SIXTEEN
YEARS.
Jacques served sixteen years in the U.S. Army as an Infantryman. Twelve of those years were spent as a Sniper — an assignment that requires sustained physical capability, sustained mental discipline, and sustained performance under conditions that leave very little margin.
He earned a top 3 finish at the Winston P. Wilson Sniper Competition and the International Sniper Competition. He was a member of the All Army Marathon Team and the All Army Endurance Team. He coached service members preparing for Ranger School, SFAS, Sniper School, and other demanding selection courses.
That career produced a specific kind of knowledge: what sustained performance actually costs, what the body accumulates over years of high operational load, and what it takes to stay capable when recovery margin is thin.
COMPETED.
PROVEN.
The combat sports background runs alongside the military career. Jacques won a Muay Thai National Championship at 16. He began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seriously while still serving, earning his purple belt in approximately two years — competing at IBJJF Worlds and Pan Championships during that stretch.
In 2024, he won the IBJJF Pan American Championship. He competed at the UFC APEX and has trained alongside professional fighters at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
After roughly sixteen years away from serious Muay Thai competition, he returned to place 3rd at the 2026 USA Muay Thai Nationals. He also placed 4th at the All Army Combatives Tournament.
These credentials are the evidence that the methodology works — tested against real competition, not just theory.
THE REBUILD.
When service ended, Jacques kept doing what he knew: training hard. No real recovery accounting. No acknowledgment of what sixteen years had accumulated. The same output expectation applied to a system that had been running at a deficit for years.
That approach has a predictable outcome. The breakdown that follows isn't a failure of toughness. It's a physiological debt that finally came due.
The rebuild from that — structured, honest, methodical — produced the Reconstruction Foundation and the broader RCTA framework. Not a program designed to impress. A program designed to work, starting from wherever you actually are.
Rak Chazak Training Academy is built on the knowledge that comes from having gone through the full cycle: the performance, the accumulation, the breakdown, and the rebuild.
COMES FROM EXPERIENCE
THAT WAS LIVED."
THE CREDENTIALS.
Jacques has coached people at nearly every level: complete beginners, high school athletes, competitive combat athletes, and professional athletes. He has coached service members preparing for demanding selection courses.