Goll-eee. Miss a couple of days and you are 116 posts behind!
I started to read every post but my eyes went crossed,
I'll sum up my experience:
Aiki = blend, = soft = never fighting against or contesting a person's power
Internal = alignment = use of the joints not muscles for power = creating power thru the turning of the joint and expressing it thru correct alignment and root to the ground
These two terms have been confused for a very long time but have little to do with each other. A teacher may use both simultaneously but that does not mean they become the same thing.
The confusion grows because internal is so mysterious since it is hard to see what the teacher is doing inside. Chen Zhonghua says that if a 'master' won't let you touch him, he is not teaching you the real internal system.
Internal power has lifted me up into the air and sent me back 6 or 8 feet. No way is it always "soft" or "not contesting."
"Fear, not compassion, restrains the wicked."