In this second installment, I want to address the blocking and tackling of my specific DIR/F class. Im confident the classes vary (maybe even vary widely) by instructor, venue, weather, participants, facilities. Most of that is just on-site improvisation lets address the intent and purpose of the class.
The Class Room
First off, we did the class on Catalina Island (in Avalon) just off of So Cal. An hour boat ride for me. As the class goes long on Friday night, it was wonderfully luxurious to be able to flop in the classroom (our Cottage) and wake up late (7:00 ish) the next morning and simply clear the bed and get to work. Besides, Avalon is like my second home, and it was the most gorgeous weekend of the year. My life sux. Props to Ziggys_Friend for stepping up and making the arrangements. It was cozy (to say the very least) but fine.
The Class Mates (our team)
It was a small class of 5 students. We had two instructors, one tech-emphasis diver, a diver with some experience (75 dives for me) and a diver with less experience. There were no attitudes, nobody rolled in thinking they were king $h1t, and I really liked that. Everyone contributed on different levels, commensurate with their experience, knowledge and specific class objectives. Im sure as MHK has done this class, there has been more than a few cross-armed old salts who showed up for a battle. There was none of that here. Our team broke into a logical grouping of 3 and 2 divers.
Our Teams Gear We had 3 drysuit and two wetsuit divers. 4 of the 5 of us had BP/W set-ups, the 5th had a giant SeaQuest BC he was quite comfortable using. All of us had long hose, SPG and everyone except me and one other person had wrist-mounted bottom timers / computers. By the end of the class, I had converted my ROMBOD (Retractor-mounted Oceanic Mini-Brick Of Death) into a swank (but huge) wrist-mounted depth device that I could actually use (more on that later ) All had Turtles or Jets, all but 1 had Spring straps. A couple of us had spare masks, a couple had spools, etc. For gas delivery, I had Atomic/atomic, someone else had Atomic/Oceanic, another had Apeks/Apeks, another had ScubaPro/ScubaPro, another had Zeagle/Zeagle. Three of us brought cylinders, two rented on site. Some of us had boots on our cylinders, some didnt. If youre getting the picture of great gear diversity, youre getting my message. Gear configuration and standard placement and deployment of essential items, no compromise there. Gear manufacturer not the issue. It torques me when I see the uninformed get into flame wars about DIR and branded gear. Its like this, dont oppress me, man, with your DIR standards . Configuration and deployment standards are good. Very good. DIR demanding specific brands of stuff is just urban legend, and missing the point.
DAY 1
Before Class
Actually, evening 1. We got to the island, got to the hotel, checked in, found each other and strolled off for a nice dinner. Myself and two others dined, talked, got to know each other. This is important time, as it was clear to me after seeing the whole class that we would likely be teamed up as a threesome. So this is pre-dive planning stuff interviewing these guys whats their dive history and experience, whats their personality type (intense, laid back, etc.) I personally used this time to size these two up (one I had dove with before) and I was pleased that theyre both nice guys and consciencous divers that probably wont get me killed in the water.
Class
The TV was FUBAR, so picture in your mind a very small hotel room with 2 queen beds. Now picture 4 peoples diving gear and two nights of clothing in that room, too. Add in the presentation equipment and video equipment, a whiteboard, a laptop, two instructors and 5 students. Sard City. So with the TV AFU we all sort of gathered around the laptop (picture the Waltons around the radio) and MHK presented. It was cramped, but interactive. We all gave our personal bios and MHK sort of undressed us to cut the crap out of the mental log books we keep and got down to what he was likely going to be really dealing with tomorrow when we got in the water. We all learned about each other and it was cool. MHK walked us through some scenarios - a Toxing diver, OOA in open water, Helium, Nitrox and Air, and the importance of building in precision.
He asked about what we wanted to get out of the class. He walked through his .PPT presentation detailing the class outline and schedule. This first night was the last time this little group would be ahead of schedule. We watched videos of the intense, skinny, pasty vegans in clear, warm, still water performing kicks with immaculate trim. It was cool to see , and I found it inspiring.
