Tae Kwon Do seems to be the status quo. Nothing to add that humanodon and cgod didn't already develop. More worth noting: in high school my friend and I also took a summer's worth of Kung Fu from a man who may have been a legitimate practitioner or may have been just some nutter who lived in a van and thought he had vaguely telekinetic powers. We practiced under "Sifu Jerry" in the middle of a community tennis court. The parking lot nearby when people were tennising. PRO-PRACTITIONER THEORY: he seemed to know the requisite stances and enforced good form with a military discipline. The forms he taught us had official-sounding names, and they remained static every time he taught them. He didn't hold any romantic views about Kung Fu per se (except for everything below)- he maintained that at a basic level, it was near useless as a self-defense mechanism and was more a style of dance than anything else, better for habituating self-control than control over others. He was also extremely gentle and very patient. I don't know why this is a point in favor of him being legit. ANTI-PRACTITIONER THEORY: he spoke of his master with this breathless, fever-eyed reverence, and constantly related stories in which, for instance, sifu would point his finger at a glass table top a foot away and shatter the table top with the power of his chi. He would also at times insist that, though we couldn't feel it, when he maintained horse stance like this and held his hands just so, he could channel his energy in our direction and strengthen our physical resolve. Still can't feel it? What about now? Also, he was in retrospect the spitting image of Dan Dority from Deadwood. Again, not sure how this subtracts from his ethos but it definitely gave me pause. I guess what I'm saying is don't bother with Kung Fu because any version not like thousands of years old from a pedigreed master is probably glorified dance softened up for soccer moms and pony-tailed hippies. Humanodon mentioned Krav Maga- wanted to try that for a while, as I've heard it's more utilitarian. I also have a friend who does Aikido, which is apparently a really good mix of philosophy vs. practicality.