Martial Arts

"The System"

Created by "exempt" and made available at The Wu Jen (www.geocities.com/morrowwinspir). D&D is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast. Distributed under the Open Gaming License.

Summary: "The System" allows characters to learn martial arts and martial arts maneuvers through feats.  Three basic fighting styles - soft, hard, and mixed - allow players to increase damage and AC at variable rates.
    With the system, you can "re-create" the monk exactly as stated in the PHB.  Alternatively, monk characters can be customized to become more offensive or defensive in style, albeit with trade-offs.  
    Finally, "The System" allows any character to learn martial arts.  Fighters can become potent martial arts experts, but none will exceed the monk in terms of flexibility.

• Martial Arts, the Feat
• Advancing in a Martial Art
  Monks and Martial Arts
• Learning a Martial Art
• Combining Styles
• Martial Arts Feats
  Standard Feats That can Be Used As Part of a Martial Arts Fighting Style
  New and Converted Martial Arts Feats and Their Prerequisites (List)
  New and Converted Feat Descriptions
• Comparisons between a Min/Maxed Monk and Fighter Dedicated to the Martial Arts

Martial arts, the feat

Learning a martial art is as simple as finding a teacher and taking a feat. Mastering a martial art can take a lifetime.

Martial Art [General]
You excel at fighting unarmed, dodging blows and inflicting unarmed damage.
Prerequisite: Improved unarmed strike, training from a master of the art
Benefit: You can choose a type of martial art to master. There are three basic categories: "soft" fighting styles, which emphasize defense and mental prowess, "hard" styles that stress attacking and physical fitness, and a "mixed" style that combines the two. One you have learned a martial art, your unarmed attacks do normal damage without penalty according to the style of martial art you learn.
        Also, depending on the general style of martial art you choose to learn, you may be able to increase your AC above average. "Soft" arts allow you to add your full Wisdom bonus (if positive) to your AC (plus any Dexterity modifiers, etc.). If you learn a "hard" style, you cannot gain an AC bonus for high Wisdom. And if you learn a "moderate" style of martial art that mixes both defensive and offensive capabilities, you can add half of your Wisdom bonus (round down).
        This Wisdom bonus is negated any time you wear armor or are more than lightly encumbered. Aside from these exceptions, it does stack with any other kind of AC bonus including a Dexterity modifier, but does not add to your AC when you are flat-footed or denied your Dexterity bonus.

        Additionally, learning a martial are allows you to learn other special maneuvers, increase damage you inflict, and better your AC.

Normal: Unarmed attacks deal subdual damage only (or suffer a -4 attack penalty), and characters do not gain an AC bonus for high Wisdom.
Special: Monks - and monks only - can retain their Wisdom bonus to AC even when flat-footed, though not when restrained or immobilized.  This is equivalent to the Preternatural Defense feat, described below.

Advancing in a martial art

A martial art ability can be learned for every feat spent on your martial art beyond the first. When you qualify for the feats depends on the type of martial art and how many ranks you have in your chosen art. The first feat spent to learn a martial art (the Martial Art feat), counts as first rank. A successive feat used to learn more about your art adds a second rank, and so on.

Optional: Any feat that has a specific number of levels of the monk class as a prerequisite can be learned by any character skilled in the martial arts if he has a number of ranks equal to the requisite monk levels plus four. For example, the Lightening Fists feat (Sword and Fist) has as one of the prerequisites "Monk level 4th+." If this optional rule is used, a fourth level monk could learn the feat (as long as she met the other requirements), or any character with at least 8 ranks in a martial art could learn the feat.

This optional rule allows other characters to advance in the martial arts like a monk, although the latter will always retain superiority.

Monks and martial arts

Monks begin at first level with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a chosen Martial Art feat (in a soft, mixed, or hard style), and the Preternatural Defense feat. They also gain two extra free feats that can be spent on any Martial  Arts feats. This is in addition to what the character gets for race and being first level.

Optional: Every time a monk would accrues any of the following abilities from advancing in level, he can substitute the ability for a martial arts feat instead if he otherwise fulfills the prerequisites: Any increase in unarmed damage, increase in AC (normally every 5 levels), stunning attack (first level), Deflect Arrows (second level), Still Mind (third level), Slow Fall (levels three, six, and eight), and Improved Trip (level six).

A monk that substitutes a martial arts feat for one of these abilities can choose to gain the same ability later if a similar, related ability would normally be granted, albeit the ability will be "underpowered". For example, at first level the monk gains the evasion ability. A character could substitute a martial arts feat for this ability, but if she accepted the improved evasion ability at ninth level, it would only be considered evasion and not improved evasion. Furthermore, a monk who decides to accept these abilities at the level at which they are granted can apply them to his martial art as if they were ranks.

If a monk declines a granted ability but later decides to take it as a normal feat or as a feat substituted for any other ability, she must meet the requirements for the feat she desires to learn. For example, at sixth level a monk normally earns the Improved Trip feat even if she doesn't have an Intelligence of 13 or higher and the Expertise feat, which are both normal prerequisites for Improved Trip. If she spent her Improved Trip "slot" on another martial arts feat but then later decided to learn Improved Trip, she would then have to have an Intelligence of at least 13 and Expertise.

Monks also make attacks unarmed and with martial arts weapons as listed in Table 3-10 The Monk of the PHB. That is, they are allowed more attacks per round than normal characters of equivalent level.

Learning a martial art

Most martial artists begin under the tutelage of a master in the specific fighting style (soft, mixed, or hard) she chooses to master, although the occasional barbarian brawler come from the far north is not unknown. The DM may want to enforce the optional rule that requires characters to learn feats from persons who already know them, in which case the character can only learn the martial art feats the master already knows. To learn abilities a master cannot teach, she has to find someone who knows what she wants to learn. Most masters know at least two "high level" maneuvers that can only be learned by the most experienced.

