Steve Kanney, the chief instructor, is a full time professional Aikido instructor dedicated to bringing the highest level of practice to local residents in Westchester County, NY. He began Aikido training in 1978, specifically training in the headquarters dojo of the United States Aikido Federation, the New York Aikikai, from 1983 to 2009. His training emphasized timing of movement under Sugano Sensei, who is no longer teaching actively in NY at this time. Simultaneously, over nearly a 20 year period he took 30 days of seminar classes in the U.S. with Morihiro Saito Sensei, one of the most advanced students of the founder of Aikido. Due to professional obligations at the time, he was unable to become a direct student of Saito Sensei, which would have required a long term stay in Japan, but he worked to preserve the knowledge he gained on his own. In order to facilitate a shift to the next generation of instruction in the United States, he reconnected with advanced teachers of Saito's system, notably Hoa Newens Sensei (who coincidentally studied with Sugano Sensei before Saito Sensei). Morhiro Saito Sensei's approach is to preserve the teaching of the founder of Aikido, as Saito Sensei studied most intensively during the last 23 years of his life when the founder developed his weapons system. The emphasis is on direct and effective technique, strong basics, the most advanced weapons system in Aikido and breathing.
Scarsdale Aikido 4 Gray Rock Rd Scarsdale, NY 10583 914-648-0492 Contact Us
As taught, there are two methods of learning Aikido – the practice of Aikido itself and the study of other forms of knowledge, using the insight developed to better perceive the principles of Aikido. Recognizing other opportunities to study, Steve wrestled for 5 years, and practiced the following martial arts alongside his Aikido training: Jujitsu 5 years, Karate 4 years, Tai Chi from 1999 to present. He has been active in martial training since 1973. To study principles, he began the study of Chinese Zen for 10 years under a senior practitioner who stopped teaching in the United States due to health concerns. Zen and martial arts training maintain a long history of close association: “Zen discipline is simple, direct, self-reliant, self-denying…A good fighter is generally an ascetic or stoic, which means he has an iron will. This, when needed, Zen can supply.” - DT Suzuki Zen and Japanese Culture (pg 62)
Chief Instructor, Steve Kanney, executing various techniques
Aikido Westchester: Martial Arts Training in Westchester County NY
Nathalis G.Wamba started martial arts training at the age of six. He practiced Judo for over 15 years and switched to Aikido. He joined the New York Aikikai in 1982 where he trained under the tutelage of Yomitsu Yamada Sensei and Seichi Sugano Sensei. Over these years, he participated in multiple Aikido seminars in the US and abroad, focusing on instruction from Sugano Sensei and Tamura Sensei. His concentration on the training methods of Sugano Sensei offers another perspective. Additionally, his training with Tamura Sensei, the senior most practitioner of Aikido in the western hemisphere, is particularly beneficial. Along with Aikido he has also practiced Kendo and Kyudo.
In January 2010, he joined Scarsdale Aikido. Nathalis is a faculty member at Queens College and lives with his wife and their two children in Hastings on Hudson, New York.
Nathalis providing instruction during a typical class