Because Wan didn't want to risk endangering most of the human settlements and areas where spirits gathered by drawing Vaatu's attention to them, he kept himself on the move and did not train with anyone. He had to teach himself, so to speak, with the elements of Air, Water, and Earth, and had only Raava's advice in how they moved to aid him. So while most of his bending forms are the traditional forms we see later in the series, he has quite a few differences in how he approaches each element.
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Post-Bonding with Raava, Wan's canonical bending style changes to incorporate much clearer and more consistant circular movements with the use of all the elements.
Headcanon: This is an intuitive use of the elements based on the pattern of the Yin Yang that was given to him by Raava, something she couldn't fully articulate for him in the year leading up to harmonic convergence.
Creating clouds out of air is no longer a technique of proper Airbenders because it doesn't actually take any skill and requires a lot of brute force. Clouds, normally, are made of water. Airbenders can't manipulate water, so when they create the 'clouds', they're actually forcing air into a condensed form it's not supposed to take. Gliding on air currents, working with it's natural flow, is both easier and something only proper Airbenders can achieve.
The Original Air Nomads who cloud walked didn't know clouds were made of water and forced the air into 'clouds' to lift them were hamhanding the element much the same as the original fire throwers of Wan's Lion Turtle just tossed fire around instead of using it like an extension of their bodies.
The use of gliders and training of other Airbenders by the Sky Bison comes after his time in the world (or possibly during it, but not at his current canon point) and cloudwalking is the only method he knows to use air for flying. He recognizes that it is difficult and that regular clouds are made of water, but without any other concept for achieving the same effect, it's all he has.
Also, he really enjoys it.
Wan has figured out how to do it with the least amount of effort (for himself), but it does not change the fact that it's mostly brute force.
Wan's waterbending during the time he spent gathering the spirits of the world to convince them to return to the Spirit World was improved greatly by a visit to the North Pole Spirit Oasis where he met with Tui and La and communed with them. His training did not become particularly formal, but he gained a lot of insight in how water moves naturally and how to use the least amount of effort when controlling vast quantities of it.
Earth is Wan's weakest element and the one he struggles with learning and controlling the most. This is based on how little Earthbending we see him do in canon compared to the other elements as well as what he does with the earth. Very little of it can be called refined, it's mostly just pulling large chunks of rock up and tossing them about. There's not a lot of good technique beyond the basics.
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Bending
General Bending
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Post-Bonding with Raava, Wan's canonical bending style changes to incorporate much clearer and more consistant circular movements with the use of all the elements.
Headcanon: This is an intuitive use of the elements based on the pattern of the Yin Yang that was given to him by Raava, something she couldn't fully articulate for him in the year leading up to harmonic convergence.
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Firebending
Airbending
Creating clouds out of air is no longer a technique of proper Airbenders because it doesn't actually take any skill and requires a lot of brute force. Clouds, normally, are made of water. Airbenders can't manipulate water, so when they create the 'clouds', they're actually forcing air into a condensed form it's not supposed to take. Gliding on air currents, working with it's natural flow, is both easier and something only proper Airbenders can achieve.
The Original Air Nomads who cloud walked didn't know clouds were made of water and forced the air into 'clouds' to lift them were hamhanding the element much the same as the original fire throwers of Wan's Lion Turtle just tossed fire around instead of using it like an extension of their bodies.
The use of gliders and training of other Airbenders by the Sky Bison comes after his time in the world (or possibly during it, but not at his current canon point) and cloudwalking is the only method he knows to use air for flying. He recognizes that it is difficult and that regular clouds are made of water, but without any other concept for achieving the same effect, it's all he has.
Also, he really enjoys it.
Wan has figured out how to do it with the least amount of effort (for himself), but it does not change the fact that it's mostly brute force.
Waterbending
Earthbending