Customer Reviews

13 reviews

• TaijiChump

  A truthfully told and hilarious history along with a wonderful window on worlds mostly beyond my ken (so far as i can gather in any case). Dan's devilish sense of humour & the rich threads of irony in life's tapestry that he identifies & elucidates moved me to mirth more than once. That said, there are no holds barred in the poignancy & disclosure departments either and many ahead from those days might blush or cry if they were only alive to know. My one disappointment in this cracking candid ball of yarn from the glory days of 'what kung fu dat' was in reaching the end too soon and feeling that I'd only all too recently gotten started.
  
  Thanks a million, Dan for the incandescent insights into some of the major makings of the man. Here's to you, who's like you? none but the devil himself that I knew.
  
  "Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.
  Death closes all; but something ere the end,
  Some work of noble note may yet be done,
  Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
  The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
  The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
  Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
  'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
  Push off, and sitting well in order smite
  The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
  To sail beyond the sunset and the baths
  Of all the western stars, until I die.
  It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
  It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
  And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
  Though much is taken, much abides; and though
  We are not now that strength which in old days
  Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,
  One equal temper of heroic hearts,
  Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
  To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
  

• Mattias Nyrell

  Wild Colonial Boy - Tales of a Kung Fu Cop, is Dan Docherty's latest book. An autobiographical novel spanning the time from Dan's childhood in Glasgow through his time in the Royal Hong Kong Police, and training with Tai Chi Chuan Sifu Cheng Tin-Hung until his return to London in the mid-eighties. For all of Dan's many students, it is, of course, more or less irresistible, but I think it contains a lot of material of interest for everyone else too. The small chapters, each dealing with a separate topic, makes it easy to read and hard to put down.

• N Walser

  Mr Docherty's telling of his adventures in Hong Kong rings with adventure and wit. The peculiarities of the Royal Hong Kong Police, the dealings and intrigues of both officers and citizens alike, are brought to vivid life by a narrator whose telegraphic style is by turns droll and colourful. I would recommend this book as a window into a time and place that hardly seems possible now, from the pen of a martial arts maverick who is sometimes errant, sometimes righteous, but never dull.

• Tim Jones

  Not really a novel as described in the blurb but a very entertaining collection of anecdotes from an unusual life. They start in Dan’s formative years in Glasgow through his time in the Royal Hong Kong Police and finish when he started to teach taijiquan for a living in London. I am looking forward to the “Water Wars” and other tales in volume II.
  This book gives a real flavour of life in the second half of the C20 both in the UK, Hong Kong and as a Brit travelling abroad when Lonely Planet was in its infancy. Well worth a read even if you are not a student of Dan’s. I highly recommend it.

• Juha Manninen

  Loved this book. Not so your basic novel, but more of collection of experiences.
  Written in dry and sarcastic way, which may put the reader a bit off balance from time to time.
  I have known Mr. Docherty for over 20 years, and have to say this book describes his character perfectly. Slaintè my friend!

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