Darcy Brockbank

[Steve Waszak]

Really in too much shock to comment properly... Unfathomable loss.  Deepest condolences to his family and friends. 

[cisco-san]

Unfortunately I never met him. But his articles are incredible… !!!!

My deepest condolences to his family. RIP Darcy

[Gabriel L]

Shocking and deeply saddening. What a tremendous loss for the community, to say nothing of his friends and family.

[Eric Santucci]

Incredibly sad to have seen this news today. Like many others, I too exchanged several messages with Darcy over the years and he was always so helpful and forthcoming with his freely shared knowledge. My brother and I met Darcy in person for the first time at the San Fran Token Kai in the early 2000s, which is a great memory. My deepest condolences  to all family and friends. 

[Nikanoru]

Never had the pleasure to meet him in person but had a few contacts over the email with him on general collectors things. He didn’t know me at all but was always nice, responsive, frank and straightforward.

I visit his website almost every day as an online reference source for top class items. Just read about new stuff coming up and was expecting to see it and have a pro reading material. Always something to learn.

Terrible loss to the community. I will really miss the knowledge he shared and displayed. A true role model.

I would be happy to contribute in any way to protection of his heritage.

May you rest in peace, Darcy.

[Bob M.]

Although we never met in person , I had the pleasure of dealing with and speaking to him on numerous occasions during the first decade of the 2000's . Apart from the sword dealing side , we got on very well and had arranged for him and his English girlfriend to stay with us on their forthcoming trip to the U.K. Unfortunately , their relationship foundered and the trip never happened . 

 

Indirectly of course , he sent me down the Tiger Tsuba path , when I bought the Katsuhira off him. Ford later recreated it's missing twin as seen in his video.

 

Lots of other tales to tell ...  They can wait for another day .

 

My condolences to his family , friends and business partners . Once again we find ourselves robbed of a great talent and personality before his time.

 

R.I.P.

 

 

[Jean]

I am devastated, I have known him for decades since he posted a Miike sword for kantei that I identified. Among my best blades in my Gokaden collection, I got the Naoe Shizu and the Tametsugu from him. We exchanged alot along the years discussing the Aoi Art weekly kantei. I met him and Curran in Japan during my last DTI. I’ll miss him.

I remember when he told me he had discussed at length my Hôsho/Tegai blade with Bobby and Guido. They were the 3 Musketeers, remains only Bobby.

My mind is in turmoil…

[Fabian]

what bad news, he was a wonderful person with great knowledge that he loved to share with everyone. the community and the world lose a wonderful person over a dear friend. condolences.. 😢 

[Vermithrax16]

Just feel sick, terrible. Very sorry for his friends and family.

[Robert Mormile]

My sincere condolences to his family. This is a terrible loss to the global Nihonto community. I feel a debt of gratitude to Darcy for significantly raising the bar for nihonto research and photography in the West.  The works he shared with us are not often available for viewing outside Japan. I had the pleasure to spend two days with Darcy talking swords, taking photos and sharing meals on occasions years ago. Very passionate guy searching for the truth. He will be sorely missed. RIP

 

Robert

[Fuuten]

What an unreal and unexpected thing to read. My thoughts and prayers go out to all his friends and family. I think even to the most uneducated on Nihonto, such as myself his knowledge, skill in presenting blades and personality was of a class far apart and as said, pretty much above the rest and in a league of his own.

[Surfson]

Let me add my condolences to those expressed thus far.  I too am crushed by this ever so sad news.  He was a great student of nihonto, with unparalleled knowledge and analytical skills.  Along with others in our field, I will miss him greatly.  

[Riff]

Condolences to his family. Definitely a big loss to the Nihonto community.

[uwe]

It is strange!

Although I never met or talked to him it feels like a good friend has left the scene. A gap will remain….

My deepest condolences.
RIP Darcy!

[Brian]

He was hyper intelligent and I think a REAL entrepreneur. When he went into something, I get the feeling that he went in 110%.
His ability to jump into Nihonto and make such huge strides in a relatively short time was remarkable. He had friends and customers at the highest levels of the Nihonto world.
But I think with his intelligence came overthinking, and he often was deeply troubled by things that happened in life and the Nihonto community. We often chatted about the bad side of this hobby and who was doing what. He didn't tolerate unethical dealings and fraud. He left a legacy, one that his detractors can never hope to achieve even 10% of.
Strange guy at times, but one that will be sorely missed. Hope we can continue his legacy.
 

[Gakusee]

You are so right, Brian. Hyper intelligent, cerebral and over analytical, which naturally   lent itself to dissection of behaviours, moral codes, ethical standards…. And sometimes approaching matters clinically and logically, while in our life often emotions and irrationality rule. He sought honesty in people and would give people second chances, even if the initial reaction might have been explosive. 
 

But I appreciated that as we connected on that moral plane in the approach to the world. 

For him, the commercial aspect took second place, way behind the educational aspect and connecting with people. He would love to find the “right” item for the “right” person, sometimes going through years-long hurdles and obstacles and personal difficulty to facilitate this for his close circle. 

