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Spearfishing
For our first level class ('Freeediver'), you must be able swim, and comfortable with idea of swimming in the ocean, entering from a beach. You don't need to have perfect swimming technique but in a pool, you must at minimum be able to tread water unassisted for 5 minutes, and finish a 100 yard swim on the surface with your face in the water. Ocean or competitive experience—surfing, SCUBA, spearfishing, swim/synchro, or water polo is helpful but not required, and many strong freedivers started out in the PFI program with nothing more than a love of the water and willingness to learn. Freediving can be odd sport; much of physiology behind breath-hold is counter-intuitive, and some great athletes struggle with it while other people who are not considered particularly athletic excel at apnea. For certain pre-existing health conditions, a physician's signature is required before you can take the class. Students between the ages of 12 and 16 years must take the class at the same time as a parent or guardian.
Class format is a mix of classroom, pool, and ocean. Classroom instruction takes about 6 hours. We will go over safety and accident prevention, proper breathing and equalization techniques, equipment, basic freediving physiology, and training tips. Pool is usually 3.5 hours. Here we begin applying skills covered in the classroom, practice static breathholds, as well as safety and rescue drills, and drill performance techniques in preparation for our ocean sessions. Ocean session are 2.5 hours long, and unlike many other schools which offer only a single ocean session, I offer two or three ocean sessions. I am always right there with you, within arms reach, ready to assist and offering constructive feedback on every single ocean dive.
Exact schedule may vary but for the Freediver level classes, expect to be in the classroom and pool all day on the first day starting in the AM, which will be a long but not physically strenuous day. On following days we will do our ocean dives, and they will be shorter days. For the intermediate classes we will do a mix of classroom and pool for the first two days, and the last two days will be ocean diving.
Make sure you are equalizing your ears using the Frenzel technique. If you have a background in scuba and have always just cleared your ears by wiggling your jaw handsfree, I still recommend learning a proper Frenzel, since kicking head down while holding your breath as a freediver, your prior technique may not work. If you aren't sure, take a look at this blog entry. (https://www.socalspearit.com/single-post/2018/05/07/equalizing-your-ears-101)Breathhold training prior to a first level class is not necessary. If you're comfortable with doing some laps in a pool on the surface, this is probably the most beneficial exercise you can do for freediving. And if you don't much care for lap swimming, that is perfectly fine, just being in reasonable cardiovascular shape will be helpful. During the class we will learn safe training protocols for breathhold training in water, as well as very effective exercises for increasing breathhold for real world ocean diving.
Provided there is space available in class, students may sign up and register for any class up until the moment the class starts. Exceptions are the few classes we offer which do not have any classroom portion at all but do involve a certification, in which case E-learning needs to be completed before the class starts. This includes the 'Discover Freediving' class and certain destination camps or 'away' type classes.
To take the Intermediate class, you must have been certified at the Freediver level by me or any other PFI instructor, OR have equivalent experience. This can be a level 1 or 2 certification with another recognized freediving agency (FII, SSI, AIDA), or you can be self taught, i.e., if you are a spearfisherman who is comfortable in the ocean, can hunt at 25'+ and make a touch and go or emergency dive to 50' or beyond you would be a good candidate, provided you have solid equalization skills. If you have equivalent experience and want to take my Intermediate level class, please contact me first. Safety is still at the heart of this class as well, and all the safety concepts and drills from our first level class are reviewed and expanded on.
Format of the Intermediate class is similar to the first level class, but is 4 days instead of two. In addition to the possibility of deeper dives, we spend more time in the classroom and working on dry training, and we do an additional pool session. We go much deeper into physiology of freediving and spend much more time working on advanced equalization techniques, stretching exercises, and deep safety protocols. I also like to specifically work some finer aspects of finning and swimming technique as it applies to deep diving, as well as dive strategy and application of pro techniques for particularly challenging 'real world' diving or hunting.
Yes. PFI is the second oldest freediving organization in the world, and the first to be insurable by an international underwriter. As an education system, PFI has evolved since its inception in 1999, but it’s still somewhat the gold standard for safety. Techniques developed by the original PFI family are used by a variety of first responders, motion picture professionals, military and special forces, and competitors of all stripes.
Most of our classes are intensives intended to be incredibly thorough and real world results driven. All are taught by some of the most experienced and in-demand instructors in the world. We regularly see brand new but committed divers double and triple their depths and breathhold times in the space of two days–in addition to earning an internationally recognized formal certification. A low cost, no certification class, spread over 4 weekends does not suit our business or clientele.
The unique geography of that beach–protection from various prevailing swells AND the Redondo Submarine Canyon make depth and reasonably good diving conditions available year round, without the time and expense of running a boat to a dive park at one of our islands. If you would prefer to do a class in a different location, that's certainly an option for a private package.
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