The Real Deal
Heres the thing (as I embellish on MHKs commentary on the skills): You can be the skier that hits the slopes, and ably carves down the mountain with confidence and skill. Not rolling into a giant snowball like I would. Thats cool. But there is another place. A precision that elevates that skier from being ably equipped to execute a butt-free drive down the mountain. Were not talking X-games here. Were talking Warren Miller material. The cat that drops from the helicopter and executes the suicide run with precision and grace. Precision is the key word here. This is the skier that is in the super slo-mo video powder flying and not a hair out of place. I call it Warren Miller diving. That control and precision comes with a price. It comes with experience, sure. But thats not enough. It comes with practice. Im a musician. Ive been fortunate enough to play with and be around some of these Warren Miller drummers these guys are on another planet. I can play well good enough to be a working drummer. But these guys are special. I cant do what they do, not because I dont have the experience to do it its because I dont hear what they hear. Theyre in a different place.
To me, thats what the trim and buoyancy of this class was all about. Its not only giving me a chance to meet Warren Miller divers, but also to learn what I gotta do to get there. I could have gone my whole life and been just fine. But Ive seen the Warren Miller dive film. It sux, and I cant sleep now. I want that. Ive counted the cost, and Ill save to get there. The price is focus and practice. Now heres the pay off.
Practice doesnt make perfect. Thats a myth. PERFECT practice makes perfect. Ive learned that in music, in business, in my faith, in all things. Without this DIR/F class, not only would I have never met a couple of Warren Miller divers, I would never know what it takes to get there how to Practice Perfectly. It will take a long, long time to become a Warren Miller diver. But I know the way there now. Executing skills while maintaining perfect control is the next step.
All of this isnt for show (although it does look great ) Task loading and remaining in control will one day save my life or a member of my teams life. In my case, 90% of my diving is done with my wife. In our team, Im the captain. I want the confidence and the skill to be able to get us out of a jam (MHKism #1 if were gooberin up ) and come back alive because as Terry said: it sucks if you die
Day 1 was all about setting the stage for the class, setting the tone for the training, separating whats important and whats not (MHKism #2 thats not important its a pimple on the butt of life ) and setting the bar for skills. Day 1 ended with a brain overloaded, pouring over my notes, talking a walk down Crescent Ave after everyone else was in bed and preparing for the Land Drills and first dives tomorrow.
Part C in a few: Day 2 the land drills, first team dives, the horrah of video review and some more MHKisms .
K
The Class Room
First off, we did the class on Catalina Island (in Avalon) just off of So Cal. An hour boat ride for me. As the class goes long on Friday night, it was wonderfully luxurious to be able to flop in the classroom (our Cottage) and wake up late (7:00 ish) the next morning and simply clear the bed and get to work. Besides, Avalon is like my second home, and it was the most gorgeous weekend of the year. My life sux. Props to Ziggys_Friend for stepping up and making the arrangements. It was cozy (to say the very least) but fine.
The Class Mates (our team)
It was a small class of 5 students. We had two instructors, one tech-emphasis diver, a diver with some experience (75 dives for me) and a diver with less experience. There were no attitudes, nobody rolled in thinking they were king $h1t, and I really liked that. Everyone contributed on different levels, commensurate with their experience, knowledge and specific class objectives. Im sure as MHK has done this class, there has been more than a few cross-armed old salts who showed up for a battle. There was none of that here. Our team broke into a logical grouping of 3 and 2 divers.
Our Teams Gear We had 3 drysuit and two wetsuit divers. 4 of the 5 of us had BP/W set-ups, the 5th had a giant SeaQuest BC he was quite comfortable using. All of us had long hose, SPG and everyone except me and one other person had wrist-mounted bottom timers / computers. By the end of the class, I had converted my ROMBOD (Retractor-mounted Oceanic Mini-Brick Of Death) into a swank (but huge) wrist-mounted depth device that I could actually use (more on that later ) All had Turtles or Jets, all but 1 had Spring straps. A couple of us had spare masks, a couple had spools, etc. For gas delivery, I had Atomic/atomic, someone else had Atomic/Oceanic, another had Apeks/Apeks, another had ScubaPro/ScubaPro, another had Zeagle/Zeagle. Three of us brought cylinders, two rented on site. Some of us had boots on our cylinders, some didnt. If youre getting the picture of great gear diversity, youre getting my message. Gear configuration and standard placement and deployment of essential items, no compromise there. Gear manufacturer not the issue. It torques me when I see the uninformed get into flame wars about DIR and branded gear. Its like this, dont oppress me, man, with your DIR standards . Configuration and deployment standards are good. Very good. DIR demanding specific brands of stuff is just urban legend, and missing the point.
