JohnCollins
Guest
Preesh!
I think some of your comments about JJ's approach are right on and well-put (I'm in sales, and I never got a sale by making a prospect feel stupid about where they were at when I met them).
Diving is a continuum from the few-times-per-year-warm-water-diver I've been and those who are more passionate about it who dive more and in more challenging environments. It's not a discrete progression. Maybe that's why I have found value is some of the DIR concepts. I have adopted some, and I'm comfortable not "going all the way" for the kind of diving I've done. Their concepts will make me a better casual diver. If I want to do more challenging diving, I'll move more toward DIR on the continuum.
I also feel what I've learned in "traditional" channels is valuable and don't feel threatened personally by DIR comments that paint with a broad brush. But then my instructor, in addition to being a PADI instructor, was also a military member, and we took a more serious approach to things. The fact that I can improve immensely from where I am doesn't make me feel my initial training was inferior in any way, for the kind of diving I do, an important distinction. The fact that I dont' have a lot invested in advanced training with an established organization also means I don't take a lot of what DIR has to say personally.
Anyway, I think DIR brings some great concepts to diving and if folks took a viewpoint that diving experience is a smooth continuum there'd be a lot less acrimony here. For where I am--the several time a year warm water OW diver, getting a long hose and practicing safety drills, buoyancy control, and adopting a more rigorous "buddy mind-set" is a great thing. I've moved a little along the continuum toward being a better diver, and I don't feel I haven't moved enough because I haven't ditched my jacket BC and Air II yet negates any positive benefits I may have gained from the thinking about things in DIR terms. I'm just building on the foundation I was given by an excellent PADI instructor.
On the other hand, I don't have any misconceptions that I'm in any way "ready" for more challenging diving. I want to get my gear and my technique down to almost military precision before I do any wreck penetration diving, for example. I could take a wreck course right now. . .but I simply won't until I move more along that continuum toward DIR before I try it.
Maybe that's the key. There's not "good/bad, right/wrong, us/them" kind of distinctions. There's a smooth continuum along diving's skill progression from the beginning stages--where a good instructor in any organization can take students--through an "apprentice" stage where DIR concepts become progressively more important--to the really advanced stages where I think the DIR folks have really defined the state of the art, if you will.
A diver can go as far along that continuum as they choose. There's nothing wrong with stopping at some point along that continuum and deciding "I'm happy here", at least for the moment. I do think that in serious diving, DIR has set the bar in the right place, though. You read the accident reports on scubadiving.com and you quickly realize that DIR principles would make most of those stories unthinkable.
On the other hand, most of those stories are the result of people diving out of their depth, so to speak--jumping ahead on the continuum of diving--and they injure or kill themselves because they are diving way out of their league on the experience and training scale. That doesn't mean their training was inadequate! Their training might have been just fine, but they were diving way out of their league! That's not the training agency's fault, that's the diver's fault. You might blame the dive master, but I, for one, take responsibility for my own actions, and I feel my instructor let me know in no uncertain terms what my limits are.
I don't know if any of this makes any sense at all (It's Friday night and I've had a few beers
), but I think the major training agencies have done a good job of getting folks started on the left end of the continuum. I think the DIR folks have done a great job of defining the right end of the continuum. There can be more mutual respect on both sides, however. If GUE were responsible for giving out basic certs, we wouldn't have a dive industry, and that's a fact. Of course, they might not think that's a bad thing, LOL. And for folks diving 30-50 feet in no current in Grand Cayman, that would be a shame. Because out of those folks, well trained to do that kind of diving by the major agencies, come people like me who want to push the envelope, and for us DIR has a lot to offer in taking us further along the continuum. You know, even JJ and GI3 probably got started with PADI or NAUI. That wouldn't make them capable of what they've accomplished, but it got them of to a good start. On the other hand, there's no way in heck they could have accomplished what they've accomplished on their basic training. In fact, they've accomplished what they have by defining the state of the art where they are themselves. And for that, we should all be grateful, I think. They are pioneers, but they are pioneers who have set down standards that make it safer for others to follow in their footsteps.
I'll shut up now. I'm going to get another beer and read this. Maybe it will make sense when read through beer goggles. Probably doesn't.
