Gracie Jiu Jitsu Rocks! podcast
Welcome to the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Rocks! podcast, a podcast dedicated to Gracie Jiu Jitsu and all things Gracie, including self defense, competition, anti bullying, women's self defense and empowerment, nutrition, and most especially the people involved in GJJ..This podcast is for the average Joe; it's for anyone who practices, trains, teaches, or just loves to talk about or hear about Gracie Jiu Jitsu. We'll explore the lives of Gracie JJ practitioners, how they got involved with the art, and what effect it's had on their lives.

Matt Thornton is the founder, CEO and Head coach of Straight Blast GYM (SBG) International. He has trained countless martial artists and coaches, and has worked with some of the best MMA fighters, grapplers and combat athletes in the world. 

In this interview we discuss several subjects including his start in martial arts, serving in the Army, his size (6’8” and if it ever affected/dictated  his martial arts style), his challenge match with Fabio Santos, meeting Rickson Gracie the first time, the biggest thing about martial arts (and Jiu Jitsu) that people just don’t get, Randy Couture’s impact on SBG, training under Chris Haugter, Aliveness, having solid fundamentals, the importance of connection, the value and weakness of traditional martial arts, Henry Akins’ recent move to SBG, and Henry’s impact on his training, his unique approach to teaching seminars, the most interesting book he’s read in the past year, being a father as a younger man and being a father as an older man, and more!

After the interview stick around for the



Direct download: 127_GJJR_Podcast_EP_127_Matt_Thornton.mp3
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