Why learn a martial art?

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

It's slightly perverse that that character could then learn a style and in the process become predictable to all practitioners. I wonder if an additional perk would be enough to buy away the 'recognizable style' penalty.

I'm not sure, what's the justification real-world? "I get rid of my recognizable tactics and replace them with tactics no one has ever seen before" is just . . . odd. I'm not sure what that would be. I know beginners can throw off trained people because they do aggressively stupid things which can catch you off guard, but that's not the same thing - it's not really any different than fighting someone who is doing those things on purpose when they are using a style you've never seen before.

Learning a true additional style to throw people off is valid - and I've seen it. When I was in Japan one of my co-workers did sport Capoeira. A Kudo instructor came to his informal class to learn some moves he could insert into his own style to throw people off at the next tournament. It worked too. He went from "fighting guys who know his style" to "using a style they aren't familiar with."

For people who really want a total "includes all, but familiar to none" go with Ultimate Fighting, on MA p. 20. For 20 points you buy Style Familiarity with everything; but only other Ultimate Fighting stylists count as familiar with your style. Yes, it's 29 points including the style, but learning to fight like Remo Williams isn't cheap. ;)