Marital - I mean martial - arts.

As we all know it is impossible to be skilled in the marital arts. You do one thing brilliantly, and like a butterfly's wing-flapping in Georgia, that causes an improbable chain of events which makes you out to be a bully in your spouse's world, and you get the doghouse.

But that's not what I want to know. What I'm wondering is, what's the most practical - nevermind aesthetic - martial art these days? Like, say I want to kick someone's behind (for defensive purposes only), and don't have a lifetime to dedicate to the philosophical side of things, what should I study?

Now before people start going nuts, I do appreciate that a lifetime's study of t'ai chi ch'üan and a strict Taoist philosophy will make you the ultimate badass, the one who never even has to fight and all that. I know I'm being flippant but that's my mood at the moment.

What I'm looking for is what fighting style will make you most effective on the street, not just against others using the same "style." Thugs, in other words. I'm thinking Capoeira, Wing Chun, Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido. Even Eskrima if i wanted to include weapons. What about Jeet Kune Do? Is it legit or just hype?