Aikido looks deceptively "fake", until you're on the wrong end of it.
I had a fight with a 4th dan and won - I had no interesting in fighting him at all, it was all him
I know him, and was expecting it, so when he 'came at me' I stuck an arm up like I was going to grab him... as he went to grab it I kicked him in the knee cap really hard with my steel cap work boot on
there was no fight left in him after that