Gozo Shioda

was a Japanese master of aikido who founded the Yoshinkan style of aikido. He was one of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba's most senior students. Shioda held the rank of 9th dan Aikikai and 10th dan of IMAF aikido. While still at school, Shioda trained in judo, attaining the rank of 3rd dan before completing secondary school.

Aikido career Shioda began training under the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, in 1932. Shioda was a small man, standing at around 5' 1" to 5' 2" (155–157 cm) and weighing around 102 lb. to 108 lb. (46–49 kg). he was drinking in a bar with an army friend in Shanghai when the friend got into an argument with a local gang member. Three of his fellow gang members came to his assistance. Shioda and his friend were cornered by the gang. In the ensuing fight, Shioda broke the leg of one of the gang members, the arm of another, and stopped another by punching him in the stomach, all using his aikido skills. The name "Yoshinkan" was the name Shioda's father had used for his own judo dōjō. According to biographer Stanley Pranin, this separation from his master's school has been little understood.

In 1957, Shioda developed the Senshusei course, an intensive aikido training program, for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Total Aikido: The master course (1997, co-authored, published posthumously), and Aikido Shugyo: Harmony in confrontation (2002, published posthumously). Shioda viewed aikido as being "not a sport but a budo. Either you defeat your opponent or he defeats you. You cannot complain that he did not follow the rules. You have to overcome your opponent in a way appropriate to each situation."