Andy Wilson stands at the back of a large, humid studio space, as
fists fly and men and women grunt under the
impact of kicks and
punches all around him. “Thirty seconds, as hard and fast as you can
go,” Wilson shouts, as the kicking becomes more rapid and furious.
On a Thursday night, the main room of Wilson’s Minnesota Kali Group
Martial Arts (MKG)—a branch of a Minnesota martial arts school of
the same name—is packed. The air smells like sweat and the stereo
blares loud, fast music by the Prodigy, Mos Def, and Fatboy Slim, like
a rad dance party where everybody just happens to be punching each
other.
For eight years, students have been coming to Wilson’s Greenwood
studio for classes in mixed martial arts, weapons training, and “body
sculpting.”
Wilson started out holding classes in a Central District elementary
school lunchroom before expanding to his studio in Greenwood. As his
classes became more popular, Wilson acquired the space next door.
Wilson estimates he now has about 300 students at what he calls his
“martial arts high school,” which operates classes at different skill
levels seven days a week. Wilson, a self-described “martial arts
junkie,” has been training in different martial arts for years, but he
doesn’t compete. “Competition isn’t in my personal interest,” he says.
Indeed, MKG doesn’t focus on the hierarchical belt systems and
competitiveness. Wilson says he
believes they make martial arts
less
accessible.
Wilson, a 36-year-old Minnesota native, has been involved with
martial arts since 1987, but can’t pinpoint the moment he first got
interested. “Probably from my brothers beating me up,” he jokes.
Wilson, who majored in philosophy at St. Cloud State University in
Minnesota, is far from the hard-nosed drill
instructor or
no-nonsense sensei you’d expect to find teaching martial arts classes.
Standing just under six feet tall with a big smile and spiky blond
hair, Wilson is not a hulking, imposing figure. That is until he starts
doing
roundhouse kicks that look like they could collapse a
lung.
With the help of his dedicated students, Wilson has been able
to distribute the workload and
accommodate the school’s
growing popularity.
There’s a place for all skill levels at MKG, from Lil’
Ninjas—the classes for 4-to-6-year-olds—upward. Wilson says
that’s by design; he’s a lifelong learner, too, and hopes to be doing
martial arts for the rest of his life. “Martial arts are something you
never get good at,” he says. 
