"Martial Arts" can be looked at from one of three different perspectives; viz. 1) For Health Maintenance 2) For Competitive Sport 3) For Self-Defence.

With age, the emphasis on (2)&(3) diminishes and the focus becomes (1). This is why many martial arts masters toned down their fighting styles over time. With age one needs to focus more on cultivating mind, breathing, balance, awareness, sensitivity, and less on strength and power.

Aikido and Taijiquan/Taichichuan (except the original "hard" Chen style) were uniquely developed for this. So if you think of these as martial arts for self-defence you will be completely disappointed. However training in them allows you to develop certain aspects, specifically sensitivity and awareness, which are vital in real combat.

Aikido does this via defender learning to turn attacker's momentum and Taiji/Taichi does the same via push-hands practice. Depending upon how well you have practiced and internalized this you may/may-not be able to use this in a very limited number of real-world scenarios. Not all conflicts need hard kicking/punching.

All students will do well to study the concepts/theories/ideas behind these arts and interpret/adapt them for use in their own lives.