I've been thinking about studying a martial art, and the infamous question of, "Which martial art should I study?" has come up. I'm not here to start a flame war about which martial art is the best or blah blah blah blah, but I figured some of you veterans might be able to give me suggestions about what I should choose. I have listed some of the things I am looking for below. I'm kind of leaning towards Karate. I took Tae Kwon Do when I was a kid for a year and I recently tried an Aikido class at my local community college, which wasn't a really good fit for me. 1. Something that will help me learn basic self defense relatively quickly. i.e. in a couple of months 2. An art with little to no emphasis on the spiritual or philosophical aspects of martial arts. 3. A more or less external martial art emphasizing striking rather than diverting energy. 4. An emphasis on function over flashy moves.
