The picture on the right is Morihei Ueshiba, or O Sensei- meaning Great Teacher-(1883-1969) as he is affectionately known by in the martial arts world. He was the founder of Aikido and there is a lot of good information about him on the web.
Although Morihei was a devoutly spiritual personality who was indeed a great Budo teacher, we have no religious connotations attached to our training. Budo is a generic term for Japanese Martial Arts.
It is not unusual for people who follow Japanese Martial Arts to respect their founder with a picture of him in their dojo and to have that as a focal point before training and bow to them to give thanks for the art we practice. We follow this practice in our dojo
We are members of The Bushido Za Zen International Martial Arts Society. An organisation founded in 1968, by Arnold Davies, who is now sadly deceased. He held a policy dedicated to promoting excellence in Japanese Martial Arts, which we all strive to continue.
All clubs affiliated to this innovative organisation are independent and have control over their own arts, such as Judo, Aikido, Jujitsu, Aiki Jitsu, Iaido, Kendo, Ko Budo and Karate.
Bushido clubs hold many smaller courses, competitions and seminars throughout the year but we have a large annual gathering of all arts and styles held over Easter. This is where we showcase our arts and try other arts in the spirit of Budo.