Not all martial arts are equal. Modern kickboxing is a lot more effective than traditional kungfu. And only someone in denial would train aikido in the place of something more reasonable. But martial arts are not just diverse in their effectiveness. So too are they diverse in their strangeness. Not all fighting systems are as direct as muay thai. Countless weird martial arts are out there. Consider the numerous weird combat systems that were developed in the colonies of European empires. Often the natives were banned from training in combat. So new combat systems were founded, but they were disguised as dancing. This is just one way that a martial art can be unusual. So I decided to dedicate a whole article to weird martial arts.
10: Bartitsu
Known as he gentleman’s martial art, Bartitsu was practiced by England’s upper classes beginning around the turn of the century. Developed by an Englishman who spent many years in Japan, it was actually named by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the author behind Sherlock Homes. He coined the term Bartitsu by joining Jiujitsu with the name of the arts founder, Edward Barton-Wright. So while images of Victorian gentlemen practicing Bartitsu may make us laugh today, it was based on serial martial arts. Primarily it was based on jiujitsu, boxing, Savate, wrestling, and various forms of sword fighting. Since it was created by and for gentlemen, a big part of Bartitsu involved fighting with a walking cane. Training also involved rigorous physical exercise. So in some ways it was ahead of it’s time. Still, Bartitsu gradually fell out of popularity.
9 : Turkish Oil Wrestling
Turkish Oil Wrestling is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a form of wrestling from Turkey that you do while covered in oil. Ironic that Turkey should be home to one of the most homoerotic activities of all time. Yet it has been practiced for more than 4 thousand years, and still now is taken very seriously. Oil makes every aspect of wrestling more difficult – apart from escaping holds. That’s why MMA fighters are banned from applying oil before a fight. Every year a huge tournament is held where more than a thousand oil wrestlers compete. Winners in each of the 11 divisions are then crowned by the president of Turkey, and for the next year are known as champions.
8: Dambe
Dambe is an African martial art that seems almost too brutal to be real. What makes it so brutal is that contestants hands are bound in rope, which is a far cry from boxing gloves. Practitioners would traditionally dip the ropes in oil to harden them. Many would even put glass in it to cause extra damage to opponents, or wrap chains around the rope. Doing so is now illegal, but in some of the less law-abiding parts of Nigeria it still happens. Even without the glass, it remains one of the most weird martial arts. The rope is only wrapped around one arm, leaving the other bare. So the bare hand is usually for range-finding or blocking your opponent. Then on seeing an opening, a huge punch can be landed by the wrapped hand. For centuries it’s been practiced chiefly by butchers and fishermen to demonstrate their combat skill.
7: JHR / 52 Blocks
JHR stands for jailhouse rock, but this fighting system is known by many different names. It is said to have been developed within prisons across the US by inmates looking to better defend themselves. The true origins of JHR are hard to pin down. But it emerged within America’s black community in the 1960s and 1970s. Nothing about a fighting system emerging from the prison system is surprising to me. In an environment like that, life and death is often decided on the coin flip of a fight. And having nothing but time, inmates developed their own fighting systems to make fighting less than a coin toss. For most of it’s history JHR was known almost exclusively to prisoners current and former. But in recent years a lot of actors have trained it for movie roles.
6: Capoeira
As mentioned in the intro to this article, some weird martial arts are weird only due to the circumstances of their creation. Capoeira is one of such arts. Developed in Brazil from the 16th century, it was disguised as a dance. This way, slaves and colonial subjects could practice without their Portuguese overlords feeling threatened. But even after the abolition of slavery and independence from Portugal, Capoeira was made illegal in Brazil in 1890. At the time it was actually banned for seemingly being un-chritian. This is because Capoeira is a deeply spiritual art for many people. Yet as the decades rolled by it became more acceptable. Today Capoeira is a proud part of Brazilian culture. And with it’s acrobatic and flamboyant movements, it is truly a sight to behold.
5: Shin Kicking
Shin Kicking might sound ridiculous – and it is. But it’s a ridiculous sport that to it’s practitioners is deeply serious. It involved two contestants who simply kick each other in the shins until one of them either gives up or is forced to the ground. You would be surprised by the amount of technique involved in shin kicking, with the smaller fighter often grounding their larger opponent. It’s unclear quite when it began but shin kicking has been practiced in England since at least the 17th century. It was especially popular in the English west country, where tin miners would compete in between shifts. With the mining industry declining, so did shin kicking. By the start of the 21st century there were very few shin kickers left. Yet there remain a dedicated community of them even now.
4: Joe Son Do
Some weird martial arts are developed and practiced by only a single person. Joe Son is a notorious mixed martial artist. Famous for appearing in the first Austin Powers film, he also competed in the fourth UFC tournament, as well as Pride and Pankration. I’m glad to say he lost all 4 of his fights. Why would that make we glad? Because in 2011 he was sent to prison on charges of torture and sexual assault. Then after killing a cellmate had his term increased to 34 years to life. He referred to his style of fighting as Joe Son Do, claiming it was it’s own legit martial art. But considering he lost all of his fights it’s a pretty terrible combat system.
3: Pitfighting
Another style of fighting inspired by MMA athletes, this one is a lot more concrete. More than a dozen successful fighters have had the pitfighting moniker leveled at them. Tank Abbot was the first to be billed professionally as a Pitfighter, but Chuck Liddell was by far the most successful. Pitfighting is essentially a style which emphasizes standing your ground, as if you were stuck in a pit. It is highly aggressive and involves drawing your opponent into a brawl. This way, your opponent is forced to fight in a range you are more comfortable in. So pitfighting is a little more sophisticated than it appears. And it was successful. There was a time when the biggest stars in the UFC were pitfighters. But either way, it is one of the more weird martial arts.
2: Tahtib
Tahtib is a martial art from ancient Egypt – a living relic from a past so far away. One of the oldest combat sports in the world, Tahtib involves fighting with a long stick. Competitions typically involve practitioners taking turns striking at each other with their stick, with every other turn spent defending. A successful strike to the opponents head can cause a knockout or even death. So special consideration is given to the defense.
1: Kinamotay
Kinamotay is arguably the dirtiest martial art of them all, specializing in biting, eye gouging and groin shots. This is the opposite of how most people view martial arts – being devoid of honor and dignity. But in a fight to the death I would say honor tends to go out the window. Kinamotay originates in the Philippines, and is more in depth than you might otherwise assume. A lot of attention is given to where on a person’s body you should bite and how much flesh to sink your teeth into. So if the other weird martial arts on this list just aren’t weird enough for you, consider giving Kinamotay a go.