class or lack there of

[BN]

Absolutely disagree, but not angrily. Work at a bar sometime. You will see the most mild mannered, 105lb blonde female go from "How can I help you babe?" to "Shut your dirty Who#e mouth and get the F$#k out of MY BAR!!" in a blink of an eye. I work at a friends bar part time and I seriously can't tell you how these 105lb girls will totally verbally manhandle a dude in less than two seconds and shut them down. It's pretty impressive. I've not once in three years had to physically remove a patron. There is an art to it and it ain't just vocal. Body language, even from a 105lb girl sends a message. It sends a Mother Trucking MESSAGE!!! It really is impressive to watch one of these gals bust up a scuffle. They never get in harms way, they just do some verbal jiujitsu and some aggressive body work and stuff shuts down.

Actually, we completely agree. Some people swear naturally and it sounds like they do it effortlessly. Others swear like they are trying to be tough and don't do it well.

For example, I've been around Hackathorn for the last 30 years. I didn't realize he swore so much because he does it so smooth and when he swears it fits naturally into the conversation. I asked my wife if Ken swore and she said he drops the "F" bomb, but probably cleaned it up a little around her.

[Corvus]

Out of the classes I have taken I have found the instructors that did not depend on yelling and cussing had a lot better knowledge base of the subject , a better knowledge of how people learn and teaching methods and a more developed class plan.

If they depended cussing , yelling and "Sean Penn" impersonations , " I went to Iraq " , the class was usually a let down and not the best value for my training dollar.

I work in manufacturing and hear it everyday and it isn't a big deal but the better instructors do not depend on it.

[BLACK]

I wouldn't expect him to.
Vogel is a shooting skills instructor.

I would expect to hear profanity from someone like Southnarc when discussing the criminal assault paradigm and managing contact with the criminal element.
If you're shocked at a F-bomb dropped in class, how do you think you'll react to a string of creative expletives emanating from the mouth of a hoodlum on the street?
I've seen "tough" women who said they were ready to fight, shocked into a open mouthed stupor by calling them the C word.

Lots of good feedback Jody... I almost spit out my coffee a couple of times.

[BaiHu]

I teach martial arts from ages 4-64, from non-English speaking people to doctors, lawyers and teachers and I think the following quotes nailed it!

As a trainer, you need to know your audience. There is a time and a place to accentuate a point with an F-Bomb. And there are times and places where any profanity causes deaf ears for anything else that comes out. Growing up in a profanity laced training environment, I simply thought that was how it was done. I am far from offended by any instructors language, but have seen other students cringe at times when profanities are strung together like a sailor.

You will alienate more people than you will interest if you don't know your audience.

You'd have to define "aggression".
One persons daily interaction is another persons hostile workplace.
I've worked the west Texas oilfields for 20 years, I will probably have a completely different take on what is "aggressive" behavior than an accountant who's spent his time in a corporate office environment.
Profanity and bluster aren't going to knock me off my game at all.
I do have my achilles, but you won't find it with "aggression".
That's why the really good instructors have multiple approaches to how they take students outside their comfort zones.
The majority of people today work in PC environments and profanity can be a great way of throwing them for a loop.

Goes back to SeanM and my next statement...

I would laugh at someone who tried the drill sergeant approach to civilian training.

As I posted in my first reply, insults directed at students are inappropriate.
Good natured back and forth between a instructor and student can create a bonding situation that improves the learning environment, but the instructor has to be able to read people to understand when it's working and when it's alienating.

"Screaming" has very limited applications outside of a carefully planned stress inducing drill.

There are many ways to introduce stress: timer, go against someone, make them do something they normally wouldn't, sneak some snap caps in their mags, simply saying faster or give them something to imagine that stresses them.

Lastly, I forgot who, but someone posted about being genuine and I think that makes a hell of a difference too. When I took ECQC and AFHF this year, Craig and Todd were exactly the same on the range and off the range and that's a huge compliment, b/c I don't think a lot of people spend enough time learning about themselves through their craft.

IMO, if you haven't figured out who you are, then you will have a damn hard time trying to teach someone else how to be in a physical and mental space when their life or one of their loved ones lives depends on them.