Ultimate Fighter Greg Nelson
By Andy Grahn

 My State of Minnesota is one of the coldest places in America, with freezing temperatures regularly dropping below zero during the winter.  Many people say that the harsh condition of Minnesota winters seems to add an extra level of motivational difficulty to training by building character. And out of these rough winters have come many great athletes and sports figures, including the likes of Bronko Nagurski, Kevin McHale, John Madden, Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, as well as Greg Nelson.

 At an early age, Greg was involved in all kinds of athletics, i.e. swimming, basketball, t-ball, you name it. But it was during his high school years he found two sports that would ultimately play a huge role in his future, gymnastics and wrestling.  Each sport was built of a strong team and disciplined coaching mentality with twice a day practices being common in gymnastics.  His gymnastics team took 3^rd, 1^st and 2^nd in the state tournament, during his sophomore, junior, and senior years, respectively and Greg took 2^nd place in the Junior National Freestyle Wrestling tournament in his weight division.  Also, one of the all time greatest Greg Nelson motivational comments is attributed to his high school wrestling coach.  He would say during the middle of heavy conditioning drills, “If the roof caved in right now, you guys would be sprinting our here.”   

When it came time for college Greg was eligible for scholarships in both sports, so he decided to flip a coin and it came up wrestling and Nelson joined the University of Minnesota’s wrestling team.  Now for those who don’t know, wrestling in the upper Midwest has always been a huge sport.  Many of America’s top wrestlers are recruited to go to colleges in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Greg competed at a national level and further developed his athletic abilities for 4 years while working on a degree in International Relations/Interstate Diplomacy.

 While Greg was working at ‘My Pie Pizza’, an incident happened in which he met Steve Kaye. After watching Steve perform some swashbuckling techniques in the kitchen he approached him and asked where he learned his moves.  Steve was reluctant to tell Greg at first, but relented and eventually he brought him to Guro/Khru Rick Faye’s garage. From that point on, he was hooked; he began his training in Kali, Jun Fan, and Muay Thai.

   During this time Greg got a job at the local “Target” department store, where he began a career as a Loss Prevention Officer.  At Target Greg found many opportunities to experiment with his martial arts skill and he learned many practical lessons like “sometimes, when you kick someone in the leg, they just don’t go down.”  Working in Loss Prevention gave Greg many chances to learn “real world” application of force. 

It was in 1992 that Greg started his own school, The Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.  The Academy is based on a Latin phrase “Opera Non Verba,” which roughly means “deeds not words.” His vision was to develop a core group of fighters committed to combative integrity in martial arts.  The idea was to take martial arts theory and put it to the test.  Finding out what works and what doesn’t, and to gain knowledge from the experience, because for many people experience is the best teacher. 

Greg kept a rigorous schedule during those days. Working from 6 am-2 pm, then to the gym for 3 hours training 5 days a week, plus 4 hours on Saturdays.  Team training started every day at 3:00 pm and lasted until 6:00  pm when evening classes started. Classes running from 6:00-9:00 pm. His classes focused on what he personally had found to work in the ring and on the street. This mentality was all about hardcore physical fitness.  Greg’s hopes are that people will develop physically, mentally and emotionally by pushing through the deep barriers of fatigue.

 In the Thai Boxing Assoc., Greg is known as one of Ajarn Chai’s top instructors. He also holds Full Instructor Credentials in Jun Fan Martial Arts/Jeet Kune Do Concepts, the Filipino Martial Arts, and a Level III Instructor in Maphilindo Silat under Guru Dan Inosanto. Some of his other honors are that Greg fought in the first Muay Thai fights held in the Midwest, at St. Andrews Gym in Chicago, winning his fight decisively on his clinch work.  He also competed in Shoot Wrestling in Los Angeles, at the Inosanto Academy, receiving a draw versus Ron Balicki.  Greg took the Gold medal in his division at the 2000 Pan-American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament in Miami Florida.  In 2002 Greg was awarded a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Professor Pedro Sauer. This was truly an honor by being the first person to ever be promoted by Professor Sauer to the rank of Black Belt.

 Greg’s philosophy about martial arts is based on his personal experience. He believes we must challenge our assumptions that we can functionalize any techniques that we have learned.  Putting your skills to the test will only help develop your martial arts ability and hence develop you mentally and emotionally.  Greg believes in competition, not necessarily for the sake of domination, but for your own personal development.

  Over the years the Academy has gained a wealth of experience putting competitors in the ring, on the mat and in the cage, hundreds of times. All of the top mixed martial arts fighters, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competitors, and Muay Thai fighters from Minnesota have gained the bulk of their instruction at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.