Our teachers

Soshu Koichi Tohei Sensei was born in Tokyo on January 20, 1920. He studied economics at Keio University. As a young man, he suffered from pleurisy, which left him with a frail constitution. Determined to strengthen both his mind and body, he began practicing intensive Zen meditation and Misogi breathing techniques. At the age of 19, he began studying aikido under the founder, O-sensei Morihei Ueshiba, eventually attaining the highest rank of 10th dan. After the war, he studied the unity of mind and body under the guidance of Tempu Nakamura Sensei. Beginning in 1953, he traveled the world to spread aikido, starting in Hawaii and the United States. He served as Chief Instructor of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo from 1956 to 1974.

In 1971, he founded the Ki Society, which was dedicated to spreading the Ki Principles, and in 1974, he founded Shinshin Toitsu Aikido (Aikido with Unity of Mind and Body). He has taught many students all over the world. He has also taught the Ki Principles and their applications to many artists, businesspeople, and athletes (including famous baseball players such as Mr. Tatsuro Hirooka and Mr. Sadaharu Oh). In 2007, his son Shinichi Tohei Sensei was entrusted with continuing the teachings. Since then, he has increasingly taken a backseat in terms of teaching and watched as Shinshin Toitsu Aikido continued to develop. He passed away on May 19, 2011, at the age of 91. He was also the author of several bestsellers, including “Ki in Daily Life,” “Kiatsu,” and a number of other books.

Kaicho Shinichi Tohei Sensei was born in Tokyo on August 18, 1973. At the age of two, he began learning Shinshin Toitsu Aikido from his father, based on the Ki Principles of his grandfather, Soshu Koichi Tohei Sensei. Starting in 1993, he attended the Tokyo Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences. In 1997, he became an uchideshi (resident student) and began training under his father’s direct guidance. He also began teaching Shinshin Toitsu Aikido at the official Aikido club of Keio University. In 2002, he completed his uchideshi program and began teaching abroad. Since then, Shinichi Tohei Sensei has regularly held a U.S. National Seminar in locations such as Hawaii, Seattle, Las Vegas, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., where teachers from across the United States and other countries gather to train together.

In 2007, he officially took over from Soshu Koichi Tohei Sensei and began conducting seminars and workshops at the Ki Society Headquarters in Tochigi and throughout Japan. He also began conducting seminars for companies, schools, universities, and sports organizations, such as the Japanese women’s softball team in 2008 (shortly thereafter, they won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics), and in 2010, the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Since 2010, he has served as the president of the new Japanese organization called “ShinShin Toitsu Aikido Kai.” He is the author of several books on the application of Ki Principles in various areas of life.

Christopher Curtis Sensei was born in 1944 in Upland, California. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, he worked as an actor for many years. Dissatisfied with the lack of depth in his personal life, he “retired” at the age of 25 and moved to the hills of California to focus solely on meditation and self-development. In 1972, he moved to Maui, Hawaii, and in 1974, he began his Ki-Aikido training with the late Shinichi Suzuki Sensei. As his Otomo, he accompanied Suzuki Sensei on his travels to Japan, the USA, South America, and Europe, where he led seminars. He trained many times with Koichi Tohei Sensei, both during his annual visits to World Camp and during special training sessions.

In 2000, Curtis Sensei was appointed chief instructor of the Hawaii Ki Federation. He was awarded the Ki rank of “Okuden,” officially “Ki Lecturer,” and in 2008, the Aikido rank of “Hachidan” (8th Dan). He taught regularly at the Shunshinkan dojo on Maui and conducted numerous seminars throughout the United States, Hawaii, and Europe. There, following the split of Europe’s leading teacher from Ki Society HQ in 2001 through the formation of a separate organization, Curtis Sensei played a crucial role in keeping Tohei Sensei’s original teachings alive and in connecting a growing number of dojos and students to Ki Society HQ in Japan through his annual seminars in the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. This work culminated in the formation of the new Europe Ki Federation on November 1, 2018, for which Curtis Sensei remained the Ki Society HQ Advisor. Curtis Sensei passed away on June 9, 2023. He is the author of three books: “Ki-Aikido on Maui” (2001), “Letting Go – Talks on Aikido” (2008), and “Otomo – A Journey” (2021).