Abasan

I think there is a difference in training goals and methods here.

Quite simply there are quite a few shihans here who will demonstrate that they can't be thrown by the likes of us. That's simple enough, you don't need to be a shihan to not get thrown, anyone can do it. Just don't attack wholeheartedly. Keep something in reserve and you're not likely to be thrown by almost all aikidoka. For them you 'allow' the throw to happen by 'giving' your energy through.

Until of course you seek to learn more than monkey see, monkey do. This is where you learn to connect to uke irrespective of his intention to connect with you. Very difficult and in my mind very special knowledge because if you're training for real encounters you are expecting that attackers have every intent of attacking you.

So if the intent to attack is there, that's good enough. It's sort of between the two extremes mentioned above. That's where most of us should be practicing at. Uke attacks any which way he likes, nage responds in a very general way using the principles learned from kihon waza, I.e. not the techniques per se but what was behind the techniques.

Chris,
Yes I don't mean I haven't come across it. The first book I read, dynamic sphere made it it's selling point, and that's our usual spiel in my first aikido club which was shin shin toitsu based. Early on, that understanding was simple enough to get the message across that aikido is different then other arts. But then as you go deeper, and you learn more, you know that there a whole lot more shades of grey Than there is black and white.

It's just that I don't abide by it, I mean don't believe it. It's not what my Sensei will teach nor what some other sensei's teach at least whom I came across.