Also, try judo! I liked it when I tried it. I don't think defensively speaking, any form of martial arts is better than another. A good idea is to go for the eyes and make get the heck out of the way.
Judo is very challenging! I dabbled in Judo for a little while, because I did a little wrestling back in the day and it has similarities. I only dabbled in Judo for less than a year though. Most of my martial arts background comes Kung Fu (Hung-Gar and Toy-gar) and Aikido, which are more "street practical" arts. I do think it's good idea to expose yourself to competitive sport based martial arts too, so on and off I would take boxing lessons, wrestle, and judo. They not only helped me with my endurance, stamina, and overall fitness level, but made me more a much more versatile martial artist too.
I also studied a little Tai Chi, and Eskrima (double stick fighting) too. Fun stuff! Speaking a Eskrima, I think it's good to know a little weaponry too. My Uncle used to take me to the shooting range when I was a kid. We used to shoot little clay birds off of tires that were place a good distance away with a rifle and hand gun. My uncle is an extremely amazing bow hunter as well, so he used to teach me how to target shoot with a bow and arrow, which I really enjoyed the most, even more so than target shooting with a gun. I got really good at shooting a bow and arrow. At one time when I was a kid, I went to a summer camp, and they had a target shooting competition, and thanks to my uncle, I won it.
There are some martial arts styles that are for the streets, and there are others that are just purely for competition. Like the stuff you see in movies like Bloodsport or Karate Kid, are so limited. Any of that stuff in those movies are almost completely useless on the streets. I personally like the more street practical arts...the ones that are more lethal when it comes to techniques, but at the same time they are more natural and are about spiritualism, and self-control. I rather learn those than an art that only teaches me how to win points or rounds in a competitive sport-like environment.
That being said, as long as you have a great teacher, you will get nothing but postitive results and experience out of either.
It's about whatever you enjoy, fits your personality the best, and finding a great teacher.
I benefitted the most out of Kung-Fu when it came to physical fitness, and it was a very lethal art. Every blow, strike, technique, and even the blocks that you learn or made to really hurt and have the capabilty of killing somebody in one motion/strike. The focus was almost always on life or death situations. My instructor used to say that breaking blocks is all well and good, but if you know how to block, parry, or simple move from a strike, then the attacker who know how to break 100 cement blocks is useless. It's all about PRESENCE OF MIND. Any person can be taken out on any giving point in time, because we all can't have 100% presence of mind 24/7. You can have 10 black belts in 10 different martial arts. If you are walking down the steet and your mind is mostly on things like your girlfriend breaking up with you or what shopping I need to get done for the day, then at that point in time, any Joe Schmoo (regarldess of how much he/she knows and how big or small that person is) can take your ass out.
I probably liked the best and will always be more fascinated with Aikido though. The focus is also on life or death situations, but it's probably the best art that teaches you that even when somebody is trying to kill you and has the means to do it, you still can take control of the situation and prevent it from happening without killing or harming that person. It was all about learning how to neutralize rather than harm in any situation whether it was life or death or not. Plus, Aikido I think is the best art to learn how to defend yourself against multiple attackers called Randori.
Jason Salamone