Weird. If they didnt believe it was a martial art did they still call their training area a dojo? Did they still expect to be referred to as sensei? They might as well get rid of all the bowing too and practice in tracksuits. Do you know why they had this view Larry?
In my mind an attack should be committed, quick, strong and executed correctly. A yokomen should be aimed at the temple area of tori, after being raised straight to your forehead and then cutting down diagonally so as not to telegraph your intent to tori and stepping forward with the front foot as if performing a cut in kendo (or thats the way we do it at our dojo). I would expect this from a good uke and to be directed at a capable student, but I wouldnt attack a begginner or an inexperianced student this way. I would slow the attack down more and give them more time to work on performing the technique correctly, once they've done that then we can start charging at them like a freight train
