Hanshi Thomas Fleming was born in Ottawa, Canada, and at the age of 9, he started his martial arts career in Judo at the YMCA. He then joined karate under Sensei George Sylvain and received his Shodan from the Canadian Karate Association in 1968, graded by Sensei Andre Langelier, Sensei George Sylvain, and Sensei Fern Cleroux. Over the next 56 years, Hanshi Fleming owned and operated his own karate clubs. During this period, he competed in fighting, kata, breaking, and weapons competitions,and later, he was the CKA Team Coach and Head Referee nationally and internationally. Since 1970, he has been a member of the CKA. On the executive side, he's served as vice president, and from 2015 to 2020, he has been president. He was asked to come back as president in 2022 at the request of the CKA Executive and Past President, Francois Beaulieu.Hanshi Fleming began this project at the request of his mentor and teacher, Hanshi Fern Cleroux, while he was in the hospital.

Before his death, he requested he write a book on the CKA and record the history and memories of the black belts and their achievements. He began the process with the help of Jessie Bowen and his team at Elite Publications. GM Jessie Bowen came up with the idea to do a CKA Legacy Book, highlighting the black belts' achievements in their own words by submitting their biographies as testimonies of their achievement and contributions to the Canadian Karate Association.