Famous masters who didn't start young.

[The Xia]

Most of the big names in TCMA seem to have started in their early teens or as children. I'm curious as to how many started later then that. Any names?

[The Xia]

Chan Hon Chung is a good example. He moved to Hong Kong at 19 and trained very hard at Lam Sai Wing's kwoon while he held down a job as a street vendor.

[Pork Chop]

Chan Hon Chung is a good example. He moved to Hong Kong at 19 and trained very hard at Lam Sai Wing's kwoon while he held down a job as a street vendor.

chan hon chung started when he was 12; according to his own family's site.
There are some ummm discrepancies on the Lam family site, where they consider him a grand-student; even though he's got a disciple ceremony picture. Not to mention the fact that he and the Chius both opened up schools 5 years before LSW passed away (ample time for any discrepancies to be corrected).

chiu kau found lam sai wing relatively late in life, after studying with other hung gar folks beforehand.

depending on the source, lam sai wing found wong fei hung relatively late in life; though lam sai wing had studied other styles first.

Sun lu tang started guo yun shen at 21 and started with chen ting hua at 30. He too learned other stuff early on in life.

Lam Yiu Kwai became a dragon stylist as an adult- 23 according to the wiki, after already being a teacher in another style of kung fu.

Law Gwong Yuk of mantis fame didn't start training with Fan Yuk Tong until he was 20.

Chiu Chi Man, also of mantis fame, started studying at Ging Mo at the age of 23 and started studying under Law Gwong Yuk at the age of 29- becoming a teacher by age 32, opening up his own school by 37.

A lot of big names started out in different styles before finding where they really fit as adults. But other styles is not really a requirement either. Not everyone grows up with the stuff. Just gotta practice hard.

I imagine it's a similar situation to boxers- some of whom don't get into boxing until their late 20s, but still manage to go pro. In the case of boxers, usually heavyweights have an easier time getting started late than the lighter weights. Though one of the most skilled boxers I knew in Baltimore was around 160 and started in his late 30s, early 40s - just kept at it for a few years.

The big difference with kung fu is if you were already doing something and someone beats you real bad, you tend to drop what you were doing to learn what you just got beat with.

[bodhitree]

Jou Tsung Hua (sp?) started taiji in late 40's.

[The Xia]

Jou Tsung Hua (sp?) started taiji in late 40's.

He's Yang style right?
If I'm not mistaken, Chen Man Ching started in his 20s.
Both started after getting sick.

[bodhitree]

He's Yang style right?

Actually he's all of the major three (Yang, Wu, Chen)

[The Xia]

chan hon chung started when he was 12; according to his own family's site.
There are some ummm discrepancies on the Lam family site, where they consider him a grand-student; even though he's got a disciple ceremony picture. Not to mention the fact that he and the Chius both opened up schools 5 years before LSW passed away (ample time for any discrepancies to be corrected).

This the one?
http://www.kungfu.co.uk/chan.htm
Yeah, I went by the hungkuen.net bio.
I wonder which one it is.
Anyway, I always found him to be inspirational because so many people from all styles shut themselves down by talking about how all the "old" masters had more time to practice and started as kids, that they have jobs, school, started later, etc. Here you have Chan Hon Chung, of the "old" generation, that held down a job that was probably more hectic then most people have today, and didn't (if the hungkuen.net bio is true) start as a kid.

chiu kau found lam sai wing relatively late in life, after studying with other hung gar folks beforehand.

depending on the source, lam sai wing found wong fei hung relatively late in life; though lam sai wing had studied other styles first.

Sun lu tang started guo yun shen at 21 and started with chen ting hua at 30. He too learned other stuff early on in life.

Lam Yiu Kwai became a dragon stylist as an adult- 23 according to the wiki, after already being a teacher in another style of kung fu.

Law Gwong Yuk of mantis fame didn't start training with Fan Yuk Tong until he was 20.

Chiu Chi Man, also of mantis fame, started studying at Ging Mo at the age of 23 and started studying under Law Gwong Yuk at the age of 29- becoming a teacher by age 32, opening up his own school by 37.

A lot of big names started out in different styles before finding where they really fit as adults.

Lau Bun and Cheung Lai Chung could be added to that list too. Never really thought about that, but it seems to be a pretty common thing.

