Is Aikido an effective martial art is learned properly ? i have heard criticism of it for it's lack of realism?

I don't believe that Aikido is a beginner's martial art but it is effective. by not a beginner's martial art I mean that it can be hard for someone just looking at the style to grasp the purpose to training, the patience it takes to learn, or the coordination to do some of the techniques. my current instructor has two kicking styles and aikido under his belt. he makes the techniques work and every joint lock flows into the next. he says that if you miss the lock then you still created an opening for a strike. there is a lot of criticism that there isn't resistance but there is a style of aikido called tomiki or shodokan aikido (not shotokan karate) that incorporates the judo throws and sparring, randori (sparring), tournaments, and resisting opponents.