Don is an academic at Nottingham Business School specialising in: the sociological side of management accounting; public services management; and strategy. He has been studying Tai Chi for 20 years and has been part of the Zhong Ding organisation for the past 15 years.

Prior to taking up Tai Chi Don studied Judo at school and Shukokai Karate to purple belt in the 1970's. He also started a career in fencing at the same time. He has continued with this and is currently a County Coach at foil. Don decided to try Tai Chi class because his wife had begun a class as therapy for an injured leg from a fencing accident.

His first association with the Zhong Ding organisation was when he met Ian Cassetari and Darren Robert at a push hands seminar. Realising they were from the same region, Don started to attend classes run Steve Johnson in the East Midlands. This then provided him with a link to Master Instructor John Higginson, based in Manchester (a member of the Zhong Ding organisation). Don travelled many miles back and forth to Manchester with Darren and Ian to attend seminars run by Master Instructor John Higginson and subsequently became one of his "inside the door" students.

As his Tai Chi experience increased, Don was given the opportunity to travel with Master Sutton and others to Beijing to study Baguazhang with Master Gao. Whilst in China, he observed how the Chinese approach is to teach a student Xingyiquan first, then Baguazhang and finally Tai Chi. He now studies and teaches all three arts.

Master Sutton introduced and inducted Don to the Malay arts of Silat. Don is now an instructor in Silat Melayu Lian Padukan, Silat Embo, Seni Silat Tari and a graduate of Silat Harimau.

Don believes these arts can be of benefit to every aspect of ones life and help to achieve our full potential. Each person has a different path to travel, but study of the art allows a person to explore all aspects of their life and can give focus and direction.

Don has a number of "inside the door" students who he is helping to achieve their particular requirements with their art:

He tries to tailor his teaching to help each to succeed with their personal requirements.