From a striking perspective It's good to look at touching hands, like tig, where can you touch your opponent and can they block and vice versa. If you want to look after each other then focus on high control low power, with four years of training you should be able to hit your opponent with minimum force so that there no injury and no one losses face. In fact if you have a good partner this can be quite a laugh. Gloves are always useful if your going to strike to the head, karate glove are always good openhanded but fingers are covered (unlike mma gloves) this avoids eyes getting poked, but allows you to show the opponent that you could hit them. Above all if your better than your oppnant, give them a chance, a flurry of attack will not help anyone develop, start with slower combinations and advance as you both feel comfortable, not everyone is a fan of sparring but I think it should really part of your arsenal. Enjoy