I don't know if this would surprise anyone, but in today's Friday morning aiki-ken class (actually, just about 45 minutes ago), Jacques Payet was talking about why we study ken and the difference between the skill of cutting someone with a kenjutsu technique and how we should be training in aiki-ken class, and he said (and this is a direct quotation): "Aikido is not mechanic, it's internal." (Of course, we normally say "mechanical" but he's French so it sounded like "mécanique".) Here's a permanent link:
Twitter.com/KyotoKenshu/status/502603433632104448. I can't imagine there are too many other Yoshinkan instructors who would talk like this.