional moves. This series has nothing to do with that. Matt Thornton equates JKD to using what realistically works in the street, submission wrestling, and mixed martial arts competitions. The DVDs are split into 3 main sections:
The Ground
Standup
Clinch
These divisions mirror the cirriculum and ranges taught at the Straight Blast gym.
 Throughout the series there are interviews with some big names in the sport. Notable mentions include Dan Henderson, Egan Inoue, Robert Follis (Trainer and corner man for Randy Couture), and Burton Richardson. These guys give some insight into Matt's philosophy and talk about different aspects of fighting and training. Also, each DVD stresses the principle of incorporating aliveness into your training. The principle of Aliveness is core to Straight Blast and its worth watching each one. Mixed martial arts fighters will instantly understand what Matt is talking about. Besides the instruction, there are clips of submission wrestling, mixed martial arts competitions, and Muay Thai fights. There is a good deal of humor and a decent sound track to round everything out.
The Ground
This is 95% BJJ with a little wrestling thrown in. The series begins with the Top Game. Excellent instruction for how to stay on top and get submissions from here. There was some great stuff on transitioning from mount to a knee ride and back again that I found really useful. Stress is put on the high percentage moves. I particularly enjoyed the section devoted to shoulder locks.
The next two DVDs focus on the Bottom Game. Matt takes you through what to avoid positionally and how to work out of worse case scenarios. After each walk through, you see the techniques implemented against resisting opponents and watch the whole thing come together.
The last DVD in the Ground section focuses on the Guard. The idea of an active guard is stressed and some great submissions and sweeps are shown. Matt does not show a million variations of every move, but rather does a really good job of breaking down a technique into the base moves and letting each one play out as it may. The variations will show themselves as you train by the guiding principles.
Advanced Stand-up
This section delivers a strong western boxing base with Muay Thai elements added. There is some great stuff on how to train. Matt stresses not to overuse focus mits, incorporating the heavy bag for power and combination work, and really putting the hours in with live sparring. Several scenarios played out that I found really useful. How to deal with a guy that has more reach was one that I put to use right away.
Clinch
Two DVDs here that Matt credits to Randy Couture and Dan Henderson. What you have here is a lot of Greco with strikes and takedowns incorporated. I think I got the most out of this section, as my clinch game was limited. You get the basic neck tie, hand fighting and pummeling, arm drags, shoots, and so much more out of this section.
I can honestly say it is the most comprehensive series I have ever seen. I would recommend watching it with a training partner and immediately trying the moves out. My wife and son bore the brunt of my enthusiasm here. I will go back to the different sections over and over again to get all that I can out of the wealth of information provided. The quality is excellent and I would definitely recommend getting this series.
* Article by Dagan Stafford, Team IronLife.com Staff Writer.
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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