Note that some feats have requirements based on how many ranks a character has in a specific fighting style. For example, the ability to increase damage (with the Improved Strike feat) is faster with a hard fighting style than a soft one; likewise, improved AC can be gained more quickly (via the Improved Defense feat) by a practitioner of a soft art.

Combining styles

Martial arts styles can be combined beyond simply the "mixed" fighting style. For each fighting style learned, the character must spend one feat to master it. From then on, whenever she takes a martial arts feat she must declare to which of her styles it will add new rank. The benefits generally are greatest when two radically different styles are mixed (e.g., soft and hard), because one allows augmented damage earlier and the other better defense. If a character knows two different styles, she must declare each round which style she is using; in that round, she then has access to the AC and damage normally granted by that style, although any other special maneuvers (e.g., Hurl, Immobility, etc.) can be performed independently of which style she chooses to use.

If a character truly wishes to meld styles (e.g., gain the superior damage of a hard style while enjoying the better AC of a soft style), she must have at least ten ranks in each style. She must then take the Combined Martial Styles feat (see below), which allows her to use the AC of one style while striking with the damage of another in the same round. Her martial arts are from thereon considered to be one style, and she loses all the ranks she had in the previous styles. In their place, she gains a number of ranks in her style equal to the greater of her former ranks plus half of the lesser of her former ranks.

For example, Ember's sister Rember has learned 12 ranks of a hard style and 10 of a soft one. She then takes the Combined Martial Styles feat and creates a new style, in which she has 8 + (6/2) = 11 ranks. She loses all the ranks she had in her previous styles (though she doesn't lose the feats associated with them!). From then on she can advance in her new style and earn ranks with the better of her former style's advancement paths. For example, Improved Strike can be earned every 4 ranks for a hard style but only every 6 in a soft style. Ember would only have to earn 4 ranks every time she wanted to take this feat.

Likewise, Improved Defense can be earned every 3 ranks in a soft style but only every 5 in a hard one. Thus, Ember could learn this feat every 3 ranks since it is the better of the two. If Ember had initially mixed a hard and a mixed style, she could then only take Improved Defense every 4 ranks because mixed styles only allow this feat to be taken every fourth rank.

Martial arts feats

Many of the feats below have been adapted from the martial arts section of Oriental Adventures by Gary Gygax.  They are not intended as a challenge to that copyright.

Many feats have requirements of "x or more ranks in a martial art," which means the character must have taken that many feats in her specific martial arts (including the initial feat to learn the art) to learn it. Additionally, many feats already described in the PHB and elsewhere directly apply to martial arts combat or could be used in that context.

Thus, the following standard feats are suggested as martial arts feats. Most of them a character could use even when not fighting in a martial arts style (e.g., with a longsword). If a character learns a feat normally (not as part of a martial art), then she should be able to use it when fighting in a martial arts style or with a longsword or as circumstances dictate.

The feats listed below however, can be learned as part of a martial art, meaning that they apply to the number of ranks a character has earned in that art. The advantage is that the character can qualify for other martial arts feats that require a certain number of ranks. The disadvantage is that she cannot use those feats when she is not using her martial arts style. The exception is that feats that have "Martial Arts" as a prerequisite can only be taken as a martial arts feat.

For example, a character could take the Improved Trip feat as a normal feat, meaning she could use it when fighting with a longsword or with her martial arts style. The feat adds no ranks to her style however. Alternatively, she could take Improved Trip as part of her martial arts style, adding one more rank to it, but only allowing her to use Improved Trip when she is fighting in a martial arts style. If she were to spend a feat on Concentrated Push, she could only use it when fighting as part of her martial arts style, since one of its prerequisites is the Martial Art feat.

Note that to be able to fight in a martial arts style at all, characters have to be unarmored, and most (besides the monk) must be lightly encumbered or less. Feats that can be used armored or when encumbered are noted specifically in their descriptions below.

Standard feats that can be learned as part of a martial arts style

(Prerequisites are in parentheses.  All feats are from the PHB or S&F.)

Ambidexterity
Blight sight, 5' Radius (BAB 4+, Blind-fight, Wis 19+)
Blind-fight
Circle Kick (BAB 3+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Dex 15+)
Cleave (Str 13+, Power Attack)
Combat Reflexes
Deflect Arrows (Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike)
Dodge
Eagle Claw Attack (BAB 2+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Sunder, Dex 15+)
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (BAB +1)
Expertise (Int 13+)
Extra Stunning Attacks (BAB 2+, Stunning Fist)
Eyes in the Back of Your Head (BAB 3+, Wis 19+)
Fists of Iron (BAB 2+, Improved Unarmed Strike)
Great Cleave (Str 13+, Power Attack, Cleave, BAB 4+)
Improved Bull Rush (Str 13+, Power Attack)
Improved Critical (BAB +8; This feat must be used for the unarmed attacks or a martial arts weapon to be considered a martial arts feat)
Improved Disarm (Int 13+, Expertise)
Improved Initiative
Improved Overrun (Expertise, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Trip, Str 13+, Power Attack)
Improved Sunder (BAB 2+, Sunder)
Improved Trip (Int 13+, Expertise)
Improved Two-weapon Fighting (Two-weapon fighting, Ambidexterity, BAB 9+; Earned as a martial arts feat, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting can only be used if the character strikes unarmed with an off-hand or uses two martial arts weapons or a martial arts double weapon.)
Knock-down (BAB 2+, Improved Trip, Str 15+)
Lightening Fists (Monk 4+, Dex 15+)
Mantis Leap (Monk 7+, Jump 5+)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (This feat must be applied to a martial arts weapon to be used as a martial arts feat; characters who have this feat as a part of their class proficiencies cannot earn it as a martial arts feat.)
Mobility (Dodge, Dex 13+)
Off-hand Parry (BAB 3+, Dex 13+, Ambidexterity, Two-weapon Fighting)
Pain Touch (BAB 2+, Stunning Fist, Wis 19+; Also revised below.)
Pin Shield (BAB 4+, Two-weapon Fighting; This feat can be used unarmed if the character has the Martial Art proficiency.)
Power Attack (Str 13+)
Power Lunge (BAB 3+, Power Attack)
Prone Attack (BAB 2+, Dex 15+, Lightening Reflexes)
Skill Focus (Balance)
Skill Focus (Jump)
Skill Focus (Perform) - Types of performance must include martial arts maneuvers such as breaking items, tumbling, catching arrows, etc.
Skill Focus (Tumble)
Snatch Arrows (BAB 3+, Deflect Arrows, Dex 15+, Improved Unarmed Strike)
Spring Attack (Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility, BAB 4+)
Stunning Fist (Dex 13+, Wis 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, BAB 8+)
Sunder (Str 13+, Power Attack)
Two-weapon Fighting (This feat can be applied as a martial arts feat only of the character uses it when making an unarmed off-hand attack or using martial arts weapons or a martial arts double weapon while fighting with his martial arts style.)
Weapon Finesse (BAB 1+; This feat must be applied to unarmed attacks or a martial arts weapon to count as a martial arts feat.)
Weapon Focus (BAB 1+; To be applied as a martial arts feat, the character must assign this feat to unarmed attacks or a martial arts weapon.)
Whirlwind Attack (Int 13+, Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, BAB 4+)

