Tokuno Hiroaki-sensei started training at a Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Kenbukan dojo in 1957, when he was in the third grade of junior high school. Hiroaki Tokuno Sensei is not only a master of both Gojuryu Karate-do and Shinshin-Toitsu Aikido but also a dedicated, and disciplined teacher of these arts. In 1967, Tokuno Sensei began studying Aikido (at age of 24) under a direct student of Tadashi Abe Sensei after they met at a Tempukai(*) meeting. In 1972, he went to Tokyo to study under Koichi Tohei Sensei (10th dan /Aikido). Tohei Sensei was then the chief instructor of the Aikikai Honbu Dojo. Eventually, Tohei Sensei split with the Aikikai to create the Ki No Kenkyukai organization. At that time, Tokuno Sensei returned to Osaka to start his own dojo, the Kenshinkan. (**) A few years later, Tokuno Sensei received his first dan from Tohei Sensei, and the Kenshinkan Dojo became the head dojo for the Osaka district of the Ki No Kenkyukai. Prestigious teachers, such as Tohei, Maruyama, and Imaizumi, frequently taught at the Kenshinkan Dojo. For more than 15 years, Tokuno Sensei received direct instruction from Tohei Sensei and was awarded 6th dan Aikido in 1995. Tokuno Sensei started training Gojuryu Karate at the age of 15. He was studying at the Kenbukan Dojo (Wakayama district), the oldest private dojo in Japan. His master was the famous 10th dan Shozo Ujita Sensei. Ujita Sensei was the Vice-President of the Zen Nihon Karatedo Renmei and the President of the Gojukai. Ujita Sensei died in 1987, and a year later Tokuno Sensei opened a Karate section at the Kenshinkan Dojo as a branch of Gojuryu Karatedo Kenbukan. Throughout his teaching career, he has trained many Karate champions, including 4 champions in the Gojuryu National Tournament, and 1 champion in the National Sport Festival. In 2005, Tokuno Sensei was awarded 7th dan of Gojuryu Karate-do.