Budokwai

The Budokwai

Exterior of the Budokwai
Date founded	1918
Country of origin	England
Founder	Gunji Koizumi
Arts taught	Judo, Karate, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Aikido
Official website	http://www.budokwai.co.uk/

The Budokwai (The Way of Knighthood Society) (武道会, Budōkai^?, Society of the Martial Way) in London is the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe. It was founded in 1918 by Gunji Koizumi and initially offered tuition in jujutsu, kendo, and other Japanese arts. It was the first judo club in Europe.

The full name of the society is the Budokwai (The Way of Knighthood Society) but it is normally called The Budokwai. The name Budokwai was chosen by the society's founder Gunji Koizumi as a combination of the Japanese words bu (武) meaning military or martial, do (道) meaning the way or code, kwai (会) meaning public building or a society/club. This translates into English as Society of the Martial Way. The symbol of the Budokwai is a stylised version of the kanji 武 in white on a blue cherry blossom, Koizumi said he chose the design as the character bu is made from the components 止, meaning stop, and 戈, meaning spear or fighting because " the aim of martial training is to stop fighting."

Gunji Koizumi created the Budokwai as a society to teach judo, kendo and other Japanese arts to members of the public. He founded a dojo at 15 Lower Grosvenor Place, Victoria, London SW1 and the club official opened on Saturday, January 26, 1918 with 12 members, making it the oldest judo club in Europe. It is also the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe. The first 36 members were Japanese, the first English man didn’t join until March and the first English women Katherine Cooper-White becoming the 60th member. Koizumi became the first president of the Budokwai and Yukio Tani the first chief judo instructor.