It's only one person that says that so let it roll off your shoulder. Someone once told me that I wasn't a good representation of Jow Ga kung fu and then I got kicked out of my school. Since then I've seen Jow Ga Sifus implement some of the same training exercises that I shared via video and the new generation is taking that same path that I was criticized for.
Some times you just have to let things roll off you like rolling off a punch continue to "do you". The most important thing is to define how you want to be as a martial artist and stay true to that.
In terms of being knowledgeable about martial arts then. My honest suggestion is to focus on application and being able to use what you train. At one time in my life my teacher told me that I knew more than most Sifus that he met. They knew forms but zi understood more. This is my first time mentioning it. Because I don't think it's true. It was just his perception of me. My reason for telling you this is that being able to apply what you train will outweighed your rank and belt in terms of people being more receptive to your knowledge.
If you want to be recognized for the forms you do then be good at that and don't get too deep into discussions about the applications. The only reason I say this is because those that try to use the application will start seeing that it's all the same thing. Things begin to similar even though the have different names. They see a lot of what they consider a variation. I'm not immune to this. My last teacher told me to not pay attention to how things are the same but how the are different. I still don't understand how that will help me.
Martial arts techniques often look like siblings. Not the same but in the same family.
