Stefan is a lifelong martial artist who fell in love with genuine sword fighting nearly 7 years ago. He has been practicing martial arts since 1990, from Shitō-ryū karate as a child, to Wing Chun, Xingyi and Chen Taiji, to competitive ring fighting in the Muay Thai circuit in Oakland. A lover of both variety and single-minded obsessive focus, he has dedicated his life for the past fifteen years to the study, practice and instruction of Wujiquan kungfu, as the senior student under the headmaster.

What started as merely a means to find other martial artists to spar, quickly became a passion in and of itself when Stefan joined the Sacramento Historical Fencing Academy in late 2019 and began training with the longsword. During his time attending classes, fencing, competing in tournaments, and exploring the other KdF weapons, Stefan discovered that his true interest within the KdF tradition was Fechtschule-style fencing and the earlier, less-polite methods/weapons, like the Messer.

Outside of martial arts, Stefan has a masters degree in chemistry, is a certified ACE personal trainer, and an expert on human anatomy/movement and exercise physiology. He is an apprentice bladesmith and amateur blacksmith/leatherworker/tinkerer.

Stefan teaches KdF Messer, martial arts conditioning, boxing/Muay Thai, and push hand at SHFA.

Private sessions are available by appointment for any/all levels of fitness/conditioning, boxing/Muay Thai, Messer, and push hands ($60/hr, 1 hour minimum per session)