It was through his children that Stephen was introduced too Aikido.

He competed in Wrestling at a local club for several years and for a short period in his teens Stephen tried Karate.

A strong influence in the development of Stephen’s Aikido has been from attending Intensive week long training sessions run by Alan Roberts Sensei in Auckland, as well as the support from the senior students and Sensei at Takemusu Aikido Canterbury.

 He also been fortunate to have several trips to Japan since 2012. The last two were to the Ibrarki dojo in Iwama (O’Sensei’s , dojo) as Uchi-deshi (live in student) which were great experiences.

Stephen is a professional photographer based in Christchurch, when he’s not working or doing Aikido, he’ll be out somewhere on his motorcycle.