RE: [Paddlewise] ACA Greenland certific

Ahhh come on John, the desire by the ACA to define a Greenland-style
paddling certificate in no way denigrates the ACA.  

There is market driven demand for instruction in Greenland-style paddling.
Maybe you aren't the sort of person who likes to take kayaking classes, but
I for one find them quite valuable.  When I bought my greenland paddle a
couple years ago, I  would have loved some instruction with the paddle.  

There is demand in the market, and the ACA jumped in to provide some
consistency between instructors.  This is clearly in the scope of their
charter --- not some desire to validate their personnel preferences.  

I'm not saying they couldn't have handled this better. Maybe they've jumped
the gun and the style needs to gel more before a course can be defined.
Maybe they should have consulted with Greenlanders before defining the
course.  But to say the course denigrates the ACA is going  a bit too far.

--Tim


-----Original Message-----
From: John C. Winskill
To: Nick Schade
Cc: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Sent: 7/12/99 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] ACA Greenland certific

Nick;

I agree with you.  If the ACA feels compelled to certify Greenland-style
paddling, let them call it something else.  
Another point:  I fail to understand why the ACA wants to do this at
all.  The ACA understood in the light of standing for paddling safety
and consistant standards in the United States makes sense to me.  Their
wanting to certify a technique that is outside of the safety/standards
issue is confusing and really serves in my view to denigrate the ACA. 
It's as though a group of people are wanting to validate their hobby and
thereby themselves.  OK, so they like thier skinny paddles.  It's a
personal preference thing.  There's no reason to build a whole official
certification process around it.  
Who BTW, is certifying the certifiers?  If they feel so passionate about
it why don't they get their training from the source?  Consult the
Greenlanders.  Its not an unreasonable request.

Then again, I'm thinking;  You know, I had the first Romany on the West
Coast, and I'm sure, one of the first in the country.  What say I create
a Romany paddling certification school.  The WSR (Winskill School of
Romany's).  What do you think?  We could begin classes for instructors
this fall.  Any takers?

John Winskill

John Winskill

Nick Schade wrote:
> 
> "Narrow Blade Style"  raises no objections from me. I do think most of
the
> techniques associated with narrow blades are very applicable to wide
> blades, so basing the name on one particular kind of paddle is
limiting.
> But it is a way to teach people who want to use a narrow blade how to
use
> it.
> 
> I am curious as to how Greenlanders paddle, but I would rather learn
it
> from a Greenlander or at the very least someone taught by a
Greenlander. I
> don't think instruction from someone who does not even have permission
from
> a Greenlander would really satisfy my curiosity. If the ACA wants to
> certify Greenland Technique, they should help a group in Greenland
start a
> school for instructors, and then require anyone who wants
certification to
> teach the style go to that school. This would make the instruction
more
> authentic and probably go a long way to releiving the concerns of
native
> Greenlanders.
> 
> Nick
>
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