But other styles is not really a requirement either. Not everyone grows up with the stuff. Just gotta practice hard.

True. I'm looking for examples though.

I imagine it's a similar situation to boxers- some of whom don't get into boxing until their late 20s, but still manage to go pro. In the case of boxers, usually heavyweights have an easier time getting started late than the lighter weights. Though one of the most skilled boxers I knew in Baltimore was around 160 and started in his late 30s, early 40s - just kept at it for a few years.

The big difference with kung fu is if you were already doing something and someone beats you real bad, you tend to drop what you were doing to learn what you just got beat with.

Didn't Rocky Marciano start in his mid 20s?

[Pork Chop]

This the one?
http://www.kungfu.co.uk/chan.htm
Yeah, I went by the hungkuen.net bio.
I wonder which one it is.

I believe it's a point of contention between the 2(3) families.
As I said, there were 2 schools open years before LSW's death so if there were problems they should've been brought up then, not after the deaths of everyone involved.

Didn't Rocky Marciano start in his mid 20s?

Yeah, he won the armed forces amateur competition in 1946, at age 23 (born 1923), turned pro at 25.
He originally started out playing baseball but was told that his arm was too weak to play catcher (ironically enough).

Earnie Shavers took up boxing at age 22 and is still considered one of the hardest punchers of all time. Fought his first fight after 2 weeks of training.

George foreman started boxing around age 18 and was an Olympic gold medalist by 19, turned pro a year later in 1969 & won his first 13 fights (11 by knock out). On January 22nd 1973 he became champion, destroying Joe Frazier.

What i think is really interesting to note is how it didn't actually take 10 years for a lot of these guys (kung fu masters included) to get real good; which conflicts what you hear in a lot of kung fu schools. Three to 5 years seemed to be the average.

[The Xia]

I believe it's a point of contention between the 2(3) families.
As I said, there were 2 schools open years before LSW's death so if there were problems they should've been brought up then, not after the deaths of everyone involved.

I think I know what you are talking about, but I'm not sure what that would have to do with the age Chan Hon Chung started. In order to not veer this discussion into politics, you can PM me about this if you like.

Yeah, he won the armed forces amateur competition in 1946, at age 23 (born 1923), turned pro at 25.
He originally started out playing baseball but was told that his arm was too weak to play catcher (ironically enough).

lol. That's an interesting piece of trivia.

Earnie Shavers took up boxing at age 22 and is still considered one of the hardest punchers of all time. Fought his first fight after 2 weeks of training.

George foreman started boxing around age 18 and was an Olympic gold medalist by 19, turned pro a year later in 1969 & won his first 13 fights (11 by knock out). On January 22nd 1973 he became champion, destroying Joe Frazier.

What i think is really interesting to note is how it didn't actually take 10 years for a lot of these guys (kung fu masters included) to get real good; which conflicts what you hear in a lot of kung fu schools. Three to 5 years seemed to be the average.

I think a lot of that has to do with the way people train. Many people today, even in good schools, don't really practice much on their own and slack off a lot. Compare this to the way that the "old" masters trained and you can see why. Personally, I think a lot of people these days make up excuses when it comes to training and gaining skill. I somehow doubt that these attitudes were that common during the times the "old" masters trained in.

[The Xia]

ttt.............

[The Xia]

Didn't the Yellow Dragon Monastery start teaching Share Lew when he was 17 or so?

[Pork Chop]

Didn't the Yellow Dragon Monastery start teaching Share Lew when he was 17 or so?

dunno much about the guy, sorry.

[The Xia]

dunno much about the guy, sorry.

That was a general question to the board but thanks.

[The Xia]

Jou Tsung Hua – Late 40s in Tai Chi Chuan (Yang, Wu, and Chen)
Chen Man Ching - 20s in Tai Chi Chuan (Yang)
Law Gwong Yuk – 20 in Seven Star Praying Mantis
Chiu Chi Man – 23 at the Ging Mo, 29 in Seven Star Praying Mantis

[John Takeshi]

Well, all I know is I started at the age of 2 1/8, and I was a Shao-Lin Kuei master (Shao-lin Ninjitsu) by the age of, oh, I don't know, maybe 11? I mastered the kata Dante at the age of 6, when most of you were probably learning how to wipe your own butts.

You have to start young, or you'll be forever wiping your butt with your kung-fu.