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The purpose of most (though not all) aikiweapons kata, both the solo and the paired to to teach priciples related to taijutsu (hand to hand) Aikiweapons techniques are not designed for nor are they good for "true combat" it wasn't the intention of the Kata's from their inception.
Jun did a very good job of describing the premise behind Koryu Kata
"In actuality, kata in most budo are paired practice exercises; koryu kenjutsu schools have within their systems many paired kata practice which constitute the crux of their training.
Kata were formed in order to provide people with a safe environment in which to attain the focus and intensity necessary to survive. In one way, training in kata provides the practitioners with "pieces" that they can use in actual melee; by going through the entire system of kata in a systematic manner, the practitioner receives an orthogonal set of initiating and responding movements. In another manner, kata provides the practitioner with strategies to create openings and gateways into the principles underlying that art"
This is a fundamental differnence with an art like Karate where the kata is solo. Aikido is done in a fairly traditional Kata like manner whether most realize it or not.
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