After the murder of her father, a thirteen-year-old young lady in the Philippines stepped into a role of maturity-training in martial arts and keeping a part of her father alive.

Crossing the ocean, her son was immediately enrolled in martial arts —a discipline he would turn into a livelihood.

Meet Christopher Leyesa and follow his debut on the world stage representing Team USA and his journey to becoming an ITF World Champion in Amsterdam, Netherlands-paying homage to his lineage.

Three years later, his son Nolan would do the same-training to achieve gold and carrying out his father’s legacy at the ITF World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

Read about Leyesa’s battles with loss, injury, systemic adversity-and the dream run he took on his forty-first birthday.