STANCHO Stanchev is a Master of the Five Perfections, a traditional Chinese title he’s earned through years of learning Chinese techniques and putting his studies into practice here in Bulgaria.
Mastering Wushu (martial arts), medicine, philosophy, cooking, and culture, Stancho has laboured hard for this title that carries with it great honour and great respect.
He says, “I like the fact I can do them all, everything is one. When I practice them, this is the way for spiritual advancement. There are many paths to improvement and spirituality, but the path to the warrior is one!”
As a young man, he was extremely interested in the martial arts and spent his early 20s teaching groups of up to 2500 police officers at a time the secrets of judo. It was forbidden to teach martial arts to the public under communist rule and travelling abroad was very difficult, but due to his work, he was allowed, at the age of 23, to journey to China to study at a traditional Chinese school. He was the pupil of Guang Chen, a Master of the Five Perfections, who taught him continuously, coaching him day and night in martial arts, medicine, calligraphy, philosophy, Chinese traditional painting and cooking. Stancho stayed in China for six years and while there, he fell truly in love with the culture and practiced Wushu “everyday, all day”. He has since been practicing martial arts for 38 years and has written 25 books in Bulgarian on the subject of Chinese arts and culture. He paints in the traditional Chinese style and makes Chinese calligraphy; examples of both decorate his Sofia studio.
Fluent in Bulgarian, Chinese, and Russian, he’s improving his already working knowledge of English in order to lead exercises for harmonising the body and mind. He has had many students over the years from Bulgaria and abroad.
“The role of the teacher is to show you the way,” says Stancho, “It depends on the student how fast they will walk that way.”
Intelligent and articulate, Stancho hopes “to continue to teach people to be strong in order that they can conquer themselves, not others”.
He teaches people to be powerful not just through martial arts, but also through the practice of Chinese healing, renowned for its traditional style of finding the source of illness and treating the entire body and soul, instead of just focusing on the symptoms.
His goal in using Chinese healing is “not just to extricate the disease, but to avoid it. Together with the patient I find the cause.” Following the teachings of traditional Chinese healing, Stancho feels that “most causes are evil thoughts and evil deeds.”
For example, if one is often scared and anxious, it will affect the kidneys. Sorrow is bad for the lungs, and anger hurts the liver and gallbladder. “One must be careful to control one’s emotions”, for the consequences are harmful to both the body and the mind.
Stancho has taught people of all ages, from babies to 80-year-olds, the martial art Wushu, of which there are 1000 different styles – Kung Fu and Tai Chi being the most well known examples. He has a studio in Varna where he teaches a variety of courses, including a prenatal care course in Chi Gung for pregnant women, because he says, “it makes for an easier birth and the babies are in very good health.”
Most of his students are interested in learning the art of Chi Gung, which is a form of healing gymnastics that strengthens the body and mind. Stancho is also involved in a number of projects with non-government organisations in order to detect scoliosis in school children and to teach older people exercises that lessen osteoporosis pain.
However, one does not need to travel to Varna any longer to learn these martial arts or to be treated by traditional Chinese healing methods that date back thousands of years. Stancho has just opened a second, two-room studio in Sofia with the aim of helping people to reach a level of harmony with their bodies and their souls in the bustling, moving and grinding hub of Bulgarian affairs. He hopes to attract more students to his Shun Dao Centre where he practices Chinese healing and holds private lessons and group exercises; he is willing to teach anyone of any age or level. Patient with beginners and encouraging of those wishing to hone their skills, Stancho hopes that more people will become interested in his teachings, because they have brought him to a higher level of spirituality and comprise a lifelong discipline of body and mind.
Shun Dao Centre:
22b Hristo Belchev Street, (between Graf Ignatiev and Vitosha Blvd).
Tel: 9817078, 0887304122
