Ilya Profatilov
Director of Research
Affiliations: Moscow University Institute of African and Asian Studies, European Wushu Federation, Russian Wushu Federation, Beijing Mantis Boxing Research Association, Qingdao Taiji Mantis Boxing Club, Xianghu Sanda Club of Qingdao City, and honorary citizen of theYushankuan village in Haiyang, Shandong province.
Ilya founded the Jiaodong Martial Arts Preservation Project in 1997 to document and preserve the local martial arts of Shandong Peninsula. The styles include Mantis Boxing (Tanglangmen), Ground Boxing (Ditangmen), and Combat Staff Fencing (Luhegun). He is also conducting research on internal “qi” cultivation health and
meditation practices (Neigong). These peaceful religious practices originated in popular local
Taoist sects, and are the basis of the martial traditions of Shandong Peninsula. He has been researching,
practicing, and transmitting the traditional mantis fighting system for more than twenty years.
Stas Romanenko
Chief Financial Officer, Research Fellow
In addition to overseeing the JMC budget and handling logistics for the St. Petersburg branch of the team, Stas is highly active in his training and research. His current area of interest is Neigong qi cultivation and its Daoist origins.
Andrey Kolesnikov
Senior Research Fellow
Andrey has been working with the JMC since its founding in 1997. He has published articles on the genesis of traditional Chinese martial arts, and several travelogues. Andrew has interviewed and trained with most of the major representatives and carriers of martial tradition in the villages of Jiaodong Peninsula.
Dmitri Moiseev
Senior Research Fellow
Dmitri is responsible for the development of Chinese martial arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is always on the road with the other JMC members, studying, writing educational articles, and popularizing the martial arts of Jiaodong Peninsula.
Vasily Lyulyukin
Research Fellow
Vasily joined the JMC while earning his PhD at Moscow State University. So far, he has participated in one research expedition to Xi Yuanniu Village and Nantushan Village. Vasily also organizes children's traditional martial arts classes in Moscow. He is highly active in the transmission of Chinese rural martial arts in Russia.
Greg Childress
Research Fellow, Videographer
Graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Yale University, Greg is an important member of the JMC's USA branch. Greg teaches traditional village martial arts, and he has served as a videographer on three China expeditions.