John Messores is ranked as nanadan (7th degree black belt) in Aikido. He is one of the most senior instructors in the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba organization, and among the highest ranked Americans affiliated with Aikido Hombu (the world Aikikai headquarters).  He holds the position of Vice President for Communications and Test Quality in the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba organization.  Messores Sensei is also a member of the Ueshiba Juku, a designation recognizing direct transmission from the Founder and Mitsugi Saotome Shihan.

Messores Sensei began his training in Aikido in Sarasota, Florida in 1973. He was a member of the original Aikido dojo that invited Shihan Mitsugi Saotome to come to America in 1975, which became Saotome Shihan’s first dojo in the United States. In those initial years after Saotome Shihan came to America, Messores Sensei and a few other early students trained with him several hours a day under very intensive conditions for several years as Saotome Shihan’s true deshi (apprentices / disciples). Messores Sensei has been a personal student of Saotome Shihan for nearly forty years.

Messores Sensei was featured in the 1986 book Aikido and the Harmony of Nature (Shambhala Press) by Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, the 2002 production The Budo Experience (Budo Productions LLC), and the 2002 Aiki Expo  video (Aikido Journal).

Messores Sensei regularly teaches invited seminars and demonstrations across the US and abroad.