Chapter 8
In the previous chapters I have described some of the constituing elements for the current situation in Dutch Aikido. But the picture isn’t very transparent.
Due to a long chain of (unforeseen) events an umbrella organization was established named Aikido Nederland (AN). This organization is registred as a member of the Dutch Sport Council (NSF). In this respect the organization fulfills the requirements that governments have for sport: it’s one organization for the sport.
To allow this, a number problem had to be solved.
1. The existing Aikikai-organizations, that were the longest existing organizations, were divided into some 10 different organizations.
2. One of the largest groups was in the Judo federation (JBN) and did not want to change association.
3. The majority of these Aikikai-organizations were Hombu recognized, but only one was member of the IAF.
4. The government and NSF were only interested in an organization for all Aikido, not only for Aikikai-Aikido.
5. The condition for Hombu recognition is that the organization only practises Aikikai-Aikido.
6. The condition for the organization to be member of IAF is Hombu-recognition.
This vicious circle was broken by a smart compromise:
– if the organization that held the IAF membership would be willing to share its membership of IAF with the other Aikikai-groups, they could all become member.
– this organization – the NAF – would remain as a separate legal entity, but become an institutional member of the new umbrella organization.
– all the other styles of Aikido could become member of the new umbrella AN
As we (I was member of the NAF at the time) felt it would be in the greater interest to establish one organization for Aikido in the Netherlands, and that the NAF was intended to represent all Aikikai-Aikido anyway, we agreed to this compromise.
As a consequence, the group I was in received independent recognition from Hombu, opened the NAF to all the other Aikikai-groups, and the NAF became member of AN.
This however, led to a new and unpredictable situation, which I will address in a later chapter.
