Matt just had a seminar in PA this past weekend. Did anyone go? Details
Wasn't there, but a visitor to the seminar posted
that Matt clearly has no understanding of Chinese
Internal Martial Arts or the Tao.
I always had my suspicions about that...
SW
damn! i knew that rumour was true!
Yes. You can read the whole story over at http://www.bullshido.net (unless Mr. Thornton wants to repost it)
Look on the Trollshido board.
The funny thing is that guy got snubbed by Matt, tapped by Luis, figured out no one was impressed with his ego, and went home to cry to mommy. Luckly for Luis this was a grappling match and not a pie eating contest or he woulda ate the pie then probably Luis afterwards.
Brad Souders
i just read through both threads!
it has made my day at work, i couldnt stop laughing several times!
The Penn seminar was great fun. As always, very nice people, good turnout, and I really enjoyed myself. It was also neat to see the Amish culture.
The incident written about on the forums was some what humorous in retrospect. My brief synopsis is simply this.
Really just a couple of nerdy people who show up at the seminar. I take some time to talk to them. They told me about a troup of Kung Fu fighters who just beat all of Renzo Gracies "top MMA fighters" in an MMA competition I have never heard of. And then explained to me how his 65 Year old Gung Fu master gave him the secret needed to stop a wrestlers takedowns.
Suffice it to say, I just told him to be quiet, invited him to stay for free provided he trained, and he accepted. And within 4 laps of the warm up he looked like he was about to pass out and die. After that Luis gently worked with him, tapping him out 3 or 4 times, and going to great lengths to not hurt him.
Luis being 180 lbs, and this gentlemen being 386lbs and about 6'6".
After that the 386lb Kung Fu master left in a huff, along with his wife.
No big deal really.
On a final note, big thanks to Luis and Paul Myatovich, it was nice to be able to spen time with them again. Luis will be back in Penn on a regular basis for workshops, and I will also be back in 2004. If you are near the area and looking for training there will be a solid group there within a Month or so.
cheers
-Matt Thornton
www.straightblastgym.com
Matt,
Just read both treads and though you handled yourself with great tact (From their posts I know it was hard). Too bad they were not open minded as the seminar of yours. I went last year to the one at centerline (Hard to believe that it was only a year ago) did wonders for my and my students training. Then this year at Rodney's seminar and Chris teaching at our dojo, now that we have great training methods sold delivery systems we can apply a lot of the principals, concepts and strategies of our classical Japanese systems.
Plus with the change of our curriculum the new students that come in a hard working, fun to be around and athletes looking for practical training. We no longer get ninja heads looking for kuji kiri, stealth or magic. My wife who is a jock 1st martial artist second really thanks you for that :-)
I shutter to think if I had not gone to that 1st seminar...
Thanks much shinbushi, thats always very nice to hear.
take care
-Matt
Oh boy...one of "those guys". Glad that somewhere other than Ks has them too. Interesting how reality can be so glaringly obvious yet some still choose not to see it.
Bravo to Matt and Luis for handling the situation in a calm and cool manner.
Gotta go, the Deep Space Nine marathon starts in 5 minutes..... :-)
Bryan
Lol when i posted asking about the seminar i was trying to get info on what stuff Matt went over ie crazy monkey, knife stuff etc etc. Everyone started talking about bullshido and i was saying to my self what the hell is everyone talking about. Now i know
Phillyman,
Day one we covered a lot of guard passing, and then some top game. Finishing with lots of rolling.
Day two we covered guard bottom, and the active (ape) guard, and then lots of clinch, finishing with some crazy monkey.
I had a great time, and I think everyone else did as well.
cheers
-Matt Thornton
www.straightblastgym.com
Matt, see what happens when you hand out free Magic The Gathering cards at the door?
