I've heard the concept many a time that the martial arts is like a buffet you look at all sorts of of stuff and take what you want .

I think this is the worst type of analogy for intellegent cross training but a model for what many people are doing today
If you look at diet , you have four food groups

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you should have foods from each group and eat healthy foods from from each group

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example cake and whole wheat bread are both grains but one is a better fod for your health then the other
Ratios of each of these groups is based on goals and the type of activity your involed in
What the Heck does any of this have to do with Martial Arts
well if you look at it as Four Ranges plus weapons it starts to get clearer . Similar to the four food goups you should take for each basied on your your goals and the activity for example a law enforcement officer needs to stress a lot of grappling and control holds
We could also say that some arts are like donuts , bacon , ice cream and candy . While other arts are like egg whites , Tuna , skim milk , fruits and Vegetables
I find that most people that go by the buffet approach tend to take what they like much more often then what they need almost like a diet of a eight year allowed to eat anything they want