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Gun Violence and Self Defense in America With Matt Thornton

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Thornton

Matt Thornton is a martial artist who is credited as being one of the first American-born athletes to receive a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is also well known throughout the fighting community for introducing the concept of "aliveness" to training. This distinct approach places less focus on traditional static forms of movement, and instead emphasizes fluidity, adaptability, and practicality. 

In 1992, Thornton founded Straight Blast Gym in Portland, Oregon. The opening of Straight Blast Gym International coincided with the beginnings of MMA competitions such as the UFC, which aired its first televised match in November of 1993. Thornton has taught many of the top fighters in the world, including UFC champion Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, and Forrest Griffin. He has also been featured in multiple martial arts publications such as Black Belt magazine, Inside Kung Fu, Martial Arts Legends, Fighters, and Martial Arts Illustrated.

You can listen to our Sunday, September 23rd interview with martial artist Matt Thornton here.

Show Highlights:

"If you read the Bible, there is no doubt that the God of the early Jews advocated homicide, murder, genocide, rape, torture, and all manner of horrible things. The only reason the Christians that we have today are nice neighbors is because they ignore a certain portion of their book."

 
"If I was a preacher who was talking to a lot of people and I was trying to defend the second amendment, there's Bible quotes that I could go to. To talk about morality and use Bronze Age books to begin with is ridiculous."
 
"If you're going to have a weapon like that (a gun), you have to train with it consistently, you have to accept the responsibility that comes with it, and you have to be willing to use it if you pull it out. And these are things that not everybody necessarily thinks about."
 
"All functional martial arts evolve. They evolve because the competitors and the competition create this environment where the delivery system has to evolve and adapt."

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