On a serious note I just wasted ten minutes of my life reading that crud. I don't have anything to say really. I'ld take the situation with a grain of salt. Bitterness and ego's abound among those who prefer fantasy to reality. It is easier for the trully unhappy to bolster thier opinions of themselves in systems (not just martial systems) where success and failure are amorphous. Such people are a dime a dozen. We run into them from time to time.
I doubt thier opinion's of you will affect anyone very much. Anyone who has interacted with you or any of the other SBG instructors has a pretty good idea of what a genuinely cool person you are. That the integrity of the SBGI group comes across in such an impersonal medium as the internet is cooler still.
Take it easy,
Clint
BTW: Luis via Dysentary RD1
That is either the funniest or scariest stuff I have ever read, still can't decide which. Either way, I feel like a year has been sucked off my life.
I can't say enough good things about the seminar this weekend or the SBGI in general. I was lucky to be able to attend both days - I got great workouts, learned excellent techniques and concepts, and just got to hang out with some great people. We were all fortunate Matt and Luis were able to handle the Humungous Kung Fu situation as calmly and casually as they did, they didn't let that big guy's (or his big wife's) antics disrupt the seminar for a minute. Everyone else learned a lot and made new friends. A pity some will never learn to work and play well with others. Thanks to Matt, Luis, and Paul M. for a great time, see you again soon!
Best,
Jeff
(now I'm off to check out what those wackos wrote...I can't help it, I gotta get me some drama...)
Hey Matt. Thanks for responding over there, and much respect for even dealing with those guys.
I'd love to host a copy of the video on the site.
Supposedly the pair is going to show up at a "Throwdown" event we've got scheduled next year in New England. In these events, Bullshido members get together and spar, exchange ideas, and learn about other systems to see what works. It should be humorous, with respect to those two.
But please, don't get the impression that these two are representative of our site. The staff has gotten multiple requests to ban them outright. Unfortunately, we can't kick people off for stupidity. :(
Respect,
Phrost
when I went to the seminar in Athens.I only heard positive subjects discussed i.e,training,philosophy,attributes.It was refeshing that during breaks I did not here any bad-mouthing or gossip,which is very common at seminars.They won me over not by there skill and technique(which they have)but by there attitude.The longer you spend in martial arts the more you realize that peoples personalities and integrety are the most important thing.
Bryan
I am glad everyone had a positive experience. I hope to be back there within six Months or so, and will look forward to seeing everyone again. I know Luis will be doing a clinic as well.
Jeff, it was good to see you again as well.
And Phrost, no worries. I know they don't represent your site. They are really just a couple of harmless fruitcakes.
take care
-Matt Thornton
www.straightblastgym.com
Jeff,
It was a pleasure to meet you and your wife and thanks much for the comments above. I look forwards to working with you again and please don't hesiate to contact me about any of the stuff we spoke about.
Phrost,
I am waiting for the video to be transferred over from VHSc which is what the host shot it with. Its really nothing special. Just me mostly worried he wouldn't have a heart attack frankly. The host captured only part of it but enough to show how patient we were with the entire scenario.
From what I remember from watching the footage initially is that I am talking with him about his breathing as he tries to pass my guard and gasses out once and is sweapt twice, then again as I pass his. We had to stop everytime we rolled do to his exhaustion and he tapped when I took cross sides from a mount I took via a hip bump. I sweapt him twice onto his butt but only once was on the film.
With those two, I don't know if it would solve anything as all was pretty much summend up by Matt, and the other two or three people who attended and posted. He would be a monster if he trained in the MMA and would have gained much if he would have stayed through the seminar as we worked plenty of ground and clinch and a little stand up.
I at least hope that in his heart he realizes his lack of conditioning and experience with resistance in training and more important than that, the fact that had it been any other MMA or BJJ group they would have cared less about his health and lack of experience and hurt him badly.
Anyway, I'll show the clip to those that attended, get their opinion and take it from there. I find the entire thing silly and really want no further involvement with it as all has been done and stated and he knows in his heart what's up.
-Luis
www.onedragon.com