IAF Feature - Lecture by Tada Shihan
- Details
- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF News
The International Aikido Federation is proud to announce the second lecture by Tada Sensei. He is well known for his study of the historical and philosophical aspects of Aikido. After an interesting lecture at the congress in 2012 the IAF decided to ask Tada Sensei to give another lecture during this Congress. The lecture is open to all participants of the IAF congress and seminar. Translation in English will be provided. Space is limited, so please be on time to avoid disappointment. (A. Dragt)
- Time: September 30th 19:00 - 21:00
- Location: Takasaki City Hall Conference Room
More information is available about this lecture and other congress events on the 12th Congress Website.
Elections at the 12th IAF Congress
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- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF latest News
To All Member Federations of the IAF
During the forthcoming IAF Congress elections will be held for a new Directing Committee, to hold office for the next four years.
Paid-up member federations can nominate as candidates any individuals who are also members of paid-up member federations -- and the IAF Statutes place no restrictions at all on the freedom of IAF member federations to nominate whomsoever they wish for office, or on the number of positions for which a candidate may stand for election. Individual IAF member federations are, of course, free to make their own internal rules and their autonomy is respected, but individual IAF federations are neveretheless free to nominate whomsover they wish, as stated in the IAF Statutes. Incumbent members of the Directing Committee may stand for reelection, but they must also be nominated by paid-up member federations.
Elections will be held in the following order: Chairman (1); Vice-Chairman (1); General Secretary (1) ; Assistant General Secretary (1); General Treasurer (1); Members (up to 4), which will yield a Directing Committee of nine (9) members.
The names of candidates must be sent to the IAF General Secretary in writing -- and nominations sent by e-mail are acceptable for the purposes of this requirement.
There is no specific time limit for nominations, but it is desirable that IAF delegates at the Congress know in reasonably good time before the Congress convenes who is being nominated and for which office. The deadline for giving the names of candidates that are sent to the General Secretary in advance (in accordance with the above short paragraph) is the first day of the Congress and the names of such candidates will be announced during the first Congress session.
Nominations will also be accepted during the Congress, with a probable deadline of Thursday, September 29 (in order that the names can be printed on ballot papers etc).
Of course, it is assumed that candidates for office accept their nomination, though this will be confirmed by the Ad-hoc Chairman who presides over the election.
There is a restiction on the election of auditors, which is that auditors have to be elected from member federations other than those federations from which DC members have been nominated. In practice this means that the auditors are nominated from among the delegates during the Congress itself, but they may of course be nominated beforehand.
If they have not already done so, I would urge those who are considering standing for office to have their nominations submitted in writing to the IAF General Secretary (whose address / e-mail address can be found elsewhere on this website).
As the Japanese would say in this context: Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.
Peter Goldsbury
IAF Chairman
IAF Feature - The Journey of Women in Aikido.
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- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF News
Dear Aikido Students
We would like draw attention to the IAF forum feature – The Journey of Women in Aikido. As we are all well aware that despite comprising 50% of the general population, women in Aikido in the world, comprise at best 30% -of our student population. The forum seeks to discuss ways we can all ensure that Aikido is open, equal, positive and welcoming to both sexes.
A Women in Aikido forum was held in Australia in 2015 at the 50th Anniversary School, the panel comprised of both International and Australian senior aikidoka, this approach has formed the basis of this IAF forum.
By hearing firsthand the stories of eminent women senseis
Janet Clift
Micheline Tissier
Teresa Wang
Ruth Treyde
Linda Godfrey
from around the world the discussion panel aims to: -
- Demonstrate the place of senior women in aikido.
- Highlight the challenges that women have experienced and overcome in their journey.
- Gain insights as to how we can potentially improve the participation
The evening session is 90 mins, 1 hour of a panel led discussion by Linda Godfrey and Micheline Tissier will be followed by 30 mins of open forum questions.
IAF Forum: Gender in Sport, Budo and Aikido
- Details
- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF latest News
Thursday 29th September 2016, Takasaki city
In the practice of Aikido, gender equality is a core principal, introduced by O’Sensei. The IAF would like to celebrate women's achievements in Aikido as well as address the theme of gender equality in Aikido through this forum, where the international Aikido community will be able to discuss particular concerns related to women and girls. It will also be an opportunity to explore how to provide development opportunities for women in leadership and women as high-ranking instructors.
Gender equality in sport is a global theme, addressed in Agenda 2020 of the IOC and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. With its tradition of Budo, Aikido in the global community of sports aims to work on this theme.
