History Main / VerbalJudo

* On the {{Discworld}}, Sam Vimes is canny and experienced enough to have pulled this off a couple of times.

-->'''Delia''': You don't have to sign a thing. You can rant, and spew your hate, take a swing at me for all I care. I'd like that, actually. I'd like to see this entire office pin your cheek to the cold, hard floor and before you can get up from under my shoe, your deal's blown, and you're locked up where no one can protect your sorry ass. (steps closer) So, please, Ms. Owens, I'm begging you: don't sign.

-->'''Reid:''' [[TearJerker I don't know. Maybe?]]

** In "Elements of Harmony", she does a nonverbal version, calming down an angry manticore by walking right up to him and making friendly gestures. It turns out he's just angry [[AndroclesLion because of a thorn in his paw.]]

** In "Elements of Harmony", she does a nonverbal version, calming down an angry manticore by walking right up to him and making friendly gestures. It turns out he's just angry because of a thorn in his paw.

Compare TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. Contrast BreakThemByTalking, a less nice technique, though it ''could'' theoretically overlap with this. Situations where this might be needed could involve HairTriggerTemper or BerserkButton; if it involves a PowderKegCrowd or other mob, it's probably also an instance of ShamingTheMob. This makes a good technique for the BadassPacifist.

** In "Elements of Harmony", she does a nonverbal version, calming down an angry manticore by walking right up to him and making friendly gestures. Turns out he's just angry because of a thorn in his paw.

** In "The Elements of Harmony", she does a nonverbal version, calming down an angry manticore by walking right up to him and making friendly gestures. Turns out he's just angry because of a thorn in his paw.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Dragonshy", Rainbow Dash pulls a LeeroyJenkins on the giant dragon and provokes him to attack the ponies. [[CowardlyLion Fluttershy]], finally forgetting her own fear of dragons when she sees her friends being attacked, flies right up to his face and starts telling him off for it, instantly changing the anger to shocked surprise. Combining the surprise effect with that of her DeathGlare and absolutely steely assertiveness, she eventually has him crying and then leaving peacefully.

-->Reid: [[TearJerker I don't know. Maybe?]]

The name comes from the RealLife technique and book by George Thompson, which are basically about how to achieve this trope. Thompson contrasted it with "verbal karate", where you respond to hostility with hostility and only escalate the situation -- this being the way people are more often naturally inclined to react. "Verbal Judo" or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_self_defense "verbal self-defence"]] is defined more broadly in real-life usage, but the trope is defined only as stated above.

The TropeNamer is the RealLife technique and book by George Thompson, which are basically about how to achieve this trope. Thompson contrasted it with "verbal karate", where you respond to hostility with hostility and only escalate the situation -- this being the way people are more often naturally inclined to react. "Verbal Judo" or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_self_defense "verbal self-defence"]] is defined more broadly in real-life usage, but the trope is defined only as stated above.

* In {{Kim}} Kim defends himself and the Red Lama by making fun of potential aggressors.

Compare TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. Situations where this might be needed could involve HairTriggerTemper or BerserkButton; if it involves a PowderKegCrowd or other mob, it's probably also an instance of ShamingTheMob. This makes a good technique for the BadassPacifist.

* On the {{Discworld}}, Sam Vimes isbeen canny and experienced enough to have pulled this off a couple of times.

* Mentalist DerrenBrown, being a professional in manipulating people's reactions and perceptions, mentions some techniques that he believes could be used in such a situation in his book ''Tricks of the Mind''. He also recounts his own experience where he applied them almost by accident: Accosted by an aggressive drunk on the street, he decided to try to use suggestion on him by first confusing him to make him susceptible and then suddenly stating that his feet were stuck on the ground to make him really briefly believe so so that he could just walk away. To do the first part, he started relaxedly talking something completely {{non sequitur}} about the height of fences in different countries. It turned out that that was enough, as after being so confused the drunk broke down and started opening up to him about the reasons he was in such a foul mood.

** In ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', Vimes does this ''after'' deliberately accepting the challenge to a fight from an aggressive local blacksmith in the countryside who's taking issue with his noble status. Even before the fight starts, he makes the man uncertain about whether he's getting in over his head, and once it does start, he only needs to show his street fighting skills with a few moves before quietly suggesting they stop the fight there before it gets real so that the other can nevertheless at least save his face... both socially and literally.

