Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Spicer.
Hi Dylan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My martial arts journey began in 1999 after watching one of the early UFC events. at a cousins house I was so intrigued and surprised by the calmness and skill of the elite fighters. At that time in my life I was looking to for something to satiate my competitive needs as I was a few years out of high school hockey and tennis. Discovering Mixed Martial Arts gave me exactly what I was looking for and so much more. It was fitness, therapy, and a life saving skillset wrapped into a complete package that had already been around for centuries. I was disappointed I hadn’t discovered it sooner.
In 2002 I moved to Minneapolis where I began training full time with the professionals at The Academy Mn. . I was surrounded by an outstanding community of world class coaches and athletes all with goals of becoming the best versions of themselves thru Martial Arts and through fighting. In this time I had taken several fights of my own, cornered fighters in the UFC, and through fighting was able to travel across the U.S.
In fall of 2008 my wife and I were expecting the birth of our second child. At that time I owned my own historical restoration company in Minneapolis / St. Paul that was taking off. Unfortunately the work hours coupled with the commute hours meant that I was not training as much as I wanted to, and not being a father nearly as much as I wanted to. I was losing my mind as the two most important things to me; my family and Martial Arts, were taking a back seat. I knew things had to change when i was spending more time in traffic than I was at home or at the dojo.
In November of ’09 we moved to Moorhead, MN (a border town with Fargo, ND) to open the Academy of Combat Arts. The vision was to create a healthy culture within in the gym that emphasized the values of training Martial Arts while maintaining a strong competitive culture that was accommodating and welcoming to everyone. A gym for everyday people that just happened to excel in professional cage fighting as well.
Within one year of opening the gym I had two fighters appear on the reality tv show “The Ultimate FIghter” Season 12, I had one guy in the UFC (Pablo Garza) and we had a dozen other fighters making waves on the regional scene. By 2015 we had Timothy Johnson sign with the UFC. In just 5 years we had made some huge accomplishments.
Today we have over 180 members. Most of whom are Doctors, college kids, soccer moms, their kids, and former athletes looking to get in shape, have fun, and learn self defence. Since opening in 2009 we’ve had multiple National muay Thai champions, Jiu Jitsu world Champions (IBJJF). and most importantly, a whole bunch of people who have improved their lives with Martial Arts.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Unfortunately there wasn’t a playbook written for MMA gyms and so the journey has certainly had it’s fair share of challenges. Looking back at the past 16 years, most of the struggles were a necessary lesson in order to move forward and grow.
Just when I think I’ve seen it all as a small business owner something else happens that I never would’ve anticipated.
From flooded toilets, broken dreams, broken bones, unrealized potentials, shady promoters, and business betrayals. However, a lot of the worst experiences taught me some of my best lessons.
One of the more obvious challenges of being a small business owner is the balancing act between work and home. We travel and work a lot of weekends as the shows and tournaments are always on Friday or Saturday night, That sometimes means I’m missing important family moments.
As you know, we’re big fans of Academy of Combat Arts. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are the premiere Mixed Martial Arts gym in Fargo, ND, / Moorhead, MN. We offer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, muay Thai kickboxing, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training for anyone looking for fitness and self defence training in a safe and family friendly environment. We have classes for beginners and pros as well as the history, experience, and knowledge to help anyone achieve their goals.
I am most proud of changing peoples lives with Martial Arts. Yes, we’ve had a fighter in the top 5 in the world but we’ve also had people loose the weight they wanted off. We’ve headlined main events in Paris and Moscow but we’ve also had folks with PTSD have tremendous improvements and quit their addictive behaviours in exchange for a healthy Martial Arts lifestyle. We had guys on very popular TV show, and we’ve had people you’ve never heard of join a healthy community to experience the many benefits of Martial Arts. All of these accomplishments are of equal importance and bring us a sense of honour and joy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
In fighting they sometimes say “roll with the punches” and thats exactly what I do in business. Through all my years in Martial Arts I have been fortunate to be around people that were disciplined and dedicated to a healthy lifestyle, they persevered through turbulent times, and they were dedicated to their craft. I aspire to do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fmaca.com/meet-instructors/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acafargo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theAcademyFargo/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AcademyofCombatArts
