deciding on a martial arts

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I'm currently trying to decide on what martial arts I want to start taking classes in as I feel an urge to get fit,healthy and gain some form of self defence.
anyone have any recommendations?

If you are more concerned with defense I would go with Karate. Self-defense is the focus, the whole, "the best offense is a good defense" approach. You always start your Katas with blocks for instance. If you want something more focused on offense (strike 1st kinda thing) I would try Tae Kwon Do. There are more arts but I am not familiar with them. I took Karate. LOVED it. It helped my balance and endurance (also the philosophical part helped my relaxation and patience). My brother is a Tae Kwon Do instructor-in-training. From what I have learned watching him it's a more aggressive style.

If you want primarily self-defense, join a self-defense (not martial arts) school.

If you want traditional martial arts I'd suggest Aikido or Karate (or best, both). Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, fine too... visit schools, see what you like.

If you want something with serious competitive element, try Judo, a flavor of boxing, or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

TaeKuanDo is good for defence and fitness. I got to blue belt, in my experience your experience of this martial art will vary depending on who teaches you. My teacher taught grappling but explained that it wasn't part of usual TaeKuanDo training. You'd feel it at the end of a session though. There's two different forms (in my experience), one is traditional and one is modern. Best to go for a place that mixes to two because then you learn how to fight well and get a good workout.

Tai Chi is also good for fitness primarily but can also be good for self defence, it's a meditation in movement. I've seen some Tai Chi teachers sparring and I was really supprised about how fast they could move. In Tai Chi, you learn patterns and move very slowly, from my experience it gives a strangely effective work out without causing you to be overtired. It may be good to try if you feel really unfit.

When choosing a martial art it's all about what you are looking for. Perhaps a quick internet search is in order to get more imformation on each. Each type has differing benifits and you need to look at what suits your needs best.

I would recommend Wing Chun but I'm biased.

The problem with going to "self defence" is it can be short sighted. Fighting is about reactions, not set routines. Martial arts give you something to react with. But it is going to take time, and if you don't accept that you are being unrealistic. There isn't evidence to support short self defence courses, but martial arts can improve motor skills and reactions. Doing self defence techniques against a person in a dummy suit or just sparing cannot simulate what its really like to be confronted with an a real assault assault. Being prepared for the unpredictable is what you want to aim for. Of course there are many other reasons why to do martial arts, it keeps me sane for one.

if i were to recommend a martial art to a beginner, prioritising self-defence, i would choose karate seeing as its more centred around self defence than most other arts, although i dont know a huge deal about it.

though if you dont like hurting people but want to get fit and defend yourself, go with aikido, its more to do with philosphy seeing as its a pacifist art prioritising evasive manuevours and grappels.

based on what you wanted (although you're free to pick any one you want, and these non-recommended ones will still help) ones i recommend you avoid are taekwon-do and mwai thai, seeing as these two are more offensive arts (i do taekwon-do and we regularly do intense sparing) though it does vary based on your place of study.

i recommend you research some more into these before you choose.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai are effective.

If you decide to do karate, always ask the trainer a little bit about it first. Some karate schools are good but others do very unrealistic routines that won't help you with either self defence or sportfighting. Like just move up and down the hall executing punches to thin air, with no work on timing, evasion or even any actual sparring.

I have to reiterate that the only type of training that is really "effective" for self-defense is reality self-defense training.

Claiming that one martial art is "more effective in self-defense" than another martial art is highly irresponsible.

Karate and TKD are nigh-worthless for defense.

Check out the video Jim Grover's Combatives

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14d5sK0yl00[/youtube]

Also check out The Tactical Advantage

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ergt_jMLkww[/youtube]

I would recommend against most (but not all) things that have competition in then. Competition has rules. Real life does not.

My recommendations:
Bujinkan Taijutsu.
Shorinjo-kempo.
Ji-jutsu (NOT the Brasillian one).
Muai-thai.

I could recommend more, and it does not exclude other martial arts from being useful IRL (i.e. Krav Maga or Wing-Chung), but since i have no knowledge about others i'm not going to recommend anything else.

To sum up: If the martial art does not see kicking someone in the balls or throwing dirt in their eyes as a means of surviving against an attacker, then its a sport, not a martial art. Sure, you could get lucky with karate but attackers on the streets do not follow rules.

Becoming a fast runner/sprinter that does not need to fight is also an option. Running away is an option that is taught in Bujinkan... why stay around and fight against a superior attacker - to be cool? Cool could get you killed.

do a little research into arts that you might like, and then check out all of the dojos that are convenient to you. The dojo-cho/sensei and the atmosphere of the dojo will do far more to determine whether or not you enjoy your training enough to stick with it, as a beginner, than the particular art you start out with.

I'm currently looking at starting a Krav Maga class when I move house in September. It seems to be a great combination of the two main things you're after. It requires you to be moderately fit, but there's always scope to be fitter, and a more reliable fighting style in contemporary culture you'll be hard pressed to find. I won't blast you with links and videos about it, you can do your own research, but as self defence forms go, it certainly talks the talk!

Just grab whatever's close, at a good time for you, and is just generally convenient and conducive. I estimate there to be a 98+% rate of flake-out in martial arts classes, levelling off after year 1 and stabillizng after 3 to 50%, so you want to make it really easy to routinely attend. Just remember: these things take time. Just start anywhere you can and if you want to you'll move out from there. Each class is going to be at least very different, but also at least very similar in what they teach you, at least combative-wise. (i.e. there are only so many practical ways to kick someone or manipulate their range of motion utilizing your own) The real meat of uniqueness, imho, is what kind of exercises and repetition training technique the class gives you. At the same time, it's still up to you to make the best of what you're given, though.

Add to that, if you really just want to learn some dirty 'self defense' for your average, every-day situation (ie, your opponent has no formal martial training, which the vast majority of scum-bag attackers do not), the self-defense classes offered by most local police stations are pretty good and are relatively quick to learn. Or buy a gun, get a concealed-carry permit, AND be willing to shoot an opponent without a great deal of hesitation.

To paraphrase my Sensei, 'self-defense is the ugly by-product of martial arts training.' Martial arts will teach you, eventually, to defend yourself in a life-or-death situation, but the vast majority of them focus on relatively stylized dojo training with formal rules like 'don't gouge your opponent's eyes out,' 'don't strike your opponent on the throat,' and 'don't kick or knee your opponent in the gonads.' Since we like to re-use our training partners, these rules make sense within the training area.

Martial arts, whatever stripe you choose, are also not good against projectile weapons when the opponent is outside of arm's reach.

if you were refering to me, im not saying you're wrong, but some martial arts more 'centered' around the idea of slef defense, some around semi-religous beliefs, some even for sport. im not just saying "x martial art is better than y martial art"

self defence class is probably better but there's no denying that some martial arts are better than others in terms of defence

Agreed.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai are realistic. TKD is more stylized but still effective, due to heavy emphasis on competition, you do plenty of sparring.

Some Karate schools on the other hand only teach you to do very stylized movements, in robotic fashion, to the air. Not all; Kyokushin is a very good style, so are other ones I forget the names of.

That's why I advised that the OP ask the trainer a bit about what the class is like before signing up.

Some karate schools