Public demonstrations
In its announcement for The World Games 2025, the International Aikido Federation (IAF) scheduled aikido demonstrations in Chengdu, China, for 9 and 10 August 2025. It described aikido as a recognized invitational sport and said delegations representing IAF member federations would present the demonstrations. The announcement used the term embukai for these displays.
The stated aim was to show diversity in aikido practice, including techniques from different schools and styles. The IAF also said the demonstrations would highlight harmony, non-resistance and mutual respect, and reflect the inclusive spirit of the aikido community. Those values gave the planned displays a common theme across the different approaches to practice.
A demonstration puts the relationship between partners in view. A technique unfolds through their movement together, so the display is about more than an isolated throw or control. For someone watching aikido for the first time, this makes the exchange between practitioners part of the subject. The planned Chengdu programme was intended to bring that shared activity together with the variety of techniques represented by its delegations.
Seminars and exchange
The IAF’s report on its second International Young Adults Aikido Seminar describes a gathering in Tokyo on 24–26 October 2025. Alongside training sessions, the event included an exchange party offering participants an opportunity to connect and share experiences.
An exchange party gives the social side of a seminar its own place in the programme. People who have spent time training can also talk and share experiences beyond the mat. In Tokyo, this opportunity to connect sat alongside an embukai, where young aikido practitioners demonstrated the results of their training. Practice, conversation and presentation were all part of the gathering.
Volunteers supported the event behind the scenes, and the IAF thanked them and everyone who had contributed. Their work helped make the gathering possible, supporting the training sessions, exchange party and embukai.
Youth participation conditions
The IAF announced a youth aikido seminar for June 2026 at Belambra Clubs in La Colle-sur-Loup on the French Riviera. The announcement invited young practitioners and their instructors, recommended ages 12 to 19, and required one adult chaperone for every five youth participants.
The recommended age range identified the young practitioners the invitation was aimed at. The chaperone requirement addressed how they would be accompanied. The IAF linked adult accompaniment to its aim of providing a safe and supportive environment for the young participants.
The invitation also gave instructors and accompanying adults a place in the gathering. It described their involvement as an opportunity to support the next generation of aikido practitioners.
Promotion ceremonies
In its 2026 Kagamibiraki ceremony report, the IAF stated that the Aikido Hombu Dojo event took place in Tokyo, Japan, on 11 January 2026 and that 1,064 people were promoted. The ceremony brought rank recognition into a shared celebration, acknowledging practitioners across a range of dan grades.
The recommendations were spread across the dan grades: 10 for shodan, 12 for nidan, 15 for sandan, 29 for yondan, 544 for godan, 337 for rokudan, 110 for nanadan and seven for hachidan. Godan and rokudan accounted for the largest groups. The IAF congratulated the practitioners receiving a new rank and encouraged them to continue their work.
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