What do you look for in an instructor?

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Bartholomew Roberts

Moderator
I'm just kind of curious what criteria YOU use in determining whether or not to spend time and money with a particular instructor?

Just to contribute some, here are a few of my own criteria:

1) Be a good instructor - It doesn't matter how good you are at the subject in question if you cannot convey that to me in a way that increases my abilities. Example: Jelly Bryce is one of the more proficient gunfighters to ever live, yet the system he advocated hasn't done very well for most other shooters and he probably wasn't the greatest firearms instructor. An instructor who can teach and has both good diagnostic ability and a definitive outline in mind is worth a lot.

2) Been There, Done That - Doesn't have to be a DELTA/Recon/SEAL or even an operator; but the instructor should have some professional experience doing what they are teaching. If they are teaching how to shoot, I want to see some competitive or professional experience doing that. If they are teaching gunfighting, I want to know they have been in a few gunfights. The instructor should also be able to perform on demand to the same standard he is demanding of me. This isn't my primary criteria; but it is a very important one for me.

3) Time - I have limited time where I can take a course. Making extra time to do a course means even more money out of my pocket. As much as I would love to do a 5-day course, it isn't an option for me. Courses on the weekends (or partially over the weekends) are much more appealing to me for this reason. A 3-day course using either Friday or Monday has worked really well for me in making the best use of my time by providing enough instruction to cover the basics well while not eating into the time I use to make money.

4) Proximity - Closely related to time is proximity. The closer a course is to me, the less the expenses are and the easier I can attend.

5) Facilities - I like good facilities. If they made a range with a pool and restaurant/bar on the premises, I'd be there in a heartbeat :) Having said that, I can sacrifice a lot here if the other four factors line up well.
 
I can tell you one thing I don't want to see in an instructor, and that is arrogance. We had some instructors in the police academy who were so full of themselves that it's a wonder they could see over their inflated egos. OTOH, I have worked with some wonderful instructors who, though obviously take pride in what they are doing, can still be a human being also. The best ones don't think that their way of doing something is the be all and end all of it, and are open to learning new things themselves.
 
2) Been There, Done That - Doesn't have to be a DELTA/Recon/SEAL or even an operator; but the instructor should have some professional experience doing what they are teaching. If they are teaching how to shoot, I want to see some competitive or professional experience doing that. If they are teaching gunfighting, I want to know they have been in a few gunfights. The instructor should also be able to perform on demand to the same standard he is demanding of me. This isn't my primary criteria; but it is a very important one for me.
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This was a little amusing. I don't know of many instructors that have been in a few gunfights where the gunfights are relevant to me as a non-LEO civilian. Being part of an armed military unit and being in a gun fight does not count as the experience would be too unlike what I would deal with. What I would be looking for was an instructor who fended off several home invasions in the middle of the night, who overcame the odds of being the intended mugging victim and defeated muggers on several occasions, who stoppped multiple bank robberies by being in line in the bank when armed robbers came in for a takeover robbery.

Situationally, the instructors need to be victorious in one-on-one and one-on-many situations and need to have dealt with extremely well prepared bad guys and your bonehead crack addict poorly thought attempts where the crack addict did not perform in a logical manner.

The problem is, few folks have much 'real' experience in the realm necessary to satisfy having relevant gunfighting criteria as it relates to me. While many may have been in gunfights, I am not likely to be in the types of gunfights they have been in most commonly such as traffic stop gunfights, drug raids, domestic violence where I would be shooting it out with one spouse while the other pleaded with me not to hurt the one shooting at me, etc etc etc.
 
I agree with all of your criteria. I am not so heavy on #2, as I believe I can learn from anybody, even if it is how I myself can teach better when I teach. I too, hold arrogance in great contempt. Being able to accomplish a task does not mean a person is able to teach the task. Teaching itself is a skill, and some people who have BTDT believe the BTDT makes up for thier lack of skill in teaching. As a result, they never really learn to teach.

The one thing I would like to see more classes on is situational awareness and local crime. We gunowners tend to focus on the gun use and figure situational awareness will take care of itself. My work takes me into gang territory. It is a different culture with different communication and customs, and if you do not know what you are doing, it is very easy to miss what is going on around you. About once a year my company gets the local Sheriff's office to give a one day course on local gang behavior, territory, tactics and recent activity in our area. That is one of the best courses I attend. It is up to date, accurate, taught by the same guys who teach the local cops, and it has saved my tail more times than my gun has. I would like to see that kind of course being taught everywhere. The #1 difficulty is recognizing the threat as a threat in time. If you can do that, the gun is almost unnecessary.
 
What I would be looking for was an instructor who fended off several home invasions in the middle of the night, who overcame the odds of being the intended mugging victim and defeated muggers on several occasions, who stoppped multiple bank robberies by being in line in the bank when armed robbers came in for a takeover robbery.
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That would be nice as long as the guy wasn't hosting the class at his house. You'd need all his skills just to get through his neighborhood if he was involved in all that kinda stuff....
 
I think the criteria in your list are pretty good.

One thing I look for (and it is NOT a "carved in stone" requirement) is if the instructor has published articles or written a book. I say that just because reading their work gives one an idea of their mind set and their approach to the issue. I've taken lots of classes from instructors who had NOT published, and learned a lot from them, but I do find reading somebody's written work to be a way to determine if I want to train with them or not.
 
Good question.
current or former policemen have one mindset. Ex military usually have another. The guy who has done private work sees the world from yet another viewpoint.
What happens to the average Citizen is usually different from what happens to cops, soldiers, and private security guys.
With all that in mind, the one thing I really dislike in an instructor, is that characteristic 'smarter than anyone else' attitude that so many seem to have.
 
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