Please explain to me Martial Arts styles' optional traits

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

It's a little more complex than that. (a) It's never worth buying up any techniques before you have at least 2 points in the underlying skill, and usually 4. (b) It may be worth buying two or even three Hard techniques if you want to raise them by more than +1 and the underlying skill already has four or more points invested in it.

Techniques that buy off potentially stacking penalties also alter the math. If you want to specialize in close combat counterattacks while sitting...