uh, hey everyone!
I read the first ten or so posts, but thought I'd just jump in. from the OP I get that he basically found that there was a lot more to Aikido in the training than he could see in the watching...well I think that's something everyone can recognise, no? I'm pretty sure you don't need to train for 20 years to see that. (not saying training for 20 years doesn't give a person the opportunity to learn much more than the rank amateur- pls don't get sensitive) having said that, time is no guarantee of wisdom.
so yeah, anyhow, I can see how someone would find that there was much more to an art like Aikido once they started to train.
my personal thoughs on Aikido? well as far as I can go into them now, "there's more than meets the eye, in Aikido" nothing too controversial in that is there..?
