The world of martial arts is so vast. The journey is all about finding what parts of it really connect with you. What connects with you might be different from what connects with your teacher. That is a very good thing! We’re all different, with different preferences, different motivations, different life experiences that led us to where we are.
Your teacher will be teaching from a point view that probably connects most powerfully with her/him/they. It doesn’t need to necessarily be what you connect to. As a student, it is best to listen, learn, and absorb the information you are given, and then, develop an awareness of what speaks loudest to you.
You can try to figure out why certain parts connect with you, but, it’s not absolutely necessary to know why. Just be aware of the fact that you’ve developed a stronger connection with it, over other parts. With this practice, the more you learn, the more you start extracting what parts really resonate with you.
When you start consolidating your preferences after years of dedicated study, you’ll find yourself inadvertently creating your own “style”. I put style in quotation marks, because really, everyone’s got their own individual style.
This is a big part of Bruce Lee’s philosophy of “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is essentially your own”. But in order to do that, it requires one to be completely immersed and dedicated to the study and practice of martial arts.
Myself, I’ve combined principles, concepts, and techniques of Choy Lee Fut Kung-Fu, Yang Style Tai Chi, and Gracie Jiu Jitsu. I’ll throw in bits from Wing Chun Kung-Fu, Shito-Ryu Karate, Baguazhang, Serrada Escrima, AikiJujutsu, San Da, Boxing, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Wrestling, and Praying Mantis. But the foundation comes from the above 3 arts I’ve mentioned.
I continue to evolve and develop my “style”, because I am constantly training, learning, and exploring with martial arts.