Matt Thornton is the founder of Straight Blast Gym International (SBGI), an association of over 35 gyms worldwide engaged in training athletes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing. Muay Thai, and mixed martial arts, based in Portland, Oregon.
Matt is well known in the martial arts community for his promotion of the concept of "aliveness" in training, as well as for being one of the first gyms to feature cross-training in boxing and other fighting sports at the beginning of the growth of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts in the 1990s. He was among the first American-born practitioners to receive a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is a black belt under Chris Haueter.
Travis Davison is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the owner of Straight Blast Gyms in Kalispell, Whitefish, and Missoula Montana, as well as the Vice President of SBG International.
John Frankl is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a professor in Seoul, and the man responsible for bringing BJJ to the Korean peninsula.
