The 'best' all around school I've seen is Kashima Shin-ryu. One of the handful of places it is taught in US is in Athens, Georgia at the University of Georgia by Karl Friday who is also a professor of Japanese history at UGA. Dr. Friday is menkyo kaiden in Kashma Shin-ryu. Menkyo kaiden is part of the Japanese certification process prevalent in Japanese martial arts before the belt system became prevalent. It has two meanings. The first is that you have reached a point in that system where you can self direct your future development in that system and do not need further instruction from anyone in that system. The second meaning is that you are authorized to teach that system. It is possible to have one without the other. It's meaning today has been described as similar to an academic PhD level of achievement.
Kashima Shin-ryu is a koryu which means it existed as a formal system prior to 1868...unlike judo and karate. Also, it is a total martial art. The curriculum includes jujutsu, kenjutsu (sword), tantojutsu(knife), naginatajutsu(halberd), bojutsu(staff), battojutsu(drawing the sword and cutting with one movement), and otherr components such as strategy and tactics. But part of what makes it attain best in my view is cost. At UGA about five years ago, the price of training was $5.00 bucks a session, all of which went to the University to pay for the training area which was top notch. None went to Dr. Friday or any other Kashima Shin-ryu instructor anywhere in the world. If you find a Kashima Shin-ryu instructor who is profiting from teaching...he's not a genuine Kashima Shin-ryu instructor.
It's not a system that incorporates firearms and I certainly don't advocate anyone training in the system that plans to enter hand to hand combat while armed with a pistol. For someone who wants continuous training in a traditional system with a history spanning centuries AND who is willing to add force on force training with firearms from reputable instructors it's a good bet. Certainly can't beat the price.
William Boddiford is menkyo kaiden and teaches, I believe, at UCLA in California. Like Friday, he's an academic professor and holds a PhD. Not sure if he's also a history professor. Google the Kashima Shin-ryu Federation if interested.
The fantasy of defending yourself knife on knife or knife/unarmed is just that...a fantasy.
I left out something I meant to say in that sentence. What I meant to say is: The fantasy of defending yourself knife on knife or knife/unarmed
without getting cut yourself is just that...a fantasy. The Japanese term escapes me at the moment but when two Japanese swordsmen met in mutual combat, the outcome was very often mutual destruction. Often enough, that there is a specific Japanese word for the event.