Crikey, you would think the entire population except for the nobles and their courts were bandits or something. lol

Family associations were also centers of kung fu learning in the early days.
Surname associations are in every chinatown in NA. Even Chin wu exists in NA now although it is not like that in China except for the direct offshoots of that school in China. Back in my hometown we had a guy who called his school ching wu even though he had never been a member of the actual, had never even been to the actual and didn't know much about the history of the actual. Anyway, here nor there and just an indication of how many in the kung fu scene in the early days was making it up as the went after watching a fresh episode of Kung Fu on TV. lol

Also, KMT support groups, ex soldiers of this nationalist organization and so on set uyp shop across the americas long ago.

these are not representative of criminal triads and between family associations and the KMT there are numerous Kung Fu schools to be found.

Criminal gangs tend to be filled with thugs and bullies. Many of whom do not have the discipline required to undertake a full course of Kung Fu as a physical regimen.

Yakuza in Japan in that respect are somewhat different because of the tie to the samurai culture etc. A different breed of triad guy.

IMO, it is the KMT schools that tend to be pretty good with the teachers in them and the curriculum offered. Other than that, case by case for me. some schools are ridiculous and I turn around as quick as a gay man accidentally entering a straight brothel! Others, not so much like that at all!