senshincenter

I'd say it's easy just to touch someone in the face or on the torso when they are just standing there - sure - that's easier than trying to do Nikyo in Kihon Waza (choreographed ukemi). HOWEVER, this don't make it easy to hit someone - certainly not easier than doing Nikyo. Being able to hit someone as designed by striking arts, in the midst of a combative situation, is every bit as hard as trying to pull off Nikyo under it's own designed conditions. What is easier is fooling oneself into believing that one's strikes are effective (when they are not) - that is easier than fooling oneself that his/her Nikyo is effective when it is not (but not by much).

What is hard about staying in the training is not the art. That's why these attempts to make the art easier are in my opinion missing the point. What is hard about commitment is commitment itself. That's why, if you were to ask all the looky-loos, the hobbyists, the 3 monthers, etc., you see that they almost have nothing in their lives where commitment is practiced. By the time they get to your dojo to quit your Aikido, they've already quit a million things. When they are left without assistance in the cultivation of commitment, about the only thing they can't quit is quitting itself.