Hey all. I was wondering if there was a martial art in existence which is a mixture of using striking for offense, and throws for defense. I guess you could say it would be something like a combination of karate/muay thai and judo/aikido. I don't really know much, but I believe karate uses mostly blocks for defense, and judo uses mostly throws and locks for offense, so just one of these doesn't satisfy everything that I am looking for. Anyways, just curious as to what is out there. I plan on joining the military after I graduate from college, and I really don't like the martial arts system they teach there, so I would rather learn something else on my own now while I still have my freedom.
Why pick one.........explore many, apply what is useful. If practical arts are what you are interested in, check any number of ones already mentioned.
JKD......JKD Concepts as taught by Dan Inosanto is a great place too look.....it begins with great teaching in practical striking techniques, and then incorporates everything from Machado Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, to Wrestling, to Silat, to the FMA's, and a whole host of other contributing arts.
Krav Maga was mentioned.......excellent place to learn practical techniques.
Find schools that teach piecemeal what you want to learn.......for example Muay Thai in one school, go to a boxing gym, take Judo, BJJ, FMA's.
Mix and match as needed........as you experience more and varied arts and teachers, you'll begin to develop a broad sense of how they all fit together, especially how they fit together for your purposes, based on your own strengths and weaknesses, physical advantages and limitations.
As Bill Mattocks pointed out, when you join the military, you'll find that military bases are surrounded by martial training options. Bases are meccas for martial arts instruction in your spare time. A vast number of opportunities to train in various system will be available to you in your travels here and abroad.
You'll also find that in this day and age, MANY martial arts systems target military personnel for training, and often hold classes specifically for military and law enforcement instruction.