When did you start developing your competitive eating skills?

When did you start developing your competitive eating skills?

Arnie "Chowhound" Chapman (Competitive Eater) gives expert video advice on: Why did you want to become a competitive eater?; Who inspired you to be a competitive eater?; When did you start developing your competitive eating skills? and more...

I've got to tell you, you know, my father always loved to tell stories about, how, he would put something in front of me and not only would I finish it, but I'd be starting on my brother's food as well, so, you know, I've always known from very early on that I could really eat a lot of food and eat very fast, so that was something I was always aware of, from, certainly from the stories that I heard, and, you know, the other, the other little tidbit that I'll tell you about my history, I'll try to be quick about this, I also grew up in a children's home from age 6 to 18, and, you know, at times there was a lot of competition around food, and if you didn't get to the table, there'd be times where the choices would limited, so, I didn't like having my choices to be limited, so I think, you know, that certainly, growing up in that environment, made me a good, Competitive Eater.