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Goodbye Sifu!


I have been informed that my Master Dan Docherty has sadly passed away. It is a great shock to myself and to the Taiji community in the UK as well as across Europe. Whilst Dan wasn't the one to bring Taiji to the UK, he was influential in making Taiji as popular as it is today. Making Taiji relevant, practical as well as accessible.


I recently started to re-read Dan's latest book Wild Colonial Boy. Without a doubt, he was a man who lived an extraordinary life and achieved a lot in his lifetime. He went out to Hong Kong to learn the art he wanted and ended up not only being a master, but a leader in the Taiji community. Dan was a founding member of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain, which help broaden Taiji's appeal to the British public. Dan not only talked the talk, but walked the walk. Even before I met Dan, I actually already read a lot of his articles and I was hugely impressed by his knowledge. I first met Dan when I attended the British Open in April 2008. In the distance I heard somebody spoke Cantonese with a strange accent and I found him to be friendly and approachable. Over the years, I have got to know Dan better from camp and to his residential weekends. My impression has remained the same, he was a man who lived for the art of Taiji and he was very generous with his teachings. Furthermore, he was very progressive about the art. Despite ill health, he carried on teaching and writing. My teacher, the late Katherine Allen once mentioned that we get the teacher we deserve. How right she was and how lucky we've all been. Dan's teachings will live on.

Over the past decade, a great many students have passed away, many were teachers in their own right, including my teacher the late Katherine Allen. How he must have felt seeing so many his friends go, I don't know. On many of Dan's updates on social media were the final words requiescat in pace. Goodbye Sifu, RIP.


Thank you for reading my blog.



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