I am happy to announce that I am now offering GUE foundational programs (Fundamentals, along with Drysuit and Doubles Primers).
After teaching technical, rebreather, and cave divers and instructors for several years, I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of amazing students from different backgrounds, all with their own strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. For the most part, the consistency in skill set and attitude varied greatly from student to student, irrelevant of the agencies they had been previously certified through. With one exception. Every GUE trained diver I had the opportunity to work with was not just solid in the water, but was easier to teach and more prepared to absorb information. This always intrigued me, but for years I wrote it off as simply the rigidity of the GUE training standards.
About a year ago, I decided to pursue the GUE training path as a diver to get a better understanding of how they consistently churned out high quality/capacity divers. I quickly realized where many of the holes are that currently exist in training technical divers, and decided that it was a community that I wanted to play a role in as an instructor. So I began pursuing my instructor credentials as well.
I could write a long report on my personal experiences with the GUE training progression over the past year, but I would prefer to share a brief summary, and anyone who has any specific questions about my experiences is more than welcome to ask in this thread. Essentially, I had to start all over from the beginning and was held to a higher standard than I have ever been held to within my diving career. It was a humbling experience to say the least, but the quality of education I can offer now is far superior to what I was capable of previously. I owe that to several great mentors who I am happy to call friends, Kirill Egorov, Mark Messersmith, and Guy Shockey.
As you are all well aware I am sure, the training progression is built around forming a solid foundation utilizing a holistic approach (standardized equipment, skills, gases, etc.). Similar to building a house. If you start by building the upper levels and roof on wobbly stilts first, any sign of trouble or a simple mistake and the structure will crumble. Start with a strong foundation and work up, though, and you can create just about anything. GUE training is the same, put most of your efforts into creating a solid foundation, and adding additional layers of complexity (equipment, depth, decompression, environment, etc.) becomes a piece of cake. This is why I always had such an easy time working with GUE divers at higher levels. Their foundation was so strong, they were prepared to handle the additional complexity with relative ease.
While not outrageously expensive, the biggest investment in time and energy is surely the Fundamentals course. It’s a program that you will likely need to take more than once in once capacity or another, and THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Progressing from a Provisional or Recreational Pass to a Technical Pass is a big step. But once it’s made, you know you are well prepared for higher level training.
Even if you are not interested in cave or technical training at the moment, you will find that having a solid foundation will allow you to ENJOY diving MORE. Which is really the whole point, right? With a solid foundation, you will be more competent and confident as a diver, and can increase your overall situational awareness significantly, allowing you to find more critters, take better photos, and stay in the water longer. For most divers, the primary goal of the Fundamentals course is to utilize the time available to make YOU the best diver we can.
If you are interested in GUE Fundamentals, Drysuit or Doubles Primers, please let me know and I will be happy to answer any questions you have.
I am also still offering TDI cave and technical programs, feel free to contact me if you are interested in those as well
After teaching technical, rebreather, and cave divers and instructors for several years, I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of amazing students from different backgrounds, all with their own strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. For the most part, the consistency in skill set and attitude varied greatly from student to student, irrelevant of the agencies they had been previously certified through. With one exception. Every GUE trained diver I had the opportunity to work with was not just solid in the water, but was easier to teach and more prepared to absorb information. This always intrigued me, but for years I wrote it off as simply the rigidity of the GUE training standards.
About a year ago, I decided to pursue the GUE training path as a diver to get a better understanding of how they consistently churned out high quality/capacity divers. I quickly realized where many of the holes are that currently exist in training technical divers, and decided that it was a community that I wanted to play a role in as an instructor. So I began pursuing my instructor credentials as well.
I could write a long report on my personal experiences with the GUE training progression over the past year, but I would prefer to share a brief summary, and anyone who has any specific questions about my experiences is more than welcome to ask in this thread. Essentially, I had to start all over from the beginning and was held to a higher standard than I have ever been held to within my diving career. It was a humbling experience to say the least, but the quality of education I can offer now is far superior to what I was capable of previously. I owe that to several great mentors who I am happy to call friends, Kirill Egorov, Mark Messersmith, and Guy Shockey.
As you are all well aware I am sure, the training progression is built around forming a solid foundation utilizing a holistic approach (standardized equipment, skills, gases, etc.). Similar to building a house. If you start by building the upper levels and roof on wobbly stilts first, any sign of trouble or a simple mistake and the structure will crumble. Start with a strong foundation and work up, though, and you can create just about anything. GUE training is the same, put most of your efforts into creating a solid foundation, and adding additional layers of complexity (equipment, depth, decompression, environment, etc.) becomes a piece of cake. This is why I always had such an easy time working with GUE divers at higher levels. Their foundation was so strong, they were prepared to handle the additional complexity with relative ease.
While not outrageously expensive, the biggest investment in time and energy is surely the Fundamentals course. It’s a program that you will likely need to take more than once in once capacity or another, and THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Progressing from a Provisional or Recreational Pass to a Technical Pass is a big step. But once it’s made, you know you are well prepared for higher level training.
Even if you are not interested in cave or technical training at the moment, you will find that having a solid foundation will allow you to ENJOY diving MORE. Which is really the whole point, right? With a solid foundation, you will be more competent and confident as a diver, and can increase your overall situational awareness significantly, allowing you to find more critters, take better photos, and stay in the water longer. For most divers, the primary goal of the Fundamentals course is to utilize the time available to make YOU the best diver we can.
If you are interested in GUE Fundamentals, Drysuit or Doubles Primers, please let me know and I will be happy to answer any questions you have.
I am also still offering TDI cave and technical programs, feel free to contact me if you are interested in those as well
