 Montaigue claims to be "the first Westerner to be granted the degree of 'Master' in "taijiquan"", awarded by Master Wang Xin-Wu in 1985.According to Montaigue's own account, "dim mak" is an aspect of traditional old Yang style "taji quan" which he claims he began learning in 1978 from a master called Chiang Yiu-chun who died in the month of May.Montaigue stated this man was an illegal immigrant, making his existence difficult to verify.