I take Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I've been taking it for 4 months but plan to keep at it forever. For those who don't know what it is, it's a ground based grappling art that focuses joint manipulation and choke holds. It's extremely effective. And for all nay sayers one of the Gracies who created it from Japaneses Jiu Jitsu, won 3 of the first 4 Ultimate Fighting Championships and it is still a huge part of any mixed martial arts fighter.
In my personal opinion it is the most powerful grappling martial art, and more powerful than almost any other striking martial art in one on one combat.
But I'm still looking for a striking art to combine with my ground fighting.

Used to do karate as a kid. Yellow. Stopped.

Though, i hav'ta say, that's (martial arts) like one of the most awesome and efficient way to keep yourself in shape.

And when it comes to "real" fighting. Muay thai and Krav maga > others.

TKD is just for show. :P

Mine is WTF. World TaeKwondo Federation. :P

Yea so we were working on balance and learning how to shift your weight and move in most dangerous situations safely, as is the point of Krav Maga, and one of the things you had to do was run up a small wall a few feet and then spring off and kick a cinder block near it- we weren't expected to break it, but just knock it off without breaking our asses. Now I forgot to do my stretches for some reason, and I had been sick and missed the last class, so I didn't learn the proper technique the rest of the class knew. The result was my basically humping the wall in the air, with my right/spring leg crunched up, and then when i tried to jump off, I ended up spraining BOTH my legs, because I pushed off with my right leg really hard but my left leg was about an inch from the ground. The worst part had to be the fact that I then tripped from force and smacked into the cinder block with my groin. Needless to say I've been hitting backspace a few hundred times while typing this message in pain ><

The best school in the area is ITF, while all other schools here are kind of shitty :P

i take itf tang soo do its a korean martial art i got my black belt about a year ago and its gonna take me 3 more years to get my 1st strip *cough F*CK YOU master fitz cough*. this dude nearly killed me each time i sparred him, in summer camp he was douche baggish enough to say "ill use yer metal nunchucks and ull use the foam ones to keep from f*cking yer self up... ready lets go"... *SMACK* "f*ck f*ck, dude my f*cking nuts... oh f*ck
"k son get up" *i get up*, "lets try again... try to block it this time... GO"
*SMACK, CRUNCH* there went my nose and part of my face. i quit after this but either way i was one of his best students and i ownd the do-jang (korean do-jo)

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is awesome (been doing it for 3.5 years). Especially combined with a little Muay Thai.

I have a Yellow Belt in Combat Ju-jitsu, Green belt in Judo and Tae Kwon Do, and have done some minor Muay Thai, and boxing on the side. And please don't claim that one martial art is the best. They all have strengths and weaknesses. As a beginner you probably don't understand that, but as you rise in ranks, you will see that variety is key.

i am a first degree BLK belt in TKD, it took me 2 years of hard, exausting, and kickass training it was fun, especially the sparring my favorite move is the butterfly kick. in TKD, the main objective is to use momentum to your advantage, which means we use our kicks to kick again (rather than to punch or use a weapon) and THEN run. you need to be able to jump at least 3 ft. or something (which i can, what can i say, i'm athletic ) at full speed to be able to even hit someone in the head. TKD requires a lot of speed and strength, especially when you become eather purple or red belt when you have to break 3/4 inch thick wood with your foot doing a butterfly kick? we do pushups and what not, and some fun stuff, like jumping over cushins and see who could jump the highest, i could jump like, 6 when i was 11.

*sigh* good times

I just got back from Taekwondo class, twas' fun. I'm a blackbelt, and I plan on getting the 2nd degree.

Not many places to learn Martial Arts in Missouri.