It s very frustrating that we have people that, even after many years of practice, still allow themselves to revert back to their habitual behavior. Aikido is unique among martial arts practices in that, as realistically as possible, we are modeling a life-death situation as an example of conflict resolution as opposed to escalation . This is not in our evolutionary history. If no one is frustrating you, you need someone else to give you stimulus. Aikido can be a wonderful methodology for learning, because it lets us examine our behavior.
Some people think they are powerless, because they make themselves powerless.
Most people are like this, and Aikido practice gives them the opportunity to confront this issue and learn. Thus, Aikido is important as a transformational vehicle. It gives us the stimulus that allows us to see how we respond and learn how to change the way in which we respond.