Aikido of Queens

The experience I’ve had with my son has been fantastic. My sister had purchased a trial membership when my son was 10. He attended four classes and loved it. Sensei Waltzer cares very deeply about his students and his impact on the students goes beyond learning Aikido techniques. The discipline, confidence and skills my son gained have enriched his life. He is now 25 and continues to train and learn.
I highly recommended Aikido of Queens to every parent that wants their child to experience a real dojo where belts are not just handed out because you attend, they are achieved through work and discipline.

Here’s a review from a past student: I have several problems with the way this place is ran and since I was young when I joined, this is review is a long time coming for me. I was in this school for a little more than 3 years. Yes, this place is expensive, and even more unrewarding if you miss class, but the sen-​sei here (the main sen-​sei at the time), Robert Waltzer, nice as he may be, sticks his nose into business that does not concern him. He attempted to become my third parent and tell me what I should and shouldn’t do in school (yes, actual public school) as well as demoted me for it in front of the rest of class. This guy actually showed up at my elementary school one day and spoke to me during lunch time. If that’s not creepy, I don’t know what is.
I’m one of the few kids in this academy that this probably happened to. The belts, competitions, trophies are only worthwhile if you see value in them, but with the way the teacher here treated me, it just pulled down my self-​esteem and created embarassment. If you’re not on this guy’s good side, don’t put this past not happening to you.
As for the actual self-​defense part, I was pretty competent. I made it to purple belt which two levels below black belt, but never got any higher because eventually, I stopped going to class when the sen-​sei kept refusing to promote me because I didn’t «have» discipline. I also never got refunded for the classes I never went to, so I’m pretty disappointed in this place. This was an extra curricular activity I really didn’t need. Recommendation, I think not. My advice is there are probably better places to send your children to, but if you choose this place, keep a close watch on the sen-​sei because he can be very daring with discipline.

If there is a negative star, i would.
I tried to take my 4 year old there, and the Sensei there is a money hunger animal. That is all i can say.
Cannot keep his promise, and try to play mind games with parents.
Brochure says one price, website says another price, he tells you another more expensive price. Then he tells you to start «TOMORROW» and do you a favor to save you 20 dollars a month for giving you a discount.
i want to pay tomorrow, but start the class beginning of the month which is 2 weeks after. He then said discount only valid if I pay and start class TOMORROW, otherwise he cannot do me that «favor».
I really dont need that kind of attitude from a «sensei» for playing mind games like that when we are all adults and have a busy life, and i dont have time to deal with that kind of things. There are other dojo where i can take my son to.
Now i understand why there is only 3 kids total in the try out class.