One more thing - What you do with the martial art depends on You and only on You. You could study any martial art(that has practical applications), and choose to either use it to hurt people or use it only for self-defense or for the practice itself. Aikido is a good martial art, no doubt, but the fact that its a good martial art to study doesn't mean its the only one. I'd recommend you look around your area for dojos in any martial art that seems decent to you, and check them out. Choose the place that seems to resonate best with you.
Some places are tournament based(most Judo, Tae-kwan-do, Boxing dojos I know, for example)
Some places are based on practice for health, for example most Tai-Chi places I've seen
Some places are based on the idea that you should learn whatever you can for self defence, and base themselves on that
Some teach in a very traditional manner
Others teach in a very "modern" manner
Basically - Each dojo in itself can be different, and you should find a place that resonates with you. Also - no martial art I know of activly manifests violence. They generally teach you how to deal with it.
Anyhow - in tearms of learning by video, I would never recommend it for any martial art. But Aikido least of all - it requires a huge amount of cooperative work, having a strong focus on joint-locks.
Hope this helps,
Lee-Orr
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