The General Assembly of the International Aikido Federation (IAF) took place on 13 October 2021 by electronic means. A new Directing Committee was elected, 17 new countries became IAF Members and 4 countries became Associate Members.
120 participants joined the General Assembly of the International Aikido Federation. Considering the global pandemic, the only solution for connecting representatives from countries around the world was through electronic means. In order to achieve a better organisation of the General Assembly, there were 5 online pre-meetings in the period May to September that allowed the members to fully discuss and approve topics concerning the activities of the IAF.
Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, President of the IAF, opened the meeting with a speech and also made the closing remarks. The official reports of the Chairman, the General Secretary and the Treasurer were approved without objection. Also the Statutes and the Fee Structure were revised in order to keep with current times.
17 new countries joined the IAF as Full Members: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cuba, India, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal, North Macedonia, Peru, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Turkey and Polynesia. A further four countries joined as IAF Associate Members: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Malta and Tunisia. ”One of the main projects that excites me is ‘IAF 100’ as I have named it. I have been involved in increasing the number of members of our organisation. I am happy that 17 countries have joined the IAF as full members and another 4 countries have become associate members, meaning that they are on the procedural path to being full members. So during this mandate, I will do my best to achieve 100 members within the IAF,” said Dorin Marchis, IAF General Secretary.
A new Directing Committee was elected at the General Assembly. Wilko Vriesman was elected new Chairman. ”I am honoured to be elected as Chairman, and I am happy to have a great team to work with in the direction set down in 2016, when I was elected General Secretary. We face pandemic challenges, but we are keeping the flame of Aikido alive and we are bringing more unity in the Aikido community, together with the Aikikai,” said Vriesman.
The International Aikido Federation is the federation of national Aikido organisations, which are directly affiliated with the ‘motherhouse’ of Aikido as a Budo, the Aikikai Hombu, in Japan. Once every four years the General Assembly reunites its members and observers. The next such meeting will be in 2024, according to the original calendar.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in The World Games.
