Jerry Burchett

This is a posthumous entry for a much loved former teacher at Wu Kong, Jerry Burchett.

Jerry had a long love of Tai Chi and had studied many years of Wu Style Tai Chi in Brighton under Brian Cooper as well as some Chen Style under Dan Chisolm, before he followed his constant companion Kwan Lam to a Chen Style Class at Wu Kong sometime around 2011 (the club was called Man Lian Tai Chi Jooloboo at the time). We were very fortunate that he chose to stick around and become a core member of an amazing group who worked closely together for almost a decade, until the Covid era scattered us all.

He will always be remembered by this group, and in particular on this teacher's page we'd like to remember him for keeping the club going whilst head teacher Ali was on a long stretch of paternity leave in 2015. Classes were held at the Cornerstone Centre in Hove at the time and Jerry, alongside Keith Lucas, did such a good job during this time that in fact the membership grew and the pace of learning forms stepped up noticeably. Without Jerry and Keith, the group would not have been able to carry on.

Later, just prior to the Covid era, so around 2018, Jerry brought along a batch of swords he'd inherited from his former Chen style group and taught the group the Chen Style Sword Form at Exeter Street Hall. That too was immensely popular and we hope to return to it in his honour in the future.

Jerry was a generous and bright soul, he had a wry sense of humour and often a glint in his eye. In the world of Tai Chi, he was a realist, and he was an enthusiast. Although life dealt him some blows around the time he first joined Wu Kong, and he had various ailments of mind and body to work through, he found his own way with it all, and had made his way to a much better place, indeed had never been so good, when he sadly passed away whilst riding his bike.

Cycling was one of his other life passions, indeed he had been a keen cyclist since he was a kid. Upon leaving school he'd persuaded his mate to go off and do a mountain stage of the tour de france. They lacked the proper equipment, such as tents or thermals to stave off the icy climes, and money to buy such things as food, but they made it to the top of the mountain nonetheless.

Sadly, or perhaps fittingly, it seems Jerry was pegging up another hill on his bike somewhere on a route local to his home in Ardingly, when he had a heart attack. People found him whilst he was still conscious, and tried to save him with a nearby defibrillator, but all to no avail. A look on Jerry's phone suggested he may have been trying to beat his personal best time on that route.

Jerry will be remembered fondly by those who were lucky to know him and train with him.