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woodbury

Minnesota's BJJ story runs through one man: Greg Nelson. A former University of Minnesota wrestler, Nelson took a private lesson from Rickson Gracie in 1989, then spent years building a training infrastructure in the Twin Cities that would eventually produce UFC champions at three different weight classes — Dave Menne, Sean Sherk, and Brock Lesnar all came through his Brooklyn Center facility, The Academy MN, which he founded in 1992. When Nelson began training under Pedro Sauer in 1996, he deepened his BJJ lineage and passed that foundation on to the generation of coaches who would go on to open their own schools across the state. Nearly every gym in Minnesota today traces its lineage, directly or indirectly, back to Nelson.

The Twin Cities remain the center of gravity. Minneapolis and St. Paul together host the largest concentration of academies, ranging from gi-focused competition rooms to no-gi rulesets. Minneapolis School of Jiu-Jitsu has built a following in South Minneapolis, while St. Paul Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy under Brandon Bergeron — a Greg Nelson black belt who received his credential in 2017 — has developed into a serious competition gym. On the no-gi and submission wrestling side, Next Level Combat in Woodbury was the first official 10th Planet affiliate in the Midwest, running Eddie Bravo's system alongside MMA and Muay Thai in a 4,000-square-foot facility. Alliance BJJ operates out of Edina and carries one of the most recognized team banners in competitive grappling. For anyone interested in a direct Rickson Gracie lineage, David Arnebeck holds the rare distinction of being the only instructor in the state to receive his black belt directly from Rickson himself.

Outside the metro, the scene is smaller but real. Rochester has Team Mario Roberto Jiu-Jitsu Academy, run by Mario Roberto — originally from Rio de Janeiro, a former professional MMA fighter who relocated to Minnesota in 2004 and holds the highest belt rank among Brazilian-born practitioners in the state. St. Cloud has Start BJJ Minnesota, a beginner-accessible school with a Gracie affiliation. Duluth has Apex Jiu-Jitsu. These cities run lean — typically one or two options per town — but the instruction tends to be solid precisely because the coaches there are products of the dense Twin Cities pipeline.

Training culture in Minnesota leans technical and wrestling-influenced. The state's strong wrestling tradition at the high school and college levels feeds a lot of athletes into BJJ who already understand pressure, base, and positional control, so rooms here tend to be physical. At the same time, the lineage through Greg Nelson and Pedro Sauer shaped a curriculum-minded approach — drilling, positional sparring, and structured class formats rather than open-mat chaos. Competition attendance is regular, with Grappling Industries events drawing participants from academies across the state and keeping the inter-gym connections tight.

For anyone relocating or visiting Minnesota, the 140 gyms listed across the state on MatMade make it straightforward to find training near any zip code. The Twin Cities offer the most options and the easiest path to high-level partners, but smaller cities outside the metro are worth exploring — particularly Rochester, where Mario Roberto's instruction draws students from a wide radius across southeast Minnesota.

Minnesota

BJJ & Martial Arts in Robbinsdale, Minnesota