It’s a long, long road, from which there is no return
While we’re on the way to there, why not share?
And the long doesn’t way me down at all
He ain’t heavy – he’s my brother
- hollies

I regularly attend my son Gryphon’s martial arts training. From a coaching perspective it has opened my eyes to methods of mentoring. A style of instruction that not only has a lead instructor or “Master” but also puts a focus on teaching students to work together and be good coaches themselves. As I watch Gryphon’s classes I’m inspired to see the teenagers teaching the young kids, right down to the yellow belts working with the white belts. Mentoring is not just another one of those PC power words but is simply a way of learning together by teaching each other. It’s also the basis of, and a distinction of traditional kayak training. Just like my son’s martial arts classes, it’s an inspiring thing to be a part of.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when folks started learning traditional paddling skills they had to do it with their friends. There were no formal classes or symposiums to go to. Often you just had to figure it out together. This fostered the idea early on of what a training camp should be about. It shouldn’t be a seminar or a place where the experts tossed down their knowledge from Olympus. Students also shouldn’t have to miss one type of training for another or miss out working with a particular coach if they so chose. Instead it should be a process where everyone came together and learned together however it best suited them. The trick was how to make that work and still send everyone home getting the skills and attention they wanted. QajaqTC has really got that down.

At the Qajaq Training Camp all the coaches come together early on to talk about how the event will go. Coaches sort of divide up based on their expertise or sometimes just what they enjoy teaching. A loose organization is put together where each coach or group of coaches will find their own little spot in the water where students can come to them for help. No one is assigned a “class”, they just choose their area of learning. After breakfast everyone heads out on the water. Many students will jut out to those groups. Near shore people can find coaches to work with them on their first rolls. They can also find others to work with on balance bracing and advanced rolls. Interspersed with these open sessions are a few more formal classes on strokes or rescues and of course specific traditional skills such as making your own Akuilisaq (spray skirt). Students are free to work with anyone (or no one) as they like, then jump off to a class for a bit, then head back to a group as best suits them. Sessions are simply held morning and afternoon each day.

To keep things organized there are always a couple of boats out there helping move more coaches to larger groups when needed or to help students find the group they are looking for. Students are not required to stay in one class, but can move freely from group to group as they choose, using the time as best suits them.

In addition students are encouraged to work with each other along the way. You will often find folks who spent time learning something with a coach, then gathering in smaller groups to work together on what they had just learned. If you sneak in and listen you will hear them sharing the bits they took away, all the little tips that made it work for them and of course a lot of encouragement. There is a certain power in students working together all at a similar stage in their learning. What’s more, just like those martial arts classes you’ll often see the more advanced students putting a lot of time in with new students as well. In the end everyone gets all the personal attention they need to get what they want out of the weekend.

From the shoreline you see a kaleidoscope of kayaks gathered in little distinct pods in every corner. Between each pod are other boats moving between or taking a bit of personal time. You may find someone just rolling and rolling and rolling or a top name coach working one on one with a first time paddler. Something that it seems to me only this format will permit. You’ll also see folks just floating and talking or playing. Each one choosing when and how much they need to learn and when they’d rather just be hanging out with friends. Something that seems to suit all learning styles.

Coming as I do from a more standard background of ACA or BCU learning I can see how this looser method has many advantages. Students don’t find themselves missing something if they feel they need to take a morning off the water. They can also spend more time, or even the whole weekend on one skill if they wish. They also have access to multiple coaches which allows them to see things from a variety of perspectives. There’s a lot of good here. Certainly at large formal symposiums it would be hard to replicate this style of learning to some degree. (You can’t just zip out with someone for rough water training for example.) On the other hand I can easily see a way that the big gigs could set aside a rotation of coaches for mentoring sessions where there were always coaches available to students who wanted to focus on certain skills. I hope we talk more about that in the future.

All in all though, the training camp style is a wonderful learning experience for everyone and is certainly a compliment to sea kayak training in general. Later I’ll talk more about the people behind this program. It only took a few little quiet observations to see why they organized QajaqTC the way they did. In a way, it’s just an extension of the people who made it all happen.

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1. Learning Revisited – Part 1
2. it’s sociology
3. Chicago Gallery
4. All you have and more
5. Pencils Down