The Gun Counter

Should I ? It's the only formalised martial art which appeals to me.

Found a krav maga studio close by our house, met the owner in town standing on line together. He impressed me. I like the emphasis he has on teaching mindset and situational awareness. Looking at getting my daughters/wife an intro as a gift package.

Yep, he bills his studio as a self-defense studio. Being in the area we are, he has a quite a few Marines and guys from the "teams" come in on their own time and dime or bringing their loved ones for training.

From a LE perspective, I can't say that Krav is that useful.

I know of several departments that adopted it but went back to more traditional (effective) methods of arrest control/defense. Realize that most LE arrest control stinks. It's either ineffective or highly training intensive (read that as 'costs too much').

The most effective I've found and seen (used) is Koga (Aikido for cops aka dummies).

For the more 'pure' self-defense styles though, Capoeira and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, seem the most effective if you end up actually having to use them.

Most of the "new" styles are nothing more than broken down Karate/Tae Kwon Do moves that have been simplified and re-taught with a few new flourishes.

I could see why a LEO would not find a lot of KM useful. If you what to break something or kick some ass it can come in handy but from a detention with a min amount of damage not so much.

I'm actually a big fan of Krav Maga. It's a more "aggressive" form of martial art (more martial, less art). You'll hit a lot of pads, do some realistic training, slow, medium, fast, hit some more pads, PT, and then probably hit some more pads. I greatly enjoyed it. It's very physically exhausting, at least where I took it. We would do some training outside on the concrete, or against a brick wall in the alley in order to facilitate realism. We would train occasionally with the lights off, or be attacked while carrying a grocery-bag facsimile. Defenses against gun and knife were also taught. Shooting the bad guy was encouraged. Expect to fight dirty.

Whirlibird, I'll disagree about Capoeria. There's a whole lot of dancing about, and not much striking practice. I would wager Krav is much less effective for police than the average citizen due to their ROE. There is no submission in Krav, unless you're talking about the kind where you smash the guy's face into the ground until he stops moving. I'm not really kidding. We had a partial class all about gouging eyes.

yeah this studio owner said esp with females he gets right to "eyes, insteps and groins." Swift, violent and get the heck away.

For me it's all part of a mid life crisis. I can't afford a Porsche or a teenage girlfriend, so what do I do instead ?

I used to do ( almost full ) contact Muay Thai - it was nearly the real thing but with no knees or elbows to the head and a few other restrictions designed to reduce injuries. Since then I got some disabilities from a really bad motorcycle crash though, so I'll have to see what I'm capable of.
It's funny really, I've been having a bad time mentally recently with a lot of stress and reacting to ordinary everyday assholes with a John Wayne syndrome instead of my default 'so what, drive on, dont mean a thing' attitude.
About a month ago I got sucker punched to the ground in a pub car park ( AKA the parking lot of a bar for you heathens who don't speak King George III's English ) but got back up and side kicked my opponent in the ribs.
Normally I can't balance myself on one leg, let alone kick with the other, but I was on autopilot. Maybe I'm not in as bad a physical state as I think I am.

I'll go along to a trial lesson I think, but if there isn't any realistic sparring I'll pass.

It's not the art, it's the teacher. As long as they teach both grappling and striking, it's more important that you find someone who's not going to squeeze you for every pence. Or whatever's the currency of King George III.

If they have more than 3 belts between white and black, or charge belt 'test' fees, you'd be better served elsewhere. It's best to be more than 'just another student'. Find a couple simple techniques (punch, kick, choke, hook) that work efficiently for your physicality and physiology, and drill those into muscle memory against as many different people as you can.

I'm not really looking at a martial art for self defence, it's just a way to challenge myself physically.

Although learning to grapple would be a good thing, if a fight goes to the ground I'm screwed, the only thing I have left if that happens is biting. My best skills are having quick hands ( although people don't always notice when I hit them because I'm 160lbs ) and being able to stay on my feet ( usually ) while taking a beating.