Interview with Greg Nelson

Greg Nelson, demonstrating a Jun Fan self-defense
technique against a knife wielding opponent

FS: Tonight we have with us Master Fight Instructor, Greg Nelson, who has trained with the best of the best in the martial arts fighting world. Greg Nelson is a former U of M Wrestling Team member and an All-American high school gymnast. Since starting his martial arts training in 1983, Mr. Nelson has earned 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 Guro Dan Inosanto. Mr. Nelson is also a top Instructor in Muay Thai under Ajarn Chai Sirisute of the Thai Boxing Assocaition of the USA. A grappler at heart, Nelson earned the level of Advanced Student in Shoot Wrestling under Sensei Yurinaga Nakamura, and Greg is a certified Instructor in Combat Submission Wrestling under Erik Paulson. Most recently Greg was awarded his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under professor Pedro Sauer. Mr. Nelson is the only active Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt in Minnesota, and is one of only a handful in the United States.

FS: Greg you began your athletic training in wrestling and gymnastics. Do you feel that these training methods complemented one another and did these methods allow you to make an easy transition into your other martial arts styles?

Greg Nelson: Yes, definitely. What I was doing in junior high and high school allowed for an easier cross over. For example; when I was in gymnastics I was in peak physical condition as far as flexibility and endurance. The gymnastics training helped me to develop specific strengths and balance compared to others in wrestling, who relied mainly on running and weight lifting. The gymnastics required a great deal of coordination and I was competing in every event, which allowed for a more well rounded development of skills.

FS: So, Greg, do you presently use some of those training techniques that you used in your earlier days?

Greg Nelson: Yes, I actually do a lot more than I used to when I first got into the martial arts. I do a lot more wrestling and take down training right now as the guys do more drills than I did when I was wrestling and so now a lot of those drills I did do... I’m now bringing them back into the academy but I have different emphasis because now they are being down in the kind of a mentality of a different art and goal in mind. Instead of a pin, our goal is submission. Instead of a take down just for the points, you also take down a person and get into a very controlled position. And the gymnastics has the mental aspects of training, which has really crossed over. When you are a gymnast you are always concentrating on form and technique and making sure that every little motion….you know, you are concentrating on it. When you are doing martial arts and you have that same mentality that you have to have that technique that you really have to fight for that form and focus and concentrate. It definitely crosses over to the martial arts.

FS: So, you still use some of those techniques that you used in your early training today then?

Greg Nelson: Yes, definitely. As far as wrestling goes, pretty much all the stand up stuff I still do, and then the ability to control a person on the ground – that’s where wrestlers really have a good base is that they have such good ground control. And again it’s strength that you can’t get from anything else.

FS: Do you feel that some of the Eastern martial arts are better systems of fighting, or do you feel the Western fighting is better, or do you feel the combination of both is the best?

Greg Nelson: I think it’s always going to be a combination because there are certain techniques that we’ve gotten from the Southeast Asian martial arts and the Japanese martial arts, even Chinese martial arts that focus on entirely different aspects of fighting than would be here, which would be boxing and wrestling basically. Boxing and wrestling are a very physical attribute oriented. It is similar with Thai boxing as well, but you don’t see as many people concentrating on the muscular development through weight training and stuff like that as you do here. They concentrate more on the mental aspects of the martial arts which in the other two sports; they are very much a part of those but aren’t talked much about or emphasized in training.

FS: Now you have also trained with Yurinaga Nakamura and that was in Shoot Wrestling. I really haven’t seen very much about him, so can you tell us a little about Yuri and his background?

Greg Nelson applyies a punishing rear head lever-lock

Greg Nelson: Yes, basically Yurinaga came to the United States primarily to do Jun Fan Martial Arts and Jeet Kune Do concepts because he was really kind of a fanatic about Bruce Lee. And so he came here initially with the intention to train with Guro Dan just for that. And it wasn’t until two years later that Yuri showed Shoot Wrestling to Dan Inosanto. He was so involved in training with the Bruce Lee system of fighting that he didn’t even think of showing that Shooto stuff.

