Jump to content

Budokwai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kaly99 (talk | contribs) at 21:52, 3 March 2013 (notable instructors). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Budokwai
Exterior of the Budokwai
Exterior of the Budokwai
Date founded1918
Country of originEngland
FounderGunji Koizumi
Arts taughtJudo, Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido
Official websitehttp://www.budokwai.co.uk/

The Budokwai (The Way of Knighthood Society) (武道会, Budōkai, Society of the Martial Way[1][2]) is the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe.[1] It was founded in 1918 by Gunji Koizumi[3][4][5] and initially offered tuition in jujutsu, kendo, and other Japanese arts.[1] It was the first Judo club in Europe with membership open to the general public.

Name and symbol

The name of the society is the Budokwai (The Way of Knighthood Society)[6] 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.[7] This translates into English as Society of the Martial Way.[1][8]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."[7]

History

Gunji Koizumi created the Budokwai as a society to teach judo, kendo and other Japanese arts to members of the public.[9] 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. 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.[10] Koizumi became the first president of the Budokwai and Yukio Tani the first chief judo instructor.

In July 1920, Dr. Jigoro Kano (the founder of Judo) visited Britain and the Budokwai for the first time he was accompanied by Hikoichi Aida who stayed in Britain and instructed at the Budokwai for two years.[11][7] A member named Tanabe received his first Dan, becoming the Budokwai's first home-grown black belt. Tani and Koizumi were promoted to nidan.

The club held annual shows between 11 May 1918 and 1968 after which shows were only held on special occasions.

The Budokwai was instrumental in the formation of the first British national and European wide judo organisations. Koizumi discussed his idea of forming a British nation Judo organisation and a European organisation with the Budokwai committee and in 1948 the chairman of the Budokwai, John Barnes, invited all British Judo clubs and all the Judo and Jujitsu clubs in Europe to a conference hosted by the Budokwai. The British Conference was held on the July 24 1948 at the Imperial College Union, London and during the three hour meeting the British Judo Association was founded. This was the first ever amateur national judo association. The international conference took place on the July 26 and 28 1948 with four voting countries, Austria, Britain, Holland and Italy, and one non-voting country, France, attending. The Budokwai's Trevor Leggett was elected the conference's chairman and a constitution drafted by the Budikwai was tabled. After alterations and discussion of the constitution a unanimous vote formed the European Judo Union. [12][13]

After thirty-five years, the Budokwai moved to 4 Gilston Road, South Kensington, London, SW10 9SL. The new premises were officially opened in September 1954 by the Japanese Ambassador H.E. Matsumoto throwing Kawamura. The club is the longest continuously running Judo Club in Europe.

In the 1960s the club began teaching karate with links to the Japan Karate Association with a number of Japanese instructors teaching at the Budokwai, including Keinosuke Enoeda 1963 All-Japan champion, who became the chief instructor. In the same decade aikido began to be practiced at the club.[7]

Activities

In 2013 the budokwai ran classes in judo, karate, aikido, brazilian jiu jitsu, pilates, hontai yōshin-ryū ju-jutsu and activities for toddlers. Judo is taught everyday with seperate classes are held for children of different ages, adult beginners and experienced judoka. Seperate grading events take place once a month on Sundays. As of 2013, the chief instructor is Peter Blewett who has held the post since 1986 and the head junior instructor is Larry Stevenson.

Shotokan karate is practiced five days a week at the Budokwai with both children's and adult classes. The chief karate instructor is Yoshinobu Ohta who holds a karate 7th Dan. The main instructor for brazilian jiu jitsu is Nicolas Gregoriades, a Roger Gracie back belt, and there are three classes a week including a no-gi class.

