Aikido of Westchester

"A fantastic dojo. The instructors are the best. Firestone Sensei is a life long practitioner and have a great sense of humor. You get to practice and laugh at the same time."

"A great workout for the kids, and I love that aikido is not about the combat. There teaching style is great. Kids learn respect for the practice, the place, their senseis, and each other."

"Firestone Sensei is a great teacher! He is kind and wants people to love Aikido as much as he does because he knows how positively it will change a life. His assistant instructors are tops and they share his love for people and Aikido. The Battodo program is great also. Real Japanese swordsmanship taught by people who really love it and are all accomplished in the art."

"I began training at Aikido of Westchester almost 4 years ago. When I first spoke with Sensei Firestone I had a tone of questions for him about his training. Where and when he first started? How long he has been training? who were his Sensei's? etc..... It was important to me to find an excellent reputable instructor. Before my Aikido training I trained in Jujitsu and lets say the instructor was a bit of a phony. So it was important for me to find someone who put in the time and training needed to instruct students. Well I found the instructor and Dojo! Sensei Firestone and his wife Sylvie are two of the greatest instructor's I have ever trained with. No matter what your skill set is from beginner to advanced they know how to teach! You will find the techniques that are taught will help you survive out there on the streets. The training is intense and an excellent substitute to working out in a gym! Plus the dojo is open 7 days a week! No other dojo in Westchester offers that! The times for classes really work with just about any ones schedule."

"Began practice of Aikido at Aikido of Westchester (AOW) in 2005 along with my then teenage daughter and studied there for 6 yrs before moving to Texas where I continued my study just recently reaching the level of Shodan ( 1st Dan black belt). In my time there at AOW the dojo was always well run with absolute top notch instruction from not only the founder Douglas Firestone(Sensei) and his wife Sylvie but the camaraderie among all the students and the helpfulness of the senior students to help learn and advance was amazing and fun; emphasis on fun. It was also great exercise for someone who did not start Aikido study until I was 50 yrs old. Sensei is very much in tune with the individual capabilities and learning curve of all his students and reacts accordingly. It is truly a fantastic place to practice and learn aikido. The very solid foundation in the practice of Aikido I learned at AOW made it very easy to transition to another dojo and continue my study and recently successful test for and reach the black belt level."