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@Fedster
Do you want to train for pleasure or to be 'safe in the street'? If for the former just choose something you like to do with a bunch of people you fit in with (a major point in enjoying your training in my experience). If you can kick some ass at the end it's an unintended added benefit.
If you want to be 'safe on the street' --any street, fighting training is just plain not enough nor the starting point. You would need specific and realistic training to be able to understand what's going on and what you need to do to get what you want -- fighting is likely to be the option when everything else fails, not option 1. And btw, when I say 'get what you want', I mean something as mundane as going from point A to B without being harassed by some youth.
Learning martial arts for safety in the street is like learning how to shoot a rifle then going off to Afghanistan thinking you know all that soldiering is about. You'd die within a week, because staying alive in a combat zone involves many more skills than just shooting straight.
Bottom line, MA teach you how to fight in an environment where there are rules and people honor them. In addition it only teaches you how to fight according a set of preordained limitations (i.e. no knives). It might give you more confidence --or not. If you train with the goals of having some fun and maybe making some good solid friends you will not be disappointed.