Our Instructors & Staff Members

Our Instructors have spent decades devoted to training in the martial arts and have attained a certain level of expertise to qualify them as mentors.

Through extensive testing and certification, our staff members now enjoy continuous learning, and sharing their experiences on to the next generations.

Surround yourself with good people

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross

Shihan/Dojo Cho



 

Blake Norfleet

(Bugō -"Yama Arashi")

Sr. Instructor- Yondan 4th Degree Black Belt (Renshi)


Winner of 17-plus years award

Sensei Norfleet is a parts/maintenance coordinator for Kroger Co. and serves about seventy five technicians and 115 stores throughout the Greater Cincinnati Area.

In The Dojo, Blake enjoys unarmed classes and the Bo staff. Blake has a great energy and easy going spirit in The Dojo. He is one of the original students back in 2007.
He loves working the youth and adult classes and is always willing to help new students.

In 2021, he earned the warrior name Yama Arashi, which means "Mountain Storm".

He has earned the rank of YonDan 
4th Degree Black Belt.

Off the mat, Blake enjoys quality time with his wife and kids. He also enjoys working on cars and painting. 

Zane Danes

(Bugō - "Inazuma")

Sr. Instructor-Yondan 4th Degree Black Belt (Renshi)

Winner of 15-plus years award

Sensei Danes has a real passion for Martial Arts, which you can experience in his classes.

He earned a Shodan Black Belt in the art of Jukado.

He works in Information Technology (IT) as a Project Manager for Johnson and Johnson.

Inside The Dojo, he enjoys working with the adults and kids and learning the art of the Japanese sword and Classical Budo.

In 2022, he earned the warrior name Inazuma, which means "Lightning Bolt".

He has earned the rank of YonDan
4th Degree Black Belt.

Outside of The Dojo, Zane enjoys golfing, spending quality time with his family and exercising.

Cole Holt 

Instructor
Nidan - 2nd Degree Black Belt

Winner of a 10 -plus years award
and the Chuden Level Ukemi Award (2024)

Sensei Holt is dedicated both to martial arts and education. Cole has previous training in taekwondo earning a 1st degree black belt and is a Nidan (2nd degree black belt) in our dojo. Currently, Cole is a doctoral student at Miami University studying psychology with aspirations to one day be a university professor that teaches others, mentors students, and conducts research.

In the Dojo, Cole has an immense passion for ukemi (receiving arts) in all things from rolling to knowing how to receive a hit. Cole takes great joy in teaching others how to roll and shows them that no matter your body type - you can roll. Be sure to ask Cole about rolling tips or drills you can do for home practice.

Outside the Dojo, Cole loves hiking, anime, vacationing in Oregon, and learning new things because life is a classroom itself.

He has earned both the Sword Kihon and Bojutsu Kihon Certificates



Meet some of our Assistants 

Dedicated to be there for everyone on the path ahead

Darryl White 

Instructor
Nidan - 2nd Degree Black Belt

Ukemi Shoden level Ukemi Award (2024)

Mr. White is a Forecast Analyst for P&G supporting the P&G Chemicals division.

He has trained at The Dojo for over 4 years.

Darryl enjoys the Katana most of all for weapons and has completed the Kihon and Shoden Level certifications.

He enjoys coaching the youth and helping them develop their basics and increase their skills as students.

Outside of The Dojo, Darryl enjoys computer gaming, bowling and movies.


 

Aaron Lautzenheiser 

Instructor Trainee
1st Degree Black Belt

Aaron is an IT desktop support technician at Eversana.

He has trained at the dojo for 4 years, and enjoys training in modern unarmed techniques, and with the katana.


He enjoys helping youth students learn and work on their techniques.

Outside of The Dojo, Aaron enjoys gaming (tabletop and video), movies, music and learning about things from Japanese culture to the historical origins of various mythological creatures.



Kathy Merrick

Instructor Trainee
1st Degree Black Belt

Kathy has been the sole employee of Cobblestone Development Company and has worked with her boss for 30 years.

She has trained at The Dojo for over five years. Kathy loves training at The Dojo even though she started a little later in life than most students.
Kathy enjoys all weapons and classical Budo.

She has recently earned her Kihon in Hanbo and is working on the Kihon for the Jo.

Kathy loves working with the youth students and fielding questions like “Are you a grandmother?”

Outside of The Dojo she enjoys hiking, interacting with her horse, Dru, going on field trips with her Dad and tending to a multitude of houseplants.

Meet more of our Coaches 

Dedicated to be there for everyone on the path ahead

Rhonda Bennett

Youth Coach
1st Degree Black Belt


Rhonda has 40 years of experience
in business administration, she has
a bachelor's degree in Business with a minor in Religious Studies.

