hmmm.....
Well first we must understand that no style is the best and what works for others may not work for you. I.M.O if you really wanted to learn to defend yourself to the best your potential will let you then u need to take diff things from different styles which can be made into instinct for your line of defense. Some will not agree with me but those are the same ones who u find making excuses for eevrything, ones getting killed because they are not aware of their surroundings (snipers, robbers, etc),those same ones that don't understand how important it really is to have techniques which work best for you at your side when the time comes!!! Now enough of that lemme try and lead u in the right direction as best i can!!! You say you want a proven style w/take downs and self defense. Well some styles which incorporate many takedowns include any kind of grappling like some Kempo, Judo (throwing), etc.. For self defense i would stick with styles like Ju-Jitsu and i guess i can't say JKD (Jeet Kune Do) since its not a style its a "journey" which i really believe all martial arts should be considered since there is always some1 better out there and you can always get better then what you are already!!! Well hope this helps a lil bit i can go on forever on this subject but if i were you i would first recognize that what you want to become is something that comes from hard work and is not built overnite. Sit back and enjoy the journey it is a lot of fun and you get a lot of positive feedback from the martial arts...GOOD LUCK! ~JT~