Is Aikido Only For the Wealthy

Martial arts used to be solely for the wealthy: the teachers needed patrons, and got them. The money still didn't mean the rich got the secrets though, since as a commodity martial arts are pretty securely held. Nowadays not so martial arts and their sporting cousins are available to most people with some money and time to spare, for little sacrifice and investment. I would go so far as to say for a lot of people martial arts are a cheap way to do something to "get fit", since you can find non-commercialized arts fairly easily. Might also depend on the coolness factor of course :-)

For people really interested in the martial side of the arts, as with any art, the pursuit is neither easy nor cheap.

I agree with Heather.