Meet the Coach

Jose "TrooperJoe" Izeta

Founder & Head Coach, TJ73 Jiu Jitsu
Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Professor Jake Montalvo

I was 46 the first time I trained jiu-jitsu as a sport. Grappling itself wasn't new to me — that's what made it humbling.

As a drill sergeant I taught the Modern Army Combatives Program to new soldiers in basic training. At Texas DPS I trained defensive tactics and arrest control. Both are built on jiu-jitsu, and I'd been teaching them to other people for years. I knew the positions. I knew the chokes.

January 2020. White belt at Harlingen Jiu-Jitsu Club under Professor Jake Montalvo. None of it saved me.

Combatives teaches you to control a person long enough to end a fight and go home. Sport jiu-jitsu puts you across from someone who does nothing but this, and it exposes every gap you didn't know you had. Twenty-year-olds submitted me. Smaller guys submitted me. I went home sore, humbled, and clear on one thing: I wasn't quitting.

Six years later I'm a brown belt, promoted by Professor Montalvo in March 2026. Blue in 2022, purple in 2024, brown in 2026. No shortcuts in there — just showing up, including on the days I didn't want to.

What I Did Before This

I served 25 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety, first as a State Trooper and later as a Special Agent with the Criminal Investigations Division — work that runs on preparation, patience, and staying level when everything around you isn't. I also served as a Civilian Police Administrator with the Harlingen Police Department, and as a Special Investigator with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, working child abuse and neglect investigations alongside law enforcement. I hold TCOLE Master Peace Officer and Basic Instructor certifications.

In the Army I served as a 13F Forward Observer across active duty, the National Guard, and the Reserve, and I retired as a Senior Drill Sergeant. That role shaped how I coach more than anything else I've done. Drill sergeants don't motivate people. We build them. You hold a standard, you hold it consistently, and you let the person rise to it. Nobody talks their way to a standard — they train to it.

Why I Opened TJ73 Jiu Jitsu

Because I spent my whole career teaching other people to be ready, and jiu-jitsu is what taught me to keep doing it to myself. It put me back in the beginner's spot at 46 and proved that discipline still works when you're the one it's aimed at.

I run this academy the way I was taught: technical fundamentals first, live training every class, and no belt handed out that wasn't earned. Kids and adults both. If you walk in on day one nervous and out of shape, you're in the right place — I've been the guy getting submitted by everybody in the room. What I ask for is attendance and effort. I'll handle the rest.

The Name

TJ73 comes from two places. Seventy-three is the year I was born. Badge 9569 is where the road started. I also founded TJ73 Combat Co., the apparel and gear side of the same mission.

One mantra, and I mean it literally:

The Only Move Is Forward.

Train With Us

2803 W Expressway 83, Suite A
La Feria, TX 78559

Email: joe@tj73combatco.com

See classes, schedule, and membership →

TJ73 Jiu Jitsu is operated by Forward Combat Sports LLC.