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Re: twenty years ?
Does it really matter?
Aikido is good/wonderful/interesting/fantastic/amazing for so much more than self defense. If that narrow perception is the only focus you have then perhaps Aikido is not the best thing for you, but I would argue that there is nothing out there that is dedicated to only satisfying one thing.
I know many people who entered Aikido with one goal in mind (physical fitness, self defense, confidence, social reasons...etc.) but the only ones that stayed were those that found something in addition to their original reason.
WRT the difference in answers you got when asking this question to your instructors, you might consider that one of them learned that they didn't need to fight in 6 months to a year - which is an important insight and well worth passing on to zealous beginners, while the other may have known that, but wanted to address your apparant keenness to fight and gave you the number of 20 years...so hopefully you won't think about going out and starting anything you can't finish for at least that long.
Just a thought...maybe two. But what do I know...I've only been doing this for 20 years <g>.
--Michael
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