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Head Coach Greg Nelson

  • Trainer to 4 UFC Champions
  • Pedro Sauer Gracie Jiu-Jitsu 5th Degree Black Belt
  • NCAA D1 Wrestler – U of MN
  • 6th Degree Muay Thai Black Arm Band [Ajarn]
  • Modern Army Combatives – Level 4
  • Full Instructor – Inosanto Kali & Jun Fan JKD Concepts
  • Advanced Level Student – Shooto
  • Red Glove in Savate (boxe française)
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Coach Greg is available for tailor-made Wrestling, MMA, BJJ, & Thai Boxing seminars/workshops world-wide. Please call or email The Academy for details: (763) 560-5696 or Info@TheAcademyMN.com – THERE IS LIMITED AVAILABILITY FOR 2024 & 2025 – CONTACT SOON TO SECURE YOUR SEMINAR

Academy Head Coach Greg Nelson has his roots in athletic training and competition. Mr. Nelson is a former University of Minnesota Wrestling Team member and All-American high school gymnast.  In 1983, he started training in Jun Fan Martial Arts, Filipino Kali and Muay Thai under Sifu Rick Faye.  Since then, he has earned Full Instructor credentials in Jun Fan Martial Arts/Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Filipino Kali, and Level III Instructorship in Maphilindo Silat under the legendary Guru Dan Inosanto.  Coach Nelson is also a Senior Instructor in Muay Thai under Grand Master Surachai “Chai” Sirisute of the Thai Boxing Association of the USA.

A grappler at heart, Greg earned the level of Advanced Student in Shooto Wrestling under Sensei Yurinaga Nakamura and of certified Full Instructor in Combat Submission Wrestling (CSW) under Erik Paulson. Beginning his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey in 1989 by taking a private lesson with Master Rickson Gracie, Mr. Nelson went on to become a formal student of 8th Degree Red & Black Belt Professor Pedro Sauer in 1996. Greg was the first of Professor Sauer’s students to earn his Black Belt, receiving the honor in November 2002 – he is now a 5th Degree Black Belt.

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Over the years, Mr. Nelson has taught defensive tactics to a wide variety of law enforcement and military personnel, creating training programs for local, state, and federal law enforcement divisions including the FBI, DEA, and Federal Air Marshals. Currently, Mr. Nelson works extensively with various branches of the U.S. military. In 2010, he coached the Minnesota National Guard Combatives team at the All Army Combatives Tournament in Ft. Benning, GA.  He has assisted in the development of the Army Combatives Field Manual FM 31-25.150 and is a civilian member of the Modern Army Combatives Committee, an organization aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the program. Additionally, Mr. Nelson is a combatives consultant to classified U.S. Army Special Forces units, the 75th Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army Combatives School Instructors, and the Naval Special Warfare DEVGRU (SEAL Team 6). He is very proud to be one of the few civilians selected to work with the military and the soldiers that keep our country safe.

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Though his professional pedigree and success in martial arts are staggering, there is nothing Coach Nelson deems more important than being a father to his 2 children, a daughter and a son. A 2-time cancer survivor, Greg has proven himself a fighter outside of martial arts as well. First, he beat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, followed by a second successful battle, surviving a rare form of nerve cancer called neurolymphomatosis. According to the Mayo Clinic, he was the first known survivor of this cancer, his case becoming instrumental to the development of a treatment for this rare disease.

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YouTube video

Coach Greg is available for tailor-made Wrestling, MMA, BJJ, & Thai Boxing seminars/workshops world-wide. Please call or email The Academy for details: (763) 560-5696 or Info@TheAcademyMN.com – THERE IS LIMITED AVAILABILITY FOR 2024 & 2025 – CONTACT SOON TO SECURE YOUR SEMINAR

YouTube video