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So let me just say, I love monks and martial arts. I'm far too fat and lazy do do actual martial arts (well, I've done some Kyokoshin Karate in my youth, a little) but I just like the look of it, and the creativity that can turn the human body into a weapon in any number of different ways. The different styles, the different ways they look . . . I just love it. I also love that a punch is never just a punch, there's a style, a look to it. Anyone even remotely interested in martial arts can instantly tell a Karate stance from a Shaolin stance or a kickboxing stance.
So with that out of the way, as a lark, I thought of an idea. Because a lot of Golarian draws from real-life, geographical locations, or from cultural touchstones, we can easily imagine cultures being similar. Because there are a great many martial arts around the world, one can easily plant a martial art from the real world into the pathfinder world using these geographical analogies. Is you monk from Chelliax? How do you envision him fighting? How would he fight differently from a monk from Irisin? Or Minkai?
Let me just say that, right off the bat, I know that 'real' fights don't look like martial arts demonstrations or like movies. But here's the thing. Pathfinder is a giant cinematic playing experience. It's meant to be crazy and over-the-top. So I feel that this little lark is fun. If you choose to ignore it, you totally can. But if you want to add a little more role-play fuel to your monk (or brawler) then try to imagine what their fighting style might be like. And if you are having trouble, here are some fighting styles that might fit (please, don't feel constrained, just . . . view this as an educational tool you can ignore if you want.)
Avastan
Chelliax: Most people agree that Chelliax is Great Britain what with the colonizing and the super arrogant attitude. There are a few English Martial arts. Notably British boxing and traditional wrestling. However, there is one comprehensive martial art that was brought over from Japan and modified to fit a British lifestyle. Given how multicultural and well-traveled Golarion is, it is conceivable someone did the same coming back from Minkai to Chelliax. So for the chellaxian Monk, I can see something akin to Bartitsu.
Given the use of umbrellas or walking sticks as weapons, a monk of the empty hand archetype may be the best fit.
Galt: Most people agree that Galt is revolutionary France. Again, France has had an ancient form of wrestling, but of particular note is Savate, a french Kickboxing style. (Keep an eye on Batroc)
Irisin: Again, it's a safe bet that Irisin is based off of Russia, considering Babba Yaga is a REAL RUSSIAN FOLKTALE. Now, there's a few modern military style martial arts (Sambo and Systema) but both are heavily ground-based, tripping, grappling-focused. Someone with Monkey style, improved trip, and improved grapple would do well to emulate that style of martial arts.
Garund
Mwangi: While the Mwangi is more akin to Africa than Brazil, there is a well-known lore of Chellaxians enslaving the local populace and forcing them to farm or mine. Escaped slaves are hunted down by the Chellaxians like dogs. This is not unlike Brazil during the origins of Capoeira. The Janni fighting style is basically made for this, as its brief description basically recounts the fabled origin of Capoeira.
Casmaron
Vudra: Well most seem to agree that Vudra is India. There are a few Indian martial arts. However, it seems our Iconic Monk Sajan is a practitioner of something akin to Kalarippayattu. It is a martial art with both unarmed and armed forms, including specialized swords that temple swords could defiantly stand in for. Given that Sajan is (canonically) a sword-wielding monk, it seems like a good fit. Although the real Kalarippayattu uses shields, we can probably let that slide . . . right?
It's late. If there's more interest I will post more later.
Most people agree that Chelliax is Great Britain....
Eh, try Torquemada-era Spain.
Dot. I find this very interesting.
It seems that primarily the inner sea wouldn't have many unarmed martial arts, but more in common with HEMA.
I agree boxing and wrestling are probably common.
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Well, I guess I can do a few more
Avastan
Taldor: I always likened Taldor to Italy after the fall of the Roman empire. If you think about it, they used to control large swaths of land, but has lost them and sunk into decadance and refusing to admit how much power they have lost. (no offense to any actual Italians out there.) Anyway, there aren't many Italian martial arts, but there is Canne de Combat a very swashbuckler-like style that looks fairly monk-like to me. A dex-based monk that focused on the Hanabo or Shang Gou could reasonably replicate the crazy back-and-forth you see in the video. Especially if you went with the Kata Master archetype.
Andoran: So most people agree that Andoran is based off of revolutionary America. And while the U.S. has invented a lot of systems, I think the most famous is Jeet Kune Do. If you want to say "Hey, that's a Chinese Martial art!" Well, you can make that claim, but if you read up on it, Bruce Lee invented it and taught it at a time when Chinese people teaching non-Chinese martial arts was a giant societal no-no. And he taught it to Americans. And he invented it while living in America. So . . . y'know . . . There's that.
Qadira: So most agree that Qadira is based off of Persia or the so-called 'near east.' That region of the world doesn't really have a whole lot of punchy-kickey martial arts, but they have a long tradition of wrestling called Kurash. There are are great many, similar wrestling styles, such as Yağlı güreş (Turkish oil-wrestling), among others. A tetori monk could do well to represent this style.
Garund
Katapesh: Most people seem to believe that Katapesh is based off of Saudi Arabia and other middle-eastern countries. The main problem is that that part of the world doesn't really have a 'traditional' unarmed fighting style. There is a new one in the area, Krav Maga which focuses on lightning-quick disarm, trip, and grapple maneuvers. A maneuver master monk would be good at aping this style.
Tien Xia
Minata: It looks to me that Minata is based off of Indonesia and the Philippines, what with it being a big island chain off of the coast of what is obstensably China. And luckily, there is a blanket term for 'Indonesian Martial arts.' Essentially there is a martial art that developed there that spread out, and then each separate nation and island developed their own twist on it (and there is much debate about who started it). Anyway, the blanket term is called silat and it focuses on elbows, distracting hand movements, blocks, kicks, and sometimes, special daggers (which you could represented with the Bich'hwa/wave blade)