Thanks for the replies. I must have missed where it said you could put the extra point somewhere else and that assigned techniques can be used a rank earlier. The armor issue not addressed though?
Crab Clan, Hida Family, and Hida Defender all come with +1 Earth. While this makes sense thematically it means anyone who wants to play a Hida who went to the Hida school is starting with less Ring ranks than others because you can't start with a 4. That's weird. The Hida technique helps with Cumbersome armor...but the Hida don't get Cumbersome armor. That's weird. The Hida don't get a Shuji option to start with, which makes some sense, but they do start with a Kata they can't use til Rank 2 and that doesn't. That's weird.