In the cases in which I've heard the suffix "ka" used in everyday Japanese speech, it more pointed to someone who did the thing as a profession. For example, a politician is a "seijika."
However, if someone answered that they were an aikidoka or a judoka, I don't think that the person hearing this would immediately place this person as an aikido or judo instructor but that the person was a serious practitioner (as Chuck said) in the art.
My gut feeling from what I know about the language is that the person must basically consider the art to be his or her primary focus in life...
-- Jun
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