I always use my backstory as a cover up. Like my father taught me all of his shield techniques, but it takes time to perfect them in battle. Overtime applying what his father taught him when he's comfortable doing it.  This is different for spell casters, but you can easily do something like blaming it on the eye of magnus's power seeping into you. Photo graphic memory, waiting for x amount of time in game when you read a new spell book.  Roleplay wise your only limit is your own Imagination.

Cannon said: 13-16 years old? He looks like more. Oh no he was a teenager. There are several quotes from the game that gives hints to his age. Mainly "He was barely old enough to wield a sword". In my guess he was 15 years old. Which explains the facial hair. 

Cannon said: Ulfric would probably beat the crap out of Torygg even without using Thuum. I assume almost every adult in skyrim could of. He was only 13-16 years old at the time of the fight. Looking at his stats online he has half of the players starting stats and asuuming you wear what you died in when sent to sovengarde he had no armor either.

I cannot express how much I love this Discusion. Traditional Nords find this to a honorable fight, while the civilized Nords find it a dishonorable one. Outside of the Nords I'm sure most people would find it dishonorable with or without using the Thu'um.  In my opinion I think Torygg was a Traditional Nord. He accepted Ulfric's duel eventhough he knew it would mean death and speaking with him in Sovengarde you learn he did this to keep his honor. Even more proof to this is that he is in Sovengarde in the first place, The resting place of true nords. Even so Ulfric did something questionably dishonorable. Speaking with Torygg in Sovengarde he tells you this.  "I faced him fearlessly - my fate inescapable, yet my honor is unstained - can Ulfric say the same?"―High King Toryg A true traditional Nord questioning Ulfric's Honor. Seems like there is more to all this than meets the eye by traditional Nord standards. Seems like Torygg had some imformation we didn't. For what we know of the fight it seems honorable enough for True Nords. How about his motives then? I know that's been spoken of already in here so I'm going to skip over those reasons and add another. The Thalmor told Ulfric to do it. The Dossier found in the Thalmor Embassy on Ulfric gives us all the information that this is entirely possible. "Ulric first came to our attention during the first war against the Empire, when he was taken as a prisoner of war during the campaign for the White-Gold Tower. Under interrogation, we learned of his potential value (son of the Jarl of Windhelm) and he was assigned as an asset to the interrogator, who is now First Emissary Elenwen. He was made to believe information obtained during his interrogation was crucial in the capture of the Imprial City(the city had in fact fallen before he had broken), and then allowed to escape. After the war, contact was established and he has proven his worth as an asset. The so-called Markarth Incident was particularly valuable from the point of view of our strategic goals in Skyrim, although it resulted in Ulfric becoming generally uncooperative to direct contact. Operational Notes: Direct contact remains a possibility (under extreme circumstances), but in general the asset should be considered dormant. As long as the Civil War proceeds in its current indecisive fashion, we should remain hands-off. The incident at Helgen is an example where an exception had to be made - obviously Ulfric's death would have dramatically increased the chance of an Imperial victory and thus harmed our overall position in Skyrim. (NOTE: The coincidental intervention of the dragon at Helgen is still under scrutiny. The obvious conclusion is that whoever is behind the dragons also has an interest in the continuation of the war, but we should not assume therefore that their goals align with our own.) A Stormcloak victory is also to be avoided, however, so even indirect aid to the Stormcloaks must be carefully managed." I find it entirely possible that Ulfric is being blackmailed by the Thalmor to do their bidding. He thinks that he is the cause for the Imperial City falling during the Great War and he would do anything to keep this information from leaking. Like fighting a 15 year old to the death.   

I'm sure everyone knows the tale of how Ulfric challenged High King Torygg to single combat. During this combat Ulfric used the power of the voice to win this duel. My question to everyone is, would this duel be concidered honorable by Nord standards? To be it always sounded like bringing a bazooka to a sword fight, Unfair. Ulfric already had years of experience as a soldier under this belt. Torygg was also just a boy. In my opinion challenging someone to a fight that is entirely one sided isn't honorable. What do you guys think?