I disagree with that. I think that a reasonably talented individual can learn much in a relatively short period of time frame, that the body and mind adapts to the situation presented. Desire and motivation is the key though. For example, I had one student who had some minimal aikido and Shotokan karate experience when he joined my school. When he originally came to me, he said his goal was to be a combination of van damme and steven seagal. I told him to forget about all that because he was going to be a national champion/national team member, in record time. He medaled at Nationals seventeen months later in the senior men's black belt division, fought at team trials and placed second there, the next year he took gold at nationals and again second at team trials, and the next year made team, which I believe was in record time.
