A bunch of Martial Arts questions

[Mailanka]

In my ongoing quest to create a totally awesome chambara mini-campaign, I've come across several things I'm uncertain about, and I wanted to toss them into the churning SJGames forum and see what popped out.

Question, the first: Naginatas, Spears, and the Staff Skill

A quick search of the forum shows that it's "common knowledge" that you can use a spear with the staff skill and thus gain +2 to your parry. The point of the Form Mastery perk is to switch back and forth between these two skills quickly (so you might gain the +2 to parry, and then turn around and stab someone for impaling damage).

However, Form Mastery specifically states that it allows you to shift between two skills when that weapon has a listing in two different skills (in the weapon section of the book). For example, you can find the quarterstaff under both Staff and Two-Handed Sword (though given that using the quarterstaff with Two-Handed Sword is inferior in all ways to using it with Staff, I don't know why you'd want to do this). I see no such listing for any kind of spear under the Staff skill. Thus, you cannot use spears with Staff skill. Am I missing something?

Moreover, Naginatajutsu specifically uses both the Staff and Polearm skill and the Form Mastery perk, presumably to take advantage of the benefits of both approaches, but according to GURPS Low-Tech, the Naginata is listed under the Dueling Polearm entry of the Staff Skill, where it gains no parry benefit, and its impaling/cutting damage is replaced by crushing. The only benefit I can see to using the staff skill is that you could make thrusting attacks at reach 1 and 2, rather than only at reach 2, as per the Polearm version of the naginata, and it looks like you can change reach very rapidly in this stance. This is not unique to Low-Tech: This information can be found in Characters as well, the Low-Tech authors merely expanded this entry to include other polearms.

So, am I correct in assuming that the naginata doesn't gain a parry bonus in "staff form," and can anyone point me to evidence that you actually can use the spear with staff skill (I don't disagree that it seems a reasonable interpretation, but I'm curious if there's actually a RAW entry for this).

Question, the second: Combat Art

Combat Art and Combat Sport are not Combat. If you learn Karate Sport, you suffer penalties if actually striking someone to injure them (and likewise, an actual fighter is likely to make fouls in a tournament). I understand this, and it seems reasonable: A tournament fighter has studied how to win a tournament, not how to break his opponent's bones. Combat skills have a purpose: Injuring an opponent. Combat Sport skills have a purpose: scoring points in a contest. I can actually see why players might study one or the other, depending on the nature of the campaign.

What I don't understand is the point of Combat Art. I understand why it exists: Some schools focus on pretty movements and attractive kata, and if you end every attack with jazz hands, this can hamper your ability to defeat an opponent. But from a player's perspective, is there any reason to take it? Any reason that those jazz hands might benefit you? Do Combat Art skills exist solely to say "This martial art technique isn't really all that effective," or can you use Combat Art skills to gain some kind of reaction bonus from your audience?

In short: Is there ever a reason, any campaign assumptions, any special rules, where a player might prefer to take Combat Art over a Combat skill? Or is it always inferior? I'm looking for mechanical reasons here, not fluffy reasoning (Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that I already know the fluffy reasons a player might prefer Combat Art. I don't know the mechanical reasons he would).

Question, the third: Is Sensitivity worth it?

Purchasing skills and techniques can be tricky. It's easy for a player to get lost in the desire to be good at a particular, interesting skill or technique, without realizing that they're actually hampering themselves. This is true of any system but, fortunately, it's fairly easy to spot in GURPS. For example, I've watched a player dump 6 points into various techniques to get a +1 to each, and I was able to point out that for 4 points, he'd be better off simply buying the skill (and that techniques exist so you can specialize to a high degree in one, two or MAYBE three things, not to "add character" to your skill. That's more the role of perks).

Sensitivity seems to be such a case. A successful Sensitivity roll gives you +1 to attack and defend under very specific circumstances. This seems to be the equivalent of purchasing +1 to a skill (4 points, or +2 if you count the defense bonus for 8), and thus not the sort of skill you should take to very high levels. Am I right? Or does the fact that this +1 applies to multiple skills, in your experience, make a big difference?

Question, the Fourth: Katanas: two-handed?

Martial Arts lists numerous benefits to parrying with a two-handed weapon, but notes that these two-handed weapons should be "at least 2 yards long." Does this refer to reach (in which case, a standard or LEGENDARY! katana certainly qualify) , or to the actual size of the weapon, or is it bupkis (as the previous paragraph notes bastard swords as an example, and I'm pretty sure those aren't 6 feet long (though, on the other hand, Low-Tech cites small nodachi as a bastard sword, which is certainly longer than the katana), and all you need is the two-handed sword skill to qualify?

Question, the Fifth: Grips!

Slightly related to the above: While GURPS Martial Arts added two new grips (in addition to the "standard" grip), it seems like there's actually quite a few grips under the umbra of those two.

First, Defensive Grip. First, it states that any weapon can gain +1 to parry against frontal attacks at the cost of -1 to parry from side attacks. That seems clear enough, but is it an option or is it a fundamental part of the next two paragraphs? Stated differently: If I want my +1 to frontal parries with a one-handed weapon, must I also take a -2 to my attack rolls and a +1 to my damage? And given that a katana could be considered a two-handed weapon, it should use the latter (-2 to swing damage, -1 to odds of breakage), but it doesn't have a ricasso... so what is the samurai gripping? Or are these really three different options: I can steady the weapon before me "defensively," I can grip the ricasso, or I can place my hand by the tip?

Second, Reverse Grip. Grip Mastery doesn't include Reverse Grip in it's list of options, thus, if I'm correct, you need to use the technique to switch rapidly from or two Reverse Grip. Is that right?

The Final Question: The Delicate Grappler

I've been pondering low ST characters in a martial arts game, and I've quickly discovered that ST is very important! I can see some decent ways to get around having low ST when it comes to striking skills and weapons: You target vulnerable locations, such as punching someone in the throat or stabbing them through the vitals. You'll have a hard time getting through armor, but you can always go for the chinks.

Grappling skills are a little tougher. The Judo throw, especially after a parry, seems like a great option even for a low ST character. However, after you've actually grappled a character, your target always has an opportunity to escape. You have a +5 to keep your grip if you made a two-haded grapple, or +4 if you made an arm or finger lock. Sufficiently high Wrestling skill will boost your ST by +1 or +2. Are there any other ways for low ST characters to keep their grip on big brutes? This will be a cinematic game, so feel free to cite any cinematic options or techniques you can think of. Also, any general advice on how to make low ST characters shine, lemme know.

Thanks!