Budo

The word budo is made up of two kanji:

BU
Which means: military, warrior

The left side of the kanji (SHI, tomeru) originally means “the foot”, while the right side represents a spear or halberd. So… walk forward with a halberd, which refers to a warrior and by extension to a soldier.
In modern times the left-hand character, SHI, meant "to stop". In this case BU is interpreted as ... "stopping a spear", a military interpretation implied a defensive rather than an aggressive nature of the term.

DO
which means: the Way, the Road

the left part is the movement while the right part of the kanji is “the head” or “the leader”
But is currently used phonetically to express "direct", suggesting the idea of ​​chief or principal.
In this case, the kanji then means direct main movement in the “main road” direction.
It is also used figuratively in an abstract sense of track.

The historical significance was 'advancing with an infantry's spear', or simply, 'war'. The meaning of the first kanji tome ’has been altered over the years, and the modern meaning is stop’. This sparked a reinterpretation of bu ’as stop the spear’, or stop two spears ’. The modern meaning, therefore, is "to stop violence", or "to prevent conflict". This is the meaning of drunk ’as it is taught at Shorinji Kempo.

"Do" means "the way to live", or "the way to the goal". Budo is the path to peace, a path for living dedicated to preventing (preventing) conflict. Someone who follows budo does not fight to perpetuate unnecessary conflict. Violence should be avoided whenever possible. When violence cannot be avoided, the goal should be to stop the conflict and not escalate it.

Budo has two parts: bu no tai, which means the body of ‘Bu’, and bu no yo, the application or purpose of Bu ’. Bu no tai is the physical meaning of practicing Budo, the techniques used in Shorinji Kenpô, Karate, jûjutsu,… By learning these techniques we can help protect ourselves, and the community in which we live.

Master Hiroo MOCHIZUKI, direct descendant of great practitioners of Martial Arts, whose father, Munori Mochizuki is the founder of YOSEIKAN BUDO.

Budo does not mean always avoiding violence as it is a practical system based on improving society. When your life is in danger, maybe only physical strength can protect you or those who are dependent on you, and being passive can make the situation much worse. Someone who follows the path of violence will not be stopped peacefully, and they will be encouraged to continue their path because of the lack of opposition. Maybe if they are stopped, they will not resort to violence so quickly in the future.

The essence of budo is to seek to prevent violence and conflict, to fight only when there is no other alternative. In this case, budo cultivates peace and cooperation. By always countering violence with violence we encourage even more people to follow this path (of violence) and thus we promote the values ​​of physical strength, so much so that in these situations those who train on the path violence and force will flourish.

In many martial arts systems, budo has degenerated into 'fighting arts', where the importance of self defense is not properly emphasized. “The Warrior's Path” is an interpretation that is often used and abused. It encourages rivalries, tournaments and conflicts - tournaments do not encourage peaceful cooperation, because the goal is: to win. Traditional budos like Shorinji Kempo are in tune with the philosophy of budo because it emphasizes the practice of two, in pairs (kumite shutai) which encourages mutual cooperation. Everyone can learn from the other, from their strengths and weaknesses, and also can develop the habit of defending themselves against many different people.

Source:
http://www.shinryu.fr