Tomasz Piotrkowicz 9th dan – president of the European Budo Association, chief-instructor of Warsaw Karate Center, Samurai School and MMA Center Warszawa. He received the „shihan” title (martial arts’ professor) from the Japanese masters as the first Pole (in 1994 from International Karate Asso.). In 2012 he received the title „shihan” from two Japanese martial arts federations (in Japanese swordsmanship). In 2014 master Piotrkowicz received from the World Budo Federation the highest title for trainer in martial arts  – „hanshi„.

He began ju-jutsu training in 1970 and karate at the age of 15 in 1972, as one of the first and at the same time the youngest in Poland. During studies at the Warsaw University, he co-founded the AZS karate section, at that time he trained Shotokan karate and the Korean Kyoksul style.
In 1980 he finished a karate instructor’s course organised for the first time in Poland and held trainings at the Warsaw University. In 1981 he was a referee at the 1st Championships of the Polish Karate Federation. In the course of his second studies at Agricultural University  he also founded an AZS karate section there. He has trained many Warsaw instructors from different styles and almost a two hundred owners of black belts in Poland and other countries. He taught karate in Germany (DDR) as a DKV (German Karate Association) examiner, in Lithuania, in Ukraine, and in the Czech Republic. Among many masters he trained with he was mostly impressed by Hideo Ochi, Tsuguo Sakumoto, Takemasa Okuyama, Fumio Demura, Hirokazu Kanazawa, Isamu Arakaki, Minoru Higa, Morio Higaonna, Zenpo Shimabukuro, Tetsuhiro Hokama and Takayuki Kubota. He met Soke Kubota after twenty years of training karate, with 3rd dan in the Shotokan style (awarded to him by master Hideo Ochi) and decided to occupy himself with the Gosoku-ryu style. He was the president of the Polish Karate Association and 20 years the head of Gosoku-ryu style in Poland and Middle-East Europe. He is now  the president of the European Budo Association.

Hanshi Piotrkowicz is also well known expert of kobudo, tanto-jutsu and kenjutsu, especially in tameshigiri (7th dan battodo, 6th dan bojutsu, 5th dan so-jutsu, 5th dan tanto-jutsu). He introduced in Poland karate Gosoku-ryu, Japanese swordsmanship battodo and sports chanbara. Master Piotrkowicz is author of many books and video materials about Japanese martial arts. He received many medals (also from JKA) and special awards (two times from the Polish Ministry of Sport).

Now he is preparing third edition of his bestselling „Karate Handbook”.