New & converted martial arts feats

Armored Combat
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        Fourteen or more ranks in a martial art
Combined Martial Styles
        Ten ranks in each of two different martial arts styles
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Expanded)
        Base attack bonus +1 OR monk level 1 or higher
Hurl
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Improved Trip
        Expertise (unarmed)
        Int 13+
        Great Throw
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Improved Trip
                Expertise
                Hurl
                Int 13+
Immobility
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        4 or more ranks in a martial art
Improved Defense
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        3 martial art ranks per Improved Defense feat (soft styles)
        4 martial art ranks per Improved Defense feat (mixed styles)
        5 martial art ranks per Improved Defense feat (hard styles)
Improved Movement
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        3 martial art ranks per Improved Movement feat
Improved Strike
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        4 martial art ranks per Improved Strike feat (hard styles)
        5 martial art ranks per Improved Strike feat (mixed styles)
        6 martial art ranks per Improved Strike feat (soft styles)
Improved Weapon Strike
        Base attack bonus +1
        Exotic Weapon Proficiency
        Martial Art
        5 martial art ranks per Improved Weapon Strike feat (hard styles)
        6 martial art ranks per Improved Weapon Strike feat (mixed styles)
        7 martial art ranks per Improved Weapon Strike feat (soft styles)
Incapacitator
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        8 or more martial art ranks
        Immobilizing
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Incapacitator
                10 or more martial art ranks
Instant Stand
        Base Attack Bonus +2
        Dexterity 13+
        Lightening Reflexes
Iron Fists
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Con 13+
        Base Attack Bonus 4+
Leap of the Clouds
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        12 or more martial art ranks
Locking Block
        Expertise
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        Int 13+
Stunning Fist (as per the description of this ability in the PHB's Monk section, p. 39)
        Martial Art
        4 or more ranks in a martial art
        Pain Touch
                10 or more ranks in a martial art
                Distance Death
                Base attack bonus +8
                Dex 13+
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Wis 13+
                Stunning Fist
                Martial Art
Preternatural Defense
        Wis 13+
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        10 or more ranks in a martial art
Slow Fall
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        6 or more ranks per Slow Fall feat
Soft Fall
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        2 or more ranks in a martial art
Slow Resistance
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        Wis 13+
        4 or more martial art ranks
        Speed
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Slow Resistance
                8 or more martial art ranks
Still Mind
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        4 or more martial art ranks
Wise Thrust
        Improved Unarmed Strike
        Martial Art
        Wis 13+
        4 or more ranks in a martial art
        Paralyzing Touch
                14 or more ranks in a martial art
                Wise Thrust
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Wis 13+
        Concentrated Push
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Wis 13+
                Wise Thrust
                4 or more martial art ranks
        Sticking Touch
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Concentrated Push
                Wis 13+
                8 or more ranks in a martial art
        One Finger
                Improved Unarmed Strike
                Martial Art
                Concentrated Push
                Sticking Touch
                Wise Thrust
                Wis 13+
                10 or more ranks in a martial art

New & converted feat descriptions

Armored Combat [General]
You can fight in your martial arts style and use martial arts maneuvers when armored.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 6 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You can fight using your martial arts style and use martial arts maneuvers while armored.  The obvious benefit is the protection armor provides you.  You can also use any martial arts feat you know, even if it normally cannot be performed while armored or more than lightly encumbered.  Armor check penalties still apply (e.g., jumping distance used with Leap of the Clouds suffers an armor check penalty).
        The disadvantages are several.  You cannot apply your Wisdom modifier (if any) to your AC, and the Preternatural Defense feat does not function.  Furthermore, for every -1 of the armor's penalty check, you perform as if you had taken one fewer of the following feats (if you had taken them at all): Improved Strike, Improved Defense, Improved Weapon Strike, and Improved Movement.  For example, if you were a medium-sized creature (normally inflicting 1d4 damage), who had taken Improved Strike three times (augmenting damage from 1d6 to 1d8 to 1d10), and wearing a chain shirt (penalty check of -2), you would perform as if you had only one rank of Improved Strike (1d6 damage).  In any case, your unarmed damage cannot be diminished below the norm for your size.
        You can use a free hand or foot to attack an enemy while armored, though you suffer the normal penalties for attacking with more than one weapon.

