[hal]

Dumb question:

Are you limited to ONE session, or can you call for two? Why not have session one where the players use their character sheets - and NONE are eliminated due to adventuring. Perhaps session one is that they're normal martial artists and reasonably good at what they do. Midway through the tournament, a master arrives who requests ever so politely, that they assist him in a matter of life or death, and lets them know that without their help, he stands a good chance of failing.

Session one is going from a "non-lethal" tournament, to a lethal one in which an old nemesis is about to open a gate to a realm man was not meant to know. The martial artists are good, and generally speaking, good enough for the first and second line of defense for the bad guy. What their role is, is to keep the eyes of the main villain from seeing the incoming master.

Session two takes those who survived the first session, and years later, after trained by master and personal training from masters (plural, not singular), have the group with their updated and upgraded characters begin combat anew, only this time, with the fancy stuff.

That's if you can get two game sessions for your adventure. Otherwise, as mentioned, it is going to be difficult to show the "mundane" martial arts versus the "trained by master" martial arts.