Can anybody recommend a unique form of martial arts to try?

the scottish have a style of karate. it’s called Fuku. It mainly involves punching people in the face, then kicking them while they’re on the ground.~

Cool. LOL.

Tai Chi has always seemed the most interesting and mysterious to me. While most other martial arts always seem straight forward/punch, kick, defend, Tai Chi seems like something quite different yet still martial.

My two favorite martial arts styles as far as originality go are Capoeira and Wushu. They are very elaborate styles with beautiful forms and techniques. Not the best ones if you are looking to just be a badass though. For that I would recommend Krav Maga.

From here.

My favorite to see practiced is Thang-Ta. And of course, Kung Fu (Wushu) is beautiful and powerful.

I second Krav Maga, it’s just straight blatantly MEAN BADASS. If you like a more Asian approach, Wing Tsun is pretty good too.

Origaminewmedia.purchase.edu/~Jeanine/origami/oriexam.htm – 4k

Budokon (a mixture of martial arts, yoga and meditation).

Krav Maga looks ridiculous. Everytime I watch someone practice it I just think of how drunk jerks fight. PUNCHPUNCHPUNCH. Crotch shot. PUNCH.

Here is a video of Thang-Ta.

Aikido. I went through the gamut, Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, back in the Sixties and Seventies, but found Aikido to be the most rewarding and least damaging in a physical sense. I was constantly getting injuries with Karate.

I personally have always been a fan of Capoeira. I have seen some real beasts in that art.

Never cared for Aikido. It seems very beautiful, but is it really effective? I have yet to see a real demonstration.

K1, hell you really do get battered around the ring!!!

My suggestion comes from my brother as I have never practiced any sort of martial arts. My brother has MS. He went from not being able to feed himself to appearing perfectly normal and he credits Eastern philosophy, meditation and Kenpo for his current health. It wasn’t overnight, but it has been remarkable.

spresto, Aikido is one of the most effective of all of them in that it allows genuine defensive capability without the brute force that is required in Karate. It is more a defensive art than offensive. When Aikido for came to prominence back in the sixties it was when its main proponent, an elderly man, defeated six Karate black belts in open combat, a film (Documentary) that was show world wide. Like all martial arts, you have to stay in training, regular training, but it relies more on speed and reflex than on power. Part of that initial documentary showed the founder moving out of the way of bullets fired at him by US Police Officers pre-empted for the role. The reason for Police involvement is that it was being considered for use in Police work. He would move when he saw the muzzle flash and the board behind where he had been standing would be splintered by the bullet.

@asmonet

It might look ridiculous, but it works. I’ve been doing Muay Thai for roughly ten years now, and even I have problems with these guys if they’ve done it for more than 2 or 3 years.

Really all depends on if you select martial arts for pure athletic reasons or if you want to be able to take an opponent down ASAP. (The latter being my main reason :)

yeah, yeah. ;)

ballet dancers, rofl

<—Hey, don’t knock the people who learned ballet.

I only knock those that change their dance routine and make it look like a fight ;)

I will fouette your ass to next Sunday, sir.

;)

LAWL
Slap me ‘n’ call me BEEP

/SLAP.
BEEP.

Aikido. My son trained for about 7 years and it really built his confidence, balance, focus.

Before disregarding them due to their being seemingly obvious choices I would suggest further study into the different styles of karate and wushu (or kung-fu as it’s known by many) as there are a great many, some are more unique than others and they’re both practical and a good way in which to stay healthy.
Aikido is definitely a unique style but from my experiences it can take alot of training before it’s effective in any regard. Once effective however it is certainly a good style.
One other option that occurs to me is Russian Sambo. I had the good fortune to learn a little of the art when a family friend visited and it’s surprisingly intricate and definitely useful for self-defence (it’s taught to the militairy). Merely something to think about.

@Nially_Bob

I agree. Full contact Karate is a very very beautiful and effective martial art that inspired many of the newer and more exotic styles.