First, I agree with Keith. I've known Erick for a while and I think he is crazy.
. Seriously, we have talked and I applaud that he actively seeks to put an answer to what he teaches. To that argument, I think there is such a time when you need to demonstrate and transmit what you do. While its seems somewhat brazen to make the accusation, we essentially pay instructors to teach seminars because we know they can demonstrate (and transmit) what they know. We seek the knowledge we want to emulate and that crafts what our aikido will look like. Yes, there are demonstrable metrics of success in aikido - regardless of your "goals." Yes, some ways are better than others. We pick dojos, partners, seminars and organizations that best suit our goals and expectations in aikido.
Second, this is not a Dan thread. Dan teaches one of several different methodologies of internal power. Tangentially, I believe internal power is critical to aiki, which is critical to aikido. Having been the idiot and the end of Dan's hands on more than one occasion... He is not a parlor trick. Honestly, he actually has enough internal power to lift you off your feet. No reflexes, no cooperation. He can simply move his entire body against any point of contact. I know several people who are doing this training and it is impressive and far less complicated than you would expect. I believe there are several other internal power people available for training, not to mention several Chinese arts that work on the same thing. Be clear whether the problem is internal power, or an individual. Personally, I think most of us see that kind of demonstrations and go, "huh, that doesn't look like what I do at all." Aikido tend to answer this question with: "We do that," "we can be different," or WTF?"
Clearly, the value of education is important. We publish magazines on which schools offer the best education. Why should it matter? Math is a fact, right? Why not go to State university instead of Harvard? Why not let an English teacher teach science? Because the curriculum is only part of the learning experience. Heck, we can't even agree on the curriculum, let alone who teaches it best. Not to mention that some of us have expectations about what we want to learn, regardless of its "correctness." What's worse, we'll spend time and effort worrying about what someone else is doing...
To Mary's point, I would argue Aikido is not necessarily about finding commonality, although I suppose not with George Sensei at least. As it turns out, I am flying George Sensei down South in December (shameless plug) because I feel he is one of the best instructors in the US. He is not teaching what I do, but I am sure as hell trying to do what he teaches.