Why learn a martial art?

[PK]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

I thought that you had to be in a style to be able to improve the techniques of that style above default. Am I wrong here?

The GM has the option of declaring that techniques cannot be improved beyond default unless you've trained in a style that includes said technique. It's not a hard and fast rule, so much as a way for the GM to make styles more important if he wants that in his campaign.

The actual hard rule is that Style Familiarity lets you improve your style's techniques at any time; see below.

Originally Posted by MrGreezy

what does the Style Familiarity point do other than officially recognize the style? The book makes it seem like that's all it does.

See the bullets on p. 49 of GURPS Martial Arts. In brief, Style Familiarity lets you learn the style's perks and improve its techniques at any time (instead of having to wait and train during downtime) because you're assumed to have already practiced them; you ignore cultural penalties when interacting with fellow stylists; you are assumed to have a minor Claim to Hospitality or similar benefit; and you suffer less from Feints and Deceptive Attacks from fellow stylists.

In addition to the above, when you "know" a style (which requires buying its Style Familiarity), you're entitled to buy more Style Perks than you normally would be allowed. Since Style Perks are pretty awesome, and cheap, this is not an insignificant benefit -- even though you don't get any discount on their price.

As I said above, it's a pretty great deal for just 1 point, and that's not even including that it's what takes you from "I know a few combat skills" to "I've trained in this particular style."