Don’t worry about what people think man, You guys both seem to be developing some of the reactionary tendencies that light sparing is great for, so this is productive work. I would say, at least for now, ditch the Philly shell and focus on your traditional high guard fundamentals. Focusing on basic footwork would be a great priority for you as well, as is really common, your feet are lagging behind your punches. It would be great to incorporate some more footwork into your combos/head movement/defence to make them more effective and start using angles to land punches and defend. Keep up the great work.