Your character is trained in the art of boxing, able to deliver swift, powerful kicks and punchs, and to duck and weave away from opponents’ attacks. He might have participated in the sport in high school or college, or made a go of it professionally. Or he might have taken some classes at the local school as a form of exercise. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Duck and Weave” until he has “Body Blow.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

Cut Kick (•): Your character knows how to deliver powerful round kicks to her opponent’s legs. When you choose this option your character inflicts one less point of damage than usual, counted after rolling to see if the attack succeeds. (For example, an attack that scores one success would still be a successful cut kick, but inflicts no Health damage). However, each kick reduces the opponent’s Speed by one, down to a minimum of one. If you roll as many successes as the opponent’s Size, he falls prone because he’s been swept by a kick or can’t use his legs out of sheer pain. Opponents can get back up whenever they have the chance, but their Speed only recovers at the end of the combat scene.

Duck and Weave (••): Your character is trained to instinctively duck and evade an opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense when dealing with Brawl-based attacks only (not against Weaponry attacks). If a combination of Brawl- and Weaponry-based attacks is focused on your character in the same turn, use his normal Defense against both.

Combination Blows (•••): Your character’s training and experience allow him to devastate opponents with a flurry of rapid blows. He can make two Brawl attacks against the same target in a single action. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Thai Clinch (••••): Your character grabs an enemy around the head and pulls him into a vicious elbow or knee strike. If you are establishing a grappling hold as the first part of using the Combination Blows maneuver to inflict damage as the second move, add your Dexterity to your dice pool to attack.
Drawback: The usual –1 penalty for Combination Blows applies to the first grappling attempt, not to the following attack. This benefit does not apply if your character has already established a hold, or during future attempts to damage an opponent from the same hold, but she can always abandon her current hold and try a new grapple to use the Thai Clinch.

Brutal Blow (•••••): Your character’s accuracy and power are such that his fists are lethal weapons, able to injure or kill opponents. A brutal blow inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.