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The sounds of fists landing heavy blows against a punching bag echoed throughout the empty, dimly-lit gym. It was early morning before Conquest Martial Arts and Fitness would open for its first public class of the day, and Lt. Cmdr. Nate Grebb was already working up a sweat. This was how he spent every morning: training to fight.
For Grebb, a lifelong martial arts practitioner, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, professional mixed martial arts competitor, and co-owner of Conquest Martial Arts and Fitness, which has two locations in Maryland, competitive fighting has always been a part of life. His time in the Navy, however, was how Grebb said he truly discovered what it means to be a fighter.
“The great thing about the military, and the fighting spirit of the Navy, is that we are fighting for something greater,” said Grebb. “That’s to me what being a fighter is – being able to dig deep and persevere in the face of any obstacle”
Grebb’s path to the Navy was linked to his love of fighting from the beginning. Getting his start as a child after watching action movies, he began taking Tang Soo Do classes with his dad, eventually earning his black belt and competing. As a teenager, he saw the Naval Academy’s karate team compete and realized he could combine his love for martial arts with his desire to serve his country.
Grebb was accepted into the Naval Academy in 2001 and went on to become the team captain of the academy’s karate team, as well as discovering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu during his time as a Midshipman. On graduation, he entered the information warfare community and continued using his spare time to train and compete. While he had always been passionate about martial arts, Grebb said he now saw an added benefit in how it kept him in shape for the Navy.
“For the physical mission of the Navy you have to be in shape, and there’s lots of ways to do that. You can run marathons, you can do standard Navy PT, you could lift weights, but with martial arts you’re learning a skillset that could potentially save your life one day,” said Grebb. “It seems like a no brainer to me.”
While stationed in Maryland, Grebb said he decided to put all of the various forms of martial arts he’d been practicing to the test and began fighting in amateur mixed martial arts competitions. This progressed to Grebb competing professionally, including in a televised Bellator fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He holds a record of 3-2.
Grebb said his time in the cage had many parallels to his duty as a Naval officer, including the necessity to train hard and perform under pressure.
“There’s a good relationship there because of the stress levels,” said Grebb. “It’s going to put you in a difficult situation, an adverse situation, and it’s fight or flight – and in the military there’s plenty of that.”
Grebb and some of his training partners, Lance Trippett and Kail Bosque, decided to open their own gym in 2009. Beginning in a small office space, Conquest Martial Arts and Fitness now spans two large gyms in Maryland with hundreds of members.
“Being able to lead our team of staff members in the gym to provide a great service to our clients – that certainly goes hand in hand with a lot of the leadership experiences I’ve had while in the military,” said Grebb.
Now transitioned to the Navy Reserve and operating his businesses full time, Grebb said he’s most proud of the time he served, and continues to honor those who currently serve in any way he can.
“We play fight in here,” said Grebb. “There’s guys out there that are doing it for real – and we don’t get to do this if they don’t do that.”
| Date Taken: | 10.19.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2022 20:52 |
| Story ID: | 431613 |
| Location: | BALTIMORE, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Fighting Spirit, by Austin Rooney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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