hmmmmmmm, there is a lot of self publicity and nonsense on this board, i hope i can give a reasonable summary of the different martial arts.
western arts -
boxing - excellent for fitness+ body sculpting, dont spar if you dont want to, excellent for speed
fencing - speed and skill, good for stamina, neednt be very strong or bulky.
re-enactment - well the shire of caer caledon society seems to focus on medieval food, not fighting, so the facilities are not great.
eastern arts -
there are two main schools available at st. andrews - striking arts, and throwing arts.
as someone above said karate is more aggressive than judo - NONSENSE. the trick is to remember that all martial arts ARE equal BUT different.
ok -
karate - all about linear strikes with limbs.
fitness - good, combat effectiveness/ self-defence - moderate
also, places importance on 'resepct' and can be a bit 'stuffy' for some.
tae kwon do -
foreign kickboxing, with 90% kicks, 10% punches. good uses pads, good for flexibility and speed.
now onto the non-striking arts -
ju-jitsu - hmmm, this is a contraversial one - it claims to be the ancient samurai arts, but to be honest, no-one can prove it really. it uses both throws, and stikes, and is possibly the most 'rounded' therefore of the martial arts, but lacks training against opponents who are fully resisting.
judo - this is the 'no nonsense' martial art - totally devoid of spiritualism, and uses not only throws, but trips, limb-locks, chokes and grapples. is effectively japanese wrestling. is not 'easy' as many think the translation 'the eay way' means, what it actually means is minimum effort, maximum results.
good for fitness, and self-defence (80% of real fights end in grappling) also - you will be fighting on day one practically.
aikido - probably the most spiritual of the martial arts - it is really good, but dont be fooled into believing it is a form of self defence - it is the LEAST useful in this respect - it is fun, and has the highest no. of female members
.
socially, all the clubs are reasonably good, and inter club relations have improved over the last few years too.
so, for those wanting to be good at fighting, a mix of a western form, and one of each of the two types of eastern forms is best, but most will not have time for that, i suppose.
well, enough of my ramblings!