Some players prioritized certain things over other things, like the technique of martial arts kicks, and believed other things like the mechanics of warhulks or the physics of radiation blasts were things you were supposed to punt to the devs.
(I completely agree with what you wrote, I'm just overanalysing).
I think what always struck me about Martial Arts, especially before the release of alternative power animations, was that it was a sort of cousin of Irish dancing; all blows were delivered with the legs, with the arms as useless appendages.
(Someone's going to say, "Cobra Strike", but back in the day (as doubtless Arcana knows) Cobra Strike did piddly damage (less than Brawl) and, with Stamina and its prerequisites and a travel power and its prerequisites to fit into the early picks, it was pretty hard to fit it in. Amusingly, the last vestige of this is that Cobra Strike "deals high damage, but has a great chance of Disorienting your target."
"But"? "And", surely? That "but" is left over from when it "deals minor damage, but has a great chance ...")