how long is the journey?

I'd say freediving, or any other activity for that matter, in general is an attitude thing.

There are people, for whom it is perfectly good to learn diving by the "DIY" method. Reading books, discussing on the net and most of all diving. But these are people that are cautious by nature and tend to research and dig into things before running at them headlong. These people are however, quite rare compared to the averge.

For the average person, it is much better to take a course. Have someone who's "been there" tell you how to avioid the most obvious pitfalls. But nothing and no amount of clinics and diplomas in the end can substitute for personal experience and enthusiastic personal reserach.

It's all about attitude. You can go to a clinic and learn nothing. Or you can go in an learn great deals. You can read net forums and learn nothing but harmful ideas. Or you can read them as supplemental source of learning and learn greatly. Just like you can graduate highschool and barely read, or you can graduate and be ready to storm through University. And always, there are those rare individuals, who quit highschool because it was boring, but are still better than you in what you studied years to get a diploma for.

I think it's safe to say that no one learns diving ONLY form the Internet. People like Eric DO learn on their own though. Using the Internet, books, trial and error, and especially the ocean as their source. But these are the pioneers, the people who keep pushing the knowledge and limits.

However it is also very safe to say, that taking a good clinic is a great way, and to most people the recommended way, to start this wonderful sport.

hola

I think freediving is something natural that come with the package- since we are born we are able to freedive

now as everything in this life we need the help or someone that have experience already and teach us how to do this in the best way

in my case was my father -in this case teaching me to spearfishing

We can not ignore the one that can teach us to have a better perfom--

- Also I agree with the post before "NOTHING AND NO AMOUNT OF CLINIC AND DIPLOMA IN THE END SUBSTITUTE FOR PERSONAL experience and enthousiastic personal "RESEARCH"

Now -having studied first with the help of a trainer doesn't means you can not have a better understanding than him in the future and this is when we research by your own and practice- we also have the ability to research I do that most of the time but I started by the basic

but I never go to the extremos-

sometime we can find posting here about x techniques to have a better perform for freediving- but what I do is to read in books if It has beeing study it through analysis previously done by medicine.

. And if they work I take them into consideration "si no no lo tomo en consideracion"

saludos

Wow, this is quite the thread. If this humble newbie may add his 2 cents...

Personally, I take just about everything I read on the net with a grain of salt, the size of which depends on the source. I have no doubt you can learn just about anything you want to off the net, but when it comes to freediving it's all about learning your own personal limits and learning to interpret what your body is telling you. No one can teach that to you other than yourself through experience.

Again, my personal opinion, being a complete newbie, I felt I needed to take a course (which I recently did) not just to learn about improving freediving performance, but most importantly, the safety aspect. I owed it to myself and anyone who I may dive with in the future to know what to do in case of an emergency. Anything I learn to help my performance is a bonus right now, because, as I said, I'm starting from nothing!

As for the DB forums...well, I have nothing but good things to say about them. If it wasn't for them, I certainly wouldn't have found a diving buddy in Ottawa this summer, and certainly wouldn't have taken up freediving at all. My experience has been that this forum is filled with knowledgable people willing to help newbies such as myself out.

Cheers!

I quite agree with Bolts.

Also a newbie, I would not have found freediving if it was not for this forum. It is one of the cleanest, friendliest, and informational forums I have ever seen or heard of. I agree, people that cannot contribute, or are just full of lies do not make it here. It is a constant source of inspiration, technique, and caution for me, and I am sure for many others as well.

I do believe that you can learn the techniques that you need to know from this forum and other resources. It is how you apply those techniques that really matters. If you cannot distinguish between what is dangerous and what is not, learning from an online source is simply foolish. Everything must be considered and reconsidered as it applies to you. You are the sole keeper of your life, it is no ones responsibility but yours.

On the other hand, do not pass on information to another if it could prove dangerous or fatal if they do not understand that it could. Everyone should understand the difference between what they know and what they think, and should not pass anything along with out making that distinction to the recipient. Furthermore, the recipient should always question the validity, in context of other sources and their own personal convinctions, of any information they recieve. Then and only then should they make their decision.

If one does not understand and/or follow these basic principles in any endeavor in life, then whatever insues cannot be blamed on anyone but themselves.

Remember to enjoy your freediving as if there was no one else out there to compare PB's to. If you do this you will get the most enjoyment and improvement in your diving. This forum is here to teach you how to enjoy your diving more, if it does not do this, then leave it alone. (Just one of the many gems of wisdom I have picked up here at the forum).

Well, that turned out to be a heck of a long post. Sorry, I have a tendency to get verbose when fatigued. . .


~Picksmith