Southern Leyte: When Grit Meets Opportunity
Long before we ever set foot in Southern Leyte, we had already begun carrying it with us.
We first heard about a group of kids from Ronin Jiu Jitsu – Leyte / Gotosan Team training four to six hours a day—on worn mats in front of their local chapel, without proper uniforms, without consistent tuition support, and sometimes without knowing if they’d be able to train the following week due to natural disasters liek typhoons that strike the ares. What they did have was heart. And standing beside them, holding the entire program together with nothing but belief and sacrifice, were two instructors: Jack and Odie.
They taught for free.
Every day.
For kids who had no money.
For kids who had no gis.
For kids who had nothing but a desire to train.
For many of these kids the mat became their only outlet, their safe space unless they wanted to participate in the only group sport the town had to offer – basketball.
From the moment we heard their story, we knew Maasn City, Southern Leyte wasn’t just another stop. It was a calling.
What We Found on the Ground
When we arrived, the reality was even more powerful than the story.
We saw young athletes showing up early and staying late. We saw discipline built from struggle. We saw teens drilling with intensity and competitive desire. And we saw Jack and Odie—two teachers pouring everything they had into these students without expecting anything in return.
No salary.
No recognition.
No guarantees.
Just commitment.
This wasn’t just a jiu-jitsu program. It was a lifeline.
Removing the Weight They Should Never Have Had to Carry
The most painful part of their story wasn’t the lack of money—it was the burden these kids had learned to carry quietly. Worrying about tuition. Sharing torn gis. Wondering if they’d have to stop training altogether.
So we made a decision that would change a lot for them.
We paid for the full year of tuition for every single child in the program.
Every kid.
No exceptions.
One full year—secured.
No student would have to sit out.
No family would have to choose between food and training.
No dream would be cut short by circumstance.
For the first time, these young athletes could train without the burden of worrying about how to pay for it.
Outfitting a Whole Program—One Gi at a Time
But tuition alone wasn’t enough.
We had also brought something tangible with us—something deeply meaningful in a place where equipment is rare.
Enough gis to outfit every single person in the entire program.
One by one, we watched students receive properly fitting uniforms—many for the very first time in their lives. You could see the joy in their faces.
They weren’t borrowing anymore.
They were fully equipped.
Fully included.
Fully seen.
What We Gave—and What We Received
We came to give.
But Southern Leyte gave us everything back tenfold.
We were reminded what hunger looks like—not for success, but for opportunity.
We saw what happens when discipline meets belief.
We felt what it means to be welcomed not as outsiders, but as like-minded individuals with the same passion.
And through it all, Jack and Odie stood quietly to the side—watching their students finally receive the support they had prayed for but never asked for.
This Is Why We Exist
Maasin City, Southern Leyte is not just a place on our mission map.
It is a reminder of who we serve.
Why we go.
And what happens when generosity meets grit.
This was never about charity.
This was about investment.
An investment in young lives.
In a community that refuses to quit.
In instructors who never gave up.
And in a future that now looks brighter than it ever has before.
The Work Is Just Beginning
As we left, the kids lined up in their new gis—sweaty, exhausted, proud, and smiling proud. They bowed. We thought right then that one day we should return.
And we will.
Because once you see what belief can do in a place like Maasin City, Southern Leyte, you don’t walk away from it.
You build it stronger.
One mat.
One year.
One life at a time.
Update:
We’re happy to report that a month later, some of the teens from Ronin Jiu Jitsu – Leyte / Gotosan Team recently had the chance to compete with several earning medals at the ASJJF Cebu International Open Jiu Jitsu Championship 2025. Here they are proudly displaying their results with their local Municipal Major!
Our Partners
