I unlocked Melee Damage Assessment about a week ago, and finally today unlocked Martial Arts. :-) Screenshots of skills are here, in case anyone is interested in the various melee skills. Seems there is no definite number that things unlock at, the skills can be at different levels for some people when they unlock these.
Congratulations, I know both of those take quite a time to get :o. I also got both of these within the last couple of months, for me it was the other way around, Martial Arts first then Melee Damage Assessment. I suspect you have been using longblades? I got there using shortblades, I suspect with shortblades you get to hit more frequently but inflict less damage, thus my hit score is 2 or 3 levels above my damage score. Interestingly MDA is now increasing much more than Martial Arts, can't think of a reason for that.
Thankyou very much. This unlock was almost two years ago, so I probably have a little more melee skill now than I did back then. :D Yes I used, and occasionally still use, longblades (swords and axe), shortblades and powerfists to gain melee skills. I don't think there were many (or any) Limited (L) blades then, and I found the skills rose fastest when using the katsuichi swords. The decay and repair cost was highest with the swords, and so axe1 and axe2 was a more affordable longblade for regular hunting. The (L) blades available now can probably raise your skills much faster.
Haha, I need to get some glasses, read the 06 as 08. Congratulations all the same ;). In the future I will try not dig up the past!