For forward vs. reverse engineering ask several different engineers and you'll get slightly different answers, but this is a fun read to get the flavor.
Difference between Forward Engineering and Reverse Engineering - GeeksforGeeks
And yeah, there's not like a totally hard line there as much as the direction of discovery. I would say that all my "hammer time" was (and still is) also involves "reverse engineering" what was working for other objects and finding it on discs. I just wasn't using a TechDisc at the time to do it, then happy to find that in some measurements it was lining up. Will it for everyone? What works best for whom? Dunno, I'm open minded. Just seems like both strategies can work.
Kids, pools, and "secret sauce": my 2 y/o shows exactly what Bill is describing with a mini vs. full sized disc. When she picks up the mini, she kind of wings it with her arm like a "soft" beach frisbee throw. When she picks up a max weight Comet she heaves it with her entire body and laughs at any damage she caused.
Is it surprising that Rowing takes some cues faster from wrestling, Sewer takes it from skateboarding, Sidewinder from swimming and baseball, Josh from Overthrow from tennis, Slingshot from Basketball? Me from boxing and dance? Probably not (not excluding anyone intentionally, just the first things that came to mind). Is everyone who works hard at it for a long time going to end up some mishmash of things to an extent? Probably. I think you see that all the way to the top level on tour, too.
Tangential but part of the "big picture" train I'm emphasizing. Barela's form always looks "pullier" to me. Eagle's looks "swingier." I think instead of those terms in a strict sense it would just be better to talk about posture, sequence, timing, direction etc. of actions etc. I wouldn't be surprised if their sequence and grips are different (they are), and that all those things are related to each other too. They're both "letting the arm unfurl" along a plane in one meaning. Will we also learn/have them tinker with parts vs. whole move? Why yes, I could believe that too.
Keep it up gang & thanks Neil and Koiyote are stirring it up with TechDisc findings for discussion.