藤平光 - Tōhei Kōichi (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society and its style of aikido, officially Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (literally “aikido with mind and body unified”), but commonly known as Ki-Aikido.
In 1940, when he was 19, Tohei’s judo instructor, Shohei Mori, recommended that Tohei meet with the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba.
Beginning in 1953 Koïchi Tohei Sensei was responsible for the introduction of Aikido to the West, mainly through regular teaching journeys to Hawaii, but also continental US and Europe. It was the first time the Founder of Aikido allowed for the art to be taught outside of Japan. For that reason, Hawaii became a center for diffusion of Aikido in the United States, and remains today an important place for Ki-Aikido.