Carolina Canoe Club comes out in force for EJ Clinic on the Tuck by Will Richardson | Nov 15, 2004 | Whitewater | 0 comments November 15, 2004 Greg Runyon (a.k.a. “Mad Scientist”)- contacted me about 20 times this spring and summer to attempt to organize a clinic with me for the CCC. My answers to him on each request, is “yes, I would like to do one, but no, I can’t give you a date.” If you look at my calendar since April, you will realize that I haven’t had a free weekend yet. Finally, on Greg’s last attempt at securing a date, we settled on November 13-14th. This is getting late in the season, but here in the Southeast, the weather this time of year is usually quite nice. Greg organized everything, beyond me showing up. He made a list of interested people, broke them down into groups by the subjects they were interested in, and collected the money for the clinics. At the end of the day we had 22 people for four, four hour clinics. Saturday 8:30am to 12:30 pm, and 1:30pm to 5:30pm. We did the same on Sunday. The four clinics were: EJ’s Playboating Basics (yes, like the DVD), Whitewater Kayaking/ Strokes and Concepts, a second Playboating Basics, and finally an Advanced Playboating. In the Playboating Basics class in the Morning I had one student, Bridget, who I called Dominique during most of the class, I hope she wasn’t too bummed out from that! We focused on getting the boat vertical in every way possible. On the bow, stern, by endering, double pump, squirting, plowing enders, etc. We also worked on rolling and bracing, and some strokes and concepts as they apply to playboating. Greg was in this clinic and planned on doing the afternoon class as well, but ran out of steam. Ben, the chemical engineer designing some of the world’s most advanced medicines, by inserting genes into Chinese rat ovaries to produce proteins to cure such diseases as MS, and cancer was also there. Ben is about 50 and has one speed, full speed. It was funny trying to get him to do strokes slowly when learning. If you were to take him golfing, I’ll bet he would do great off the tee, then when within 100 yards he would continue to hit his driver with a full swing, never able to get himself to slow down and put. Pretty cool issue to have with a guy his age. Leslie was in the morning class and was the sleeper. She pretended to be a little wimpy in the beginning, but by the time the afternoon class came around, she was back for another 4 hours! She also went from eddy flower to leader when going from the first to the second class, very cool. (of course she switched to a Fun for the second class, inspiring both comfort and confidence). Finally, Jim Farthing, my biggest fan (winner of the first person to buy my playboating DVD’s, and owner of every EJ instructional piece I have) was in the morning class, with his lovely support crew, Catherine cheering him on. I must admit, I was very proud watching Jim show off the skills he has learned with my Rolling and Bracing DVD, as well as Strokes and Concepts. He definitely was the rolling king of that class. The weekend continued on like this with a great group of individuals making up what appears to be a great club, the CCC. I understand that they have 800 members which means that they are doing something right! I have also been told by numerous students in my clinics that they are hanging on to old outdated ideas about rolling and bracing, and other skills so key to the kayaking experience. I was even told that if you didn’t “conform” to the way it has always been done, more often than not you would be told that you are doing it wrong and need to come back to they way things were. This is not uncommon among any kayaking group, including schools, clubs, or a group of instructors that have been teaching long enough to span the evolution of whitewater kayaking. The most important thing for any kayaker to know, is that most skills taught by most organizaions, including certification programs, teach the skills like a religion. “This is how it is, I believe strongly in it, and that is how you should learn it.” The best way to grow and not find yourself as an example of how people used to do it before we found a better way, is to treat every kayaking skill as an evolving, improving entity that is still less than ideal. This way you will have an open mind and be more likely to only except instruction from anybody that can be proven and compared in a factual way. I learned this lesson the hard way in 1992. I was on the US Olympic Team for Barcelona and was at a training camp at the Olympic Course in March of ’92. We were doing video review of a workout. Scott Shipley was trying to convince our coach Bill Endicott that his way of doing an upstream gate was better than the “status quo” the way I did it. We did video review and my upstream gate was faster by .2 seconds. I had John Lugbil and Bill Endicott on my side and we all said, “see, EJ’s way (standard accepted way) was faster. I never looked back at Scott’s way after that and was smug in my “belief” that also shared by others, was better, because I had an example to prove it. Well, I was also the top American in that Olympic games in kayaking beating Scott and Rich and that pretty much secured my “belief”. One year later, Scott beat me all season, using his newly developed upstream technique that he had perfected over the winter and was faster than more efficient that the status quo. Scott went on to win the World Cup that season. This was a wake up call and a good slap in the face for me. I immediately became a student of the sport again, no longer taking any “accepted” technique as the right way to do it, but instead questioning every technique ever dictated to me from coaches, from instructors, from books and videos. What I learned is that my paddling went from a fun recreational and sporting activity to a dynamic exciting adventure and development project. Imagine if the medical industry accepted what was once a great breakthrough as the accepted treatment and stopped trying to prove a better way? Ben from my clinic says that in 5 years Chemotherapy will go the way of a hole drilled in your head and be the bad joke of the medical industry. (yes, many people have lived because of taking poison that killed the cancer before killing them, but not exactly a great solution). I started developing my “EJ’s Strokes and Concepts” program in 1993. It has been developing each year since then and the evolution of the kayak has made the program the only one that currently factors in kayaks that are under 13’ long properly. Rolling and bracing is so far advanced over what was once taught that I can’t tell you just how much of a factor the “old guard” has on holding the sport back for individuals who just want to learn to roll confidently so that they can enjoy their day on the river. OK, so this is off topic, sorry, but not really. Of course, the question remains, “Hey, EJ, who made you the expert to tell everybody else what is right or wrong?” The good news is that I don’t pretend to know what is truly right or wrong, only that I know what is the currently the most effective techniques as of 2004. I can only promise that I will try to stay current and learn, if not develop, the latest techniques that will make a beginner’s entry into the sport easier and more fun, as well as the advanced boaters progress. Who knows more about the best method of treating MS or cancer- the best hospital in your state, or Ben or Greg, from my clinic who have already developed treatments that replace the “accepted tried and true, and the ones known by the average doctor”. I bet on progress, even if it isn’t available to the public yet. This has been my number one secret to success as an athlete in the sport. Why try to learn a new move invented by somebody else when you can be a step ahead of the competition by inventing the moves yourself. (of course, I have to learn other’s moves too, because there are lots of inventive boaters out there) I have applied this to my strokes and concepts, my rolling and bracing, my river running, and my playboating. Alright- enough about this. The rest of the clinic went great and I made lots of new friends in people like Milton who has “never gotten vertical intentionally” and did. Knut from Germany, now in the USA who did some great boating. I am off with Kristine Bye, EJ Demonstrating the cartwhee Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