{"id":613274,"date":"2026-09-03T16:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/613274\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:06:13","slug":"one-of-the-best-female-ninjas-addy-herman-lives-in-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/613274\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the best female ‘ninjas,’ Addy Herman, lives in Mass."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTV\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSee how Addy Herman and other New England contestants performed on Season 18 of “American Ninja Warrior.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tAddy Herman competes in the National Finals 4. Scott Everett White\/NBC\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Lauren Daley<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 3, 2026 | 9:43 AM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

7 minutes to read<\/p>\n

At the start of this season of NBC\u2019s \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior,\u201d Boston.com predicted<\/a> a big season for Pembroke\u2019s Addy Herman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She proved us right.<\/p>\n

Herman, 21, placed third for women on this season of NBC\u2019s \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior,\u201d finishing behind powerhouse Isabella Folsom, 22, and teen machine Taylor Greene, who repeated as women\u2019s champ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But \u201cANW\u201d was not Herman\u2019s only ninja competition this year. Not by a long shot.<\/p>\n

Herman, who trains in Fall River, has competed in some 20 ninja competitions in 2026, placing in the top three in Japan, France and Barbados. She says her goal is to \u201ckeep advancing the sport.\u201d And she\u2019s doing it not just through her performances, but by training the next generation of little Massachusetts ninjas at her gym.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Herman to talk all things ninja \u2013 including her new ninja sneaker \u2013 and how deep the women\u2019s field has grown. But first, some background and results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wait. What is a ninja? <\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, \u201cANW,\u201d the NBC sports-reality-competition series \u2014 co-hosted<\/a> by Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbajabiamila<\/a>, and Zuri Hall \u2014\u00a0 started in 2009, based on the Japanese show \u201cSasuke<\/a>.\u201d Courses change with the seasons, although many obstacles reappear. (Example here<\/a>.) While the show has a fun, loose vibe, it\u2019s no \u201cDouble Dare.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ninja is a signature blend of rock climbing, parkour, gymnastics, a dash of track with an X-Games vibe \u2014 and no other sport translates. We\u2019ve seen Olympians and pro athletes fail miserably.<\/p>\n

In my years covering and watching ninja, I\u2019ve seen it grow before my eyes, from parkour lark to true sport. Gone are the days of people in street clothes trying their luck at a run. The last decade has been like watching basketball go from peach baskets to today\u2019s NBA. Everyone can dunk.<\/p>\n

Ninja will be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics, as part of the pentathlon, along with swimming, fencing, running, and laser shooting. Herman hopes that by 2032, it\u2019ll be its own discipline.<\/p>\n

If so, you might see some local faces.\u00a0New England dominates this sport.<\/p>\n

And now, here\u2019s how New England did<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSome 20 New Englanders are on \u2018American Ninja Warrior\u2019 this season. Here\u2019s your in-depth preview.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

While New Jersey\u2019s Josiah Pippel won the overall title and $250,000, New Englanders had an epic showing.<\/p>\n

Twenty New Englanders started the season in June \u2014 and if you\u2019re wondering if that\u2019s a lot for a region, it is. We are a land peppered with ninja gyms and it shows.<\/p>\n

This season there was no Mt. Midoriyama, the final timed rope climb typically used to determine the winner. Instead, we saw racing. Lots of it.<\/p>\n

Of the field that started, 32 qualified for the bracket round, seeded based on results into a bracket similar to NCAA March Madness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are no separate brackets for men and women. \u201cNinja Warrior\u201d may be the only televised sport that sees women compete against men. It\u2019s historically men who win the $250K top prize.<\/p>\n

Using that March Madness analogy, two New Englanders made the Elite Eight: Cranston, R.I., native Kevin Rodriguez, and Connecticut native Jay \u201cLache\u201d Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t surprised to see Lewis \u2014 who started out fast a few seasons ago and has only gotten faster \u2014 make it to the Final Four, and place as the top New England finisher. Racing suits him. He lost to last year\u2019s champ, the force that is Kai Beckstrand.<\/p>\n

Billerica\u2019s Matt D\u2019Amico made it to the Sweet 16. A coach at Ascend Obstacle Training<\/a>, D\u2019Amico is one of two Celtics Dunk Team members who started out the season. The 4-foot-11 dynamo Taylor Johnson of Bridgewater also dunks and flips at TD Garden, though she didn\u2019t make it to the brackets. D\u2019Amico\u2019s fellow Ascend coach Lucas Reale also had a solid season, losing to Herman. And it was great to watch D\u2019Amico face New Bedford\u2019s ninja vet James \u201cThe Beast\u201d McGrath.<\/p>\n

This year there was no stand-alone women\u2019s championship episode. Instead, the top 4 women were put into a Final Four racing bracket for the prize of $50K.<\/p>\n

Herman was the only New England woman to make it to the 32-ninja bracket round. The 2024 Women\u2019s Champ lost to rookie Ryan Cooper, but did well enough to secure her spot in the women\u2019s championship bracket, placing third.<\/p>\n

While Herman\u2019s boyfriend, Lakeville native Noah Meunier, didn\u2019t repeat<\/a> as the last New Englander standing, he made it to the top 32. For the record: Meunier, now of Fairhaven, and Herman are a power couple who set a Guinness World Record in 2025 for \u201cthe fastest time to complete a \u2018mammoth\u2019 obstacle course by a mixed pair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, New England crushed. And we should see many returning for season 19.<\/p>\n

