Level gap between CBT (1st appearance) and Greats and how quickly he made it up?

[Ken Cheng]

When Chow Bak Tung first shows up in LOCH, he is not yet quite on par with the Greats. Chow consistently lost his fights against East Heretic Wong Yerk See on Peach Blossom Island, though they were generally closely contested skirmishes in which Old Heretic had to put serious effort into winning.

How soon did Chow Bak Tung make up that small gap between himself and the Greats, and was it primarily due to some improvements he picked up unconsciously when he read the portion of the 9 Yum Jen Ging from Chan Yeun Fung's skin?

[pannonian]

As soon as Guo Jing suggested using Mutual Hands Combat against an external opponent.

[CC]

When Chow Bak Tung first shows up in LOCH, he is not yet quite on par with the Greats. Chow consistently lost his fights against East Heretic Wong Yerk See on Peach Blossom Island, though they were generally closely contested skirmishes in which Old Heretic had to put serious effort into winning.

How soon did Chow Bak Tung make up that small gap between himself and the Greats, and was it primarily due to some improvements he picked up unconsciously when he read the portion of the 9 Yum Jen Ging from Chan Yeun Fung's skin?

How did TVB show it?

Wait. I think novel wise IIRC, he first appears when GJ bumps into him at the cave. When HYS shows at the cave, CBT was already ahead or at least equal. He managed to make HYS step into a pile of crap or something, HIM - tricking the master of traps and strategy.

[Ken Cheng]

How did TVB show it?

Wait. I think novel wise IIRC, he first appears when GJ bumps into him at the cave. When HYS shows at the cave, CBT was already ahead or at least equal. He managed to make HYS step into a pile of crap or something, HIM - tricking the master of traps and strategy.

In LOCH '82, the first fight between them favored Wong Yerk See, but Chow Bak Tung did manage to land a few good hits...including a headbutt that bruised Old Heretic's forehead. Still, Wong Yerk See won that fight pretty decisively.

A little later, Chow Bak Tung similarly lost a close fight against West Poison Au Yeung Fung, but that was the last time in the series we see Chow losing to a Great. From that point on, he'd pretty much be on par with or even slightly better them.

[Ken Cheng]

As soon as Guo Jing suggested using Mutual Hands Combat against an external opponent.

Very surprised that Chow Bak Tung didn't think of the obvious. He might be a bit crazy, but he's never been stupid.

[EdenResident]

Even without the improvement from 9YZJ, ZBT was already on par with HYS coming out of the cave. He needed a couple moves from 9YZJ to get an upper hand on HYS but before that they basically fought to a draw. His time alone in the cave when he couldn't do anything else except practicing did a lot of wonder to his martial arts. HYS in fact did him a huge favor there locking him up. ZBT was in a sense forced to improve his martial arts so that one day he could get even with HYS and leave the island.