Why did YOU take (or plan to take) GUE Fundies?

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Peter Guy

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A lot of people are told to "Take Fundies" to help improve their diving skills but I'm curious as to why people actually do take Fundies -- that is, what was the final trigger that made them (you) sign up?

For me, I wasn't going to take the class having taken Rec 1 and Rec 2 from the precursor to UTD -- 5th DX. I just couldn't come up with a justification to spend the time and money although a friend was working on me to join him. Then I had a triggering event on a dive in Canada (learned a big lesson -- if your gear isn't right on the boat, it won't get better in the water). That night, at dinner, I told me friend I'd sign up and I did.

I periodically read about people who are even Technical Instructors for another agency and they decide to take Fundies -- why? (Note, my NAUI Tech buddy has just decided to take Fundies for example and I know why, or at least think I do.) So why did YOU finally decide to pull the trigger and sign up for the class?
 
I had over 100 dives and had just completed TDI Intro to Tech class when I attended a GUE Information Day at Dutch Springs. Bob Sherwood and Ed Hayes ran the discussion, the dives and video taped us for post-dive review. Once I saw them in the water I was HOOKED and knew I needed Fundies (even before I viewed the video playback). I wanted to look like them in the water and have their control in the water column.

I contacted Bob Sherwood after the information day to schedule a class for me and two interested information day attendees. I knew regardless of whether I passed, failed or got a provisional, I'd be a much better diver at the end of the class. It was the best money I'd spent on a dive class.
 
A lot of people on this board, people whose measured, considered, logical thought processes I grew to admire, touted the benefits of Fundementals and the 'DIR' system overall. I went because I wanted to learn about this system, and discover any benefits to me.
 
I took Fundies because I wanted the dive skills I saw on the Fundies-trained people I dove with. I stayed with the system because I found more than that.
 
I was VERY anti-DIR, since in TX, it's not exactly well-regarded, and I was a product of my environment. I wanted to take tech training, and even anti-DIR people said that Fundies was a good thing to take, "as long as you didn't fall for it", in order to prepare myself for AN/DP and beyond.

It went on the back burner, since we have no local GUE/UTD talent and an instructor would have to be flown in and the whole thing set up. I had no idea how to do this, or if there was even enough interest to justify it.

Then I met a fellow who said that he was hoping to bring an instructor in for Fundies and would I want in? I was unsure, but after meeting a GUE diver in the flesh, (all I had to go on was what I was told by my diving superiors, and of course, the behavior of Internet DIR divers), and seeing him in the water, and seeing how nice and accommodating he was, I thought, "I might want to check this out."

So I said I would take it. I convinced my wife to take it, (as in, "you're taking this class with me, I don't care, I'll pay it"), along with another instructor at our shop. A class of four was in the works and Bob Sherwood came down and taught it.

To be totally honest, I only wanted to take it to improve my diving, and I had ZERO desire to become an adherent to the system. In fact, I was all about being non-DIR, and if a true believer wanted to get into it with me, I could pull out the card and say, "I'm not DIR, but I'm at least educated more than the average anti-DIR person and have made my choices."

We see how that worked out for me. :wink:

I literally was so convinced in how limiting, narrow, myopic and not-for-me the system was that I didn't even consider the fact that I might actually LIKE it and take to it.

And here I am. Changed gear to get compliant, changed my procedures, and now I'm all about it. It changed my entire diving paradigm, from how I plan dives, to how I look at conducting and executing the dive, what I expect out of a teammate, the fact that I will have a teammate, my gear, how it's set up, my fitness and lifestyle choices. Everything.

That said, I'm not totally myopic on it. Some folks treat it as the Alpha and the Omega. For me, it's the Alpha. It's the beginning of my path into Tech diving, but for the future, who knows where that will lead? I might stick with it the whole way through, or I'll find other paths. My mind is open. I made that mistake once, by closing my mind to ANYTHING that could even be close to "DIR". I learned that wasn't the best way to be, (close-minded). How self-limiting. So now, I like to expand my diving horizons as much as I can. Ironically, my exposure to DIR has opened my mind regarding diving and dive practices. Imagine that.
 
