Tonjo started surfing at the age of 11, trained under the guidance of the current Indonesian Olympic Coach and ex Rip Curl Indonesia Team Manager Dylan Amar. He fell in love instantly, and was dedicated to spending as much time in the water as possible.
At the age of 16 he joined the Rip Curl team and began to follow in the footsteps of Indonesian surfing legends Pepen Hendrik, Garut Widiarta and many others.