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Stand up style– Muay Thai.

Ground- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
learn a ground style first, because that is where most fights end up.. but muay thai is SUPER effective for a stand up style. way better than karate or boxing…

All of them have their own common as well as exclusive benefits. Take as many variety of martial arts as you can and the more benefits you can mold by your own out of each.

the one where the teacher teaches you the movements of your kata and also knows the hidden techniques they represent and teaches them to you because you are his student, and not because you gave him an absurd amount of money to learn “special, only to my best students” lessons that he should be teaching to all who have discipline and integrity.

Stay away from the kick-punch crap they call ‘kah-rotty’ today.

You have a long hard search ahead of you.

None of the traditional arts, if you are specifically after self defence than choose a reality based system that is taught to special forces, police, anti riot commands, etc., something like close quarter combat.
Word of warning, in order to keep your skills you have to keep training, and practicing.
Personally, I **** those 6 week courses, were we are all a happy family on our carpet floor and bright neon lights, it is warm and safe there.
Self defence is needed in dark uncomfortable places where your fear might stiffle you, were you are alone and on your own.
Train as if it was the real deal, you are about 50% of what you can give at the training facility due to stress and adrenalin, if you train lame you’ll defend yourself even lamer.
Practice awareness and use common sense (there is no shame in running, if you can get out guess what…GET OUT).
Have a practice session with members of the class in a park at night, or a parking deck, having a class held there, you still know you are getting attacked, but you don’t know when and how, this will desensitise you and make your reaction faster and better. Will boost your confidence, too.
Very important, never underestimate the effect of noise, attackers yelling at you by surprise, you yelling back and showing confidence.
Good luck with your search.

You cannot go wrong with Kenpo, a combination of karate and kung fu. Aikido is another I’d recommend.

I studied a few Martial Arts, but now I take Haganah. I love it and it is reality based, self-defense. Right to the point, you learn things you can use from day one. Anyone that teaches it always give you a few free classes. Try it I’m sure you will love it.

Kung Fu

The best self defense classes are self defenses. If you have a school near you, I would strongly suggest Jeet Kune Do or Filipino Martial Arts. Both these martial arts are meant for the street and are extremely effective.
Try not focusing self defense with ground fighting. It is very effective on one on one, but in the streets there’s always a high risk that while you’re on the ground fighting someone, there will be someone else attacking you while you’re vulnerable.
If you do not have JKD or FMA schools near you, visit your local martial art schools such as Taekwondo, Karate, Kung Fu, and so on. Try to find a teacher that fits for you.

My answer is the answer if youre asking this question to just know how to defend yourself, like what is the best art on the street, not like anything where you would do tournament fighting or anything. If that’s the case, I would say American Kenpo. It is the most explosive, powerful and fast martial art out their. There is no style that is more explosive. It is best for people that don’t like fighting and when you are on the street because when you get attacked, you have to end it as quick as possible because there maybe more coming. On the downside, it is very dangerous, so you have to learn how to control it, but they work with you in that. It is the best self-defense street fighting there is; I would say. There is a mix of art involved and it teaches accuracy, explosiveness and speed.
check out this video. it will demonstrate the speed and power you can possess. The man, Paul Mills, in the demo is 60 years old and look at the speed and power he has and how accurate he is. Practice can get you there. There is so much more to learn from this art that I’m learning now rather then how to defend yourself. It goes beyond that.

Self-defense is from South Korea for sure. TaeKwonDo and Hapkido were created for self-defense. Kickboxing is an exercise and karate is a sport. If you want to learn something useful, you should tap into a culture that has spent centuries having to defend themselves.