At the church yesterday during a beautiful funeral service, the priest said:

“The more impact people who pass away have had on us, the more grief we show”

Considering the high level of emotions showed in the church yesterday, it is pretty clear that Stefan made a huge impact on people.

We were almost all present from his other family, the JKD family. We are so thankful that we were allowed to share this moment.

Our friends Håkon and Oyvind from Norway made a beautiful performance at the church, everyone was very touched by the ceremony.

We gathered afterwards and were able to talk to different people, it was peaceful and filled with great memories.

Stefan received an incredible amount of telegrams that were displayed. Messages from Spain and Poland were read.

Stefan´s mother asked Micke about our JKD training, she wanted to make sure he would go on. There is no question in his mind, JKD is a part of Mikael, quitting is just not an option.

After the gathering, The JKD brothers went to take a picture at Stefan´s favorite place, The JKD Rock. Unfortunately my camera fell on the ground and broke, but that did not stop us, we took pictures with a cell phone and as it was dark, we used the lights of one of our cars.

We went back to the hotel and discussed about various JKD topics, friendship, memories,  future plans, seminars in Sweden Norway and Poland were also discussed.

October 27^th, 2011, a day full of emotions,

Rest in Peace Stefan Nikander,

Until we  meet again.

Tomorow, october 27th, 2011 at 13.00 in Nynäshamn, Sweden.

JKD stockholm, together with our friends from Norway and Nynäshamn, will pay our respects and say our last goodbyes to our friend Stefan Nikander.

We bring messages and thoughts from the Wong Family and the Joe Family and from JKD friends from  the USA, Canada, Polen, England and Spain.

Mikael was contacted by Simon Kölle who wanted to write an article about Stefan. Micke also talked to Krina who sent him a text to add to the article, here is a short english version.

When I decided to write about Stefan Nikander´s sudden passing in October, I received a lot of emails and phone calls. Everybody wanted to share their feelings about him and it was clear to me that he had impacted a lot of people. One of Stefan´s friends and JKD instructor Mikael Egidéus was willing to give me informations even during these difficult times; I thank Mikael for his disponibility.

Mikael says:
“Men with great passion are not that common nowadays, Stefan was a man with great passion for training, especially JKD, he was a really appreciated Karate instructor for children as well, he had groups in Bredäng and Nynäshamn.”

Stefan was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2003,  got treatment and lost his physical condition but when he got better,  he trained himself back into a  high level shape. His recovery fascinated a lot of people and me not the least. I flirted a bit with JKD in the 90´s and this is when I heard about Stefan and his schools in bredäng and Nynäshamn.

Mikael continues about Stefan:
“ I never met someone who really lives for something, the first time I met him was in the 90´s, I thought I would never get home that day after the training session, he could talk hours about every single detail of the training. The library in his basement is full of all kinds of martial arts books, a couple thousands at least and none of them is not read, they are more “over read”, torn and full of notes, there was nothing Stefan did not know about martial arts. Stefan also made his own training equipment just like Bruce Lee did. The physical training was as important as the books, being a martial artist and not in shape was not an option, the weight lifting was extreme, I remember our Power factor and Static Contraction Training sessions followed by three hours sparring, it felt in any fiber of the body the day after !
This is how I will remember Stefan, training with passion, creativity and laughter, broken ribs, swollen hands, bloody noses, sweaty training rooms, talks about JKD at his place, training at Ted ´s place in L.A, hours long phone calls about training, all this was Stefan…
I will always have in my mind the time when on stage, during an exhibition in Uppsala in 2003, his balance was not right, something was wrong and it was the first meeting with the tumor which became Stefan biggest fight.
RIP Stefan, my old friend… “

One Of Bruce Lee´s students Ted Wong perpetuated Bruce´s legacy to the best until he passed away also quite recently. JKD Sweden evolved a lot thanks to Ted Wong and Stefan. Ted Wong was one of only two people who obtained the highest rank in JKD; Ted was Bruce Lee´s private training partner. A lot of the modifications that Bruce discovered for his martial art were made possible thanks to his close relation with Ted Wong.

Here is what the Ted Wong Family says about Stefan´s passing:
“Stefan had a high moral standard in life and in martial art Jeet Kune Do. He’s honest, humble, and charismatic.
Stefan had studied under Ted Wong for a long time. He’s been certified by Ted Wong in teaching Jeet Kune Do in Sweden. He was one of the few Ted Wong students who takes royalty and commitment in Jeet kune Do very seriously. Ted invited Stefan be one of his student instructors to the Florida Summit in unveiling the TED WONG JEET KUNE DO ceremony.

Most of all, Stefan was a loving family man. We will miss him dearly. May he rest in Peace.

From the TWJKD Family”

Stefan organized a JKD seminar with Ted Wong on May 25th, 1996 in Bredäng, this is an historical date because it was the first time Ted visited Scandinavia, Stefan continued organizing seminars with Ted Wong in Sweden and the last one was in 2009 in Nynäshamn. His great passion also took him all the way to the USA to train and participate in seminars with Ted Wong and other Bruce Lee students.
Stefan even taught during seminars that he organized in Sweden and other countries for many years.
The JKD that Stefan trained was according to Ted Wong´s teachings, what is called today TWJKD. Stefan was also a certified instructor under Ted Wong in Scandinavia.
Jeet Kune Do Stockholm is the Swedish school who trains and teaches JKD as taught by Ted Wong today; it is run by instructor Mikael Egidéus and Gina  ( Mikael´s private student since 2005).

I could write a lot about Stefan. He was loved from a lot of people and inspired even more. Stefan will be buried on Thursday. He will be missed from his family, students and even from people who never even met him.

For more information about JKD and training in Stockholm, contact Mikael Egidéus: mikaeljkd@live.com

I met Stefan in 2004, he was already in battle against this tumor, I remember thinking he was really strong minded, someone who does not give up, ever.

In 2010 it was time for him to take another round against this thing.

I remember we went down to Nynäshamn a couple of times to train with him, each time I told Micke I was so amazed by the energy Stefan had, we could not stop him, he was so full of life.

That made me believe until the end that he would win this, no matter what.

The last time I met Stefan was in August this year, it was difficult but also inspiring because of the light of hope he was spreading, I remember him telling us:

“I am back”!

I thought if someone is determined enough to beat this thing, it is Stefan! I told him we knew he would make it and we were all waiting for him.

There is no way I was prepared for Micke´s phone call yesterday morning.

Micke  took care of informing us and some close friends in The US, Spain, Norway, Polen and Canada. After a while it came out officially on FB as well.

I am writing this now, out of respect for Stefan.

We are deeply hurt by his passing, first Ted then Stefan; it was certainly not their time to go, but I like to believe that Stefan has now met his hero up there and that together with Ted, the three of them are united and at peace, they certainly have a lot to talk about.

It is up to us to go on now. I can for sure say that all of us who have been training JKD in Sweden and in Scandinavia, will go on in memory of a great Man.

Stefan did not lose his battle! Stefan was called up there by Bruce and Ted because they felt it was time. This is anyway what I want to believe.

REST IN PEACE Stefan, you and your accomplishments will never be forgotten.