From the introduction:
During the creation of There’s a Game
in this Book there were a number
of things we had to cut, combine,
and streamline to ensure the base
system was easy to use and simple to follow. One
compromise we have to make was with the Martial
Arts Combat Skill. In the main book, Martial Arts
is basically Brawling under a different name (it’s
not even listed on the sheet -- it’s an Optional Skill
you can take if you’re feeling fancy). While that
might work for the main game, as anyone who
has taken a martial art in real life can attest (and,
believe us, they have attested to us, repeatedly),
Martial Arts and Brawling are very, very different.
That’s why we have this expansion. Instead of
just lumping the two Combat Skills together,
we’re giving martial artists a little more they can
do. Of course, new abilities do come with some
additional penalties, so everything is going to end
up balancing out in some form or another...