** In ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'', Vimes does this ''after'' deliberately accepting the challenge to a fight from an aggressive local blacksmith in the countryside who's taking issue with his noble status. Even before the fight starts, he makes the man uncertain about whether he's getting in over his head, and once it does start, he only needs to show his street fighting skills with a few moves before quietly suggesting they stop the fight there before it gets real so that the other can nevertheless at least save face.

* In ''Discworld/NightWatch'', Sam Vimes finds himself in Ankh-Morpork of the past and commanding a Watch house at a time when there's widespread dissent and angry mobs are starting to coalesce around all Watch houses. Knowing a riot is just waiting to happen, he tells his men to not carry weapons but instead visibly do ordinary harmless things in the yard to avoid their looking to the surrounding people like FacelessGoons. When he himself confronts the mob, it's calmly and while lighting a smoke, and he makes sure that when a drunken troublemaker tries to break a bottle in his hand and only ends up hurting himself, the scene everyone sees is Vimes harmlessly standing at a distance lighting a smoke, with no possibility for even a mob to mistake him as having attacked. Then he takes the man in to be treated for the wound. His Watch house ends up being the only one that doesn't suffer a riot that night.

* In the ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Dragonshy", Rainbow Dash pulls a LeeroyJenkins on the giant dragon and provokes him to attack the ponies. [[CowardlyLion Fluttershy]], finally forgetting her own fear of dragons when she sees her friends being attacked, flies right up to his face and starts telling him off for it, instantly changing the anger to shocked surprise. Combining the surprise effect with that of her DeathGlare and absolutely steely assertiveness, she eventually has him crying and then leaving peacefully.

Compare TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. Situations where this might be needed could involve HairTriggerTemper or BerserkButton; if it involves a PowderKegCrowd, it's probably also an instance of ShamingTheMob. This makes a good technique for the BadassPacifist.

Compare TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. Situations where this might be needed could involve HairTriggerTemper or BerserkButton; if it involves a PowderKegCword, it's probably also an instance of ShamingTheMob. This makes a good technique for the BadassPacifist.

Compare TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. Situations where this might be needed could involve HairTriggerTemper or BerserkButton. This makes a good technique for the BadassPacifist.

The TropeNamer is the RealLife technique and book by George Thompson, which are basically about how to achieve this trope. Thompson contrasted it with "verbal karate", where you respond to hostility with hostility and only escalate the situation -- this being the way people are more often naturally inclined to react. "Verbal Judo" or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_self_defense "verbal self-defence"]] is defined more broadly in real-life usage, but that concept is awkwardly broad for a trope, so this is defined only as stated above.

Apparently not a subtrope of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath. (Depends on how that one is defined, the article is not very clear about how inclusive it is.) Has only little in common with PolitenessJudo. HairTriggerTemper is kind of the opposite, but could be dealt with by applying this trope. I'm not sure if there are many actual examples, but this trope would suit a BadassPacifist well.

I didn't re-check all the examples for exact details, so feel free to say if you know I got some wrong.

** Note that "Stare Master" isn't really an example, or is borderline -- the cockatrice attacks seemingly ForTheEvulz, having no cause to be angry.

* Mentalist DerrenBrown, being a professional in manipulating people's reactions and perceptions, mentions some techniques that he believes could be used in such a situation in his book ''Tricks of the Mind''. He also recounts his own experience where he applied them almost by accident: Accosted by an aggressive drunk on the street, he decided to try to use suggestion on him by first confusing him to make him susceptible and then suddenly stating that his feet were stuck on the ground to make him really briefly believe so so that he could just walk away. To do the first part, he started relaxedly talking something completely {{non sequitur}} about the height of fences in different countries. It turned out that that was enough, as after being so confused the drunk broke down started opening up to him about the reasons he was in such a foul mood.

* Mentalist DerrenBrown, being a professional in manipulating people's reactions and perceptions, mentions some techniques that he believes could be used in such a situation in his book ''Tricks of the Mind''. He also recounts his own experience where he applied them almost by accident: Accosted by an aggressive drunk on the street, he decided to try to use suggestion on him by first confusing him to make him susceptible and then suddenly stating that his feet were stuck on the ground to make him really briefly believe so so that he could just walk away. To do the first part, he started relaxedly talking something completely {{non sequitur}} about the height of fences in different countries. It turned out that that was enough, as after being so confused the drunk broke down crying and opened up to him about the reasons he was in such a foul mood.