Re: [Paddlewise] ACA meetings: Greenland skills

On Tue, 8 Dec 1998 KayaKillen_at_aol.com wrote:
         <<snipola>>
> 2. Further define the parameters for the Coastal Kayaking certification to
> ensure a high standard of Instructor qualifications
> 3. Define the curriculum for 5 proposed new classes to be sanctioned by the
> ACA.  These are:
> 
> A. Rolling
> B. Surf
> C. Tidal Currents
> D. Expeditions
> E. Greenland skills

Ray, I really like the scope of your new programs and certifications. You
mentioned discussing the formation of these with noted instructors on
various coasts. Have you consulted with George Gronseth? He has
developed and taught the exact curriculum that you have proposed above,
including greenland skills. He has been doing this for at least the last
five years, and has also spent two weeks in Greenland at a native kayak
workshop -- he thinks that he was the first westerner to ever do this. His
methods are about as thourough and effective as teaching can
get. His email is kayak_at_halcyon.com, or http://www.halcyon.com/kayak

Cheers, and good luck with the program,
kevin whilden

ps. Two more comments below, please read on.

> 
> The intent of these courses will be to learn new skills in a safe, controlled
> setting.  By signing up for an ACA sanctioned course you can be sure that the
> content will be similar whether it is taken in Maine, Florida or the West
> Coast and that the Instructors will meet the minimum standards required of
> them.  Hopefully we can have Instructors gain the Endorsements needed to teach
> these classes before the next season starts.

I seriously doubt that it is possible to teach tidal rapids in Florida!

> In the short duration since being notified that I was accepted on the CKC and
> the dates of the working meetings, I have contacted several well-known
> Greenland instructors and practitioners.  I wished to gain their valuable
> input for what they deemed important enough to be included in a Greenland
> skills workshop and how they conducted their own classes.  I intend to
> incorporate these ideas as well as my own into the curriculum. 
> 
> The goal of the class will be to introduce Greenland paddle skills to those
> never having experienced them and to refine existing and/or learn new skills
> for people who are familiar with the use of the paddle.  It will be offered as
> an 8-hour class.  Obviously no course can satisfy everyone but the Greenland
> workshop will focus on the following:
> 
> Greenland kayak history and respect for the culture
> Use of the different hunting tools and equipment
> General Greenland boat design
> Introduction to the Greenland paddle, Storm paddle and throwing stick
> Using the paddle
> Using the sliding stroke
> Bow rescues and side paddle rescue
> Different sculling strokes
> Balance brace
> Greenland Rolling Demonstration (to whet one's appetite) 
> 

I would say that if you don't emphasize teaching the roll, then your
course has completely missed the boat!! (so to speak :)  What good
Greenland kayaker cannot roll?? And rolling with a proper Greenland paddle
is so easy! Your course sounds too good to settle for mediocrity in this
way. 

This brings up another point. Is the ability to roll expected in the five
classes above? (except for the rolling one of course!)  In my mind,
rolling is a fundamental skill, and any advanced level of instruction
should expect eager kayakers to roll. There are very few reasonable
physical reasons why someone cannot learn to roll, and again, we should
not settle for mediocrity in this way.


> Different methods of paddle strokes will be demonstrated and the students
> encouraged trying them out.  For those students with a solid roll, a different
> Greenland roll can be taught depending on time and what the make-up of each
> class is.  No one will make you an expert.  You will not come out of this
> workshop with the knowledge of John Heath nor the skills of Maligiaq Padilla,
> Doug Van Doren, Charlie or Cindy Cole, Steve Burkhardt or Greg Stamer.  We can
> only offer the tools for you to build your own masterpiece.
> 
> Now as an aside I wish to address some previous discussions on the net.
> Normally I don't get involved in this for there seems to be no point to it. 
> There was talk going around that it is too easy to become a certified ACA
> Instructor as compared to a BCU Instructor.  What you must remember is that
> the ACA like the BCU have different levels of certification.  The lowest level
> in the ACA is to become an Introduction to Paddling (IP) instructor.  Many
> outfitters get their employees certified for this.  All they need is to get
> someone certified to teach the very basics to newcomers who buy or rent.  When
> these people say they are certified Instructors (which they are) they leave
> out the fact that they can only teach the basics.  The average person hearing
> this assumes they are in fact Coastal Kayak Instructors which is much more
> difficult than the IP level.  The equivalent of an IP in the BCU is Coach 1.
> 
> The two systems have both their good and bad points.  (I am an ACA Instructor
> and a BCU Coach 3 as well as a Greenland paddler.)  Some people will like one
> system over another.  Some people don't like any form of certification.
> Whatever!  It is too easy to degrade something when one does not have all the
> facts.  The Coastal Kayak Instructor had to take an intensive training program
> and certification exam and in the future we are raising the bar even higher to
> maintain quality standards.
> 
> Ray Killen
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