it's true power cannot be fully exploited unless you know Emacs.

Very true. I've used Emacs almost exclusively for 20 years, and what I've found is what you've just said: the key is to use Emacs on its own terms. Otherwise you're fighting too many deeply ingrained behaviors, etc. (The corollary to this is that the reverse is true also - Emacs keybindings for other editors tend to be unsatisfying. They bring the surface, but not the essence of Emacs to some other tool.)