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Chris, You ask a good question, and I hope Andrew or JJ is available to further advise. But from my conversations with both Andrew and JJ on this very subject all I can say at this point is that they are both sensitive to the issue, and that GUE is in the process of developing a open water program. In fact, Andrew G is beta testing the program at his Seattle store right now. As with most business that are in the initial growth stage there needs to be a balance between the concentration on quality and the demand.. GUE has experienced explosive growth in the last couple of years, and the cornerstone of the growth has been that they have resisted the industry trend of dilution of quality in favor of market share. Rather then have massive IDC's and IE's that would turn out instructors by the masses, GUE has concentrated it's efforts on slower growth in favor of more selective candidates. To that end building an infrastructure from both the practical academic end, as well as, selecting instructor candidates that recognize and will adhere to the rigorous GUE standards and commitments is a delicate balancing act.. In any event, realize that I'm speaking for myself, based upon my conversations with AG and JJ, so I hope either of them will be available to expand but my sense is that I've conveyed a fairly accurate portrayal of where they stand in terms of the open water program.. Later ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Tellers" <chris_tellers@ho*.co*> To: <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Sent: Thursday, June 06, 3602 12:45 AM Subject: DIR Training question > I've been diving for about a year and a half and have recently gotten interested in the new worlds that technical (especially cave) diving has to offer. In researching training agencies, instructors and the like I came across the DIR concept and I must say that it makes a hell of a lot of sense to me. Seems to deal with problems I've noticed with the ways I was taught to configure my gear and position myself in my NAUI courses. Since I've repositioned my weight and tanks to make myself level and stopped flutter kicking on the bottom I'm much more efficient and no longer the standard Florida reef destroying machine most divers are. > > > > Anyway, my new girlfriend wants to get certified to dive, so I thought I'd find a class that could get her going with DIR from day one. In looking at the GUE site, however, I see that the DIR Fundamentals course requires open water certification + 25 dives. What's up with that?! Given the counter-intuitive, unnatural character of scuba diving, why not encourage new divers to start out DIR from the beginning rather than insisting they spend months learning bad habits and doing it wrong? > > > > I know this isn't a question about technical diving, but given that the DIR philosophy is that the fundamentals apply to rec diving as well, I thought I'd ask it here. > > > > Sign me, Mystified in Florida. > > > > Chris Tellers > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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