this depends on the person. some are more inclined to a structure type of practice which gravitate them toward technique. some are more toward freedom of movement which gravitate toward flow. i came to aikido from other martial arts that are mostly technique based. Then i ran into those crazy systema buggers whose approach to things are mostly flow. i liked that alot. learned the flow from them, i went back and fixed my techniques, rounding out the edges, and smooth the flow.
i have seen folks who focused on technique and never got beyond into the flow, and this applied to most martial arts that i encountered. i also saw folks focus on the flow and their techniques are sloppy. based on my personal experience, which isn't all the much, arts that have competition component, the good ones will be better with the flow, i.e. moving beyond technique, sooner.
now, if you are in buffet situation, a good flow would get you more foods.