DAY 1
Before Class
Actually, evening 1. We got to the island, got to the hotel, checked in, found each other and strolled off for a nice dinner. Myself and two others dined, talked, got to know each other. This is important time, as it was clear to me after seeing the whole class that we would likely be teamed up as a threesome. So this is pre-dive planning stuff interviewing these guys whats their dive history and experience, whats their personality type (intense, laid back, etc.) I personally used this time to size these two up (one I had dove with before) and I was pleased that theyre both nice guys and consciencous divers that probably wont get me killed in the water.
Class
The TV was FUBAR, so picture in your mind a very small hotel room with 2 queen beds. Now picture 4 peoples diving gear and two nights of clothing in that room, too. Add in the presentation equipment and video equipment, a whiteboard, a laptop, two instructors and 5 students. Sard City. So with the TV AFU we all sort of gathered around the laptop (picture the Waltons around the radio) and MHK presented. It was cramped, but interactive. We all gave our personal bios and MHK sort of undressed us to cut the crap out of the mental log books we keep and got down to what he was likely going to be really dealing with tomorrow when we got in the water. We all learned about each other and it was cool. MHK walked us through some scenarios - a Toxing diver, OOA in open water, Helium, Nitrox and Air, and the importance of building in precision.
He asked about what we wanted to get out of the class. He walked through his .PPT presentation detailing the class outline and schedule. This first night was the last time this little group would be ahead of schedule. We watched videos of the intense, skinny, pasty vegans in clear, warm, still water performing kicks with immaculate trim. It was cool to see , and I found it inspiring.
The Real Deal
Heres the thing (as I embellish on MHKs commentary on the skills): You can be the skier that hits the slopes, and ably carves down the mountain with confidence and skill. Not rolling into a giant snowball like I would. Thats cool. But there is another place. A precision that elevates that skier from being ably equipped to execute a butt-free drive down the mountain. Were not talking X-games here. Were talking Warren Miller material. The cat that drops from the helicopter and executes the suicide run with precision and grace. Precision is the key word here. This is the skier that is in the super slo-mo video powder flying and not a hair out of place. I call it Warren Miller diving. That control and precision comes with a price. It comes with experience, sure. But thats not enough. It comes with practice. Im a musician. Ive been fortunate enough to play with and be around some of these Warren Miller drummers these guys are on another planet. I can play well good enough to be a working drummer. But these guys are special. I cant do what they do, not because I dont have the experience to do it its because I dont hear what they hear. Theyre in a different place.
To me, thats what the trim and buoyancy of this class was all about. Its not only giving me a chance to meet Warren Miller divers, but also to learn what I gotta do to get there. I could have gone my whole life and been just fine. But Ive seen the Warren Miller dive film. It sux, and I cant sleep now. I want that. Ive counted the cost, and Ill save to get there. The price is focus and practice. Now heres the pay off.
Practice doesnt make perfect. Thats a myth. PERFECT practice makes perfect. Ive learned that in music, in business, in my faith, in all things. Without this DIR/F class, not only would I have never met a couple of Warren Miller divers, I would never know what it takes to get there how to Practice Perfectly. It will take a long, long time to become a Warren Miller diver. But I know the way there now. Executing skills while maintaining perfect control is the next step.
All of this isnt for show (although it does look great ) Task loading and remaining in control will one day save my life or a member of my teams life. In my case, 90% of my diving is done with my wife. In our team, Im the captain. I want the confidence and the skill to be able to get us out of a jam (MHKism #1 if were gooberin up ) and come back alive because as Terry said: it sucks if you die
Day 1 was all about setting the stage for the class, setting the tone for the training, separating whats important and whats not (MHKism #2 thats not important its a pimple on the butt of life ) and setting the bar for skills. Day 1 ended with a brain overloaded, pouring over my notes, talking a walk down Crescent Ave after everyone else was in bed and preparing for the Land Drills and first dives tomorrow.
Part C in a few: Day 2 the land drills, first team dives, the horrah of video review and some more MHKisms .
K
I can't wait until I can take my DIRF course. Of course you will be posting the video for download in one of these, right?