She has worked from home for Cengage Group, a digital textbook company for the past 5 years.


She has been training at the Dojo since December 2019 and she is determined to get her black belt before she turns 65.

Rhonda enjoys the training at the Dojo and also the extra classes Tenchijin Basics, Weapons and Budo.

"The camaraderie of the students is a major plus, they are like family to me."

As a youth coach, she enjoys spending time with the children and listening to their questions and comments, it is a true joy to her.


Off the training mat, Rhonda enjoys her daily workout routine, boxing, yoga, reading and spending time in deep conversation with her husband Dolby.







Emilio Gomez de Leon

Instructor 

2nd Degree Black Belt  
Winner of a 10-plus year award


Ukemi Shoden level Ukemi Award (2024)
 

Mr. Gomez has been training in Budo at The Dojo for more than ten years. He also practiced Kung Fu for about 2 or 3 years.

At home, Emilio enjoys botany, electric guitar, cooking, and baking.

At The Dojo, Emilio is always helping out by cleaning and preparing for classes with cool and new exercises. He always leads the younger students by example.

He loves sparring, chokes & tap outs, working with the bokken, working with the shuko claws, and kicking drills.  

Emilio has earned the Naginata Kihon certification and also the Shuriken Kihon Certificate








Jennifer Heringer

Youth Coach
1st Degree Black Belt

Jennifer is self-employed and has worked for many years as a beauty consultant for Mary Kay.
She has trained at The Dojo for over 4 years.

She is looking forward to earning certifications in weapons. One of her goals is to be proficient in all weapons,

Jenni loves helping people, coaching youth classes, and everything about Budo Taijutsu
When not at The Dojo, she enjoys walking in nature, planting, entertaining, and cooking for her family and friends.

She is great at coaching and encouraging dojo kids. She loves living life to the fullest and always does everything with a smile.

Jennifer has earned the Kusari Fundo Weighted Chain, the Hanbo, the Modern Knife, and the Sword  Kihon Certificates.




Our powerful team

                          Even more of our great Coaches and Instructors

Mathias Hilpert

2nd Degree Black Belt

Guest Instructor
Winner of a 10-plus years award


Mathias works as a R&D Principal Scientist for P&G in its Feminine Care division.

Before starting his journey in Budo Taijutsu, he trained for three years in Chinese Wing Chun in Germany. He has trained in The Dojo since 2011. In The Dojo, Mathias enjoys most Classical Budo and the variety of different weapon trainings. His favorite weapon is the Katana. He enjoys teaching to Youths and Adults.

Mathias is also a student of Mugai Ryu Iaido with the Kakushinkai School in Koblenz, Germany.

Outside the mat, Mathias enjoys reading, skiing, traveling to California and Japan, and spending quality time with his wife. 

Cullen Keen

Youth Coach

1st Degree Black Belt

Ukemi Shoden level Ukemi Award (2024)

Cullen has been at the dojo for five years. He  likes to get to the dojo early so he can get ready for class and help out if needed or if any of the youth has questions before class.

He enjoys being thrown in the dojo and is well known for his great ukemi skills. He is dedicated and is at the dojo nearly every day.

Outside of the dojo, Cullen enjoys tinkering around with computers, 3d printing, making  YouTube videos, and playing video games. 

Cullen has earned the Sword Kihon Certificate

Dolby Bennett

Youth Coach


Dolby retired from being in the field of  Professional Aviation.  He joined The Dojo 3.5 years ago to practice with his wife Rhonda, his son Blake and his grandchildren Brayden and Mackenzie. 

Being incurably positive and inquisitive, Dolby enjoys  the training and lessons learned during each and every martial arts session, especially the classes in Tenchijin Basics, the Tuesday Weapons classes and the Wednesday Budo classes.

Outside of the dojo, Dolby has many educational and leadership roles in the Masonic Bodies that he belongs to for the past 58 years.

His weapons of choice are the Bow and the Hanbo. 

Dolby reminds us with his nuggets of wisdom: " I learn through teaching my continuous improvement. The sum of the individual parts is greater than the whole”

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The Dojo Martial Arts
Black Belt School - Rated #1 since 2006

The Dojo Martial Arts
7936 Mason Montgomery Road
Mason, Ohio 45040

Call 513-770-0834 to book your first class

What is the next step?

Contact The Dojo to schedule your first free class with us

Call: (513) 770-0834 or

Email : thedojocincinnati@gmail.com 

The Dojo is located in White Blossom Plaza, right near Jets Pizza, Phoenecian Taverna and UDF 

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The Dojo in Mason has won several consecutive awards, including "Best Martial Arts Dojo in Cincinnati and "Best in Japanese Self-Defense" and "Best Martial Arts in Mason" and an "Indy Award".