Stefan was made for sports. At first he didn't actually know this, but that quickly changed that day in 1987 when he walked into the Asahi Hasselt dojo to take his his first karate lesson. He got hooked, seriously hooked, on karate. He simply had to train and he did his utmost to attend every single lesson, to learn as much and as fast as he could. One of the things he really hated in those early days was the fact that, as a fairly recent beginner, he didn't actually know all the Shotokan kata, which meant that when the higher grades practised one of the more advanced Shotokan kata, he found himself having to stand aside and watch whenever he could not follow the group. He quickly resolved this totally unsatisfactory situation by acquiring some decent karate literature, which enabled him to practise the basic moves of the different kata at home in order to catch up with the others.
There simply were no limits to his determination to improve. He had only just graded 5th kyu when he started to travel to Genk for some additional training at the Asahi Genk dojo. His karate improved dramatically and it wasn't before long that he was invited to train with the National Squad. After he graded Shodan in 1994 and with his degree in Physical Education he was ideally placed to cover for Gneo Sensei whenever his national and international obligations would prevent him from teaching at the club. It is only fair to say that, over the years, Stefan has become one of the cornerstones of our club, an invaluable asset to our club and our Sensei. Yet despite his ever increasing responsibilities within our club, Stefan has always kept his personal training well up to date. Not only is he an outstanding karate student, but he is also an excellent instructor.