Combined Martial Styles [General]
You can mix two martial arts styles (e.g., soft and hard) and use the best of each.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art (two differnet styles), 10 ranks in each of two or more different styles.
Benefit: You can mix the AC and attack abilities of two different martial arts styles, and make a "hybrid" form, such as soft-hard, mixed-soft, etc. From then on, you can fight with the better AC and damage of each of the styles. You can also perform all martial arts maneuvers associated with both styles. Furthermore, you gain the more advantageous progression for Improved Defense, Improved Strike, and Improved Weapon Strike.
        For example, if you mix a soft and a hard form, you could use the AC you have in your soft form (Wis modifier + Dex modifier + the number of Improved Defense feats you have) with the damage you have in the hard form (determined by your Size and how many times you have taken the Improved Strike or Improved Weapon Strike feat).
        For more details, see the section entitled "Combining styles" above.
Special: The feats Improved Strike, Improved Weapon Strike, and Improved Defense do not stack, if you have earned them multiple times in two or more styles, you simply take the better of the AC's and damage. That is, if you have taken Improved Strike under a hard style twice and under a soft style once, you simply use the damage you inflict with the better of the two styles (the hard style, in this case), and assume you have two ranks of Improved Strike in your hybrid style.

Concentrated Push [General]
You can deliver a bull rush attack simply by using your hand.
Prerequisite: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Wis 13+, 4 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: By taking the full attack option and concentrating your power into your hand, you can initiate a bull rush attack simply by pushing him - you do not need to enter his square (thereby suffering an attack of opportunity). You can follow your opponent if he moves as you desire, but he is not able to enact further attacks of opportunity on you for doing so, although you are subject to them from other opponents as normal.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Distance Death [General]
You can perform ranged stunning attacks and pain touch attacks.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +8, Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Wis 13+, Stunning Fist, Martial Art, Pain Touch, Wise Thrust, 14 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You can perform ranged Stunning Attacks and Pain Touch attacks up to 5' plus one foot per rank in a martial art. To perform this type of attack, take the full-attack option and perform a normal melee (not ranged) attack against any target within range that you can see (cover and concealment for ranged attacks apply as normal). This is the only action you can perform in your turn. If successful, you inflict unarmed damage. You can also attempt to stun your opponent or use the Pain Touch feat with the same attack. If these succeed, they affect the target normally. You can use Distance Death three times per day. Coupling it with a stunning attack or Pain Touch uses consumes the use of one of these abilities as normal. Creatures not affected by stunning attacks are also not affected by pain touch, although they can suffer damage from a Distance Death attack. This is a supernatural ability.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency [General] (Expanded)
[This feat is the same as presented in the PHB, p. 82, except that it is expanded for use with system of martial arts.]
You are skilled in the use of a weapon while using your martial arts fighting style.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1 OR 1st+ level monk
Benefit: You can use a weapon when fighting in your martial arts style. You can also make unarmed attacks with free hands or feet, although they count toward the normal number of attacks allowed in a round.
You can one choose among the following weapons to use in a martial arts style every time you take this feat: sai*, jitte*, halfspear*, jo stick*, bo stick*, shortspear*, sang kauw, tetsubo*, nunchaku, siangham, kiseru, kau sin ke*, tui-fa, chain*, spiked chain*, lajatang, or the three-section staff. Weapons marked with an asterisk can be used normally when you are not fighting in your martial arts style (e.g., armored and encumbered). Weapons without an asterisk cannot be wielded properly when you are unable to fight in your martial arts style.
        Special note: A list of all weapons in the PHB, S&F, and 1e's Oriental Adventures, including martial arts weapons, is available as an Excel worksheet here.
Normal: Weapons for which a character does not have proficiency impose a -4 attack penalty.
Special: If DM's use the progression of feats that go with martial arts weapons, including Improved Weapon Strike, then they are encouraged to disallow monk characters automatic proficiency with the martial arts weapons listed on p. 39 of the PHB (common "peasant" weapons would still be allowed). To use one of these weapons, the monk would have to use this feat to purchase proficiency with the weapon.
Special: This feat may be taken multiple times; each time it applies to a different martial arts weapon.
Special: Gaining proficiency with a weapon that can be used outside of its martial arts style (asterisked weapons above) allows the character to use it when armored or more than lightly encumbered - though any martial arts feats cannot be used with that weapon, except as noted in their descriptions.  The opposite is not true however - a character alread proficient with one of the these weapons cannot use it in his martial arts style until he buys proficiency with it as an exotic weapon.

Great Throw [General]
You can throw opponents amazing distances.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Improved Trip, Expertise (unarmed), Hurl, Int 13+
Benefit: Upon making a successful attack, you can throw your opponent a distance of up to one foot per level (or one foot per martial art rank, whichever is higher). You can always throw an opponent at least 5' with this attack. If your opponent was charging, the distance can be doubled. Generally, opponents are thrown in a square behind you (opposite from where they started), though you can "position" them where you want them to land if it is within this area (including on top of another creature).
        The attack does normal damage plus 1d6 of falling damage per 10 feet thrown and knocks your opponent prone. To calculate damage for distances not multiples of 10, add 1d3 per 5'; for example, if you throw an opponent 15', you inflict damage equal to (normal unarmed damage + 1d6 + 1d3). If you miss with this attack, you provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent you attempted to throw.
Special: The Slow Fall feat won't reduce the falling damage from this kind of attack, but Soft Fall can. Furthermore, opponents with the Immobility feat may be able to resist this attack entirely. You suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls every size larger your opponent is compared to you. In any case, you cannot hurl opponents more than two sizes larger than you. Opponents also get a +4 to AC against Hurl when they have more than two legs.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, unless you are a monk, in which case you can have heavier encumbrance.

