At one point he went to challenge the Mongolian champion at their annual meet in Chang-Chia-Kuo, and in so doing had to fight the well known Kuhli, a giant of a man standing well over six feet tall and weighing almost 400 lbs.! Grandmaster Ch'ang agreed to use only wrestling techniques, and, despite the difference in size, repeatedly countered dozens of attacks by the Mongolian champion while throwing him down again and again with a variety of beautifully executed moves.

In 1933, at the age of 25, Grandmaster Ch'ang entered the Fifth National Kuo Shu Elimination Tournament in Nanking. This "no holds barred" competition involved over 1,000 participants and included Masters in all major styles from all over China battling each other for supremacy in all-out combat. Grandmaster Ch'ang won all of his matches, including one over his arch rival Liu Chiou-Sheng, and emerged the heavyweight grand champion. Significantly, this was the last great tournament of its kind where Masters who were trained in the old ways fought in an "anything goes" manner to determine the very best among them. This national meet was considered to be the severest test of the ability, strength, and skills of any fighter and the winner was fully acknowledged to be the undisputed Champion of all China. Such open, free style, "no holds barred" tournaments on that scale were never held again, leaving Grandmaster Ch'ang the last truly tested fighter open to challenge by anyone regardless of style or system!

Both before and after his brilliant victory in the National tournament, Grandmaster Ch'ang traveled frequently with the intent of seeking out different teachers all over mainland China that were known to him to be famous for certain techniques or movements. It has been said that he studied with most of the best living Masters, humbly playing the role of "student" even though he could defeat them. He continued this quest until he had learned the specialties of some 70 different teachers and was satisfied that the techniques he knew were the best in existence.

During World War II, Grandmaster Ch'ang trained elite units of the military where he eventually rose to the rank of Lt. General. His exploits during this time are a story in themselves and would take a book to recount. Just one aspect of his many experiences involved challenging all of the top Judo experts at the Kuang-Si Province prison camp. Over a thousand prisoners were interned there and amused themselves by practicing Judo all day long. After challenging and beating their Chinese guards, they were confronted by Grandmaster Ch'ang who had heard of their prowess while teaching in Kue-Lin, the capital of Kuang-Si Province. Grandmaster Ch'ang fought every one in turn, including three high ranking champions, Hakayama Taido, Hisa Kuma, and Michi Masao, and defeated each of them handily.

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