Governance

The Budokwai is a democratic non-profit making organisation with full, associated and honorary members. Only full members have financial responsibility and voting right in the club and there can only be 45 full members. [6][14]

Notable members

The budokwai's membership has included a number of notable individuals. In March 1936 Sarah Mayer became the first non-japanese women to gain a Dan grade (black belt). She had started practicing judo at the Budokwai in the 1920s before traveling independently to Japan in 1934 with a letter of introduction from the Budokwai to train in judo.[15] As of 2013 Olympian judoka Raymond Stevens and Winston Gordon are active members, other Olympian members have included, Neil Adams, Brian Jacks and Angelo Parisi. Celebrity members have included musicians Kylie Minogue, Simon Le Bon and Mick Jagger.[16] [17] Sportsmen from other areas who have trained in judo at the Budokwai include brazilian jiu jitsu champion Roger Gracie[18] and Olympic runner Sebastian Coe.

Other notable members

Notable instructors

The Budokwai have had a number of notable instructors including a number of famous Japanese judoka. Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki
Yasuhiro Yamashita
Raymond Stevens

References

  1. ^ a b c d Budokwai: The history of the Budokwai (c. 2005). Retrieved on 25 February 2010.
  2. ^ Fromm, Alan; Soames, Nicolas (1982). Judo: The Gentle Way. Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 9780710090256.
  3. ^ Tsumura, K. (1966): "He died a Samurai's death: Two world Judo leaders defend the honour of G. K. Koizumi, Founder of British Judo, who took his own life." Black Belt, 4(6):48–50.
  4. ^ Itoh, K. (2001): The Japanese community in pre-war Britain: From integration to disintegration (pp. 27–28). Surrey, UK: Curzon. (ISBN 0-7007-1487-1)
  5. ^ Walker, S. (c. 2005): Gunji Koizumi (1885–1965) Retrieved on 25 February 2010.
  6. ^ a b "CONSTITUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS (UPDATED TO 2005 AGM)". The Budokwai. Retrieved 28th February 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d "The History of the Budokwai". The Budokwai. Retrieved 27th February 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ Fromm, Alan; Soames, Nicolas (1982). Judo: The Gentle Way. Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 9780710090256.
  9. ^ Watson, Brian N. (2008). Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano. Trafford Publishing. p. 178. ISBN 9781425163518.
  10. ^ Cortazzi, Hugh (Ed.) (2012). Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume 4. Routledge. ISBN 9781136641473.
  11. ^ Takahashi, Masao (2005). Mastering Judo. Human Kinetics 1. p. 4. ISBN 9781450408769.
  12. ^ Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth (2003). Martial Arts in the Modern World. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 175–177. ISBN 9780275981532.
  13. ^ Fromm, Alan; Soames, Nicolas (1982). Judo: The Gentle Way. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN 9780710090256.
  14. ^ Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth (2003). Martial Arts in the Modern World. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 173. ISBN 9780275981532.
  15. ^ Series Producer Ben Southwell, Director Andy Hall, Producer Andy Hall, Executive Producer Michael Poole (10:00PM Sun, 24 Feb 2013). "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting: The Rise of Martial Arts in Britain". Season 12. Episode 9. 60 minutes in. BBC Four. {{cite episode}}: Check date values in: |airdate= (help); Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |Network= ignored (|network= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Lane Fox, Harriot (2 September 2006), Bye George, the party's over, retrieved 28 February 2013{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^ Boshoff, Alison (8 April 2009), "Elle, Jemima, Geri and now Lady Ella Windsor. But are Guy Ritchie's 'hot dates' all just a PR stunt to prove he's over Madge?", The Mail, retrieved 28 February 2013{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ^ Snowden, Jonathan; Shields, Kendall (2010). The Mma Encyclopedia. ECW Press. ISBN 9780710090256.
  19. ^ Gordon, Bryony (16 October 2002), "Tired of the gym? Belt up for judo", The Telegraph, retrieved 28 February 2013{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. ^ Boshoff, Alison (8 April 2009), "Elle, Jemima, Geri and now Lady Ella Windsor. But are Guy Ritchie's 'hot dates' all just a PR stunt to prove he's over Madge?", The Mail, retrieved 28 February 2013{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  21. ^ Lane Fox, Harriot (2 September 2006), Bye George, the party's over, retrieved 28 February 2013{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

See also

External links

Stub icon

This article related to judo is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Budokwai&oldid=541950404"