Chief Instructor Aaron Cass first found Aikido through his interest in Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. He began training at Portsmouth Aikido at the age of 17 and soon fell in love with the art, happy to have found a way to put his beliefs into practice. After receiving his white belt, he left for the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied under a variety of talented instructors including Martha Jordan, Linda Holiday and Yoshi Shibata.

After six years in California, Aaron moved to Wakayama, Japan, the birthplace of O-Sensei, to pursue his interest in Aikido. While there, he was deeply influenced by his teachers Yasuo Hashimoto and Yukio Takahashi. They were powerful and effective without using force, and they embodied the principles of the art in a way that Aaron had not yet known possible.

Upon returning home to New Hampshire, Aaron resumed his practice at Portsmouth Aikido and took over for Judy Ringer as Chief Instructor in 2009. When not in the dojo, Aaron trains under a variety of instructors including David Halprin, William Gleason, Mary Heiny and others. By day, Aaron is a high school English teacher and is the co-creator of Compassion in Care Training, a program designed to teach medical care providers to manage conflict and use the principles of Aikido to stay safe when patients become physically aggressive. Aaron currently holds the rank of 5th degree black belt, Shidoin.

Senior Instructor Judy Ringer came to Aikido through the door of conflict resolution in the workplace. Her interest in understanding and capitalizing on the opportunities inherent in conflict led her to Thomas Crum, Wendy Palmer, George Leonard and other master Aikido instructors who were using Aikido principles off the mat as a metaphor and training technology. Judy got on the mat in 1994, at Portland Aikido, to deepen her knowledge and to physically integrate the metaphor.

After a year of practice in Portland, she asked if they might help her organize a dojo in Portsmouth, NH. The rest is history. With the blessing and Mitsunari Kanai Sensei and the support and instruction of his talented students, Portsmouth Aikido was underway. Her primary on-the-mat instructors have been Mitsunari Kanai, David Halprin and David Farrell. Judy currently holds the rank of 3rd degree black belt.

Learn more about what Judy does off them mat here.

Featured

Zach Nobel

Zach began his Aikido training with Jimmy Friedman Sensei at Suginami Aikikai. He soon became an uchi deshi there, where he taught and trained regularly. While at Sugniami Akikai, he had the honor of studying with a wide range of skilled instructors, including Hiroshi Kato Shihan and Cristian Tissier Shihan. Zach became a member of Portsmouth Aikido in 2013. He currently holds the rank of Yondan.

Ray Lefebvre

Ray began training with us in May of 2014 and earned his black belt in 2019. He is one of our most dedicated students, and has undoubtedly spent more days on the mat in the last five years than any other. In addition to his Aikido training, he holds a 3rd degree black belt in Kung Fu, studied Yang-style Tai Chi, and worked as a strength trainer at Michigan football. Ray currently holds the rank of nidan.