Local Air Force veteran uses martial arts to build confidence in next generation

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A local Air Force veteran is using his military experience and lifelong love of martial arts to help young people build confidence, strength, and discipline.

This month, News Three is recognizing Artreo Cepeda — known to his students as “Coach Tre” — in its Salute Our Troops feature for his work coaching at Assassin Grappling Academy, where he teaches jiu-jitsu, wrestling and kickboxing.

Cepeda said he became part of the gym community and eventually stepped into a coaching role. “I just integrated within that community and then found myself naturally becoming a coach here,” he said. “I was able to kind of spread that wealth of knowledge and skills just with the rest of the youth.”

Martial arts have been part of Cepeda’s life since childhood. “Ever since I was little, my dad trained me in Kyokushin karate,” he said. He later tried kickboxing and MMA as a teenager, but paused training after becoming a father. “So I had my first daughter and then was looking for a way to kind of be there to support her,” he said.

That search led him to enlist in the Air Force in 2012. Cepeda said the decision was about providing stability for his growing family. “That way for me to have that stability, to bring in that kind of income and just have like a safety net there when I'm raising those kids,” he said.

After serving for a year, Cepeda returned to civilian life and began working as a graphic designer, but eventually found his way back to training — and coaching. “And Professor Jesse allowed me that opportunity to coach kickboxing,” he said.

Professor Jesse, a military veteran and the owner of Assassin Grappling Academy, said Cepeda initially came to the gym looking for a way to get his family into self-defense. Cepeda has since become a key part of the academy, teaching both kids and adults.

Cepeda said his military experience aligns with the structure he sees in martial arts training. “I think the regiment that you go through in the military, and definitely the way I saw the classes run here, you get a sense of, you continue on the course,” he said. “You have your eye on the mission or the goal or whatever you're in the gym for. And when motivation fails, you have to rely on that discipline to keep going.”

He said he hopes his students develop the same discipline and confidence he gained through wrestling and martial arts — and that some may even be inspired to serve. “I hope they can see us as role models and strive to do something more in their lives and maybe try something that maybe they didn't think of before,” Cepeda said.