IMHO....
I have taken "traditional" Karate. I think it is a great thing for kids, but for adults not so great.
Bear with me while I explain my opinion. Karate and Kata's are more geared toward building discipline. Not fighting skills. I am not saying that a black belt does not have an advantage over "Bar Room Billy", but a single discipline fighter is at a MAJOR disadvantage to a well rounded fighter that does "MMA" In my opinion the best self defense and fighting system to date is Krav Maga. Krava takes content from all over the world and incorporates the most effective fighting system. It is taught to the IDF and now to US forces, from what I am told.
I was involved in Krav at Dublin Martial Arts for quite a while until I moved to Mt. Vernon. Get in touch with black00ws6, he is now a certified instructor. I was one level away from being able to attend the instructor training. You will get in shape with Krav! The level test are unreal. The last one I took lasted 3 hours 45 minutes. It was non stop for the whole time. My respiratory rate was still elevate over an hour after the test was done, I was in decent shape at the time too.