IAF General Assembly 2021

Written on October 14, 2021

The General Assembly of the International Aikido Federation has taken place via electronic means. A new Directing Committee has been elected. 17 countries became IAF Members and 4 countries became IAF Associate Members.

On the 13th of October 2021, 120 participants joined the General Assembly of the International Aikido Federation. Considering the global pandemic, the only solution for joining representatives from countries around the world was through electronic means. Therefore, the platform for the meeting was Zoom and the platform for the confidential voting system was Election Runner.

Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, President of the IAF, opened the meeting with a speech and also did the closing remarks.

The official reports of the Chairman, the General Secretary and the Treasurer were approved without objections. Also, the Statute and the Fee Structure were revised in order to keep with current times.

17 new country members joined the IAF: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cuba, India, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal, North Macedonia, Peru, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Turkey and Polynesia.

4 countries joined as IAF Associate Members: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Malta and Tunisia.

A new Directing Committee was elected inside the General Assembly. The new team is as follows:

Chairman – mr. Wilko Vriesman
General Secretary – mr. Dorin Marchis
Vice Chairman – mr. Kei Izawa
Assistant General Secretary – mr. Corrie Human
Advisor from Aikikai – mr. Shoichi Kamiya
DC Member – ms. Yoko Okamoto
DC Member – mr. Charlie McGinnis
DC Member – mr. Adam Manikowski
DC Member – mr. Frederic Heylbroeck
Treasurer – mr. Satoshi Kaga

Dojo-cho Mitsuteru Ueshiba announced the lists of the two Councils members that were appointed by the IAF President:

Technical Council
Miyamoto Tsuruzo Shihan
Yokota Yoshiaki Shihan
Hayato Osawa Shihan

Senior Council
Chairman
Tada Hiroshi Shihan
Members
Yamada Yoshimitsu Shihan
Asai Katsuaki Shihan
Suganuma Morito Shihan
Ozaki Sho Shihan
Tony Smibert Shihan
Christian Tissier Shihan

For a better organization of the General Assembly, there were 5 online pre-meetings during May-September, that allowed the members to fully discuss and approve topics concerning the activity of the IAF.

The next General Assembly will be in 2024, as according to the original calendar.