85,7 - aerobic in the morning and aikido in the evening

I did my Les Mill 30min kick start workout. Now I'll check aikido. I hope I can be open minded and think of it as an exercise. I can't think aikido as a combat sport or self defence. I just can't see aikidoka in a real fighting situation. BUT I don't have to! I have not been in a fight for 35 years - so it's not very relevant. I just want to learn something about it:-)