Hurl [General]
You can throw opponents to the floor.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Trip, Expertise (unarmed), Int 13+
Benefit: Upon making a successful melee attack, you can throw your opponent into any square behind you (opposite from your opponent), although you can decide where they will land if it is within this area (including on top of another opponent). The attack does normal damage plus 1d6 from falling, and knocks your opponent prone. You don't provoke an attack of opportunity from the attempt unless you fail, in which case only the opponent whom you tried to throw may make one.
Special: The Slow Fall feat won't reduce the falling damage from this kind of attack, but Soft Fall can. Furthermore, opponents with the Immobility feat may be able to resist this attack entirely. You suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls every size larger your opponent is compared to you. In any case, you cannot hurl opponents more than two sizes larger than you. Opponents also get a +4 to AC against Hurl when they have more than two legs.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Immobility [General]
You can resist attacks that push you back or otherwise attempt to move you.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 2 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: Whenever an opponent attempts to move you with a physical attack (e.g., a bull rush, not a telekinesis spell), you can make a Reflex save with a DC of 15. If you succeed, the attack does not move you, although it otherwise inflicts damage normal to that attack.
Special: Characters with this feat might be able to foil entirely the attacks granted by the Hurl and Great Throw feats.
Special: You can use this feat when more than lightly encumbered but not when armored, as the latter restricts you too much.

Improved Defense [General]
You are able to dodge and deflect blow more effectively when fighting in your martial art style.
Prerequisite: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, A number of ranks dependant on your martial art style (see below)
Benefit: You obtain a +1 dodge/deflection bonus when using your martial art style. This bonus is negated when you are flat-footed or otherwise denied your normal dexterity bonus. Unlike other bonuses, it does stack with other deflection bonuses.
        The prerequisites for this feat are Improved Unarmed Strike and Martial Arts. You can take this feat multiple times, but you must have a certain number of ranks in a martial are for every Improved Defense feat you take. The number of ranks required depends on your Martial Arts style. Practitioners of a soft form can take the feat every 3 ranks they possess (rounded down). Combatants using mixed styles can learn this feat every 4 ranks, and martial artists knowing a hard form can earn this feat every 5 ranks. You cannot have more ranks in this feat than (character level/2), rounded up.
        For example, character with proficiency in a soft form can take this feat when he has 3 ranks (i.e., the feat spent to learn the Martial Art, one other feat spent as a rank, and the feat used to learn Improved Defense).
Special: You can take this feat multiple times, each time adding another +1 to AC. You must follow the martial art ranking requirements for your style as explained above, however.
Special: Practitioners of mixed martial arts normally gain only half their Wisdom modifier (if any), rounded down, to AC. The first time a martial artists who has learned a mixed style takes this feat, he can thereafter add half his Wisdom modifier, rounded up, to his AC.
Special: Monks can retain this AC bonus even when flat-footed, but not when immobilized or held.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, although monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Improved Movement [General]
You move at an amazing speed.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 3 ranks each time you take this feat
Benefit: Your base movement rate increases by 5' or 10' if you are size Small or Medium, respectively. Regardless, Medium-sized characters cannot increase their movement beyond 90', and Small-sized characters cannot increase their movement to more than 60'. You also cannot hold more ranks in this feat than (character level/4), rounded down.
Special: A monk's base movement normally increases as he gains experience. This feat can augment that, but he is still limited to a 90' maximum movement rate, meaning that at eighteenth level, the feats spent on Improved Movement will have been "wasted," as the character will have gained the maximum movement rate with this class ability, anyway.
Special: You must be unarmored to benefit from the improved movement rate. Monks can be encumbered, but other classes must be only lightly encumbered at most.

Improved Strike [General]
Your martial art attacks are increasingly deadly.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, a number of ranks in your martial art dependent on its style
Benefit: Your unarmed attacks do one die larger damage when you fight using your martial art. This feat's prerequisites are Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, and a number of ranks dependent on your martial art style. Every 4 ranks a combatant using a hard style can take this feat. Every 5 ranks a mixed stylist can learn this feat, and every 6 ranks a practitioner of a soft form can take Improved Strike. You cannot have more ranks in this feat than (character level/3).
        Damage die increase as follows for size Medium creatures: 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20. Medium-sized creatures cannot increase their unarmed damage above 1d20. Small-sized creatures increase their damage in the following series: 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 2d6, 2d8. Size Small creatures cannot increase unarmed damage above 2d8.
        The rank requirements for each time you take this feat are cumulative. For example, a Medium-sized martial artist with a hard style could increase his damage by taking this feat after earning 3 other ranks. His damage would then be 1d6 per attack. After earning 3 more ranks (for a total of 7), he could take this feat again to increase his damage to 1d8.
        You cannot have taken this feat more times than (character level / 3), rounded up.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times, and continue increasing your damage die, but the rank requirements are cumulative each time you take the feat as described above.
Special: You can use this feat when more than lightly encumbered. When armored, you can also use this feat, but the size of the damage die is reduced by one, but never less that your base unarmed damage. That is, if a Small size character who had taken this feat thrice (normally inflicting 1d6 damage), he could inflict 1d4 damage when armored. Armor is simply too restrictive to allow effective improved damage.

