Attending to the 12th International Aikido Federation CongressTakasaki city Japan
The International Aikido Federation Congress is held every four years with attendants from all over the world. In this week-long congress, every day a brilliant Aikido teacher performs a demonstration and then on the last day of the congress, all teams from various countries demonstrate their own version of Aikido. On the sidelines of the congress, IAF officials organize different meetings discussing a range of issues including the goals of IAF for the next four years.
In 2016, the 12th IAF Congress was a very special occasion because an Iranian team, led by Samadi Reza Sensei, the head of Iran Aikido Arai Dojo, was officially invited to this congress. It was hosted by Shihan Toshiyuki Arai in Gunma prefecture and Takasaki city. This eight-member team which acted in coordination with the Federation of Martial Arts and was invited to an IAF congress for the first time ever, included Nader Ostadrahimi Sensei and Ali Pourbayrami Sensei. Of course, there were other Aikido practitioners who were present at this congress on their own accord. On the final day, Iranians performed as the Gunma Prefecture’s team and marked this day as a memorable event in Iran’s history of Aikido.
This great event for Iran’s martial arts could not have happened without the tremendous amount of efforts made by Reza Samadi Sensei, the head of Iran Aikido Arai Dojo.