At the 20th anniversary of the death of a great Tai Chi Master there was a celebration and the Master's four great students were invited. These were the four students who had studied with the master longest and eventually been called masters themselves and were now renowned teachers in their own right. One of the students had immigrated to the United States and freely admitted he had change the master's method of teaching and style so he could teach his own students better. But the other three insisted they still taught and practiced the form exactly as the Master had taught, and were very proud of it.
After the banquet there were to be widely anticipated exhibitions. First the American, since he had changed the form, got up and performed his style, and everyone applauded politely when he was done. Then the other three students got up to do the form together (since they did it the same). It soon became apparent that the three forms were not identical. Soon an argument broke out. Two of the students nearly came to blows and the third sat down sulking and refused to even speak to the others.
Given the number of different styles one has to suspect that this is as it has always been. The more things stay the same...the more they change.