Kiff Clark
Kiff Clark started Aikido practice in 1986. For over three decades now he annually attends 15 or more Aikido and Iaido seminars throughout the United States and Canada. Ukemi (the art of falling), suwari waza (techniques done from a kneeling position) and weapons continue to be a great source of joy and fascination for him and he will always be grateful to all his teachers, past, present and future. He is a rokudan (6th degree black belt) and shidoin instructor in Aikido and in Iaido he holds the rank of godan (5th degree black belt). In addition to being the chief instructor of Portland Aikido Kiff is the chief instructor of the Iaido program.
Nick Benfaremo
I started practicing Aikido in Philadelphia in the early 80's and have been practicing continuously since 1991. While I have studied other martial arts, I consider practicing Aikido to be one of the most rewarding undertakings of my life. I have practiced under many instructors and in many dojos around the world and am happy to have been a member of Portland Aikido since 2000. Nick is a yondan in Aikido.
James Gauthier
James studied Shorin-Ryu karate for six years before beginning his practice of Aikido. "As part of my training I read considerably about the martial arts, where I came across references to Aikido, and the philosophy and formal etiquette of the art, which especially attracted me." He began practicing at Portland Aikido in 1997. "I feel that aikido is limitless, and offers lessons commensurate with one's engagement with it. For me, it is a life study that can never fully be grasped: every threshold crossed reveals another vista." James had the good fortune to train for several years at New England Aikikai under the instruction of Mitsunari Kanai Sensei. He currently holds the rank of sandan in Aikido.
David Poulicakos
I started martial arts while stationed in Okinawa Japan. The practice was traditional training in kata, kobudo and kumite. After moving to Maine I wanted to find a dojo that not only offered traditional martial arts but also emphasized etiquette and mindfulness. I found these attributes in the Portland Aikido dojo in the practice of Aikido and Iaido. I hold the rank of nidan (2nd degree black belt) in Aikido and yondan (4th degree black belt) in Iaido and help teach Aikido and Iaido classes.
Jason Reed
Jason Read started as a student in Portland Aikido in the summer of 2005 and successfully tested for Nidan in 2022. I had studied Karate and Tae Kwon Do in my late teens, but was eventually put off by the competitiveness and misplaced admiration for violence and conflict. Aikido always intrigued me for both the grace of its movement and its underlying principal of harmony. It also seemed like a martial art that one could more or less grow old with, as technique and timing are more important than strength and speed. Aikido has continued to challenge and reward me after years of practice. What started as a solution to the boredom of the gym has become a lifelong passion. The philosopher Spinoza once wrote that no one yet knows what the body is capable of, arguing that philosophers had unfairly concluded that the mind drives the body without a thorough understanding of the body and its capabilities. He also argued that one who has a body capable of a great many things has a mind which very much conscious of itself and all of nature. (I should perhaps mention that I teach philosophy at the University of Southern Maine). This is how I understand my practice in aikido: the more I develop techniques, learning to move in harmony, the more I understand not only my own capabilities, but also the world around me. Jason holds a nidan (2nd degree black belt) in Aikido and teaches in the adult Aikido program.
Mauricio Handler
Mauricio Handler travels the world as an underwater natural history cameraman, yet he is always eager to return to his family and to the
dojo in Maine, where he has been training in both Aikido and Iaido since 2010. Mauricio helps teach in the Iaido program and holds a rank of yondan (4th degree black belt) in Iaido. "Iaido helps focus my endless energy in a more disciplined, precise and effective way. More than just a martial arts, Iaido for me, is a way of life."
Bill Querry
Bill is a lifelong resident of Portland, Maine. He has been actively training in both Aikido and Iaido since 2011. Bill had been thinking about Aikido since his early teen years and after he completed his college education finally had the time to commit. He has never been so satisfied with a community or a practice. Bill is drawn to the spiritual harmony and warrior spirit that O-Sensei gave the world through Aikido. Bill also practices Japanese Calligraphy and has trained in Japan in order to better understand O-Sensei's way. Bill helps to teach in the adult Aikido program and the Iaido program. He is a Nidan in Aikido and Sandan in Iaido.
Sean Lent
A high school social studies teacher, Sean came to Portland Aikido in 2012. "Practicing Aikido has been such a positive life-changing experience. The dojo has become a second home, and the members here have become a second family." He is a Shodan in Aikido and helps teach adult aikido classes.
Jonathan Doughty
Jonathan began his study of Aikido in 2016 at Portland Aikido. While he pursued both European and Korean martial arts in the past, Aikido offered him a way to enter into conflict with a goal other than simply defeating an opponent. With every hour he spends in Aikido he learns more about himself and his path in the world. Jonathan is in charge of the Kids Program at Portland Aikido.
Aaron and Emmett Brady
Aaron
As a teenager in Maryland Aaron trained in Tae Kwon Do and Tong Soo Do. His first exposure to Aikido was in 2016 as a parent watching the Kids Class at Portland Aikido. Four months later he started training himself and now enjoys sharing Aikido practice with his son, Emmett. Aaron also helps teach the Kids Class. “I have found that the harmonizing practice of Aikido reaches beyond the dojo into raising a family, supporting community and navigating the world.”
Emmett
At age six Emmett started at Portland Aikido because he wanted to train in a martial art. After five years in the Kids Class he reached the rank of blue belt. During the COVID pandemic he joined the adult outdoor Aikido classes at a local park and focused on weapons training including the kumijos and the bokken suburi. Now he continues to train in the adult Aikido classes, helps teach the Kids Class and enjoys being a part of the Portland Aikido community.