Sword and Fist was just a particularly bad splat book.
Most werent’s that bad. My method was usually to allow each player “Core +1” (in DnD 3.5)
Like a fighter character was allowed Core and also Complete Warrior, but nothing else. It generally kept things under control while still being flexible. Certain books were sometimes banned. Like Psionics or Book of the Nine Swords, because they detailed things that weren’t in my setting.
Also core monk is pretty weak in DnD 3rd/3.5. “Flurry of Misses”

Dear lord, go on reddit and say “The 3e Monk is actually all right”, just wait and see how many people come out of the woodwork. It’s like they expect them to be on par with a fully equipped fighter, but also be able to do parkour and not need armour or weapons.