At the age of 13, he worked as a waiter in a restaurant in Singapore before joining a Cantonese opera troupe under Cheng Hsin-pei.
In 1928 at the age of 23, he married Chan Yat-chor (陳日初), the daughter of the actor known only by his nickname of "Bind-Legged Champ" (扎腳勝), and they had a son David Kwan Hon-chuen (關漢泉).
This partnership was a huge success and spawned many sequels, exploring many ideas and situations used in later action films.
First, Leong Wing-hang, who worked as action director on Wong Fei-hung films as well as other Kwan vehicles including The Five Heroes' Deadly Spears (1951).
During this period, Kwan opened a martial arts school and a number of herbal centres, whose branded soup and an ointment for bruises were well known in Hong Kong.
In Bey Logan's audio commentary for the film The Magnificent Butcher, he states that though there is a grave marker to Kwan Tak-hing in Kowloon territory, his ashes were already taken to San Francisco to rest with those of his second wife.
Throughout his life he made friends with famous martial arts exponents and cross trained extensively.
Training in Wong Fei-hung's style of Hung Gar came from Leung Wing-hang and Lau Jam, both students of the famous Lam Sai-wing.
When Jet Li portrayed Wong in the Once Upon a Time in China series, many Chinese audiences felt he was too young.