> I recommend against trying to use Emacs bindings in Vim if you can help it

This is fine, I think. Using C-w is more convenient than <Esc>diw. I also find C-a and C-e quite convenient, although you need plugins for these (tpope's vim-rsi is good).

I might be worth starting without them, though, so they learn not to rely on them too much.

That being said, I use home-row mods, which makes Control a lot easier to use than regular keyboards.