Now, if we care about moral issues, here's something more important that obesity. You want to look for good moral character in someone who is going to teach you how to take a life. Even if you think you have a strong moral core, this sort of training will change you and influence you in subtle and possibly profound ways. You want someone who is sterling and upright in his speech, conduct, and person. There are instructors who do not fit this criterion, and they corrupt their students. In fact, there is someone whose behavior on INGO makes me think that he shouldn't teach at all, and yet he teaches. I hope I'm wrong about him, but I don't think so.
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This may be a topic which warrants its own thread. I disagree, though. I've learned important things from people who I'm sure do not share my morals and values. I don't believe it has affected my own moral outlook. I think learning from someone with less scrupulous character might be a good thing in terms of broadening my perspective on available options to deal with the situation.
I'm the poster child for fat firearms teachers. I know some people won't learn from me because of that and I know some people won't learn from me because I wasn't in the military. I also know some won't learn from me because they shoot better in competitions than I do. Some just don't like me or the way I teach. At this point in life, it doesn't bother me so much why someone doesn't seek my instruction. I will continue to help those who want my help and there are plenty of other instructors who can meet the needs of the others.
As a student (which is pertinent to this topic) I have learned a metric butt-tonne load from teachers who were fat, old, and sometimes even less mobile than I am and I've learned a lot from teachers who are exemplars of fitness. I've learned from people whose skill level dwarfs mine, and I've learned from people who have a long way to go before they can do what I do (but they will get there). My primary interests in choosing instructors are 1) do they know something that I want or need to know or learn, and 2) can they teach me effectively. The latter is where some issues we're discussing can arise for me and for others. I don't have a bias in terms of physical fitness, perhaps because of my personal perspective. I do admit to a bias about personality and how an instructor chooses to interact with the students. Is that more or less legitimate than those who have a bias against fat guys? Probably it's about the same, and I'll own it. I place a high value on how someone treats me and others who share my role as a student.
Believe it or not, a similar issue sometimes arises about fat students. A few years ago on another forum, someone started a topic about fat guys in classes wherein the original poster and significant number of others wrote a lot of text about how fat people don't belong in classes. One reason what they "slowed down" the class, and there may be some merit to that in some cases and not so much in others. The most common idea though, was that fat people were so much more likely to die from some obesity-related disease or condition that they shouldn't bother learning to defend themselves. I had a hard time wrapping my head around that because people who are less mobile with less endurance and little ability to flee the scene would seem to be among the people who need training the most. I could be wrong. Curiously this trend either faded or became less public when Larry Vickers was a little chubby on his tv show.
Mr. Vickers is significantly slimmer now than he was a couple of years ago. I assert, however, that I could learn as much from chubby Larry Vickers as I could from fitter Larry Vickers. Sure, you could maintain that his weight never impaired him significantly in his role as a teacher and I'd agree. On the other hand, sometimes with some people it's more about appearance and their personal aesthetic paradigms than it is about knowledge and teaching ability. To me that's far more troubling than genuinely finding fault for lack of ability to perform to a standard because of weight.
Addendum: Coach may claim to be fat, but his physical ability contradicts him.
I prefer my trainers to be fluffy AND Filipino. So there.
-J-
with Harry Potter scars!
I'll take a fat instructor any day. I wanna' learn tactics that do not require me to run a lot.
Skinny is good, too. As long as it works.
P.S.: If it has to be James Y., I prefer the fat version.
I appreciate everyone's input on this topic. It's given me much to think about. Some good points were raised about what type of training is being sought. I also liked the coaching analogy.
I also appreciate that no one took the opportunity to put anyone else down.
How well they can shoot does not matter? I am not going to an instructor that cannot shoot unless it is one who has been physically disabled in an accident or something or is now older than dirt.
I'm a firearms instructor for my department, I'm a combatives instructor as well, and a CrossFit instructor. My personal opinion is I strive to be better than those I teach. It doesn't always happen but I strive for it. The better shape you are in the easier it will be to deal the stress of "combat". The firearm is just a tool. The operator is the actual weapon. Mind and body are inseparable. As an instructor I try to lead by example. I cannot very well teach something I am not. But that is just my opinion.