I knew early on that I wanted to get into tech diving (wreck penetration), and I was very disappointed in the quality and thoroughness of the recreational classes I'd taken (I tend to be an autodidact, so am always reading extra material). And we have a large DIR contigent locally, so it wasn't too long until i ran into a couple of them on a dive site. Talked to them, thought most of their gear choices made a lot of sense (I was holding off buying major equipment until I'd had a chance to try lots of different stuff), and (like me) they seemed to be interested in gaining a deeper knowledge about diving than most of the people I'd met. In other words, they were serious about diving rather than dilettantes. After doing some research on DIR, I wound up getting myself a backplate/wing, and a long hose. However, I knew that there were some parts of the philosophy that I disagreed with, so I went into Fundies for the skills, figuring I'd take what I found useful and ignore the rest. So it has proved. As I move into tech level diving I intend to try different styles and agencies, wherever I can find good instruction. That may be GUE/UTD and it may be elsewhere, but I'm not locking myself into anything without exploring the options. And I expect I'll wind up diving MY system, i.e. one optimized for me, just as I have for all the other equipment/skills/knowledge-intensive sports I've gotten into over the years. Guy
 
Around dive 50, I became entranced with deep blue water and started experimenting with depth (within PADI AOW limits). By dive 100 I craved more. A background in many years of technical rock climbing quickly helped me recognize the value of a more rigorous training approach and MUCH more adherence to regulations and procedure. Pulling an embolized recreational diver out the water solidified this rigor to be necessary, especially before dropping down into the technical zone.

All of this corresponded with exposure to DIR through Scubaboard, and the transition from guided tropical diving, to independent low-vis cold water drysuit diving. Challenges in the new environment quickly dictated that much more skill was needed to dive competently (even at a recreational level) . Searching for more training, I researched DIR, read GUE literature, found and dove with our local GUE divers and was immediately spellbound by their grace and knowledge. About that time I started falling in love with images of cave diving but put the tech diving dreams on hold to gain more skill.

By this time I had great respect for the depth of experience at the top of the GUE organization, towards the founders of DIR and WKPP. The DIR philosophy immediately made sense to me, since many aspects are very similar to the redundant and simple system used in technical rock climbing. I was very appreciative to be told which scuba equipment is safest and gain liberation from all the marketing ploys, sales pitches at shops and the tedious scubaboard threads with conflicting advice. I wanted to take Fundies, but challenged with the new drysuit and new environment, I felt very insecure about passing and planned to wait until my comfort improved.

This insecurity was quickly forgotten when I had the pleasure of meeting JJ at a Project Baseline presentation. During the presentation JJ and Todd introduced the very exciting conservation, non-profit and global aspects of GUE. I already believed that the GUE training system is the safest and most efficient path for progressing into tech and extremely useful for recreational diving. But that night, I bought JJ’s promise that it could work for me and that it was truly a path back to exploration and adventure. I’m not exactly sure all the magic JJ worked that night but after a surprisingly long and very interesting conversation with him, and some encouragement from my mentor, I signed up for Fundies the very next morning ;-).

I’m very grateful to those generous instructors, mentors and dive partners who have patiently offered guidance and support along this path and cannot imagine a better dive system.
 
I took DIR-F because I was already doing technical dives DIR style but I had never been able to compare where I was skills-wise with the GUE cadre of the day.

Turns out except for my backwards kick (which I didn't even know existed prior to that weekend) I was pretty much where I needed to be.
 
I did not take GUE Fundies but UTD Essentials, does that count? :D
 
I took fundies in the end of 2009 as I just entered into tec/doubles diving and I listened to several GUE instructors on-line that it is best to show-up without prior training as not to pickup bad habits. Most all of you know that this is a crock of #$%@. In any event, there is absolutely no question that GUE's gear configeration and high standards are second to none. Looking foward to Tech 1 and Cave 1 within the next 9 months...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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