Nonetheless, Ohtsukas path as a budoka was set by this point, and would soon take its first fateful turn. He would soon meet the father of modern karate, Gichin Funakoshi. In the fall of 1922, Ohtsuka was giving thought to his future. Although his job at the bank appeared secure, he was not satisfied. He wanted to devote his life to his true passion, the martial arts. This interest was heightened even more when Ohtsuka found out that an Okinawan school teacher, Gichin Funakoshi, was invited by Crown Prince Hirohito to perform karate before the Emperor of Japan at a public hall in Tokyo. Ohtsuka attended the demonstration, and as a result became one of Funakoshi's 35 original Japanese students.

Because of the popularity gained by the demonstration, Funakoshi stayed in Japan. Ohtsuka was at Funakoshis dojo nearly every night, absorbing the art. By 1924, he became chief assistant instructor. On April 24th, Ohtsuka was named among the first seven black belts in modern karate.

Funakoshi came to rely heavily on Ohtsuka. At 32, Ohtsukas realized his dream of being a full time martial artist. However, he found Funakoshis karate (later named Shotokan) lacking. He felt there was little sense behind the philosophies, the kata seemed to have no practical application, and the movements were too confined. Also, Funakoshi did not allow free sparring, leaving no way to truly test his karate. Therefore, while still assisting Funakoshi, Ohtsuka trained with other notable masters. These included Kenwa Mabuni, founder of Shito-Ryu Karate, as well as Choki Motobu, famous for his excellent technical and fighting abilities, and Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido.

Ueshiba OSensei helped Ohtsuka find the missing link, and officially begin the creation of Wado. Like Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiu Jitsu, Aikido is a direct descendant of Aikijujutsu (a part of Samurai combative). The greatness of Aikido is in its reliance on natural movements, focusing on breathing, relaxation, and ki (lifeforce; breath; spirit). Whereas most karate tended to generate tension in performing techniques, Aikido was the opposite. Instead of meeting force of force, it blended with and redirected the opposing force or ki.

It was upon learning Aikido that Ohtsuka-sensei began to form a new budo, a Way of Harmony. He would eventually blend the basics of Funakoshis karate, the practicality of Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiu Jitsu, and the spirituality of Aikido, as well as the natural, evasive movements of the latter two. Much like the Jiu Jitsu influence on Ohtsuka-meijins budo, Aikido had more influence on the principles from which techniques are derived, rather than the specific techniques themselves. Also, it would appear that Shito ryu Karate and Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiu Jitsu had a much heavier influence on Wado than Aikido.