Self Defence for Kids?

Any of them are fine, as long as you also remind him it's for defense, not retaliation or bullying

Peewee wrestling. It will not only give him a skill set as a base but it will give him confidence and comrade with the kids he competes and trains with.

put him on 2 gallons of milk a day and get him doing squats and dead lifts twice a week.

Self defense training is fine, but along with it he needs to learn to walk away from confrontation.

Boxing or judo. Better both together.

This.

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Perhaps he should take the other lad out for a spot of tea where they both can express there feelings in a neutral setting....or maybe invest in some throwing stars.

Muay Thai!

Not sure I would want my kid running around with a "fence" around him forever. But if you meant self-defense, I would recommend that you man the fuck up and show him how it's done by going down to the local bar and getting into a brawl.

Judo

Don’t teach him to fight, teach him to think. Bullies are cowards at heart. Their anger and aggression is a cover for their fear and cowardice. Teach your kid to not react to the threats and that it’s okay for him to walk away letting the bully think that he has won, when in fact, it will be a win for your kid by not lowering himself to their level. It sounds like your kid has been brought up right and this strategy will probably feel natural to him. Encourage him to trust his instincts. But this is something that he has to deal with on his own. If you fix it for him, he won’t learn how to deal with this kind of crap. You should only intervene if you think that there is actually a chance he could be physically harmed.

Just my two cents based on my own experiences as a kid and a dad.

x2!

Your boy’s very fortunate to have a good hands-on dad. And one that's into moto too.

Muay Thai or Jui Jitsu. Jui Jitsu is pretty much all defense, so you won't have to worry about your boy starting stuff (not saying he would). When I was in middle school I got bullied by a couple different kids on pretty much a daily basis and got sick of it. My friend (about 7 years older than me) had just become a Jui Jitsu instructor and opened his own school so I began training with him. I did it for a couple of years and I'm so glad I did, I feel confident knowing that I'm not a punching bag anymore and knowing that I could defend myself if needed. If your kid is anything like I was then he will gain confidence not only for knowing he can defend himself, but confidence in every part of his life. And then on top of all that, going and rolling with the other guys in the gym is a great way to blow off steam and have some bro time.

Wrestling, Brazilian jiu jtsu, Judo. Any or all 3.

If its for straight self defense, either boxing or tae kwon do. Both will teach him discipline and self control.

A good boxer or a good Tae fighter would work over about every other disciplines mentioned above in a self defense situation.. In a self defense situation the last place you want to go is to the ground, unless you're really, really good. With wrestling or Jitz if the guy out weighs him or is stronger he could be in trouble,


When I was learning to fight, my dad always stressed, we learn how to fight so we don't have to fight. You need to do the same. You'd be suprised at all the idiot dads that take their sons to the gym I work out at so their sons can be some macho bad ass. I stress the same thing to my son, he goes to the same MMA gym I attend.

Don't listen to all this PC bullshit. You need a guy like this to teach a kid in todays world:

I think the instructor is more important than the style. My son is in ATA Taekwondo. The ATA program is very kid oriented and puts major emphasis on bully self defense - not just learning how to defend yourself but how to address situations properly. They also put a lot of emphasis on building life skills and discipline. My son is 12 and has been in the program since April 2010. He's more the bookworm type, not athletic, on the chubby side, and has a stuttering problem. He wasn't getting bullied but I figured he might face it some day and wanted to boost his confidence. Now he is a defending state champ in Louisiana, placed first in two divisions and second in another at the Fall Nationals in Orlando (beating 3 other state champs), and has wrapped up state titles in all 3 weapons divisions this season and is second with a shot at the title in sparring also. Needless to say, this has given him a HUGE boost in self confidence.
The ATA has a cool weapons program, including nunchuks, bo staff, kamas, swords, etc. Obviously you don't want him using weapons in a fight, but the point is that this makes things a hell of a lot more fun and keeps them interested in learning. The one thing to watch out for though is that a lot of martial arts places that are kid oriented are just belt mills. However, if you do a little research and find the right instructor, you'll find one who will really teach the kids who really want to learn. If you do go the ATA Taekwondo route, be sure to find a school that has the XMA program (extreme martial arts), because some of the smaller schools don't have the full program. The XMA stuff is really fun. Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame and the little dude in "The Last Airbender" movie both came from the ATA.
Also, the ATA has a really good tournament system. For us with my son, over the past year and a half it has gone from a class to a sport to a way of life. We're starting to do lots of traveling to bigger out of state tournaments and really having fun with it. Headed to Georgia in a couple weeks for another one.

Will do, thanks. I enjoy it as much as he does because I help him choreograph his weapons routines to music for Creative Weapons and XMA Weapons competition. He's real good with the bo staff, and judges like to see routines that are really fine tuned to the music. Most kids are doing routines to stuff like Lady Gaga and other dance music, but we kick it old school and bust out some Metallica and Anthrax. Do some searching on youtube under ATA XMA Weapons and it will give you an idea of what kind of stuff they do. We don't post any videos though cause we don't want people stealing our routines, lol.

Wrestling. The vast majority of street fights end up on the ground.

Karate is........ pretty looking but not functional, same as taekwondo.

Wrestling and boxing are the most practical for real world situations.

Why not Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? It was my understanding that this was the leading version of martial arts and was geared more toward self defense without harming your opponent. From what I understand, it's putting the opponent in submission holds and getting out of precarious situations.