NBC renewed \u201cNinja\u201d for seasons 19 and 20, with season 19 filming soon in Vegas. Deadline reports that Season 19 will see the return of the iconic Mt. Midoriyama, and Season 20 will celebrate the sport\u2019s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics in LA.<\/p>\n

While the racing format has fans divided (I enjoy it), athletes I\u2019ve interviewed say if ninja is to become a standalone Olympic sport, racing might be the best format.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping ninja will end up as a solo sport in the Olympics. If so, it\u2019ll be the racing format. I think it\u2019s the cleanest way to do that,\u201d Johnson told Boston.com.<\/p>\n

If so, we should see some New Englanders in the \u201932 Games.<\/p>\n

The woman leading the New England pack<\/p>\n

I caught up with Herman during a break, as she set obstacles for a ninja competition at Fall River\u2019s Vitality Obstacle Fitness.<\/a><\/p>\n

Along with Johnson, Meunier, and a slew of other top talent, Herman trains in Fall River under the guidance of Jordan Thurston.<\/p>\n

\u201cIron sharpens iron,\u201d New Bedford\u2019s McGrath, 39, told me previously. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a better gym in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of season 18, Herman said, \u201cOverall, I\u2019m really happy with my season. I do think it was the best overall season I\u2019ve had \u2014 excluding the women\u2019s championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201924 women\u2019s champ was going for gold.<\/p>\n

Placing third \u201cwas a little disappointing. I got to the last obstacle faster, but rushed into it without taking any rest. I think if I had taken a little more rest, a little time to shake out, I think I could\u2019ve gotten it. But honestly, getting third is motivation for next season. I want to train harder and come in even stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herman marked a personal record in season buzzers \u2014 meaning a course completed without falling \u2014 with three.<\/p>\n

At one point in the season, Herman raced \u2014 and beat \u2014 her former coach, Reale, of Bridgewater. NBC made a feature segment of it, showing footage of 10-year-old Herman at the Weymouth gym, training under Reale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first gym I ever went to was TA Fitness<\/a> in Weymouth,\u201d Herman told me. \u201cLucas had just started coaching there. He coached me for my first five or six years. Even though I switched gyms, he\u2019ll still coach me at competitions when Jordan\u2019s not there. Lucas has always been there for me, and has really gotten me to the point that I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in June, Herman was in Japan to compete for Team USA on \u201cSasuke\u201d \u2014 the original Japanese ninja TV show that birthed \u201cAmerican Ninja Warrior.\u201d She said four American \u201cNinja Warrior\u201d alumni\/athletes were selected to compete for Team USA: Herman, Josh Levin, Daniel Gil, and Vance Walker. And if you watch the show, you know that\u2019s like the \u201992 Dream Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They won. (Unfortunately it only aired in Japan.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever gotten to be a part of,\u201d Herman said. \u201c\u2018Sasuke\u2019 paved the way for the entire sport \u2014 and [the] life I live now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super crazy because I flew to Japan, competed, flew home to Massachusetts for one day, and then flew out to compete in the World Ninja League Championships<\/a> in North Carolina. I was definitely nervous about the jet lag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, she placed third.<\/p>\n

She also placed first at the Global Ninja Challenge at District 14 in France; was a semifinalist in Croatia at Spartan 100m World Championships; and third at the 2026 Barbados Ninja Throwdown, among numerous U.S. competitions.<\/p>\n

Women rise up<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s field has grown wildly in depth and strength since the early days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 13- to 15-year-old girls who are just pushing it \u2014 leagues above where I was at that age,\u201d Herman said. \u201cTo see them coming up and training that hard and growing the sport in general in the direction that all of us wanted to go in \u2014 it\u2019s awesome to be a part of that. The women\u2019s field in ninja is just getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newton\u2019s Akshara Pappu is one rising star who has trained under Herman\u2019s wing.<\/p>\n

While she didn\u2019t make the final bracket, the 15-year-old had a stellar rookie season. And her hug with Herman at the end of their race spoke volumes of the love between the two training-mates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Herman is furthering the sport gear-wise. For years, we watched competitors slip and slide in Chuck Taylors or Vans.<\/p>\n

Finally: We have gear. Call her Jordan, because Herman is getting a shoe. Her ninja shoe from Ollo<\/a> will go into production this fall, she said.<\/p>\n

Also, she\u2019s creating obstacles \u2014 literally. Many obstacles seen on the NBC show were designed by competitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Herman works with Connecticut-based DGS, a major obstacle manufacturing company. She has her own line on the website,<\/a> and is \u201cthe only female designer, too,\u201d she notes. \u201cTrying to do what I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, she\u2019s raising the next gen by coaching at her home gym in Pembroke, dubbed Herman Lakeside Ninja. This past summer, some 75 kids ages 4 to 15 signed up to train with a champ.<\/p>\n

Looking back at her own childhood days at that Weymouth gym, it\u2019s been a wild ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool that ninja went from my hobby to my sport to my full-time career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her goals?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo keep pushing the sport, and growing the sport the best I can. I want to see it as its own discipline in the Olympics,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I definitely want to get redemption on \u2018ANW\u2019 next year. I\u2019m hoping to get that win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. She tweets @laurendaley1<\/a>, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.<\/p>\n

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