Peter --
I know there are lots of women in aikido (far more than in, say, Kyokushin Kai karate), but there aren't that many *senior* practitioners. Kendo, naginata-do, on the other hand, have quite a few. Judo and taekwondo are getting there, too. There is much one can dislike about Olympic sport, but one cannot deny that it has done a lot for women's sport. For those who don't know, for a sport to remain in or be considered for the Olympics, there must be both men's and women's divisions. This is significant because at a national level, it's much cheaper and easier to develop a serious candidate for a women's medal in Olympic archery, judo, boxing, or taekwondo than it is to develop an equally serious candidate for a women's medal in gymnastics or a men's medal in basketball. To give just one example, without the Olympic incentive, I'm certain that we wouldn't have seen women's boxing in places such as Jordan for a while yet.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world...he-boxing-ring