Currently, I practice muay thai. I have previous praying mantis style kung fu experience from childhood. I have always loved martial arts and recently (as of November actually, so I've been doing it almost a year) I decided to get back on the horse with muay. I love it.
I'm drawn to practical traditional martial arts. The problem is that I want to try them all - or rather, the ones that interest me, which is a lot. My current martial art interests are:
muay thai - obvious since it's what I practice. I love the full body use I get from it. Knees, elbows, kicks. Punching a punching bag on a bad day is fun. Sparring shows me parts of myself I never knew were there. I love raw roughness that comes from a day of muay thai. I love that there's not much organization or tiers like in other martial arts. There's the Kru, and everyone else. I love it. I'd love to practice it for life.
bajiquan - I saw a Kung Fu Quest video (found below) a while back it just really appeals to me for all the reason muay does, but I find it even more my style for some reason. It helps that I'm a massive Cheeaboo. But the Bajiquan I found in that video is only bajiquan found in that video. When I search for baji fist videos on youtube and stuff, I'm met with videos and practice that looks nothing like the video below. The baji fist as shown in the video looks almost like an external martial art, whereas baji quan I'm finding in videos looks internal, and very tai chi-like, when I'm interested in practical traditional martial art technique.
VIDEO kyoukushin karate - Fuck yes. Hard, physical shit with strikes and throws. My shit. THAT'S MY SHIT. I REALLY WANNA TRY THIS. My interest in karate is very limited because most styles don't appeal to me and aren't HARD style from what I've seen, but kyoukushin mannnnn...WHEW.
Gojuryu and shorin-ryu karate - fuck yes. Similar to kyoukushin, they seem practical and HARD. In goju ryu's case - being the school of HARD AND SOFT - it looks like a mix.
Traditional jujitsu/aikido/judo - I'm also interested in throw arts. I dunno which one to pick!
Tai chi - I know base tai chi but want to explore it more. I have picked taji quan for my internal art. That one is easy.
Just god dammit, so many interests.
I'll say this with the caveat that I'm not the type who wants to practice the "best" style, or the "strongest" style. I think that quantifier is stupid and balls out dumb by itself, I just want to experience them.