gazxtreme wrote:Why do you need Bthing or IKO?
Shouldn`t you improve your portfolio and marketing over your point?
I wonder you guys might answer:
Were you a newbie crazy on getting in kitesurf, would you refrain of taking classes because this or that kitepoint is not under IKO?
I started to learn in Prea - Ceará - Brazil under IKO. It was a nice school because of its owners. Under IKO guidance they set 12h class under R$1200 only to have 1/3 of classes bodydraging to recover boards. So is it fair to set people to practice something for 4h even if they are performing well because a given section is to learned by IKO manual?
It was somehow useful and I had fun, but nowadays I`d say and recommend anyone starting to go independent instead.
The IKO, BKSA, and the FFVL attempt to set a standard, a structure, and a method of educating people so that they recieve all of the knowledge and tools to become a safe and competent kiter. Some schools choose to implement the course in different ways, and some for sure do NOT do a good job. This however is not the fault of the organisation, but of the schools. If there were NO organisations/associations etc to set the standard way to teach, i can almost guarantee there would be A LOT more accidents, beaches closed, insurance claims etc.
Ok, so you might have the right intentions, and even you might not be recognised as a qualified instructor but be able to teach in the right way, but if that were the case how many other people do you think would teach in the wrong way? I bet there would be a lot. I know Mike and i know he runs his school because he loves the sport, and he tries to make it good for everyone involved. The way the IKO have conducted themselves in this has obviously been a 'knee jerk' reaction, and time will tell if they work it out.
But honestly, to think that it can be GOOD to have NO standard to deviate from is clearly a misinformed utopian idea that will never happen in the real world.
Its like saying ok, anybody can drive a car, jo blogs taught himself so thats good enough for me. Can you imagine driving in this world???
My 2c..... Tim