Wow.... you've been busy.
I know these aren't exactly what you were imagining, but they're all based on actual martial arts styles. Earth/Mountains would be based on Hun Gar (you could even call it Hun Gar). Fire/Sun would be based on Northern Shaolin KungFu. Water/Sea based on Tai Chi. and Air/Wind would be based on Bagua.
Those are pretty much dead-on - Mountain style is a heavy hitter who can soak up damage (a power style); Ocean is all about flowing movements and using the enemy's strength against him (Tai Chi is a perfect example, combined with aikido/judo); Sun is an aggressive style (I like the suggestion to make it less about bursts of energy); Wind is, of course, based around speed (kung fu). Heavens were kind of an add-on; we (my friend and I) wanted to do Sun and Moon, and that was what I came up with after a little work. I know it's not in keeping with the monkish archetype, but there is precedent in D&D - the Monk of the Long Death, for instance. I think a cult of monk who worship a death god is just too cool to pass up.
What I think I'll do, since I'm drawing a blank on Dawn abilities, is just combine them into one style with two aspects - kind of like the Chin-Na style you mention, with pressure points, joint locks, and such, but the PC can choose how to apply them - if he wants to be evil, he can go around using his scorpion strike to inflict pain and suffering; if he's good, he can use it to disable opponents without inflicting pain (I have to add something for that...). Same with blinding strike and such - any condition he inflicts, he can reverse. If you've ever read the Destroyer novels, it's a lot like Sinanju - they can manipulate nerve clusters and pressure points to inflict incredible pain, paralyze some or all of the body, inflict blindness, etc.
Fire/Sun/Northern Shao Lin presently uses burst of speed and other burst things, but I would keep them consistent. maybe give them the increased movement, but really I'd say their style is more of an "end the fight before they hit me" type of style.
Kind of a "hit 'em the firstest with the mostest" style? You know, nail the opponent with overwhelming force and drop him fast? That's kind of what it's about, really - short-term bursts that deal a lot of damage.
You say "aggressive and powerful", but wouldn't that step on the Mountain Style a bit? Is the aggressiveness at the cost of defense?
Don't like shadowstrike, but I hate all things that cause permanent blindness in D&D they just make me angry because if im blinded I'm dead 2 rounds later.
Yeah, I thought that was a bit much myself - I can change it to temporary... maybe 1 round/level or something. I was leaning toward making the Twilight style about striking pressure points, too - disabling the opponent, inflicting crippling blows and such, without necessarily killing him.
but I would line them up with actual schools of martial arts. I think it would just be awesome. and I don't think I'd give them supernatural energy channeling abilities. I mean it fits the asian mysticism associated with martial arts pretty well, but not really the practical aspect of it, you know?
Yeah... the elemental channeling thing just kind of popped up on its own, and I thought it was kinda cool, so I kept it, despite the fact that it is a bit wuxia (which I'm trying my best to avoid). I do want to have SOME mystical ability, though... I think a Master or Grandmaster-level monk should be able to do things that normal humans can't, like the burst of wind thing. I could ditch the Aspect of xxx cause it is a bit over the top, but then I'd need a new Grandmaster ability.
for quivering palm, I would change it do doing Con Damage. then a tough character will last longer. Also, some way to cure it should exist. maybe a potion, or a ritual, or some form of accupuncture/accupressure.
Con damage would work, too... maybe drop the target's Con by half? I like the idea of being able to negate it - a Heal check could work, or a Dawn monk could do it.
Air/Wind/Bagua I would make be the one about evasion. I don't just mean damage reduction, I mean total avoidance. Maybe an ability to which lets you cancel out attacks of opportunity before the opponent takes them, or an ability that lets you roll to dodge blows so the target hits nothing but air.
That could work.. I'll see what I can do.
I'm not sure they should all get the same AC bonus by stat.I'd vary it up, so the Con based ones get less AC, but get DR, and more powerful attacks, The Cha ones would get less AC, but be compensated with damage, the sea ones would get the second most AC, at standard, and the wind ones would get EXTRA AC, or standard AC with complete damage avoidance rolls/abilities. for Chin Na make it standard since they will be making lots of paralysis attacks.
Now this I like - it makes the styles
different, which is what I want. Don't forget, too, that you choose only ONE compass point - it's a style focus. I can change North and South to give a variable bonus based on the style, which would be noted in each style. I'd like to keep it so that there isn't a combination of style and focus that's significantly better than any other, though - I mean, a Wind Style monk who focuses on dealing damage, should be just as viable as the same monk with a defensive focus.
also, I don't think uses per day fits a monk. its a fighting class, and I think the abilities shouldn't have much in the way of daily limits. maybe a limit based on CON or a recharge time if absolutely necessary.
Hmm... I read somewhere, in one of the many discussions about 4E encounter powers, someone used the analogy of a martial artist - you wouldn't use all your flashy moves over and over; you'd try it once or twice, then fall back on tried and true methods that are sure to work. I played judo in college, and I can agree with this - the big, flashy moves generally don't get used unless an opportunity presents itself. Most matches are won with a handful of throws, which are among the more basic ones, because they're the easiest to perform and have the widest utility.
so the short version is. maybe you should use real styles as a basis? it seemed almost like thats what you were doing anyways.
I was just kinda coming up with things off the top of my head, actually.

I'll check out Avatar, though.
In the meantime, I'll go over the monk, tweak some things, and update the first post later. Thanks for all the input.