What is the most effective martial art for self defense? Offense?

Ed Parker style American Kenpo is very effective self defense. It is not a sport or an art, is mean and nasty with lots strikes to the throat, groin, eyes and breaking joints. Perhaps it is because most of the teachers and students in my particular Dojo are current or former Super Max prison guards and actually use the stuff on a regular basis that it has a very hard edge to it. I think Grand Master Parker said it best "it is not who is right it is who is left"

I can't tell you what the most effective martial art is, but this depends on what situations you will face. Some might think karate is best but unfortunately once you go him down on the floor he wouldn't know what to do in that awkward fighting position. Some say that Judo or Ju-Jitsu is best. Unfortunately if you were fighting a guy in the street using their techniques, that situation can turn bad for you rather quickly, especially if he has friends there to help him out. Fighting on the floor when in the street is the last thing you want to do since you are vulnerable to attacks if others join. No one martial art is effective against everything. I learned that myself. What I would suggest is to combine several arts together to have a well balanced fighting and defending style. I used to practice combat Hapkido fused with Judo. This isn't for everybody though. Combat Hapkido is a survival martial art and is illegal in tournament. It is not a sport and trains the user to fight to survive. Some of the techniques would seem like overkill, but when some has a gun pointed at you or is wielding a knive to take your life, you must use every measure NECESSARY to ensure your survival. Combat Hapkido teaches extremely effective ways to fight multiple persons, disarm and cripple a gunman, disarm knife wielding maniacs, and many other survival techniques. There will be times when you must "low blow" someone to escape. They teach you many fatal techniques for the sole purpose to NOT USE THEM UNLESS IN AN ABSOLUTE EXTREME CASE. The reason to not use them is because in court you will be severly dealt with (in the courts eyes, having knowledge of a martial art and misusing it is as severe as carrying a knife and stabbing someone). I would recommend that you take a look and different martial arts and study their strengths and weaknesses and combine 2 or more. You would greatly benefit from it.

I have to agree that if you want a traditional martial art them the practitioner is far more important than the particular style. The instructor is probably the next important point.

However if self defense, rather than fighting or competing is you goal, check this out:

http://www.scars.com/SCARS/_scars/scars_hist.jsp

There are other systems out there besides this one. Modern systems use current knowledge of anatomy and the autokinetic responses of the human body to develop efficient and effective techniques. I'm trying to knock any martial arts, I'm just saying that there are other options out there that work.

The most effective for self defense and offense is Ninjutsu. That is the art practist by the ninjas everywhere. It has self defense in when someone trys to hit you, you can take there arm and twist the completely other direction and break their arm. Offense is involed, there is a technique called the Dim Mok and done correctly it will stop your heart from moving.

The most effective Martial Art is the 1 that you do the best. It's the artist, not the art.

kickboxing is great for offense but i don't know if it's just my classes but i haven't been taught many blocks. so wouldn't be great for self defense. but any martial arts knowledge is better in self defense situations than none

The most effective martial art is the one that works best for you.

One thing that you might find easy to move to from Judo is Jujutsu. It is the art that judo was drawn from. Judo uses only the gentle aspects of Jujutsu, but Jujutsu actually includes a lot of other techniques that makes it more easily usable for self defense. The style is very similar to judo so if you find judo easy you will probably find jujutsu easy too.

Brazilian jiu jitsu is great 4 self defense and would suit u well cuz u already have a wrestling background so u could take the person down easily and then submit them

To pick one art, I suggest Krav Maga. The aggression level is very high, and the techniques are effective. Another benefit is that it should compliment your judo training very well.