No one really knows how old Jimmy was, or exactly when he was born. However, I believe he was born around 1906. The reason I believe this is because, he always said, he was taught by Chan Koon Pak, Chan Sui Hung, and had contact with Chan Din Gung (the man who owned 26 studio's). Chan Koon Pak and Chan Din Gung both were student of Chan Heung which would make both them around the age of what would amount to as a Grandfather to Jimmy. Also, Chan Koon Pak died in 1920, so Jimmy would have to had been born prior to 1916 to have trained with him. In addition, Jimmy claimed to have been an enforcer for Chan Din Gung, and if Chan Gung was anywhere near Chan Koon's age, it would mean, Jimmy was an inforcer at the age of 5 or 10 if born in 1916. On top of this, you have the fact that Jimmy used an illegal passport of a cousin who was 10 or 15 years years younger than him, and Jimmy was always trying to maintain this cousins identity because he feared he was going to get deported. I believe it was this passport that contributed to him saying he was born in 1916 all time. I also remember Jimmy telling me he was 50 for what seem to be at least 10 years, maybe longer, and I remember him changing the year in which he was born many times. Also, at Jimmys retirement dinner in 1982, when he was speaking to the crowd, he said, "I'm 76 years old" and then went on to speak about his life in the art. This would place his birth exactly in 1906. So, when Jimmy passed away in 1991, I believe that he was about 86 to 87. I just subtracted 76 from 1982. I've had other master tell me, that from some of the things Jimmy told them, that they believe he was born even earlier than 1906.
Now, for all those out there saying Jimmy was a Master at 19, its is my opinion that he was not, and he did not come to this country at the age of 19, except in the form of his dead cousin ID. I believe Jimmy was closer to 29 or 30 depending on the date you use as his arrival time in the states (which there are varied opinions of (33 to 36)). Jimmy also use to tell me stories of things he did in China, saying, "well, when I was 20 or 21 I did thus and so" and etc.
Jimmy himself use to say; "No one under the age of 18 or 19 can have a Black Belt. You can take a younger student to Brown Belt level only, and then give them a degree every year until they reach 18 or 19, then give them their Black. This is because, students under 18 are not mature enough to be on the same level as those over 18 or 19. It would be like putting a high school football player in a game with the Dallas Cowboy's".
Lastly, I sure there will be many differing opinions on this article, but that is a good thing. I think Jimmy's life is like a jigsaw puzzle, and the more people that are out there working on it, the more the piece begin to fill in the blanks so the whole picture can be seen.