Just read over on RSF that Docherty died Friday. Parkinson's or complications from. In spite of his often sniping at Cheng's line and deliberate or otherwise failure to acknowledge Wm. Chen's or Yue,Shu-t'ing's fightin' TC he's a guy I would have liked to have some fun with,however painful. He wrote some good stuff including his book reviews. To me a TC guy who does serious training and can fight is more of what the TC world needs. I'm sorry to see someone like him pass..
I never met Dan, but I read a lot of his stuff. He was quite the firebrand who wan't afraid to speak his mind. As someone who did a bit of Chen Taijiquan his scepticism about Taijiquans origin was a aherm.... refreshing alternative. He was also if i seem to remember a Police man in Hong Kong during the 70's, so his passion for Taijiquan was tempered by a scepticism for nonsense.
"Rum Soaked Fist" - another discussion forum ( ) with a focus on Chinese martial arts, particularly the Internal arts.
Thank you. That places looks intimidating, but the name is intriguing. This site will keep me busy for a while reading at least, but I'm not making an account there just yet.
Sad news, I met him a few times at the Festival of Chinese martials arts he organised in Oxford. Grateful to him as I gained a lot of experience in push hands there, also one of the few places to see full contact taiji in the UK. I remember when my daughter was about 15 there were too few entrants in her category and he moved her up to women's senior event which she won.I have a nice pic of him awarding her medal. Outspoken but quiet and unassuming, condolences to family and his students. Rest in peace.
I thought his belief that it came from Wu Tang was rather surprising coming from him because a) it's typical fairy tale due to b) nothing to back it up. Guess it shows anyone,no matter how critical a thinker can choose to just believe their teachers. Yeah,he was a cop in HK. If I'd discovered RSF before MAP I would have joined it,much heavier discussions with an overall vastly more experienced roster of members as regards TC/PK/HI. I see a few of our old members frequent the place now. But this joint was so much fun back in our heyday,and with the broader subject matters covered here I never regretted confining myself to this circus. Probably going to get around to it eventually-but I've been thinking that for years..... It's kinda funny about his rep of ticking people off when I can think of a list as long as my arm of TC people ticking other TCers off. I'll miss his feather ruffling.
Sad news RIP Mr Docherty TCC in the UK and round the world would be a lot lesser without all his efforts over the years. He's leaving quite a legacy.
