Dog Brothers Public Forum

I have been away from Kali and JKD for almost nine years and have just started training again in the last few months.  While catching up on things, I have seen a lot from the straight blast gym guys and other mixed martial artist on functional combat and how many of the energy drills are a waste of time.  Many of their arguments seem to make sense, yet I still have a feeling that hubad and sumbrado have helped me in getting back the motions and flow of combat.  Further, I wonder whether some of the "functional" approaches lead to an early fast learning curve, but then peak (or even the long-term impact of so much contact over a sustained period - I know a lot of punch drunk old boxers).  I have really struggled with this issue and found the traping article by Crafty Dog on this site to be helpful in thinking about my training.  I would love to hear opinions from others, particularly those who have tested their training in real (or at least full) contact stick fighting (I have boxed and kickboxed competitvely when younger, so I have a little better feel for the tradeoffs there) .  Also, it has been several years since Crafty Dog wrote his article, so I thought he might have new views or additional points to make.
Thanks in advance for any help in thinking about these issues and how to adjust my training.