FS: What are your impressions of Yuri’s fighting and instruction then?

Greg Nelson: Just about everything for Dan Inosanto. You looked at his ability and think wow this is really something. And it’s because it is so nice the way they systematized the fighting arts. They would have specific fighting flows for different positions, and that’s how they trained. In addition to training hard like Thai boxers, but then they had the mentality or the Japanese mindset which is really kind of ABC, must be ABC so they had it very technical in that respect. Plus with Yuri, everybody thinks about the grappling, but he’s also a phenomenal striker, even like Erik Paulsen said, his striking on the ground is more dangerous than his submissions on the ground. And that’s just another aspect of Yuri that people don’t see. Because he just doesn’t dwell so much in the lock flow stuff taht they don’t get to see that other aspect of him. He definitely has left a big impression on Guro Dan. Pretty much because that was the first after Larry Hartsel showed the basics of grappling and stuff, Yuri was really about grappling and so he helped to open the doors a little more toward the grappling arts, a little before the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu phase.

FS: You had a strong base in grappling, so to you it was a natural attraction to study with Yuri as well then, right?

Greg Nelson: Yes. Before that even I studied with Larry Hartsel who would also do more grappling in his training because he was a bigger and stronger person that he would bring the grappling aspect into the Jun Fan Martial Arts. From the kick boxing to the trapping then he would have all sorts of avenues to get to the ground, and even bringing up elements of the stick on the ground and using the same techniques and moves that they did empty handed now he would use a stick. It really added to the game. Having both a wrestling base really helped to prepare for what Larry showed and then shooto and then now Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Submission Wrestling.

FS: You talked about how Yuri was attracted to Jun Fan Martial Arts and Jeet Kune Do, how about yourself: what attracted you to those arts?

Greg Nelson: At the beginning I looked at a lot of books and how those books like the Tao of Jeet Kune Do and other books on Bruce Lee. All of a sudden I’m looking at them and thinking there is a lot of stuff here that I can use.

With Yuri and the grappling and my base in wrestling, I did naturally gravitate toward the grappling arts, even though I did the other ones, there is also that grappler that was always inside. But there is a discipline difference and for about two years I didn’t do any grappling arts. I just concentrated on weaponry and on the trapping and the striking aspects of the arts, because I already had 11 years, maybe more like 13 years of a base in wrestling. So I just totally stopped wrestling just so I could focus my learning and not always resort to my grappling if I needed to.

FS: Well it makes a lot of sense. Do you believe there are any inherent strengths or weaknesses in grappling versus striking?

Greg Nelson: Oh yes, definitely. Obviously striking deals with more of a hand range and foot range drop, self-defense situation or sport whatever you are doing. But once you get to the clench, now there is a whole different game being taken care of with hip throws and stuff like that when you are clenching one another. That’s going to be more of the hip throws and sweeps and stuff like that. So now at that range, the judo guy or wrestler is now going to be the king. Once he gets on the ground a lot of the punching and how you get your power from your hips and the kicking and all that is now eliminated for the most part, if they are in a grappling situation. Now the grappling is totally what is better. Again the person on the bottom gets up and makes space, now that changes things and the striker has the advantage and so each area definitely has its strengths and weaknesses. Another thing that a lot of people lost is the essence of straightforward no nonsense self-defense. And once you consider that with eye pokes and knees and elbows and biting and doing whatever you can do to win, once you get on the ground that is not always the best place to be. Because now instead of a mat, there is tar, or cement with rocks and glass or whatever else is there, and once that comes into play now grappling might not be the best thing. So I even address that in a lot of my classes where you are on your back and if you’re thinking self-defense you should think your goal is to roll or sweep or reverse the position so that you are on top. Because now it’s just not your back on a mat but your back is on tar, so it makes a difference with elbows, knees and all that stuff scraping on the cement is not a good thing!

FS: So someone is going to learn his or her lesson once, and hopefully not have to do this again?