At about the age of ten Shane began to train regularly at the Kwoon, which was situated right in the city, and he started to show great potential. By age thirteen – fifteen, Shane was already a assisting his dad and he was well liked by his fellow classmates.  As a teenager, he witnessed many of the interesting incidents that occurred up at the Kwoon.  The police had to come up on quite a few occasions!  

“As a kid, Shane always had long hair and would cry if his Mum gave him a little trim!” said his dad. It was not until about a year before they moved to the states in 1985 that he decided to cut his hair short, much to the disappointment of his dad! “When he was sixteen and attended James Logan High, he was into this short, ‘spiky’ mod look which I thought was dreadful, and made him look even skinnier!”  

Shane and his Sifu father after a training session
 Perth, West Australia, 1983

The first couple of years settling in the States was a difficult period, and their in-laws kept their distance and did not offer any help or encouragement. Shane and his parents had to share a small house with nine other members of Philippine family, (who owned a restaurant), and were kind enough to take them in. Shane and his parents all worked at the restaurant, Shane doing the table busing, his Mum the waitress, and his dad the dishwasher.  “It was a very depressing time and I wanted to return to Australia after the first few months here, but our twenty foot container with our furniture was already on the way by ship,” said his dad.  

Shane performing at a Chinese New Year celebration
Perth, West Australia, 1983

Shane competed for the first time in 1986 at a tournament in Alameda , California and won first place. He continued to compete for the next seven years or so, winning many titles. It was not until 1987 that two of his dad’s private students encouraged and helped his dad with the opening of his first Kwoon, located in Newark , California.  

In his first few years of schooling in the States, Shane was harassed constantly by a particular Union City , California gang because of his Australian accent and his ‘mod’ look. His first ‘Gong Sau’ (talk with the hands) challenge match occurred one evening after he finished his part time job at the New Park Mall in Newark, California at 9:00 PM. The gang member and his friends were waiting for him, and they all headed for battle across the mall to the deserted car-park at Newark Memorial High School . Shane’s dad/Sifu has said he would not comment on the outcome of this challenge match. This is because like many of Shane’s other ‘Gong Sau’ matches, he has since made friends with the challengers. Grandmaster Vince Lacey feels it would be unfair to mention names or discredit anyone for the sake of publicity as many of them are still around in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Shane competing in a Canadian tournament, 1988