Well sir, this all depends on what you want to get out of your training. I'll try to break down each art to the best of my knowledge altho some of the more senior posters may guide you better.
Muay Thai
1. VERY PHYSICAL.
You will be kicked, punched, elbowed, and knee'd. You will also learn to kick, punch, elbow and knee your opponent or would be mugger. If you have a social job you may need to invest in make-up. Bruises look awesome but for some reason the "higher ups" may look down on them.
2. Very good conditioning.
Even if you are in superb shape already you will still get tired after throwing (and receiving) all those kicks, punches, etc.
3. Very Competitive
Depending on your surrounding area I am willing to bet that there will be at least 2 venues a week to compete at. Competeing in both would either make you ungodly or very very sore and hospitalized.
4. All Stand-up
There is little to no ground work involved. This is a good thing as (let the flaming begin) in a streetfight YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO TO THE GROUND!
BJJ
1. VERY PHYSICAL
You will be choked, arm-barred, knee-barred, twisted and pulled every which way but loose, but it's hard to actually get injured in training as you will learn to tap whenever you know you can't escape. Hardly any bruising to your face since you don't take punches and knees regularly.
2. Extremely conditioning
You will learn to use a mixture of strength and agility to overcome your foe. I know people who have been doing BJJ for years and they still get sore after sparing. This is the ultimate full body work-out. You will find places you never knew you had due to the stiffness and soreness. It is a wonderful thing indeed!
3. Competition
I'm not from NJ so I'm not sure about the competition aspect. You could probably grapple for some small submission wrestling venues or, if you're lucky, enter King of the Cage or another mainstream venue. Ultimately it's all what you feel comfortable doing.
4. All (mostly) Ground-work
I'm going to be eaten alive for this I know but BJJ is a wonderful MA for fighting 1 opponent. In a multiple opponent situation I would feel more comfortable with Muay thai. No art is that useful against multiple attackers so basically you want to punch the lead attacker then run like a bat out of hades.
My suggestion is try to take a little of both. Muay thai combined with BJJ is the most complete fighting system around. You have your devastating stand-up ability combined with your crippling ground skills. Taking both classes would be exhaustive and expensive so, if I were you, I'd try to find a Reality Based Fighting school near you. They will teach you the whole shebang.
In conclusion, which art to take really depends on what you feel more comfortable doing.
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