My name is Stefan Winter. I started Aikido practice in the very hot summer of 2003 with Peter Heurich and Michael Skotnik in Hanau. In 2004 I attended an international Aikido seminar organized by Ute and Mark van Meerendonk in Nidda, for which they had invited Nemoto-Sensei from Iwama. In the years from 2006 to 2009, in 2014, and in 2018 I practiced intensively for several weeks at Nemoto-Sensei’s dojo in Iwama, partially also at the Ibaraki-Shibu-Dojo, and with Shibata-Sensei in Shiogama.
In Germany I continued practicing regularly in Hanau through 2009, followed by practice in Darmstadt-Griesheim with Dagmar Lackinger and Christian Holst, and started building up a practice group in Rüsselsheim with Friedel Schober from 2010, where I was regularly instructing.
In 2019 I moved to the greater Munich area, where I resumed teaching a smaller group of Aikido enthusiasts in 2020. Whenever possible, I keep attending the seminars offered by Ute and Mark van Meerendonk in the main dojo of the Bundesverbands Takemusu Aikido association. I do my best to teach Aikido as it has been passed to me by my teachers in a way that creates a safe and joyful practice environment to strengthen one’s body and mind.
I am currently holding a 4th dan degree from the world Aikido association Aikikai in Tokyo.