Neko Martial Arts

Not likely. Too much of it lies in how to use skin vision and skin stealth; things a Minkan does not have.

Reynolds said:

Let me also tag @Gallant and @Zack since this might interest them as well.

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You might also look to Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings, as it is one of the few martial arts manuals that speaks frankly about practical sword fighting, and is widely published.

In literature, R. A. Salvatore's books usually have extensive combat and he is quite good at describing it.

In setting, the Ketsurui Samurai are often mentioned to have a martial arts form of their own, but that seems to be the only prominent form of martial arts. I tried to quietly correct this, once, by introducing a spear-form combat style with the Morioka Clan, and Taisho Morioka Nao, Inochi no Senshuu - the "Thousand Lives" doctrine - but that was always meant to be more of a religious exercise, too. Something like Shorenji Kempo.

I always imagined that there were many forms of unlisted martial art.

Bear in mind that any Martial art is built by repetition. Each martial art is different because the exact forms of those repetitions change or are changed by successive generations. This is especially prominent in China, and most famously, with Wong Fei Hung, or with Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man. Obviously, Bruce Lee might practice Wing Chun, but it might not be exactly Ip Man's Wing Chun, and so on. There end up being different schools of Wing Chun as time goes on and though there are obviously forms and tests, each practitioner is always a little different and I think that does get passed on to their successors. Therefore, you may find it worthwhile to start with something like Fred's Sore Mai, and to create a branch from that. Sore Mai itself might be quite old, but Yuumato Ryo-Sensei's version, which he likes to call Sore Gak, might be relatively new - just based on an older martial art.

That way you might have an old "lineage", but a different form of martial art, and that could make a lot of sense in setting.

Another interesting thought is that gravity manipulation would hypothetically allow you to deliver strikes "heaven fist" style; you could manipulate your own gravity to deliver compounding force strikes from above by causing your arms (with your sword in them!) to grow heavier, or to cause yourself to 'stick' to the ground, or even slide across it, so that your balance wouldn't falter. Although I never named that style, so to speak, I always imagined that an engineer (like Yuzuki, for instance) or someone more physics-inclined might eventually develop something crude and brutal like that.

Sore Mai itself might be quite old

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Sora Mai isn't that old, because Nekovalkyrja as a species aren't that old. It's probably less than 20 years old. So all this talk of things being passed down through the generations doesn't entirely apply.

Most Nekovalkyrja-specific martial arts, I imagine, are basically using the "make yourself heavier" gravity manipulation to make up for the fact that Nekovalkyrja are short and lightweight, physically, compared to average humans. I mean, these are essentially 5'2" 100 lb girls who are strong but featherweight. They need to be able to anchor themselves to properly put their strength to use.

Just to clarify (Wes ninja-ed me, but still...):

Sora Mai is japanese for "Sky Dance"
It's about combat using gravity manipulation. About using it for mobility, how to fine control it, and how to apply it in combat. The thing developped in Yamatai from the point where neko were created, when they started learning how to harness their gravity control into making them deadlier combatants. What Gallant mentions in his last paragraph is pretty much how it might have started, along with perhaps PNUgen caretakers/technicians/erudites going on possibilities of "with this, you should be able to do that - try it out".

By this point Sora Mai is easily two decades old, though it surely saw refinements. It's likely more mainstream than karate is, considering that the nekos number in millions and are a warrior people. Just like how everyone can throw a punch and ape something karate would do, the same goes with nekos. Nekos following the Star Army combat training likely learn the applications which take the less time to be learn and yet pay the most dividends in reliability and efficiency. But like how karate takes years to master, so does Sora Mai. The usual Star Army soldier will only end up dabbling, due to needing to focus on other duties, needing to train more broadly with her role on a ship. Dedicated infantrymen will have the benefit of more focus on combat drills and such, but again, there's still less focus on advancing oneself with pushing proficiency with the martial art itself.

By contrast, the Ketsurui Samurai are all about that. About learning it, about mastering it, about teaching it, and about pushing it. Starting Star Army infantry soldiers are put into the field with 6 months of training as a soldier, with only 4 months put into actual combat knowhow. Whereas you wont see a Ketsurui Samurai operating out of the Samurai House without 1 year under her swordbelt; she got easily twice that; and perhaps more since the Ketsurui Samurai aren't shy about maiming their journeywomen until they qualify with their chosen bûdo which is usually not a non-lethal exam. They pay for that focus, though - many shipboard samurai are usually fishes-out-of-the-water when they're first placed on ships, but still don't contribute much else than an infantryman in scope.

Thank you for the extra information. If someone wants to add it to that article and resubmit it, feel free.