Buddy wanted for Fundies

[clgsamson]

How about a full write up on the class...

I think they have a 30 day ban not to talk about it.

 

[Bruciebabe]

I think they have a 30 day ban not to talk about it.

Ok then:
This is a course that anyone can do, even if you just did your open water last week.
However I went into it with a bit of experience and was lucky in that my buddy, Florian, had not dissimilar experience. This parity is probably a good thing on this course.
So my experience: PADI instructor, 800 dives, some IANTD and TDI courses.
My preperation: Watched DIR 2004 (8 hours!) and read Doing It Right by JJ.
Florian is also a PADI instructor with IANTD stuff and has videoed several Fundies.

The first full day was spent out of the water discussing everything DIR, procedures, teamwork, techniques, equipment etc. Obviously Martin has immense knowledge and experience so by asking questions you can get loads and loads out of this day. After class it's off to the Point bar for more informal discussion.

Day 2 was 2 shallow (3 to 4 metre) dives (and more classroom). At this depth buoyancy changes are far greater making everything more difficult and thus improving your skill more. All exercises are done hovering horizontaly. The idea is to do them without moving, up/down or forwards/backwards. Exercises are the basic 5 (reg removal and replacement, reg switch and switch back, long hose deployment and stow, mask partial flood and clear, mask removal and replace), valve drills which is closing and opening your tank valves behind your head in the right sequence, simulated out of air drills and SMB deployments. Also you have to master the 5 different finning techniques. Everything was videoed and taken back to the classroom for post mortems. This is very instructive as the camera doesn't lie!

I used the full DIR twinset hired from Tech Asia that I had just done an IANTD course in. Martin tightened up the harness a lot, moved my D ring positions and halved what was on my weight belt. These changes made it easier to do the exercises and also to maintain the correct "trim" or body position in the water. Martin was very hot on trim, quite rightly so because everything became a lot easier when the trim was right.

At the end of day 2 it was back to the Point for more informal discussion.

Day 3 was the same only deeper, 12 metres this time. An important element here was task loading. We had to remove our mask and hand it to Martin every time he signalled also we had to do a simulated out of air when he signalled. It is not just a matter of fixing the immediate problem, you have to work out what to do next. For instance Florian was just deploying his SMB when Martin told me I was out of air, we had just started sharing when he took Florians mask off. We then had to do our ascent and deco stops. Teamwork is important. Another time we were air sharing he took both our masks off us. On the last dive we used the wreck of a small boat as reference. As an exercise Martin had us descend into the boat in the hover, there was just enough room for one person. We then had to do valve drills in this tight space so there was a big discipline on not moving around during the drill.

There is a bar or skill level you have to get over to pass. On day 2 Martin told us we were just below the bar, mainly because of trim. Our third dive was well above the bar and our fourth dive was not so good but still above the bar. The course is fairly intensive, one day was 8AM till 8PM followed by the Point. I would vey strongly recommend that anyone doing this course does the book/video thing very thoroughly beforehand so as to get the best value out of 3 days with Martin.

This is an excellent course and will make anyone a better and a safer diver. It intoduces you to a holistic philosphy that works. Recommended.

 

[pakman]

thanks for the report Brucie.

it's intersting having taken non DIF technical course from instructors who have gone thru DIR-F as I read people's DIR-F experiences. Seems more and more instructors are incorporating some of the basics from DIR-F. Both Dave and Ralph really rode me on getting my trim buoyancy down while doing drills, problem solving while multitasking, team communication, and working on that cursed reverse frog kick!

 

[Spoon]

and working on that cursed reverse frog kick!

gets easier by the month beleive me

 

[Bruciebabe]

thanks for the report Brucie.

it's intersting haven taken non DIF technical course from instructors who have gone thru DIR-F as I read people's DIR-F experiences. Seems more and more instructors are incorporating some of the basics from DIR-F. Both Dave and Ralph really rode me on getting my trim buoyancy down while doing drills, problem solving while multitasking, team communication, and working on that cursed reverse frog kick!

It's definitely true that GUE is having an enormous effect as it trickles down into other training organisations. Quite a lot of PADI instructors have done fundies and incorporate elements in their OW classes. Tech Asia is very DIR which, with excellent instructors like Dave, Ralph and Sam, makes it a great place to learn. I also did an IANTD course with Phil Short http://www.philshorttechnical.co.uk/main.htm which contained a lot of DIR thought.
However doing a GUE influenced course is a lot different from doing a proper GUE course. I wish I had done fundies before my trimix training. It would have been a more logical sequence and I would have enjoyed the trimix training much more.
We are very, very lucky to have the skills of WKPP made available to us mere mortals.

 

[paolov]

We are very, very lucky to have the skills of WKPP made available to us mere mortals.

here here i agree !

.

 

[Spoon]

We are very, very lucky to have the skills of WKPP made available to us mere mortals.

totally agree and i appreciate that it is available to us but do not think that its a priviledge. i have taken the fundies and suggest it to anyone who may want to refine their skills but i predict similar courses in the future outside gue. they may have started it but others are catching on and dir doesnt own the exclusive rights to this kind of diving.

 

[Bruciebabe]

totally agree and i appreciate that it is available to us but you make it seem like its a priviledge when in fact it is not. i have taken the fundies and suggest it to anyone who may want to refine their skills but i predict similar courses in the future outside gue. they may have started it but others are catching on and dir doesnt own the exclusive rights to this kind of diving.

NAUI are trying this now. Yes, I am sure that PADI will one day embrace long hose BP/W diving. However I think it is problematic for a big training organisation to have the same quality. It is very difficult to become a GUE instructor and you have to go through the whole process for each course you want to teach. For instance Martin has taught Fundies for a few years but has been working on Tech 1, which he will soon start teaching. There are just 40 GUE instructors in the world, they have all been to north Florida repeatedly and know the WKPP stars well. So I know Martin and martin knows Jarrod Jablonski. This is a very short path the knowledge has to take from the very top to little me. This is a two way process so anything that Martin comes across from one of his students he can take directly to JJ.
DIR is not just skills and equipment, it is a whole diving philosophy. And, yes, I do feel that it is a priviledge to gain this knowledge so directly from the very pinnacle of diving.

 

[Spoon]

NAUI are trying this now. Yes, I am sure that PADI will one day embrace long hose BP/W diving. However I think it is problematic for a big training organisation to have the same quality. It is very difficult to become a GUE instructor and you have to go through the whole process for each course you want to teach. For instance Martin has taught Fundies for a few years but has been working on Tech 1, which he will soon start teaching. There are just 40 GUE instructors in the world, they have all been to north Florida repeatedly and know the WKPP stars well. So I know Martin and martin knows Jarrod Jablonski. This is a very short path the knowledge has to take from the very top to little me. This is a two way process so anything that Martin comes across from one of his students he can take directly to JJ.
DIR is not just skills and equipment, it is a whole diving philosophy. And, yes, I do feel that it is a priviledge to gain this knowledge so directly from the very pinnacle of diving.

good points bruce. we are on the same page here. i really think that they have the most qualified instructors. i was exactly like you last year wait a couple of months and youl undertsand what i mean. now if i take tech 1 or cave 1 with JJ now that is what i would consider a priviledge.