Before age 20 he had attained world ranking in chess and claimed the US Junior championship. The book, and movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, recounts his experiences to age 15 or so. The attention drawn to him by the movie interfered with his chess career, so he sought another outlet for his efforts, and found a wonderful teacher of Tai Ji Quan, William CC Chen.
Under Chen's tutelage Waitzkin achieved great success in Tai Ji push hands tournaments in Taiwan and elsewhere, again achieving success in world-class competition.
Insightful, well-written, highly-recommended treatise on learning and passionate pursuit of excellence.