Krav Maga. Hap Ki Do. Aikido. Kuk Sool Won. Kumdo.

These are just some of the martial arts you might not be familiar with, and if you’ve ever thought about studying a martial art, your choices are probably a lot more diverse than you thought.

When most people think of martial arts, they picture fight scenes from popular Hollywood blockbusters or televised mixed martial arts matches. But in addition to these more recognizable fighting styles, there are countless traditions and philosophies from around the world that make up martial arts today. And, here in Lawrence, we’re fortunate to have a rich, diverse selection to choose from.

Several martial arts even have clubs at KU. Active clubs include Ki-Aikido, kendo, fencing, judo, karate and Tae Kwon Do. KU Recreation Services sport club director Jason Krone says there’s a chance that a Brazilian jiu-jitsu club will be forming this semester, too. In addition to the clubs you’ll find on campus that offer inexpensive training, most martial arts schools in Lawrence offer discounted rates for college students.

Krav Maga

Don Booth, a seventh-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, is the head instructor at Premier Martial Arts, where he also teaches Krav Maga.

Krav Maga is an unarmed combat fighting system designed to teach maximum effectiveness in a minimal amount of time –something Booth says he found useful as a police officer in California. It is a non-traditional, no-nonsense, modern self-defense system developed by the Israeli Defense Forces for the hostile world they faced.

“Anybody can come and do this,” Booth says. “We promote a non-intimidating program. If I’m your partner, the better I can make you the better I’m going to be. It’s not about knocking you down to build me up.”

Along with his wife, Susan, who is a sixth-degree black belt, Booth offers what he says few other schools can claim: bringing male and female perspectives to the teaching and training of martial arts.

“We work with KU right now, contracted to do women’s self-defense classes, so I think that they’ve looked around and did their own evaluation, and found that we did practical self-defense, rather than silly stuff. It works,” Booth says.

Kuk Sool Won

While the modern art of Krav Maga places its highest value on sheer effectiveness, other schools offer different philosophies and a broader range of techniques.

Kuk Sool Won, for example, takes its techniques from ancient Korea and blends arts practiced by the Korean royal court, Buddhist monks, and tribal warriors. These three aspects give modern Kuk Sool Won schools a diverse syllabus. While striking, kicking, and weapon systems such as the sword, staff and spear are common in the martial arts world, Kuk Sool Won teaches the use of more unusual weapons as well, such as the folding fan and belt, which are remnants of the Korean royal court.

“I have some martial arts experience in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, and this is a lot different for me,” Says Jason Gregory, Herington graduate student. “There’s an etiquette side to this and more of a focus side beyond just the raw intensity of hitting a bag or opponent. It’s a little more refined than kickboxing.”

Walter Dimmick, professor of biology and head instructor of Kuk Sool Won at the Lawrence Athletics Club, says Kuk Sool Won’s diversity of technique stems from the three-pillar origins of Kuk Sool Won, rather than cobbling together styles from multiple schools like modern mixed martial arts.

Dimmick says the best thing that comes along with martial arts training is a strong mind and an ability to remain calm in the face of stressful situations.

Aikido and Iaido

Aikido is a style that differs from many martial arts. It places peaceful resolution as its highest ideal and is purely defensive in nature. Rather than jarring blocks and counter-attacks, Aikido uses an attacker’s energy against him, neutralizing the attack while doing as little physical harm possible to the attacker. This philosophy has made it popular with police forces around the world.

Andrew Tsubaki, professor emeritus of Asian studies, is a fifth-degree black belt and teaches a style of Aikido called Ki-Aikido. This style of Aikido emphasizes not only technique, but also the development of one’s “ki,” or mental energy, which allows a defender to better “connect” with an attacker in order to redirect the attack into a throw or a pin. This emphasis is made clear by the fact that there are two ranking systems: one for technique and one for ki development.

Tsubaki warns that first-time visitors may be puzzled, because kicking and punching is what they expect to see in martial arts. But when they see Aikido for the first time, they see an attack being diverted and thrown away, or redirected to the ground and pinned. It looks easy, but Tsubaki says this can be misleading.

“Sometimes, for untrained eyes, it’s so simple,” Tsubaki says. “It looks like nage, the one receiving the attack, does hardly anything, and that uke, the attacker, throws himself. But the observer is failing to catch what is causing the attacker to fail.”

Iaido is a Japanese art involving the swift drawing, cutting, and re-sheathing of a sword. Initially, it was a practice of samurai to train in this way so they could respond immediately to surprise attacks. Unlike martial arts that pit two opponents against each other, modern Iaido has become more of a meditative art with martial origins, designed to be introspective and to help develop calmness of mind.

Hap Ki Do

Grand Master Ki-June Park is head instructor at the Lawrence Tae Kwon Do School, where he teaches Tae Kwon Do, Hap Ki Do, Kumdo, Sun Do and self-defense clinics for women.

Most people familiar with martial arts have seen spectacular high-kicking, board-breaking demonstrations of Tae Kwon Do. But fewer are familiar with Hap Ki Do, a Korean art that focuses on falling and rolling, throwing and joint-locking, Kumdo, the Korean name for Japanese Kendo, which is a full contact sword-fighting art practiced in armor, or Sun Do, a yoga-like meditative discipline for ki development that, according to Park, is the root and ultimate goal of martial arts.

“We as martial artists have to respect each different martial art,” Park says. “Each martial art has their own culture and heritage and tradition and method. We have to keep a respectful manner.”

That said, Park says there are two types of schools to avoid: those who teach “hodge-podge” mixed martial arts without a sense of tradition, and anyone advertising quick-fix self-defense courses. True self-defense skills, he says, can only come after months and years of training.

The best option for you

Not surprisingly, all of the instructors say the best way to decide on a martial art is to go watch a class or take an introduction class to see how the the instructors teach.

Booth of Premier Martial Arts suggests looking for a balance between price and the quality of instruction when choosing a class. He also says look at higher-ranked students and instructors at a school to see what you might look like someday, and what you’re getting for your money.

Ultimately, finding the right martial art for you–both in technique and philosophy–could bring greater empowerment, discipline and health benefits to your life. There’s one out there for you, and it might be closer than you thought possible.