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 Master Tohei is the founder of
the Ki Society, a master teacher and the first person to bring Aikido
overseas to Hawaii in 1953. From an early age he was recognized as the top
student of the founder of Aikido, Master Morihei Ueshiba, receiving a
10th-degree black belt in Aikido in 1969 at the relatively young age of 49.
In 1971 he established the Ki Society in order to teach what had become
known in the West as Ki-Aikido, placing an emphasis on Ki training for
daily life as well as for Aikido. While continuing to pioneer and make the
art of Aikido more accessible, he also established a unique form of Ki
healing known as Kiatsu Therapy. Between the 1950s and 1980s Master Tohei
traveled extensively each year to America, Europe, and the South Pacific,
establishing a worldwide network of schools and instructors that now spans
two generations of veteran instructors. Many well-known Japanese Aikido
instructors were originally sent overseas by Master Tohei. His influence on
the world of Aikido over the past 60 years has been and remains
incalculable.
 Though he is best known
overseas for his lifework in Aikido, in Japan he is also widely known for
his application of Ki-Aikido principles to the world of professional baseball,
as well as to Sumo wrestling. Since the early 1960s he has worked with
professional baseball players, and is credited with helping them to achieve
world-class records. His most famous student is the baseball player
Sadaharu Oh, who in 1976 broke both Babe Ruth's and Hank Aaron's home run
records, thanks to close personal instruction from Tohei Sensei in how to
apply Ki principles to baseball. In 1990 he opened a new World Headquarters
for the Ki Society in Tochigi Prefecture, including Japan's largest
privately owned dojo, and facilities to accommodate large groups for
intensive training sessions in Ki-Aikido and Kiatsu Therapy.
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