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. He 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. We were very fortunate that he chose to stick around and become a core member of an amazing group. That group worked closely together for almost a decade until the Covid era scattered us all.

Jerry will always be remembered by this group. 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 that 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, Jerry brought along a batch of swords he'd inherited 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. He always seemed to be helping others. In the world of Tai Chi, he was a realist, and he was an enthusiast. 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, but he found his own way with it all, and had made his way to a much better place, when he sadly passed away whilst riding his bike.

Cycling was one of his life passions and 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 decent bikes, 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 racing 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 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 and will be missed.

*The club was called Man Lian Tai Chi Jooloboo at the time.