AIKIDOKA: "Aikido in a real fight is 70% atemi and 30% technique" (O Sensei). What does that mean to you?

Atemi is not limited to just kicks or hand strikes, any part of your body making contact with the Uke or even a push or an implied attempt to strike like a fake or feint that helps you set him up for the technique is considered atemi. You could say Atemi is to Aikido what Kuzushi is to Judo. If you understand the dynamics of Aikido techniques, that quote is technically plausible and correct. Most people assume that a fight will last more than 5 minutes like those seen in competitions with each party trading blows and exchanging technique against technique. But most self defense incidents happen in split seconds and rarely lasts that long. Think about it, How does an attacking incident usually go down? An example could be some drunk or crazed attacker comes charging at an Aikidoka with fists flying, the Aikidoka evades, parries and transitions, then applies a couple of atemi in the form of a strike to the face, followed by an elbow against his forearm if he's carrying a weapon to dislodge it and maybe slam a hip to the attacker's body for good measure before applying a throw or pinning technique. If you count all that, it basically sums up as Atemi+Atemi+Atemi+Technique. That's 3 quarters of your response attributed to Atemi before you apply a technique. That does not take into account the fact that you might spend the first few moments just dodging and striking at him to keep him at bay before you see an opening with which you can either escape or apply a technique, especially since one of our Sensei's mantra was "Dodge first before parrying", meaning never stay in the same place at any time and keep moving while looking for possible openings.