Krissy, do you want to learn a martial art or practical self-defense?
I did a lot of research into the practicality of various styles and forms before I chose a style. I concluded that 75% of the styles out there are either useless/flawed, or take too long to become effective.
I chose the most practical style I could find, which also happens to be one of the most brutal, Muay Thai, commonly known as Thai Kickboxing.
Here's some good info. on it...
http://members.aol.com/Thaiboxing2000/muay.html
From the website...
"Earlier in 1974, kung fu stylists from Hong Kong were all knocked out in the first round against their Muay Thai opponents in Bangkok. Indeed, Muay Thai have consistently conquered other striking arts. I'm not talking about just one or two matches when I say consistent!"
Another good style is Brazilian JiuJitsu, and for total self defense, a lot of people combine Muay Thai with BJJ, one provides the stand-up striking techniques, while another provides gound-work grappling techniques. This is the path followed by a lot of MMA fighters in UFC and Vale Tudo style competitions.
Styles like Kung Fu, various Karate styles (Perhaps excluding Kyokushin), Systema, et cetera, consistently fail when tested against other styles in a live fighting environment. Judo and traditional JiuJitsu are alright, but Brazilian JiuJitsu is a better alternative to both of them. Krav Maga could be okay, I haven't seen enough to really give an opinion, except they do teach knife-defense techniques, when any serious martial artist knows that knife-defense is a myth. Then there's Bruce Lee's style, Jeet Kune Do, which IMO can be effective depending on the quality of the instructor.
Kung Fu and lot's of other Chinese Martial Arts might look good, but a lot of these fighters have never been absolutely smashed from one side of the ring to the other like Muay Thai fighters have, so when they step into the ring, they aren't battle-hardened.
Or, look into BJJ, as a Muay Thai fighter, I know that if a BJJ guy gets me on the ground, it's all over. Nothing comes close to BJJ in respect to ground-fighting and grappling. A combo of the two styles works well as a total self-defense system.
On the other hand, if you're set on the Chinese styles, then go for it, but if you want practical self-defense, then I'd avoid the Chinese Martial Arts.