Most people think of aikido as being purely defensive. Some call it passive. The truth be told every martial art is supposed to be defensive.
Also it is up to the person to injure or not to injure. It doesn't matter the style. What matters is who is using it and how. Any well trained martial artist can take down an attacker without injuring or with minimum injuries. Even in aikido where the idea is taught that you shouldn't injure. Every aikidoka and every other martial artist has the choice to injure or not.
Philosophy wise Aikido is exactly what you are looking for. It's designed to be all defensive art that neutralizes attackers without hurting them. Though to be honest it's not the skills that are stopping the techniques from being damaging, but the person wielding them. You can easily use the techniques to break joints if the wielder wanted to.
If you want a style that doesn't really hurt the opponent with techniques that really can't hurt anyone, then I personally think wrestling is the better match. The techniques in the style doesn't hurt anyone and you pretty much pin them and try to calm the attacker down and talk things over.
Or there is always parkour. The art of running away.
Everybody is saying Aikido but in all reality the first thing Aikido practitioners learn is how to fall and roll. There is a reason for it. If you fall to the ground and don't land correctly then you will still get hurt. An opponent who does not want to fall but will hit the ground being stiff and trying to avoid the fall is more likely to get hurt in the fall. (I am surprised all you grappling and MMA fans don't know this.) It does not matter if you hit the ground from a BJJ move, wrestling move, Judo move or Aiki move, hitting the ground is hitting the ground. Most Judo and Aiki moves are actually made that if an opponent comes in with all their force to hit you and you execute the move you land your opponent on their head first, add to that the body weight following they can end up with some pretty nasty injury still.
There are joint locks and pins in Aiki which will work to control an opponent without causing an injury provided the opponent gives in and does not struggle. What causes the pain is the hyper extension of the joints and thus get a pain compliance. Any resisting opponent will probably eventually hurt himself if he is too stupid to recognize when to give up. Trust me there are plenty of people too stupid to not fight.
Yes, you can fight and not get hurt and without hurting your opponent but I would definitely think that this is the large minority of fights. If you are used to training hard you already get bumps, bruises, a cut lip, a scratch, etc. Can you imagine what it is going to be like in a real fight? Also that level of proficiency takes many years of dedicated training.
If your son only has to defend himself in school against bullies then Aikido can be OK but defending in school and defending against a serious attack are two very different things and they do not work the same. In school it is about a pecking order. In self defense it is a matter of life and death.
Google for martial art clubs in your area first. That should open up your options a little better. Take a lsit of each one, learn the timetables and prices. Don't ever go over 80 a month for a club.
Aikido is a good one, but your son is going to be needing a lot of confidence in his ability, and you do that with light sparring. Also some physical conditioning will be helpful.
Boxing itself is very good too. As is Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo. It really depends on what kind of gym is closest to you and has a fair fee.
Lets get something clear here. Defending yourself and defending yourself but not doing any more injury to an attacker than necessary, are two very different things. If an attacker is trying to kill you and you are willing to do what ever necessary to defend yourself, it is much easier to do that using any options you have than it is to defend yourself and yet not injure the attacker. Both can be done.... BUT it takes much more training and skill to deal with an attacker and yet limit the amount of injury you do... It is easier and quicker to teach someone how to destroy an attacker than to teach him how to not get hurt while not injuring the attacker. This applies to any style or method of self-defense.
And for those that need to hear it, there is no such thing as a totally defensive art or totally offensive art. Intentions may dictate which way you intend to act. Situations often require that you do things you would rather not do....
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Aikido or a contact tai chi class are all about simple control of your opponent i think wing Chun has aspects of that too
Aikido.
Wakariamsu, tomodachi?
According to me Aikido is suitable as per your requirement.
It is very, very hard to defend your self without actually striking or attacking. You can not block every strike.
Sounds like Aikido to me.
Basically I'm looking for a martial art that can be really defensive while at the same time not injuring the opponent. Any leads? Cause I want my son to learn to defend himself without injuring others... sorry, if I offend other martial artist.
Try Judo.
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