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 martial arts. It was the first judo club in Europe. Name and symbol 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." History 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 26 January 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 woman, Katherine Cooper-White, becoming the 60th member. 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. 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