I started taking Hung Gar Kung Fu a few months ago. It’s a Shaolin system which uses the movements of animals for self defense.
Great exercise, though if you are looking for grappling, look elsewhere. It’s almost entirely a striking system.
It’s not one of the “popular” arts right now, mainly because very few people use it in a cages, but it’s a very agressive fighting style. You spend very little time not on the offensive, which definately keeps the average person on the defensive.
I’m a complete n00b, but I’m already confident that I could defend myself with it if I had to…at least against an average person. Then again, guys who train in martial arts typically aren’t out picking fights, so in theory if I ever need to use it, it would just be againt some drunken idiot.