Koichi Tohei - the Master of Ki

Koichi Tohei Sensei was born on January 20, 1920, in Shitaya, Tokyo.

Koichi Tohei was a sickly child. He learned Judo as a teenager, but took a heavy fall on his chest and missed a year's school because of a lung infection.

Once back at school again he studied Zen and Misogi at Daitokuji in Kyoto.

In 1939 he started to learn Aiki Budo from Morihei Ueshiba Sensei, and later attained the highest-possible Aikido rank of 10th Dan.

In 1942, Koichi Tohei graduated from Keio University and and began training as an officer in the Japanese Army.

Two years later, aged just 23, he was sent to the battlefront in Central China.

Showered with bullets for the first time, Tohei Sensei learned to control his Ki by "keeping his One Point centered in his belly. This control of emotions kept him alert and alive.

He quickly realized the same skill with Ki could be used for playing sport in the dojo, and also in everyday life.

What Is Ki?

In 1946 Koichi Tohei was demobilized from the Japanese Army and returned to Japan.

In 1953, he started spreading his Ki Principles and Aikido in Hawaii. He was then 32.

For the next 40 years, Koichi Tohei devoted his life to spreading the Principle of Ki in the USA and in Europe.

When Aikido Founder, Morihei Uyeshiba (O'Sensei) died in 1969, Koichi Tohei had a falling-out with the successors, the Ueshiba family. They founded the Aiki Kai organization.

Two years later, in 1971, Koichi Tohei set up Ki Society International (Ki no Kenkyukai) to spread his theory of Ki to the world.

His Ki-focused sytle of Aikido is known as Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.