By the time he completed his studies under the former Abbot, the Second Sino-Japanese War had engulfed Fujian: due to his renown as an exceptional pugilist, Grandmaster Chee played an important part in fighting against the Japanese invaders, becoming the leader of the patriot guerrilla force known as The Big Knife Army.
His reputation soon spread until Mr Yap Cheng Hai of Singapore (who would become Grandmaster Chee's first disciple) travelled to meet him and implored him to resume his teaching of the martial arts.
His international educational work to assist the preservation and teaching of the arts of his famous lineage formed a particularly important activity during the latter years of his life; he was accorded the title of ‘Living National Treasure of the People’s Republic of China’ in 1989.
[11] In 1995, Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong was awarded the honorific title of ‘dato/datuk’[12] [Malaysian equivalent of the English ‘knighthood’] as an acknowledgment of his exceptional medical expertise in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
[13] In the different circumstances of contemporary Chinese martial arts in the early 21st Century, Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong was, almost a decade after his death, recognized as a 10th dan practitioner at the International Shaolin Wuzuquan Federation Conference in February 2010.