About Lee Stemm your Instructor

Lee has 30 years martial arts experience and is currently holding a 3^rd Dan Yoshinkan Aikido Ranking and an International Yoshinkan Federation Instructors Certificate. She is also a qualified corporate conflict resolution trainer, coach and counsellor; working in the corporate field for the past 10 years. She has just returned from Japan and is now wanting to combine her skills together creating programs designed to assist people in building more confidence, stronger relationships, improved health and lifestyle, and in general a higher quality of life.

Programs Available

• General Adult Aikido Classes - PCYC Woodridge Fridays 10.30am – 11.30am (more classes will be commencing soon)
• Introductory Self Defence and Aikido Classes – PCYC Woodridge Fridays 9.30am – 10.30am (more classes will be commencing soon)
• School Programs for Teens – Contract us regarding these programs
• Corporate – Team building and Health Programs – Contract us regarding these programs
• Special groups training – contact us and we will specialise your training around your needs

Children's classes commencing Now

The Children’s classes are fun and energetic. These classes emphasise the forms and practical understanding of aikido principles of self defence, harmonising with others, working together and building self confidence and co-ordination. Unlike senior practice, only basic forms of Aikido are taught. Harmful and dangerous forms of Aikido are avoided in favour of flowing, learning with your partner, co-operation and improving fitness and health with this dynamic program.

The children learn how to stay safe and deal with aggressors by controlling the attacker (not defeating them). They also practise rolling and tumbling to develop physical balance and flexibility of movement

Parents are encouraged to stay and watch the classes. This lets the parents see what we are doing and how the children are developing their physical coordination, skill and technique throughout their training.

We Do Not ...... teach to punch or kick another child as a way of settling a dispute.

Many parents want their young children to learn techniques of self protection so that they will be more self confident, self reliant and better able to deal with ever present bullying at school. Aikido teaches effective collaborative methods of controlling aggressive behaviour that gives your child a way to preserve their integrity and stay

Classes commencing Monday 19th July 2010 - First Class FREE

General Adult Aikido Classes - PCYC Woodridge

Class bookings being taken now for 2010

Call Lee on 1300 661 453 for further enquires or bookings 

Combing Self Defence and Conflict Resolution Programs now available

Lee is running a 6 week introductory aikido self defence and conflict resolution program at the New Farm State School Community Hall. . This program is based on Aikido a martial art that trains with a partner using locks, throws and restraining techniques from someone grapping, hitting and pushing them. One of the elements which sets aikido apart from many other martial arts is the pre-dominate role of the mind, and its functions of control, direction, and power. Through appropriate training you are encouraged to acquire and develop a feeling of calmness, stability and centralization of your whole being, both mind and body. Harmonizing is an important element in aikido; therefore you must be responsible for not inflicting unnecessary damage upon your attacker. It is extremely important to respond with effectiveness and to take responsibility in how you use your skill.

The second part of the program addresses awareness of conflict. Awareness is the foundation of effective readiness. You will be involved in 10 minute group discussions around conflict resolution; covering topics such as understanding the early clues of conflict and how to handle the conflict before it reaches the stage of self defence. Each participant will take home hints and tips on the topic that has been discussed to assist them in developing more self awareness, higher self confidence and the ability to communicate without being defensive. Lee believes that having the awareness is a large part of ensuring personal safety.

Not only does this program address personal safety it also enhances physical fitness; improving your health and vitality through regular exercise and being part of a group that‘s main purpose is to support each other through social interaction.

About Yoshinkan Aikido

Gozo Shioda, founder of Yoshinkan Aikido was a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido. Yoshinkan means to ‘cultivate mind and spirit’. This principal reflects his desire that through aikido, and the mental and spiritual training that goes with it, people will be better able to play a useful role in society.

Yoshinkan aikido is well-known throughout the world, and people of many nationalities are training. Every year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police sends ten of its members (one at least third Dan in kendo or judo) to spend one year as ‘special students’ in the Yoshinkan Headquarters Dojo in Tokyo. Training Yoshinkan aikido gives officers the chance to develop and extend their personal and professional skills, and enables them to become aikido instructors in the Women’s police School in Tokyo.

Self Defence in Aikido

As a self defence art, aikido recognizes that one individual attacked by another has the right to defend themselves against that aggression.

But how will they defend themselves? This will depend upon the degree of their personal development. If the person is still on a primitive level – mentally and /or physically – they may react wildly (often ineffectively); from the depths of their lack of preparation, they may clumsily inflict whatever damage they can upon the aggressor. Or, if skilled in one of the more deadly of the self-defence arts, they may cold-bloodedly proceed to serious injure if not actually kill the attacker.

Using aikido properly however, an unjust and violent aggression can be neutralized swiftly and cleanly with demonstrated control over all the aspects of attack and defence – so that effective self-defence becomes possible without the necessity for inflicting serious injury upon an aggressor.

In other words aikido says that you must be responsible for not inflicting unnecessary damage upon your attacker. The attacker is operating on a lower level. You aspire to a superior level where your proven ability, well earned self-confidence, and refinement of technique, will allow you to defend yourself without resorting to the brutal methods so often taught as legitimate means of self-defence.

The inner factors: the role of the mind

The mind leads the body! One of the elements which sets aikido apart from many other martial arts is the pre-dominate role of the mind, and its functions of control, direction, and power. Through appropriate training you are encouraged to acquire and develop a feeling of calmness, stability and centralization of your whole being, both mind and body. The Achievement of balance and unification in your daily life. It has the aim to achieve total coordination and harmony of mind and body, of individuals and their environment.

You will start to find yourself seeing, understanding, and responding with extraordinary clarity and intensity. This ‘clear vision’ is possible because effective centralisation acts as a screen between you and the often confusing, disturbing sequence of events accompanying any form of tension, conflict and stress.

The art of centralization, this means adopting a new point of reference, a new platform from which you can exercise a more objective form of control over events and over yourself.

But such objectivity – i.e., a clear understanding of the nature, extent, and complexity of a given problem, is impossible if your mind is obsessed by that problem, unable to consider it dispassionately. Objectivity requires as much impartiality as you can muster, and this will depend, in turn, upon the degree of mental independence you have achieved.

If you are not capable of maintaining this mental distance between yourself and the events that unfold – or even explode – around you, then the events will begin to dominate you and your control will disappear. Clarity of vision, in turn, has two aspects: the first is awareness, which covers the entire field being perceived; the second is concentration, which is related to a specific event, person or persons within the field.

Awareness is the foundation of effective readiness. The aikido practitioner seems to ‘sense’ when the attack is coming, closing the attacker at any given moment, even if the attacker is behind them. And this perception is blended smoothly with the strategy of defence that his/her reactions will be coordinated with the various attacks considered as a whole.

Did you know that more women are attacked by someone they know.........?

When physical violence occurs, women were more likely to be pushed, grabbed, shoved or threatened than they were to be slapped, choked or beaten. Of the 4.9% of women (338,700) who experienced physical violence by a man In a 12 month period, 13% experienced a threat or attempt only; and a further 31% were pushed, grabbed or shoved either alone, or in conjunction with threats or attempts.

More women experienced physical violence from a current or previous partner than from a stranger or another man known to them (such as a relative, friend, work colleague or professional). In the previous 12 month period, 104,600 women experienced physical violence by their current partner, 75,800 by a previous partner and 67,300 by a stranger.

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