Hugh,
Check out post #88229 in this old thread from elsewhere on the 'net. The writer addresses a number of questions and statements made by other posters regarding alignment, structure, and unifying the body, and he nails what I'm trying to articulate. Really, it is not so very different an approach from what you are learning now, if I'm not mistaken.
http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/u...r=88227&page=3