Hello,
Your articles were very interesting and illuminating. I was an official of the International Aikido Federation (IAF / FIA) from 1984 to 2016 and had a ringside seat in the structural problems that affected aikido in France in the 1980s and 1990s. I knew / know all of the main players involved. Despite these problems, France was recognized as a relatively well-run member federation and was able to give reasonably precise figures of the number of aikido practitioners.
As for attractiveness, I suspect that there are some issues here. In my opinion aikido is harder to practice than other arts that are competitive sports, since it lacks the boundaries (and, in many cases, the training discipline) that are necessitated by having contests and championships. This makes the art less attractive for some, but more attractive for others. Here in Japan, it is an established part of the cultural furniture, so there is far less angst about the so-called effectiveness of aikido as a martial art. My dojos have a more or less constant membership, but there is a large group of children, some of whom train with one or both parents. Aikido is seen as an important part of their education.
Best wishes,
Peter Goldsbury,
Forum Administrator,
Hiroshima, Japan