I don't think John meant anything bad and I understand how you might feel. HFY and TWC are controversial versions of WC. You should expect queries based on that fact.
People always ask why is your tan sao so high, why do you train to fight on the blindside, YM taught everyone the same, your forms look funny? I could go on. I don't react negatively though. The only way to prove the effectiveness of a fighting art is to fight. Get my point? We fight and what we use works. You're going to get questions so what people say doesn't really matter. I deal with questions from a techniacal standpoint. I don't take it personal. After all NONE of us can claim to know everything about WC history or origins.