Nice job on turning this topic from a dull been there done that, to something worth discussing guys
Myself, I take the meaning of self defense to be along the lines of a quickie fix. I don't think Aikido, even infused with Ki/Kokyu exercises would do the trick. Then again I dont think Mike was implying that to begin with since he wrote that the group he'd be interested in training would preferably be athletic women. Or in other words people that have a hard training ethic.
This diverges somewhat from the original topic, but like Mike, I've been thinking about what would happen if we were to take a bunch of mediocre college Judo guys, but with a good set of heads of their shoulders, teach them the Ki/Kokyu skills, make them work their asses off for about 2 years training their bodies first, then see what happens when we set them loose in tournaments.
Teaching this stuff takes time, but not years and years I think. The power, and finesse to which you can use it will certainly only get better with age. But I certainly think you can develop a body that can automatically use these skills to a practical degree within 2-3 years. Depends on the teacher, the student, and whether the student figures out exactly what it is he needs to strengthen refine in his body on a daily basis. Speaking from personal experience once you start to get it, technique can be swallowed up like candy. There's no need to "memorize" the stuff really since your body tends to react in a manner that adheres to the "principles" you've hammered into your body.
FWIW