SrDrew

Right now I think for me it's narrowed down to Muay Thai or kickboxing, Muay Thai sounds interesting but I wasn't able to find any Muay Thai specific schools around here, but there are a number of kickboxing ones so I guess that is the most likely option right now. About the in close stuff, some of the chokes/submissions do seem kind of interesting but realistically I don't think I would have as much fun practicing that as just regular kickboxing. Will they teach any submission type stuff in a pure kickboxing school or do you have to get that separate? If it's possible to learn submission at a pure kickboxing school I wouldn't turn it down, but practicing in a pure wrestling or jujitsu environment doesn't just sound as appealing to me personally. thanks again for the suggestions =]

thank you for all the replies, I really appreciate it. some other info, forgot to include: 21/m/Tucson AZ about the (Tae Kwon Do)vs(Muay thai)vs(kickboxing) stuff, I don't care about looking impressive/stylish/graceful _at all_ (if this makes any difference in your recommendations). I would much rather have practicality over art/grace, but not so far that I want to learn nasty street fighting stuff, I want to stay away from pure brute strength, locks/holds or anything like wrestling. Looking in the online phone book under the category "martial arts instruction" there seems to be a lot of "karate" places (listing isn't very specific), and some Tae Kwon Do places, and others that just say "martial arts" but I haven't seen any Muay thai specific. Are there any online directories of these schools I could look at to locate one around here or is my best bet the phone book. And also are there any pages that have a clear list of the pros and cons of each one or compare them in any way (I have no clue what "Muay thai" is beyond what I've read in this thread)? thanks again

Been looking into a few different martial arts lately, I've been into soccer/basketball/tennis/biking so I know how to move a little, but I've never touched a martial art before in my life. Could anyone give me suggestions on which martial art they think I would like the most, I guess the biggest points for me are: -fairly good amount of exercise (running is getting boring). -more kicks than anything else, if possible. -a 'stand up' style, I want something where I can have some fun and don't have to be rolling around on the floor with some guy taking elbows to the face all day, also not as interested in holds/grapples as I am in standard kicks/punches. -more combat that 'art', if that makes sense, I'm not looking for anything like a Yoga class or one of these aerobics classes pretending to be a martial arts class, but I also don't want to go as far as the really brutal ones (Krav Maga?). -I guess I also would like to avoid having to go to school/work with black eyes etc every day, but if that's inevitable then so be it. don't know if this matters but some personal info: 5'10" 170 lbs in fairly decent shape now, seem to be built more 'bottom heavy' (legs), if that makes sense, legs also seem disproportionally long to body/arms (I have never been able to touch my toes straight-kneed in my entire life no matter what shape I was in), hence the focus on kicks, which may be a bad idea, I have no clue about this stuff. I wasn't expecting it but there are actually a surprising number of martial arts places in my area, I think I have it narrowed down to kickboxing or Tae Kwon Do, but there could be ones out there better suited for me that I have never heard of. Any assistance would be appreciated =]