Mitsunari Kanai

Mitsunari Kanai

How it all started

How it all started

Aaron Cass & Judy Ringer

Aaron Cass & Judy Ringer

Aaron Cass demonstrating at the Japanese Cultural Festival

Aaron Cass demonstrating at the Japanese Cultural Festival

Sitting before class at 620 Peverly Hill Rd., Portsmouth

Sitting before class at 620 Peverly Hill Rd., Portsmouth

Portsmouth Aikido was founded in 1995 by Judy Ringer and a group of local residents interested in starting a dojo.  With the guidance and support of Mitsunari Kanai Sensei, a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba, Portsmouth Aikido offered its first class in 1995. 

With our focus on quality instruction and rigorous training in a mutually supportive environment, we have offered Aikido classes to hundreds of beginning and advanced students of all ages. 

In 2009, Judy Ringer transferred her title of Chief Instructor to Aaron Cass, under whose leadership Portsmouth Aikido became a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit, added a kids' program, and expanded its programming.  In 2012, Portsmouth Aikido moved into the gorgeous new facility in which we now practice.

A longstanding member of the United States Aikido Federation with strong connections throughout the Aikido community, Portsmouth Aikido looks forward to many more years of continued training, putting the principles of Aikido into practice on the mat and in our daily lives.


S T A F F

Aaron Cass, Chief Instructor

Zach Nobel, Senior Instructor

Sofie Larsen, Kids Instructor

Ray Lefebvre, Instructor

Peter Shindler, Instructor

George Workman, Instructor

Jonathan Blakeslee, Instructor