We will start the evening with 3 prominent speakers, from the international Gender in Sport movement, Gender in Budo and Gender in Aikido. We will then introduce a prelimary research that was done in the Netherlands to discover what the women in Aikido wanted more of, while focusing on leadership (board members) and teaching (female instructors).
Based on these findings we want to invite all of you to join us in a dialogue on how we can engage more women leaders and develop female high-ranking instructors within Aikido. High ranked female Aikido-ka’s from around the world will host the groups. They will then present the dialogue outcomes of their group to the Forum and we will strive to make recommendations for the future.
We look forward to welcoming you to our Forum on September 29, 2016.
FORUM AGENDA
Time: 19:00 - 21:00
Location: to be announced
Opening Speech: Lilamani de Soysa
Gender in Sport movement Tsukuba University
Gender in Budo Kaori Yamaguchi
Tsukuba University
Gender in Aikido to be confirmed by Aikikai Hombu
Presentation: Jose Otte
From a national start to a Global research Nederland Aikikai Federation
Group Discussion groups will be lead by different moderators
Conclusive Session & Closing Remarks Lilamani de Soysa
IAF Congress in Takasaki: Provisional Schedule
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- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF latest News
Hello Everybody,
The time of the 12th IAF Congress is approaching and the Directing Committee are working hard to prepare for the event.
A daily schedule has been prepared and the following link will take you to a PDF file.
The Congress agenda is still provisional and some changes might also be made to the timing of other events.
Peter Goldsbury
IAF Chairman
Retirement
- Details
- Written by Peter Goldsbury
- Category: IAF latest News
Dear Members of the IAF,
After much thought about the matter, I have decided to retire from the office of Chairman of the IAF and so I will not be a candidate for reelection at this forthcoming Congress.
I am informing you about this now, before the deadline for sending items on the Congress agenda, so that you will have ample time to consider the election of a new directing committee.
I have been involved with the direction of the IAF since 1982, when I attended the Directing Committee meeting held in Tokyo. This means that I have been so involved for 34 years out of the 40 years that the IAF has existed.
Such an anniversary is a good time to consider what has been achieved and also to look forward to the next 40 years.
I have enjoyed working for the IAF, but I think it is time for change and to turn over the direction of the federation to a new and younger generation.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Goldsbury
IAF Chairman
New Video: Presentation of Takasaki, host city of the 12th IAF Congress
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- Written by Guillaume Erard
- Category: IAF latest News
The 12th International Aikido Federation Congress will take place in the city of Takasaki in the prefecture of Gunma. We previously reported that the city was building a brand new sports facility to host the event, which we are all very excited about. However, Aikido is not everything and prospective attendees may well be wondering what else Takasaki might have to offer in addition to top level Aikido instruction in fantastic practice conditions. In this video, Irie Yoshinobu Shihan and Guillaume Erard try to answer that exact question. Follow them as they find out about the city and experience some of the excitement that attendees can look forward to when they visit next September. Keep in mind that this is barely scratching the surface and that all the places featured in this video are located whithin a 10 km radius from Takasaki's train station. Much more can be discovered in the rest of the region!
Presentation of the city of Takasaki
Filming and editing by Guillaume Erard and Megumi Fukuda-Erard. Many thanks to Arai Shihan for serving as our guide in Takasaki.
Read more: New Video: Presentation of Takasaki, host city of the 12th IAF Congress
Membership Advice
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- Written by Martin Giannini
- Category: Aikido - IAF
IAF receives many inquiries regarding the procedure as to how to become a member. Please find in the documents linked below our criteria as well as some instructions guiding you to prepare the application. Also, as the membership acceptance is processed at the IAF Congress only every four years (next one in September 2016) and we need to provide ample time to the member federations to give due considerations, please start taking actions soon if you are interested.
For further inquiries please contact IAF's Vice Chairman at the contact address below:
Seán MacRuairí
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
IAF Membership Documents
12th IAF Congress in Takasaki, 26 Sept - 3 Oct 2016
- Details
- Written by Kei Izawa
- Category: IAF News
12th IAF Congress - Click for larger viewThis is to announce that the IAF Congress that is normally held every four years will take place from September 26th till October 3rd, 2016 in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. During the Congress we will also plan a week long Aikido seminar with Hombu Shihans, some key overseas Shihans and a class with Ueshiba Moriteru Doshu. Please pencil in the dates in your calendar and we hope to see you in Takasaki in the new arena built by the city. More details about the accommodation and logistics will become available as the time approaches. Please re-post in your social media and websites about this important event.
- Kei Izawa, General Secretary
