What races of tamriel influenced the monks skills ?

When you ask a monk about their trade in Morrowind, most reply:



Monks from different cultures I am sure vary greatly, so for example monks of the Tribunal Temple are going to be influenced more by their own religion than anything else, while those from Elsweyr might be more than simply "patterned" by the 'Rain-of-Sand' fighting styles.

It's important to note that not all Monks we meet in the games are necessarily the "Monk" class. Monk can be a profession or a lifestyle, or in some cases, a cover. Caius Cosades and Jauffre were actually Blades, for instance, posing as Monks. Ancestor Moth Monks actually use Akaviri Katanas in combat, and fight much more like Nightblades or stealthy Battlemages.

Strangely, many http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Oblivion-Monk don't appear to belong to any religious institution and serve the various Guilds.

The same is true for most of the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Morrowind-Monk_Service although a few operate from the Temple or Imperial Cult.

What does monk service mean ?

They offer a "service" in the game, which I believe for Monks simply meant they offered training. It's a separate NPC only class.

Game mechanic post:

In Morrowind, a lot of the NPCs who offered training were classified as "[class] - service".

Many, however, including the Master Trainers, did not necessarily have this distinction. For instance, a Bouyant Armiger Crusader at Molag Mar named http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Ulms_Drathen is actually the most skilled swordsman on Vvardenfell, and the Master Trainer in his discipline, but he is listed as Crusader rather than Crusader-Service. I'm not sure why Bethesda chose to do this with some NPCs and not others. It's really not important at all. For all intents and purposes all "Service" Monks are just Monks who happen to offer a Service, be it training, bartering or others such as spellmaking/selling.

Actually, I think they're supposed to be both. Isn't it stated by one of the Blades that many Blades are also monks?

As I understood it, that specific sect of Monks was open to former Blades, or Blades who are taking a sabbatical. Slightly off-topic, the fact many blades live the rest of their lives as monks after servitude as a defender, seems to suggest a heavy-influence of religion. Not including it being possible the Blades are, in essence, Warrior-Monks. (So to speak)

It's mentioned at several points that the Blades deeply revere Lord Tiber Septim. If you observe the location of their stronghold, it's near Bruma. Bruma is the town with the Talos chapel.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few Blades were also in the Cult of Talos that appeared in Morrowind's Legion faction.