I think some of your comments about JJ's approach are right on and well-put (I'm in sales, and I never got a sale by making a prospect feel stupid about where they were at when I met them).
Diving is a continuum from the few-times-per-year-warm-water-diver I've been and those who are more passionate about it who dive more and in more challenging environments. It's not a discrete progression. Maybe that's why I have found value is some of the DIR concepts. I have adopted some, and I'm comfortable not "going all the way" for the kind of diving I've done. Their concepts will make me a better casual diver. If I want to do more challenging diving, I'll move more toward DIR on the continuum.
I also feel what I've learned in "traditional" channels is valuable and don't feel threatened personally by DIR comments that paint with a broad brush. But then my instructor, in addition to being a PADI instructor, was also a military member, and we took a more serious approach to things. The fact that I can improve immensely from where I am doesn't make me feel my initial training was inferior in any way, for the kind of diving I do, an important distinction. The fact that I dont' have a lot invested in advanced training with an established organization also means I don't take a lot of what DIR has to say personally.
Anyway, I think DIR brings some great concepts to diving and if folks took a viewpoint that diving experience is a smooth continuum there'd be a lot less acrimony here. For where I am--the several time a year warm water OW diver, getting a long hose and practicing safety drills, buoyancy control, and adopting a more rigorous "buddy mind-set" is a great thing. I've moved a little along the continuum toward being a better diver, and I don't feel I haven't moved enough because I haven't ditched my jacket BC and Air II yet negates any positive benefits I may have gained from the thinking about things in DIR terms. I'm just building on the foundation I was given by an excellent PADI instructor.
On the other hand, I don't have any misconceptions that I'm in any way "ready" for more challenging diving. I want to get my gear and my technique down to almost military precision before I do any wreck penetration diving, for example. I could take a wreck course right now. . .but I simply won't until I move more along that continuum toward DIR before I try it.
Maybe that's the key. There's not "good/bad, right/wrong, us/them" kind of distinctions. There's a smooth continuum along diving's skill progression from the beginning stages--where a good instructor in any organization can take students--through an "apprentice" stage where DIR concepts become progressively more important--to the really advanced stages where I think the DIR folks have really defined the state of the art, if you will.
A diver can go as far along that continuum as they choose. There's nothing wrong with stopping at some point along that continuum and deciding "I'm happy here", at least for the moment. I do think that in serious diving, DIR has set the bar in the right place, though. You read the accident reports on scubadiving.com and you quickly realize that DIR principles would make most of those stories unthinkable.
On the other hand, most of those stories are the result of people diving out of their depth, so to speak--jumping ahead on the continuum of diving--and they injure or kill themselves because they are diving way out of their league on the experience and training scale. That doesn't mean their training was inadequate! Their training might have been just fine, but they were diving way out of their league! That's not the training agency's fault, that's the diver's fault. You might blame the dive master, but I, for one, take responsibility for my own actions, and I feel my instructor let me know in no uncertain terms what my limits are.
I don't know if any of this makes any sense at all (It's Friday night and I've had a few beers
), but I think the major training agencies have done a good job of getting folks started on the left end of the continuum. I think the DIR folks have done a great job of defining the right end of the continuum. There can be more mutual respect on both sides, however. If GUE were responsible for giving out basic certs, we wouldn't have a dive industry, and that's a fact. Of course, they might not think that's a bad thing, LOL. And for folks diving 30-50 feet in no current in Grand Cayman, that would be a shame. Because out of those folks, well trained to do that kind of diving by the major agencies, come people like me who want to push the envelope, and for us DIR has a lot to offer in taking us further along the continuum. You know, even JJ and GI3 probably got started with PADI or NAUI. That wouldn't make them capable of what they've accomplished, but it got them of to a good start. On the other hand, there's no way in heck they could have accomplished what they've accomplished on their basic training. In fact, they've accomplished what they have by defining the state of the art where they are themselves. And for that, we should all be grateful, I think. They are pioneers, but they are pioneers who have set down standards that make it safer for others to follow in their footsteps.I'll shut up now. I'm going to get another beer and read this. Maybe it will make sense when read through beer goggles.
Probably doesn't.
