Gunji Koizumi
Japanese martial artist (1885-1965)
小泉軍治
- Born
- 8 July 1885, Ibaraki Prefecture
- Died
- 15 April 1965, Putney
- Citizenship
- Japan, Empire of Japan
- Sport
- judo
- Occupation
- judoka
Gunji Koizumi (小泉 軍治, Koizumi Gunji; 8 July 1885 – 15 April 1965), known affectionately by colleagues as G.K., was a Japanese master of judo who introduced this martial art to the United Kingdom, and came to be known as the 'Father of British Judo.' He was the founder of the Budokwai, a pioneering Japanese martial arts society in England. Koizumi helped establish the British Judo Association, and founded the European Judo Union. He held the rank of 8th dan in judo. Koizumi's apparent suicide in 1965 shocked the worldwide judo community.
Students
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q5618841 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.