It’s official, one of the best female ‘ninjas’ on the planet lives in Massachusetts

At the start of this season of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior,” Boston.com predicted a big season for Pembroke’s Addy Herman. 

She proved us right.

Herman, 21, placed third for women on this season of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior,” finishing behind powerhouse Isabella Folsom, 22, and teen machine Taylor Greene, who repeated as women’s champ. 

But “ANW” was not Herman’s only ninja competition this year. Not by a long shot.

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 “keep advancing the sport.” And she’s doing it not just through her performances, but by training the next generation of little Massachusetts ninjas at her gym.

We caught up with Herman to talk all things ninja – including her new ninja sneaker – and how deep the women’s field has grown. But first, some background and results. 

Wait. What is a ninja?

For the uninitiated, “ANW,” the NBC sports-reality-competition series — co-hosted by Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbajabiamila, and Zuri Hall —  started in 2009, based on the Japanese show “Sasuke.” Courses change with the seasons, although many obstacles reappear. (Example here.) While the show has a fun, loose vibe, it’s no “Double Dare.” 

Ninja is a signature blend of rock climbing, parkour, gymnastics, a dash of track with an X-Games vibe — and no other sport translates. We’ve seen Olympians and pro athletes fail miserably.

In my years covering and watching ninja, I’ve 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’s NBA. Everyone can dunk.

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’ll be its own discipline.

If so, you might see some local faces. New England dominates this sport.

And now, here’s how New England did

While New Jersey’s Josiah Pippel won the overall title and $250,000, New Englanders had an epic showing.

Twenty New Englanders started the season in June — and if you’re wondering if that’s a lot for a region, it is. We are a land peppered with ninja gyms and it shows.

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.

Of the field that started, 32 qualified for the bracket round, seeded based on results into a bracket similar to NCAA March Madness. 

There are no separate brackets for men and women. “Ninja Warrior” may be the only televised sport that sees women compete against men. It’s historically men who win the $250K top prize.

Using that March Madness analogy, two New Englanders made the Elite Eight: Cranston, R.I., native Kevin Rodriguez, and Connecticut native Jay “Lache” Lewis. 

I wasn’t surprised to see Lewis — who started out fast a few seasons ago and has only gotten faster — make it to the Final Four, and place as the top New England finisher. Racing suits him. He lost to last year’s champ, the force that is Kai Beckstrand.

Billerica’s Matt D’Amico made it to the Sweet 16. A coach at Ascend Obstacle Training, D’Amico 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’t make it to the brackets. D’Amico’s fellow Ascend coach Lucas Reale also had a solid season, losing to Herman. And it was great to watch D’Amico face New Bedford’s ninja vet James “The Beast” McGrath.

This year there was no stand-alone women’s championship episode. Instead, the top 4 women were put into a Final Four racing bracket for the prize of $50K.

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

While Herman’s boyfriend, Lakeville native Noah Meunier, didn’t repeat 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 “the fastest time to complete a ‘mammoth’ obstacle course by a mixed pair.”

Overall, New England crushed. And we should see many returning for season 19.

NBC renewed “Ninja” 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’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics in LA.

While the racing format has fans divided (I enjoy it), athletes I’ve interviewed say if ninja is to become a standalone Olympic sport, racing might be the best format.

“We’re hoping ninja will end up as a solo sport in the Olympics. If so, it’ll be the racing format. I think it’s the cleanest way to do that,” Johnson told Boston.com.

If so, we should see some New Englanders in the ’32 Games.

The woman leading the New England pack

I caught up with Herman during a break, as she set obstacles for a ninja competition at Fall River’s Vitality Obstacle Fitness.

Along with Johnson, Meunier, and a slew of other top talent, Herman trains in Fall River under the guidance of Jordan Thurston.

“Iron sharpens iron,” New Bedford’s McGrath, 39, told me previously. “I don’t think there’s a better gym in the world.”

Of season 18, Herman said, “Overall, I’m really happy with my season. I do think it was the best overall season I’ve had — excluding the women’s championship.”

The ’24 women’s champ was going for gold.

Placing third “was 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’ve gotten it. But honestly, getting third is motivation for next season. I want to train harder and come in even stronger.”

Herman marked a personal record in season buzzers — meaning a course completed without falling — with three.

At one point in the season, Herman raced — and beat — 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.

“The first gym I ever went to was TA Fitness in Weymouth,” Herman told me. “Lucas had just started coaching there. He coached me for my first five or six years. Even though I switched gyms, he’ll still coach me at competitions when Jordan’s not there. Lucas has always been there for me, and has really gotten me to the point that I am today.”

Meanwhile, in June, Herman was in Japan to compete for Team USA on “Sasuke” — the original Japanese ninja TV show that birthed “American Ninja Warrior.” She said four American “Ninja Warrior” 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’s like the ’92 Dream Team.

They won. (Unfortunately it only aired in Japan.)

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Herman said. “‘Sasuke’ paved the way for the entire sport — and [the] life I live now.”

“It 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 in North Carolina. I was definitely nervous about the jet lag.”

Still, she placed third.

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.

Women rise up

The women’s field has grown wildly in depth and strength since the early days. 

“There are 13- to 15-year-old girls who are just pushing it — leagues above where I was at that age,” Herman said. “To 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 — it’s awesome to be a part of that. The women’s field in ninja is just getting better and better.”

Newton’s Akshara Pappu is one rising star who has trained under Herman’s wing.

While she didn’t 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.

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

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

Also, she’s creating obstacles — literally. Many obstacles seen on the NBC show were designed by competitors. 

Herman works with Connecticut-based DGS, a major obstacle manufacturing company. She has her own line on the website, and is “the only female designer, too,” she notes. “Trying to do what I can.”

Meanwhile, she’s 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.

Looking back at her own childhood days at that Weymouth gym, it’s been a wild ride.

“It’s cool that ninja went from my hobby to my sport to my full-time career.”

Her goals?

“To keep pushing the sport, and growing the sport the best I can. I want to see it as its own discipline in the Olympics,” she said. “And I definitely want to get redemption on ‘ANW’ next year. I’m hoping to get that win.”

 Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1.

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.

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