He began his study of Aikido under Gozo Shioda in 1953 and lived at the Yoshinkan Dojo as a professional student (uchideshi) for over 12 years.

Following this period of intense training and instruction, Kushida was made Senior Assistant Instructor at the Yoshinkan.

He also accompanied Shioda in demonstrations in New Zealand and Hawaii as well as teaching at various universities, private companies, and at the Yoshinkan.

During his early years as an uchi-deshi, he was instrumental in developing the Yoshinkan's current pedagogical system along with Kyoichi Inoue in consultation with Gozo Shioda.

[2] Kushida left Japan in 1973 after a request was made for an instructor in the Detroit area.