Well, I wouldn't recommend Tae Kwon Do for defence. The style is really aimed towards sport point-fighting. Yes, it'd be helpful in case of danger, but it's definitly not the most effective of the mentioned. Some have refferred to it as a "black belt factory" style. Course, you still don't want to say that in front of someone who has a black belt, because they can still kick your tail if you don't have one.

I don't know much else about those other styles. I believe that Karate is a style that branched off of Kung Fu and evetually became its own style. Kung fu's movements are more sweeping, whle Karate's are more thrusting. Both of which have their own advantages/disadvantages.

That's all I got.

Really what it depends on a lot is your physical stature. For instance, if you have a good strong set of legs you can try kickboxing. Remember, self defense you're probably not going to be having Steven Segal pick a fight with you.
I'd START with Karate, though. It's basic and straight forward and will help you learn what you'd be better at. Sort of like a sample of everything in a way. Stay away from TKD, we call them McDojos. Why? Because most of their trophies are either flea market purchased or were won in tournaments of nobodies. Kind of like having your mom give you a title belt sort of thing.
Also, remember that you don't automatically get self esteem and all that. Even that takes work. I was at a boxing gym with MMA and kickboxers all teaching me things that eventually led to me getting expelled from school for using them. But I never got the self confidance or self esteem everyone says. That has to come from within YOU and really, if it's already in there than the martial arts is only a means of letting it out.

Briefly, the karate styles are both what are refered to as 'hard' styles where the focus is on very direct strikes, kicks and blocks (anyone feel free to correct me if this is not so). I did a little tae kwon do and judo when I was in the army but learned very little because it was informal and people kept leaving the club due to transfers etc. I did about 3 years of Pai Lum Kung Fu which was the best system for me. Mostly it was a 5 animals system but contained some elements of other styles such as karate. I also took lessons in Yang style Tai Chi Chuan until my instructor moved away. Some kung fu styles and tai chi are 'soft' styles which use elements that redirect energy rather than meet it head on. Watch out for anyone who trys to sign you up for a certain period of time with a guaranteed black belt at the end. The only thing it will be good for is to hold up your pants. As for self esteem, I'd say that comes from a good instructor who can get you to do things you don't think you can do. Good luck!

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"Plan?! There ain't no plan!" --Pigkiller

Okay, I've got a little experience in martial arts so I'll tackle these one by one.

Karate: There are many styles of karate. Almost all of them focus with equal balance on the hands and the feet. It is a direct and external or "hard" style. Some schools focus more on breaking objects or conditioning the body to resist damage or jumping attacks or grappling than others. It is a solid style that can offer you what you should need and appeals to a wide range of body styles because the focus of fist or foot is pretty balanced. Practical self defense? Can vary from excellent to poor depending on what your instructor likes. If the instructor is very focused on self defense and making sure the lessons could save your life then it is great. If the instructor wants to win tournaments then it may be lacking. Traditional karate is all about staying alive of course.

Tae Kwon Do: This style is similar to karate in a lot of ways as far as being a very external style. The major differences are that the focus is definately on kicks. Jumping, flying, spinning kicks are all there. Hand technique is sometimes ignored and all but discouraged by some instructors. Very traditional Tae Kwon Do is just as good (potentially) as Karate for self defense but there is a major obstacle to this. This style is very widespread, almost aggresively so. The styles is taught as a sport more than a martial art in most schools where you just kick and score points and barely use your hands at all. This focus on the sport aspect can limit your ability to defend yourself in some cases. Be careful on this one. There are tons of school and while I have met some awesome TKD people the schools are so widespread that the quality has gone down for most.

Juijitsu: Tons of grappling. This style has gotten very popular in the last ten years so you have to be careful. There are again many substyles but as I wrote before it is a lot of grappling with maybe a few strikes. Traditionally, it is very self defense oriented but many styles focus on how to win the grappling matches while you are wearing the thick uniforms. Juijitsu is very focused on one-on-one fighting that goes to a grapple.

Judo: judo is derived from juijitsu but has a lot of the bonebreaking and striking techniques eliminated to turn it into a more sport-like martial art. Less focus on grappling, more focus on powerful throws. Self-defense? Possible, but not easily unless you want to grapple with whoever attacks you. If you are big and strong this will come easier to you of course. Judo, like tae kwon do is more sportlike in most schools.

Kickboxing: Kickboxing is a sport. Not a martial art. Most people who teach kickboxing have had training in martials arts but let us not confuse the two. You will get in awesome shape and you will learn some good skills for kicking and punching but you will not get a well-rounded exposure to self-defense. Most places that teach kickboxing teach it as a method of getting exercise by hitting bags with punches and kicks and offer martial art instruction as a different service. Expect to hit bags a lot and spar more in pads.

I'm going to summarize and say this. All styles have a lot to offer and any martial art has the potential to satisfy your requirements of exercise and self defense depending on the instructor. Some instructors focus too much on the business and really don't care as much about the quality. Traditional martial arts training is hard and requires a commitment of effort (not money) from the student. Find out what the instructor focuses on and what is important to him or her and get a view of what that person's school is like. Anymore, it is not so much what the style is like as much as the instructor that teaches it.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more specific questions.

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Clubs *the-zodiac-club

I'd recommend taking judo first to start things off. That's only because judo gets you used to being able to ground fight and how to take a fall right. Most other martial arts aren't worth much once you're on your keister. This one teaches you how to fight down there and how to land so it doesn't hurt. Once you get the basics there down, then you can switch up to another if you like. That's what I'd do anyway.

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High Overlord of Really Bad Mornings

If you want to make a self-defense, may be you'd need an Aikidoh. AFAIK, Aikido never has a tournament, considering itself as a self-defense.

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A wise man said, "The best kind of a humankind is the one who is the most useful for everyone else,"

You're talking martial arts classes? Sweeeeeeet.

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PANDORA RADIO [link] - My anti-drug. Could be yours, too, if you love music. Don't get me wrong; I never did drugs.

I have a town on myminicity.com. Would you care to drop in?: [link]

I had hoped to, but unfortunately I couldn't find any classes in my area XD Ah well, I shall keep searching.

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<><

Oh dear. Unfortunately, plenty of martial arts centers seem to be around where I live, especially in and around a city famous for surfing (Surf City, USA. Get the hint?). I saw a place teaching jujitsu on our way to see the fireworks at the Los Alamitos Military Arifield. Looking at Google Earth, I see even more: another jujitsu place very near my house, a Taekwondo academy two blocks over, a Hwa Rang Do center, and even one that teaches Krav Maga, too. There's a Kenpo Karate center in Cypruss as well as a place teaching judo. Even an old teacher (teacher's aide, actually) of mine from middle school is teaching martial arts near my house (I had a funny dream about her last summer, in which I was going to learn martial arts from her) at a place called Pa-Kua Martial Arts & Yoga Center.

Say, Aelius. I think I read something you said about what inspired the Taekartan R-Force's ShockSuits; I can't seem to locate the exact source though. You said some wetsuits from some sort of scuba-diving class were involved and not just Shawntee Howard's Executioners comics. So, uh... yeah. Wetsuits.

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PANDORA RADIO [link] - My anti-drug. Could be yours, too, if you love music. Don't get me wrong; I never did drugs.

I have a town on myminicity.com. Would you care to drop in?: [link]