TAMPA, Fla. - This is what dedication looks like.

This is what defying the odds looks like.

There are five tenets of Taekwondo. Jefferson Taylor’s the epitome of the fifth tenet, the indomitable spirit.

"He’s a very courageous man," Grand Master Dan Levenson said. "I think he represents the best of the martial arts."

• Jefferson Taylor is battling Stage 4 Colon Cancer
• He recently won a silver medal at the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championships
• His former rival, Grand Master Dan Levenson, is his instructor

Every punch, every kick, every form, takes effort. Extra effort from Jefferson because while he is training, he’s also battling cancer.

"Stage four colon cancer that’s metastasized is a uphill battle, to say the least," Jefferson said.

"There aren’t too many people that would do that. I mean, he’s real tough," Dan said.

Tough is just one way to describe Jefferson.

"Without this mental discipline that I’ve been able to put together, I would not be doing what I’m doing right now," Jefferson said.

And he wouldn’t be doing it without his friend, Grand Master Dan Levenson. How’s this for a twist, these two former rivals, with competing dojos across the street from each other, have joined forces in Jefferson’s battle.

Master Dan trains Jefferson, while the student also serves as an instructor at Martials Arts America. Taekwondo means everything to Jefferson.

"Just a love affair that I didn’t realize I had until I had it on me," he said.

Taekwondo isn’t just a hobby for Jefferson. It’s a necessity.

"He’s going through a lot and been through a lot," Dan said.

"You’ve had so much trauma in your life, how do you keep going? The martial arts is what is at the core," Jefferson said. "The martial arts says you do what you can and you do not worry about perfection because nobody’s perfect. But you can get better every single day.

"There’s something you can do every single day."

It became an everyday experience for Jefferson and his family out of need. Both his children were born with cystic fibrosis.

"I had to make sure I had to find a way to keep them active, physical activity was very important," he said.

But it wasn’t a cure all.

"I lost my daughter back in 2017," Jefferson said. "Before we lost her, she was an absolute, she was an absolute force of nature."

Near the end, his daughter Kathryn’s lungs were at less than 25 percent. There were plans for a lung transplant.

"We just ran out of time," Jefferson said. "But to the end, she never worried about that."

That’s what martial arts teaches you – no worries.

"Tae Kwon Do has so much more to offer than the physical. There is the mental," he said. "There is the spiritual. There is the emotional. It teaches so many lessons that anyone can benefit from it, anybody."

That indomitable spirit. It lives in Jefferson and it’s what keeps him going.

"After my daughter passed, what was I going to do at that point?" he said. "Everything that I thought I knew, everything that I had crashed and not crashed, crashed and burned."

A simple text message from Master Dan inviting Jefferson to work out at his gym pulled him out of his funk. Two former rivals embracing each other in the grand spirit of the martial arts.

"Could I get really depressed about it, sure. Do I get depressed about it sometimes, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.," Jefferson said. "But at the end of the day, I come in here. I’ve got dozens of faces, dozens of people who are wanting to get better, wanting to do something, do something in the world.

"Who want to be better people. How can you not draw energy from that?"