New School Aikido of Rio Vista maintains close ties to the original New School Aikido based in Stockton, CA where the head instructor is John Smartt Sensei.

Michael Riehle Sensei is the head instructor in Rio Vista while continuing to train and teach in Stockton.

John Smartt Sensei

New School Aikido was founded by Sensei John Smartt. Sensei began studying in 1969 at Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo. He also studied meditation and internal healing. Sensei Smartt has taken his Eastern training and added a Western Educational slant. This makes the training and study of Aikido clear cut, easily accessible and really fun to learn.

Michael Riehle Sensei

Michael Riehle is the instructor for the Rio Vista Dojo. He began training in the 70’s in Hawaii as part of the Hawaii Ki Society under Clayton Naluai Sensei. Over the past 30 years he has trained in various dojos, including 2 years with Hideki Shiohira Sensei in Mt. View, CA, before coming to New School Aikido where he earned his black belt. He is the former director of the Kizan Kids program at New School Aikido for 4-7 year old children and a past instructor for the Mat Rats at the main dojo in Stockton.