Good points on the 'coward' prose. One thing I learned from 'tactics' classes and from my psych background is that people respond emotional and/or cognitively/rationally. The latter is more important. Feeling like a 'coward' is trivial. You need to learn to ignore such manly/dominance challenges to accomplish your end of surviving with the best possible outcome for you. Deal with your feelings later. If you had someone call you names - realize you survived and you were the better person. Yes, you might have 'won' a physical conflict but to what gain if the overall outcomes were worse.
Good classes test you on that. Two example:
1. At the NTI years ago, there was a guy was going to urinate (simulated, thank you) in your gas tank (assume a nonlocked type) to harass you for being in their 'Deliverance' small town. Well, what to do? Get insulted - no, go find the police (who were roll played by real police and folks like Vicki Farnam).
2. KRtraining - on-line in the FedEx, you seemingly cut in in front of a guy on line to send a package. He flips out as he thinks he misses a shipment so his boss will fire him. He is in your face. What to do as he is threatening you but no hands on. Well, talk to him and effusively apologize. Offer to call his boss and take responsibility. The role player told Karl that I was so nice to him that he decided not to continue the altercation. Now, I had my hand on the 'gun' and as I talked to him slowly moved him from in back of me, to having me with a clear path to the door for a run for it.
Did I feel like a coward? No - I could have 'shot' the guy from retention and go to jail maybe (I was in fear of my life - Jury - GUILTY).
So the analysis of 'coward' above was a really good catch. That's why all these kind of classes are good things to take. At Karl's - you are in the house, you hear someone break in. You have a pump shotgun. Do you hunker down - call the cops and call out to the BGs to get out and you are armed. Seems like a plan. Folks new at this - I'm not letting them be in my house and steal my stuff!!! They move into the hallway to save the TV. They DIE!