The Word "Budo"

Some people use the term Budo to mean any discipline that has for the
practitioner become a way of life. This is too broad a definition since it is a
Japanese word and thus technically relates to Japanese disciplines. Likewise
Chinese fighting arts also have similar generic terms such as Wushu, Kung Fu
and others, that refer collectively to fighting arts from that region.

The word "budo" is the translation of characters (Kanji) used in the Japanese
language (originally adopted from Chinese). Budō is a compound of the word
bu, meaning war, military, or related to the military or martial; and dō, meaning
path, way or method. Budō is most often translated as "the way of war",
"martial way" or “martial arts”.  Budo thus refers to post-1600 generations of
Japanese fighting systems based on former arts, but which emphasize "do" --
personal, ethical and spiritual development as the ultimate goal of training.