 

And the sleepless nights he spent answering even the most ridiculous of emails and random enquiries in his honest, lengthy, didactic manner. Trying to teach, elucidate, steer. Often taking other people’s burdens upon himself. 
 

Anyway, I am sure several of the board members can go on and on and on even more than me. 
 

So very sad really…. shattering ….and frankly unfair to have gone so young, with so much potential and with his big, generous heart…..

[Stephen]

Not his biggest footprint but a very heavy one in Nihonto world.

The danger of uchiko and the damage it does to polished blades.

Totally changed our way of maintenance, maybe someone else said it before but he brought the point home loud and clear.

A legacy of its own.

 

 

 

 

[Alex A]

Only knew Darcy by what he wrote here, his website, and emails, just me mithering him with newbie questions and the like.

 

In a vastly different league to me, but he was never on a high horse., had great respect for him.

 

All that, and never even know what he looked like

 

Just his words.

 

Condolences to his family and friends.

[Wah]

I have been speechless to hear of this trajedy of Darcy's passing. This past year many times, while reading his articles on Soshu, I caught myself thinking, this Darcy is a treasure to the sword society. His writeups didn't just say, it is this maker and you need to believe me, but his articles explained in detail "why" it was who he said. 

In honor of Darcy, can NMB start a "Wall of Honor" area of the forum to celebrate Darcy and others who have touched our lives but have passed on?

Perhaps this area could show lists of names, when the name is clicked, the reader could see a picture, description of who they were and articles by that person? 

RIP Darcy

 

Stephen T.

[Brian]

I'll see what i can arrange

 

[Stephen]

Robert H is going to post a tribute you'll see some photos of what he looked like.

[Nickupero]

I heard about this and my immediate instinct was to come here which I know he always had a place,  I know he was loved by many here, and with good reason. 

Darcy was no doubt a special guy with a vast amount of Knowledge, and he did contribute so much to the sword community. My deepest condolences to his loved ones and everyone who knew him!!!

The funniest and most recent conversation I remember having with him was how he managed to fly where he wanted in 1st class without ever actually paying for it. Darcy was someone where if he put his mind and energy to it he could solve virtually anything. He will be missed, Rest In Peace my fellow Canadian and Nihonto brother. 

[Joel Brockbank]

Hello to everyone on this thread. I am Darcy's younger brother and on behalf of our family thank you all for all of your comments about my brother. This is a tough time for our family especially after dealing with the recent loss of our father and comments such as these help us heal.

 

With respect to preserving his nihonto web content, there is nothing that we would like more than to have his content preserved and remain available for those that share his passion.

 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like more information.

 

Regards,

-joel

[Curran]

21 minutes ago, Joel Brockbank said:

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like more information.

Regards,

-joel

 

Hi Joel,

    Sorry that we make introductions this way. I've known your two brothers for a long time.  Just let us know how we can help.

 

Curran

[Brian]

We're all here if you need anything at all Joel.
Guys all over the world, so no worries if you need anything international. Once things calm down a bit, I'll be in touch to make sure the website remains and is preserved in whatever form is best. Luckily you have good people like Ted and others that I am sure will assist in many ways too. We can all hope to have made an impact on others like your brother did.
If you have any pics of him to share, they would be welcome.

 

Brian

[Joel Brockbank]

56 minutes ago, Curran said:

 

Hi Joel,

    Sorry that we make introductions this way. I've known your two brothers for a long time.  Just let us know how we can help.

 

Curran

 

 

13 minutes ago, Brian said:

We're all here if you need anything at all Joel.
Guys all over the world, so no worries if you need anything international. Once things calm down a bit, I'll be in touch to make sure the website remains and is preserved in whatever form is best. Luckily you have good people like Ted and others that I am sure will assist in many ways too. We can all hope to have made an impact on others like your brother did.
If you have any pics of him to share, they would be welcome.

 

Brian

 

Hi Curran, it is good to meet you - I do wish it was under better circumstances.

 

Brian, thank you very much - I appreciate you thinking about preserving his web content. I am not sure how to go about transferring those web properties as I don't think we will have a death certificate for quite some time. I scraped the content and saved it locally in case it drops offline. We can figure something out later, he would have definitely wanted that content to remain in the community.

 

Here is a picture from September with Darcy, our mother and our late father.

 

Again, thank-you all for your kindness.

 

[Stephen]

Joel.

Some FB condolences

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1542406446018557/permalink/3092617157664137/

[Andy]

The shock and grief of the news of Darcy's passing has robbed me of words. So much has been said about this great man. I myself owe so much to Darcy, his generosity to me and the Nihonto world is unmatched. I knew him for many many years and over this time had the honor and privilege to learn so much from him. He helped me personally and with my swords. He will truly be missed by all. He was a true Nihonto aficionado and my collection wouldn't be what it is today without his help. My deepest condolences and prayers for his family and closet friends.

[Grey Doffin]

Just like when a large tree falls in the forest, he will be missed.

Grey

[Ronin 47]

Darcy was a guiding light in the world of Nihonto, and I spent many hours reading his erudite write ups, blog postings and messages here on this forum. His scholarship and thoughtful analysis will be dearly missed. My condolences to his family.

 

 

-Austin