I think Aikido is the Way of Aiki and while I agree with what you people on here are trying to say, with what you are seeking to do, I think it is never too wise to stray from the martial path. With aiki you can develop the craft to apply nikyo (with or without pain). Without aiki, you can do neither - all you can do is crunch it, like they do in most Jujutsu or Hapkido dojos. Zero finesse, if you like. Aiki is the finesse we seek.

My nikyo has uke on the edge of pain from beginning to end. It is 'on'. When finished there is no lasting damage and in fact, it should feel to be rather a pleasant kind of pain, but it is pain nevertheless. If you are trying to do it without pain you are just barking up the wrong tree. It is not the aim to create pain, the aim is to control uke with minimal effort - if possible - using his energy. Uke's reaction will create the pain, unless he is a good uke that has learned to go with the flow to perfection to 'escape' the pain. Thus, it is not your skill but uke's that creates the painless nikyo.

A lot if the Aikido I see is just plain garbage. Even more of what I hear. I have done Judo, wrestling, Jujustsu - all sorts - and am becoming tired of aiki-fairy imaginations. If you are barking up the wrong tree and you don't know it - well - how bad can that be. I guess you will find out when someone attacks you.

The waza we have allow us to recognize and work on developing aiki. At one end we have kokyu-nage to isolate and develop movement. At the other we can throw people over our heads - the only reason we don't break our necks is because we are good at ukemi. Don't confuse uke's skill with your own. Even if you learn to control uke with good aiki, it will be just useless dance unless you can follow it up with powerful technique. And you can only learn powerful technique by practicing powerful technique.

Just my 2c.