Improved Weapon Strike [General]
You can wield a martial arts weapon in an increasingly lethal manner.
Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +1 or higher, Martial Art, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (martial art weapon), A number of ranks dependent on your martial arts style (see below)
Benefit: When wielding a weapon that you are trained with in your martial arts style, you can inflict extra damage. You can earn this feat every 5 ranks, if you know a hard style; every 6 for a mixed style, and every 7 for a soft style.
        Damage is increased to the next larger die for the weapon type you are wielding. The progression is as follows: 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 2d6, 2d8, 2d10, and so on. Regardless of other factors, weapon damage cannot be increased by more than four dice. For example, a medium-sized kama inflicts 1d6 hp damage initially, but it's damage die cannot be raised higher than 2d8.
        Rank requirements for this feat are cumulative. For example, if you know a hard martial art, you can take this feat the first time you have 5 ranks (or more), the second time at 10 ranks (or more), and so on.
        You cannot have taken this feat more times than (character level / 3), rounded up.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times, but rank requirements must be met for each time you take the feat (see above).
Special: Each time you take this feat, you increase the damage die of a single weapon you can use with your fighting style. The exception is that you can apply it to a different weapon that you can use with your style, but the damage die is only increased for that weapon. Furthermore, in this case only, you can take this feat multiple times, each time for a different weapon, without meeting the next higher rank requirements.
        For example, presume a third-level human fighter has spent all his feats on learning a hard martial art (five feats). Since he has earned five ranks in the martial art, he can spend the fifth feat on Improved Weapon Strike for the kama. At fourth level, he earns a bonus feat. If the DM allows, he can use this next feat on Improved Weapon Strike, but for another weapon he can use with his martial art, such as the siangham. He still cannot take this feat again and apply it to the kama until he has at least 10 ranks, however.
Special: A weapon that can be used as a martial arts weapon and a "normal" weapon can gain from this feat when the character is not using it in his martial arts style (e.g., when armored or more than lightly encumbered). The damage die is reduced by two sizes however, when he is not using it as a martial arts weapon, although never less than the weapon's base damage. For example, the halfspear normally deals 1d6 damage on a successful hit. If a character fighting in a hard style had earned this feat four times (thus inflicting 2d8 damage in her martial arts style), she could wield it as normal weapon but only strike for 1d10 damage, which is two die sizes smaller than 2d8.

Immobilizing [General]
You can hold an opponent still and unable to make attacks.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Incapacitator, 10 ranks or more in a martial art
Benefit: Take the full attack option and make a normal attempt to grapple. If you are successful, you hold your opponent in such a way as to make him unable to take more than a partial action each round until freed. Your opponent can escape by making an opposing grapple attempt with a -4 penalty or an Escape Artist skill check opposed to your grapple attempt with a -8 penalty. If your opponent succeeds in his opposed grapple attempt (or Escape Artist check), he merely frees himself and does not inflict any damage.
        This maneuver requires one arm to immobilize an opponent the same size as you or smaller; larger opponents require two arms. If you have any limbs free (including feet) after making a successful immobilizing attack, you can attack your opponent with a +4 attack bonus as if he were pinned. Your opponent is not actually helpless, and so you can't perform a coup de grace, but he does not benefit from his Dexterity bonus (if positive) from your attacks or any other. You can also attack nearby opponents with another immobilizing attack if you have a free arm and they are small enough.
Special: Opponents two sizes larger than you are not affected by this attack. Most creatures with a discernable anatomy are subject to this attack; even corporeal undead can be held in such a way as to be immobilized, although grappling most undead is generally not recommended.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Incapacitator [General]
You can use pressure points and twisting of joints to immobilize an opponent's limbs.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 8 ranks or more in a martial art
Benefit: To perform this maneuver, use the full attack option and make a normal grapple attack. You must have both arms free to do this maneuver or suffer a -8 penalty. If your grapple attack succeeds, your opponent must successfully oppose you attack roll with a Fortitude check (DC = 10+ damage dealt) or have a limb rendered immobile for a number of rounds equal to the number of hp damage you inflict (your opponent also suffers damage if he fails his Fortitude save). The exact limb affected can be determined randomly, and the effects of an immobilized limb are as follows:
        Arm - The character cannot wield a weapon in that hand or use it to hold anything heavier than 1 pound and of Diminutive size. Anything held in this hand will be dropped unless strapped on. He may still make attacks normally with the other hand. Spells can still be cast with one operative arm.
        Leg - Movement is reduced to 1/4 normal, and the character cannot add his Dexterity modifier (if positive) to AC. He can run but at the reduced rate. He must also make a successful Balance check each time he uses a bludgeoning or slashing weapon that requires him to use two hands to wield. The DC for this check is 15, and if he fails, he falls to the floor.
        Wing - The creature cannot fly using wings.
An immobilized limb can be restored with 4 or more hp of magical or mundane healing.
Special: Opponents two sizes larger than you are not subject to this attack. Creatures immune to critical hits (e.g., oozes and undead) are immune to this attack. Creatures without a discernable anatomy (e.g., a chaos beast) are also not affected. Eye stalks, heads, tails, and the like are not considered limbs.
        If in doubt about a character's ability to know how to immobilize a limb, the DM can require a Knowledge (creature type) check if such Knowledge skills are part of the campaign. Otherwise, an Intelligence check opposed to a DC of 15 + the target's hit dice would suffice. A combatant knowing this maneuver should automatically know how immobilize limbs of creature of the same type as the combatant (e.g., a human could immobilize the limb of any humanoid).
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Instant Stand [General]
You can stand up using a free action.
Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +2, Dex 13+, Lightening Reflexes
Benefit: Whenever you are prone, you can stand up as a free action if you are wearing light armor or less and at most lightly encumbered. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Normal: Standing requires a move-equivalent action.

Iron Fist [General]
Your fists do incredible damage.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Con 13+, Base Attack Bonus 4+
Benefit: By plunging you fists into urns of hot pebbles, holding blocks of ice with your bare hands, and other toughening exercises, your fists have become as hard as stone. Whenever using your fists to inflict damage (vs. your feet), you can add half again your Strength modifier (of any) to damage. That is, if you had a Strength of 14 (+2 modifier), your can add +2 + 1 = +3 to the final damage modifier for each attack.
        Unfortunately, such training exacts its wear and tear on the flexibility and feeling of your hands; all Dexterity-related skills and some Craft and Profession skills that rely on nimble hand work suffer a -2 penalty. This includes such skills as Forgery, Open Locks, and Pick Pockets; Craft skills like gem cutting, weaving, painting, and others; and Profession skills such as bookkeeping and scribe. It also imposes a permanent 5% spell failure chance for spells with somatic components due to the stiffness of your hands.

