Dmitriy Petrov

I graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a degree in “Software for Computers and Automation Systems” (IU-7). I work as a free lancer in information technologies.

I do roller blading, bicycle and snowboarding. I like to work with my hands, I cook, bake yeast-free bread. I’m planning to start growing fruit and vegetables, beekeeping, cheesemaking, distilling and brewing.

In my childhood I couldn’t be called a healthy child. Before finishing the school I could not do a pull up, or to run a kilometer distance. Studying at a school desk I got a spinal curvature that made my body crooked.


I couldn’t understand why adults were blindly following the rules invented by someone, and why they wanted me to do the same. I was always searching for my place in the world, looking deeper, trying to discover the essence.

It was the end of my first year in the University, when I was once walking down the street, and I got a flash of insight. I could follow the model created by the society: to graduate from the university, to find a job, to make a career, to get married and to have children, to make money.

But sooner or later my health would not be the same any more, my kids would grow up and leave me, money would not bring satisfaction, I would lose interest in doing things. In poor health, lonely, I would wait for my death to come, as there would be nothing ahead, but death, because everything else would be already gone. And I decided that I would be ready to sacrifice everything: wealth, fame, entertainment, I would even die young, not to let this happen. If a person makes such a choice consciously, he will not step back. He knows, what will happen, if he misses the step.

I started looking for Teachers – people who would be able to teach me the way to live my life and not to regret it afterwards. My first Teacher was Victor Vasilievich Mezer. He made me understand the real essence of martial arts – not to fight, even when it seems impossible to win without fighting. He was the first person to tell me about Qigong. And I realized that it was exactly what I had been looking for.

My next Teacher was Ashin Valeriy Leonidovich from Zhong Yuan Qigong school of master Xu Mingtang. He taught me the main principles of Qigong, and I learned to use them while practicing and in my everyday life.

Once, when I was practicing Qigong in a park, I met Gatalskiy Eduard Nikolaevich. He helped me to straighten my spine and to balance my body, to free my heart of emotional stress. He showed me the way to empty my mind, I got better understanding of the breathing principles and from him I got to know about the wonderful Taijiqigong of master Zhou Yi and the way it was used in Taijiquan Yang style.

Presently I’m practicing these exercises at the group classes under his guidance and on my own during my everyday practice sessions.

My life of searching has taught me the following: it doesn’t matter how many Teachers you’ve had. The only one, who can give you the real knowledge, is inside you. If you’re not trying to listen to him constantly and if you are not following his advice, mistakes are inevitable.