Matt’s main speech is at 17:00 to 34:00.
Published on Jun 16, 2016:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O590LeLUnB0&t=17m0s
Excerpts from, Tired Debate, by Matt Thornton, http://mattthornton.org/curriculum-q-as ... 00-part-2/:
I see some of you still don’t understand the distinction. The street vs sport, BJJ has rules, grappling should include biting, hair pulling, etc., is a straw man. It’s a tired and meaningless debate. It’s also the excuse that every master of DEAD martial arts from the traditional schools uses to explain his arts non-effectiveness in a full contact environment. So anyone seeking to use this argument should be wary. . . .
You need to make a distinction between a “delivery system” and a sporting application of an art. As an example we will use a man I admire very much, Renzo Gracie. Renzo could see a bite, a foul tactic, a version of an armlock, from Silat, or White Crane, or Yellow Monkey Fever, etc. etc., and probably be able to INTEGRATE and apply that move very quickly. Why? Because he already has such a strong base on the ground. He understands the positions, and he has a great delivery system. Compare that with say an Aikido stylist. He may see the same application for a bite, or a choke, etc., but never be able to effectively use it. Especially against a wrestler or another ground fighter. Why? Because he doesn’t have that delivery system.
Mo Smith could see a punch or a kick or an elbow, from just about any striking art and probably apply it very quickly to his game. Why? Because he has a STRONG BASE in the delivery system of western boxing. Boxing has the body mechanics, footwork, timing, etc., that allow Mo to INTEGRATE those moves.
Randy Couture could see a sweep from say. . Judo, and probably use it right away. Why? Because he has a strong base in wrestling, and Greco. My main job at the SBG is to see that everyone that walks through the door develops that strong base in the delivery systems of stand up, clinch, and ground.
Because they have a strong base in BJJ, Boxing, Wrestling, etc., DOES NOT therefore mean that they are “Sport Fighters”. That’s faulty logic and poor assumptions. . . .
Tim Cartmell, IMA teacher, also believes in “aliveness” training.
Excerpt from an interview by Karl Heinz:
Karl-Heinz: Many ima teachers in the west say, that you have to train minimum 10 years to use the ima´s, especially Taiji for fighting / selfdefence. In my opinion, this makes no sense. What do you think about this?
Tim: If you have a good teacher of the IMA and practice hard, you should begin to develop real fighting/self defense abilities within several months of training. Teachers that tell their students it takes 10 years to learn how to fight with any martial art either don’t know how to fight themselves, or don’t know how to teach. Learning to fight is the same as learning any other physical skill. If you went to a swimming instructor who told you it would take 10 years of training before you could jump in the pool, would you sign up for lessons?
Karl-Heinz: When do beginners start tui shou at Shen Wu, and when do they start sparring. Is there a special sequence of sparring drills? Do you students spar with protectors?
Tim: My students normally begin controlled, non-cooperative sparring in their first class. We don’t practice orthodox tui shou at my academy. Most of the traditional push hands practices are a waste of time for real fighting. Students start out with controlled, situational sparring and progress to full contact free fighting over time. My students are trained to compete in BJJ tournaments with a gi, submissions wrestling tournaments and mixed martial arts tournaments, as well as self defense, so sparring is a big part of our training. . . .
Karl-Heinz: While you where in china, do your teachers mention chi or things like inner alchemie? As i saw in your forum you know the article on taichizen.com on some “secrets” in the Sun Style of Madame Sun Jian Yun as example. Do you think there are any secrets?
Tim: None of my teachers talked about chi in relation to martial arts. I found that the more a teacher talked about chi, the less real ability he had.
Sun Jianyun once told me a story about her father. She said when Sun Lutang was on his deathbed, his students asked him if there really was any secret to the martial arts. Sun replied that there was a secret: “practice.”
I often wonder why the teachers with the “secrets” are not winning all the Sanda tournaments or the UFC and Pride. . . .
http://www.shenwu.com/discus/messages/2 ... 1174273106
By Jennifer on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 06:43 pm: Edit Post
Has the Saturday Bagua class been canceled?
Tim, is your school primarily concerned with fighting, as opposed to teaching Martial Arts? I want to learn some CMA like Taiji and/or Bagua. But now I see you don't even teach the Bagua anymore. And I don't have enough cash to get very far in the art by only taking private lessons. Plus don't you need consistent training partners practicing the same stuff to get anywhere?
I, of course, want to learn to fight but from my understanding there is a lot more to CMA than just fighting. There are forms, and one and two-person exercises and philosophies about how to approach/engage enemies, etc. Do you teach any of this in your school? Is your school primarily MMA like the UFC stuff that everyone seems to love nowadays, or do you still teach some traditional CMA for people that aren't interested in just learning how to beat people up, but instead want to learn what the art contains, even if all of it isn't necessarily useful for the UFC or street-fighting?
By Tim on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 10:00 pm: Edit Post
Hi Jennifer,
My school is primarily concerned with martial arts, the nature of which is learning how to fight.
I teach movement skills (individual and two-person), as well as strategies and tactics of fighting.
The best way to see what we do is to come by and try a class. If students want to learn a specific style, they are private lesson only.