Leap of the Clouds [General]
You almost seem to fly when you jump.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 12 ranks or more in a martial art
Benefit: Your maximum jumping distance is no longer limited by your height.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, though monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Locking Block [General]
You can trap an opponent's weapon and still attack with your feet of they are free.
Prerequisites: Expertise (Unarmed or martial arts weapon), Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Int 13+
Benefit: This feat is similar to the Improved Disarm feat (PHB), except that your enemy does not lose his weapon but you can continue making unarmed attacks against him as long as your feet are free. To perform this maneuver, you must take the full-attack option. Make a normal attempt to disarm your opponent. If you fail by 5 or more, you have taken damage from your opponent's weapon unless you were performing this maneuver with a martial arts weapon of your own (see below for further details).
        If you succeed, you have locked your opponent's weapon with your hands. You can now make kicking attacks and ignore your opponent's Dexterity bonus to AC unless he drops his weapon (basically giving it to you). Each round you must make opposed disarm checks to see if you can retain the weapon. You suffer no ill effects other than releasing the weapon if your subsequent checks beyond the first fail by 5 or more.
Note that with this feat, your opponent does not have to actually have a weapon in hand to be "disarmed" - you can just as easily immobilize a creature's claw as a club. If your opponent still has a weapon available in an off hand or a mouth full of sharp teeth or the such, you can still be attacked, albeit you retain your Dexterity bonus (in effect, your grip on the weapon gives you some leverage).
        If you perform this maneuver with a martial arts weapon, you must have the Expertise feat for that weapon. Additionally, you suffer no damage if your initial check fails by 5 or more. You can be disarmed with by using this feat and failing however, unless you also have the Improved Disarm feat (PHB).
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

One Finger [General]
You can perform ranged bull rush attacks simply by channeling mystical forces through your hand.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Concentrated Push, Sticking Touch, Wise Thrust, Wis 13+, 10 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: With this supernatural ability you are able to push opponents back as if they were affected by a bull rush simply by moving your hand in their direction. This ability requires the full attack option and is the only attack you can perform in the round, even if you are normally entitled to more. You can affect an opponent up to 5' away plus the number of ranks you have in your martial art. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity, although your opponent may if pushed past your allies. This feat is actually a supernatural ability.
Special: You can only add your Wisdom modifier (not your Strength modifier, if any) to this attack. This ability is gained through the Wise Thrust feat, which is a prerequisite for this feat.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered.

Pain Touch [General] (Revised)
[Note: This feat is the same as presented in Sword and Fist. It is presented here because it is a prerequisite to several other martial art feats such as Paralyzing Touch and Distance Death. DM's who limit this Pain Touch to the original prerequisites will also be limiting these other feats to monks with a Wisdom of 19 or higher.]
You cause intense pain with a successful stunning attack.
Prerequisites (Original): Base attack bonus +8, Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Wis 19+, Stunning Fist (note that to have the Stunning Fist feat you must also have a BAB of +8 or higher, not +2 just +2 for the Pain Touch feat as stated in Sword and Fist.)
Prerequisites (Optional): Base attack bonus +8, Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Wis 13+, Stunning Fist, Martial Art, 6 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit (Original): Victims of a successful stunning attack are subject to such debilitating pain that they are nauseated for 1 round. Creatures that are immune to stunning attacks are also immune to this feat, as are any creatures that that are one size category larger than the feat user (Sword and Fist, p. 8)
Benefit (Optional): Upon making a successful stunning attack, you cause debilitating pain for 1d3 rounds during which your opponent is considered stunned. Creatures immune to stunning attacks cannot be affected, nor can creatures larger than you. (Note that the duration of the pain effect has been increased because a normal Stunning Fist attack debilitates an opponent for 1 round anyway, although "debilitating pain" might mean something more than a simple stunning, in which case the text in Sword and Fist is vague.)
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, unless you are a monk, in which case you can carry any normally allowed load.

Paralyzing Touch [General]
Your attacks can paralyze a creature.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +8, Dex 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Wis 13+, Stunning Fist, Martial Art, Pain Touch, 10 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: Your stunning attacks are so powerful and well-placed that they can actually paralyze targets. To make a paralyzing attack, use the full-attack option and make a normal attempt at a stunning attack. If your target would normally be stunned, he is instead paralyzed for 1d3 rounds and considered helpless. This attack can only affect creatures normally susceptible to stunning attacks. It is the only action you can perform in a round. Because Pain Touch is a prerequisite for this feat, you must choose whether to inflict pain or paralysis before your attack roll (but not both). Creatures not affected stunning attacks are not affected by this ability, nor are creatures at least one size larger than you.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, but monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Preternatural Defense [General]
Your martial arts style has taught you how to react to danger even when flat-footed.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 13+, Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 10 ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You retain the bonuses granted by your Wisdom modifier and the Improved Defense feat even when flat-footed. You must be unarmored and at most lightly encumbered to benefit from this ability, but monks are exempt from the encumbrance restriction. These bonuses do not apply however, if you are held or immobilized. They also do not prevent sneak attacks, asides from granting you a higher AC.
Normal: You lose these bonuses to AC whenever you are flat-footed or would otherwise denied your Dexterity modifier to AC.
Special: Monks gain this feat for free.

Slow Fall [General]
You can slow your falls and take less damage.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 6 ranks per time you take this feat
Benefit: When falling within arm's length of a stable surface (e.g., a cliff), you can slow your descent and reduce or even eliminate the damage you take.
        The first time you take this feat, you reduce effective falling distance by 20'. Thus, if you fell 30', you would suffer damage only for the last 10'. the second time you take this feat you can fall 30' without harm. The third time increases this distance to 50', and the fourth time to any distance.
Special: You must be unarmored to use this ability. It does not stack with the reduced damage you take from a successful Tumble skill check when using that skill to reduce falling damage. Only monks may use this skill when more than lightly encumbered.

