[zuljita]

I've got a character who's multi-classed (for lack of a better term) into martial arts. My thoughts are more or less this:

1) Being unarmed is very much hard mode and can be a major mistake if the bulk of the monsters have 3-5 DR. Lacking swing is going to set you back for a long time compared with knight, barbarian or even holy warrior.
2) Chi abilities can be great or another trap. If you specialize in kiai and push, you can be an interesting crowd controller, power blow takes so much investment to only work sometimes that I think it is a trap in the early game but a huge tool with some solid cp under your belt. That said, mantis strike and dragon skin go a long way to close some gaps.
3) if you really want to shine without weapons, consider the wrestler from Pyramid.
4) seriously consider spending all your discretionary points on ST. It's the stat that keeps on giving for melee combatants.