text: what is the best martial arts can be learned by normal civilian? i want to learn a martial art. i used to learn kung-fu and tae-kwon-do. but i want to learn something that more practical and useful. can you suggest something? btw, don't insert cqc, ninjutsu, or something like that, since cqc only avaiable for military and police personnel and ninjutsu isn't practical (or i'm wrong?). here's the big question. and however i have another question in return to that one: what do you consider effective? do you mean martially effective? or effective at clearing your mind or bringing inner peace? martial art = the art of war. what makes up a martial art: percussion (striking), projection (throwing), immobilization (joint locks), and armament (weaponry). here are some examples of different systems:  karate: okinawan. covers percussion. civil art. kara- meaning open or empty depending on translation. -te originally meant chinese hand but they later changed it to just hand after the chinese were driven out. derived from white crane kung fu. believes in hardening the body against strikes and striking hard is the key.  kung fu: external chinese. most cover percussion, projection, and armament, with a few covering immobilization as well. usually either martial or civil art. there are so many systems within the term kung fu that it is hard to describe this system effectively. to say the least the best kung fu i have seen was in dallas, and was translated to the water-fire kung fu.  aikido / aiki-jujutsu: japanese. covers immobilization with slight touch on projection. civil art. was originally derived from nihongo jujutsu or japanese jujutsu (honestly i hate that i have to specify which jujutsu compared to brazilian or american… as if you would get an french taco or russian sushi). aikido has sadly become one of the snobbiest “styles” out there and they insist that what they do would work in real combat, although only about 10% of everyone who is involved with that system knows what they’re doing. though i will admit those that do, can do some beautiful aiki.  judo: japanese. covers projection. sport art. another derivative of nihongo jujutsu. a sport derived from the throwing system used in japan’s combat. as with all sports, there are certain things that they threw out as “illegal moves” due to their effectiveness therefore making the “style” weaker.  brazilian: japanese origin. covers a portion of immobilization and projection. martial sport. this “style” was made famous by the gracie family after they were originally taught by a japanese man who refused to show them any more than the grappling section of jujutsu. so they concentrated on the art of ground fighting. most people that do brazilian are extremely competitive and aggressive in nature.  taekwondo: korean. percussion. sport art. this is a primarily kicking “style” and is considered one of the most famous “styles” in use. another system that is sport / competition based they rely heavily on flexible and fast legs. originally a derivative from a certain school of karate which name eludes me at this moment.  krav maga: israeli. um… percussion? military wannabe. i really don’t suggest this system unless you’re looking for a billy blanks on steroids kinda feel. this system was built to teach the foot soldiers of israel a quick, brutal and less than effective hand-to-hand fighting method in a matter of a week, so seriously, don’t bother.  those russian arts: mainly knife junkies who think they know what they’re doing. more flashy than anything else, don’t fall for the hype.  pilipino: mostly stick and knife, and they are not for the faint of heart, although not much art to the system, it seems those whom you can find who actually know what they’re doing are pretty good with a knife and stick but that’s it.  mma: mixed martial arts. probably the worst thing that has ever happened to martial arts besides krav maga. the concept of mixing martial arts is taking a system that is inferior and mixing it with another inferior system to hopefully make up for the gaps left by the other one. for example: karate doesn’t have immobilization, so lets throw in aikido and brazilian, and those don’t have projection so lets throw in judo, and all of those don’t have armament so lets throw in pilipino.   th