Soft Fall [General]
You have learned how to lessen the damage from a fall.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 2 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: On making a successful Reflex save with a DC equal to 15, you suffer no damage from falls of 10' or less and half damage from falls up to 100'. Falling more than 100' inflicts normal damage. In any case, the first 10' of distance is still counted toward the total falling distance; that is, a character falling 20' and making her saving would still suffer half of 2d6 hp of damage (1d6 per 10' fallen). This ability can only be used while you are conscious and not helpless (e.g., not bound), but applies whether you are near a surface or not, unlike the Slow Fall feat.
        This feat stacks with the benefits of the Slow Fall feat. For example, a character pushed from a window 50' off the ground with one rank in Slow Fall could reduce the effective falling distance to 30' with that feat. The damage suffered from the next 30' could then be reduced by the Soft Fall. If the character were instead cast from the back of a flying griffon, only the Soft Fall feat would apply because she could not slow her descent by "braking" with a solid surface.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, but monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Slow Resistance [General]
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Wis 13+, 4 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You are immune to the effects of a slow spell or magic that imitates it. You are also allowed a +4 resistance bonus to saves versus immobilizing magics like hold person, transfix, and paralysis.
Special: This feat applies whether you are armored or not, or have more than light encumbrance (which is probably slowing you down anyway).

Speed [General]
You can accelerate your body to amazing speeds.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Slow Resistance, 8 ranks or more of a martial art
Benefit: As a free action on your turn you can focus the powers your martial art has taught you and burst into a frenzy of activity. This has all the effects of a haste spell. Each round you maintain this accelerated activity you are allowed one extra partial action before or after your normal action, and you can maintain this activity for 3 rounds plus you Constitution modifier (if positive). Your AC improves by +4 whenever you are allowed your Dexterity bonus (if any) to AC, and you can jump one and a half times farther than normal, the latter counting as an enhancement bonus. You can use this skill once per day every time you take this feat.
        At the end of this period, you are fatigued and suffer a -2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity; furthermore, you cannot run or charge for the remainder of the combat. This ability does stack with haste, as it is not a magical enhancement (and thus can't be dispelled). It does however require concentration, and so cannot be combined with a barbarian's rage or sohei's divine whirlwind ability.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times; each time you can use the speed ability once more time per day, but not more often than once per encounter.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, but monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Sticking Touch [General]
You can follow your opponent's move with your hand after touching him, and thus deny him his Dexterity bonus.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Concentrated Push, Wis 13+, 8 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: Your sense of touch has become attuned that you can follow your opponent's every move if you have at least one hand on him. To use this ability, you must have at least one hand free and make a successful touch attack against. While your touch can be broken by any normal means such as any quick action on the part of your opponent (including moving away), you can maintain contact for the duration of your turn. During subsequent attacks against the same opponent in that turn, you deny him his Dexterity bonus (if any) to AC. This does not allow you to make sneak attacks if you can normally perform them because you simply have a better sense of where your opponent will move next, not necessarily a better aim at vital areas.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, but monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Still Mind [General]
Your martial training has allowed your greater insight into your personhood (or monsterhood).
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, 4 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You gain a +2 resistance bonus to spells and spell-like effects from the Enchantment school.
Special: This feat applies even when you are armored or bearing more than light encumbrance.

Wise Thrust [General]
You can use your Wisdom bonus instead of your Strength bonus when making bull rush attacks.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Martial Art, Wis 13+, 4 or more ranks in a martial art
Benefit: You have the option of adding your Wisdom bonus instead of your Strength bonus when making a bull rush. You can use either your Wisdom or Strength to modify the attack, but not both.
Special: The One Finger feat allow you to add your Wisdom but not your Strength bonus to its attack.
Special: You cannot perform this feat when armored or more than lightly encumbered, but monks can ignore the latter restriction.

Comparisons between a min/maxed monk and a fighter dedicated to the martial arts

Each of the following tables below is a "special case," designed to see how defensive or offensive a character could be created. I maximized defense (mainly, via the Improved Defense feat) or offense (with the Improved Strike feat). How often each of these can be taken depends on what martial art form the character knows (soft, mixed, or hard). For example, Improved Defense can only be taken every 3 ranks in a soft style, and every 5 in a hard style. These feats also have "level" requirements, meaning for example, a character can't have spent more feats in Improved Strike than (character level / 3), rounded up. Damage progressions made by weapon should be slower than those below, but some weapons have a base damage of greater than 1d4 (a typical unarmed strike), so they will start at higher damage die.

The numbers in the FEATS (RANKS) columns are the number of feats earned at each level, and the total number of feats the character has earned, inclusive (in parentheses). To make the ultimate fighting machines (or dodging machines), assume all of these feats are assigned to a martial art, and thus count as ranks in a martial art. This maximizes damage and/or defense.

Where do the monks get the other feats? They are counted assuming the monk trades in his "martial arts" abilities normally gained by class to be spent freely. This is an optional rule, detailed above. if the DM disallows monks this opportunity however, monks will have a set damage and defensive progression, the same as stated in the PHB. Also, you should disallow monks from taking the Improved Strike, Improved Weapon Strike, and Improved Defense feats, since they will compound on the monks abilities as listed in the PHB.

Soft styles - Maximized defense, then offense
Improved Strike every 6 ranks, Improved Defense every 3 ranks

Mixed styles - Maximized offense and defense
Improved Strike every 5 ranks, Improved Defense every 4 ranks

* Assumes one feat was "held back" and used at the next level.
** These could be switched for one another.

Hard styles - Maximizing offense
Improved Strike every 4 ranks, Improved Defense every 5 ranks

* Maximum; also assumes one feat was held back at 12th level and used at 13th

The Wu Jen