Kyle Jeansonne served two combat tours with the United States Army as a Reconnaissance Team Leader. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon for direct engagement with hostile forces and came home with a 100% service-connected disability rating, including PTSD.

Nobody tells you that coming home is its own war.

Kyle had been training martial arts for twenty years — Taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, no-gi grappling. But it wasn’t until he was back on U.S. soil, trying to figure out how to function like a normal person again, that he understood what the mat actually was. It wasn’t exercise. It wasn’t competition. It was the only place where his mind had to be completely present, where the noise stopped, where the mission was simple and immediate and right in front of him.

It worked when other things didn’t.

Twenty years of training. Two combat deployments. A disability that doesn’t show on the outside. And the clearest possible understanding of what a structured, serious martial arts program can do for a person who is quietly losing the battle in their own head.

That’s why Mar Bravo exists.

Not to be the biggest gym in Ocala. Not to hand out belts to whoever keeps paying tuition. To build something real — where the instruction is serious, the community is genuine, and every veteran in Marion County has somewhere to go that actually understands what they’re carrying.

Co-founder Gina Mistretta brings four years of nonprofit grant management, clinical research billing expertise, and a background as an elementary school teacher. Between them, every part of this academy — the instruction, the finances, the community programs, the administrative backbone — is run by someone whose background directly qualifies them for it.

Mar Bravo Jiu-Jitsu Academy is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, majority owned and operated by Kyle Jeansonne.

We’re building this the right way. No shortcuts.