Most of the teaching sections have an instructional video that helps connect the technique with the life application concept. Start by watching the video to help you understand the underlying teaching concept for the technique. Then read through the paddling application. Both of these may help you teach the skill better and should help you connect the life application that follows.
Most of the pictures and videos in this resource come from The Kayaker’s Toolbox DVD, an instructional video produced by Joe Holt that I helped work on and which contains over 150 minutes of kayak instruction for beginning and intermediate paddlers. Although I have only added small clips to this resource, just what I thought you needed to see to understand each life application or instructional concept, there are full featured clips on the HD DVD. As part of this Living Waters project, this $30 video is available to outdoor program leaders for $12.50. If you are interested in ordering a copy, contact trent.korstage@noc.com. Just so you know, I am not making any money off of the video but think that it is a very useful resource for teaching. You do not need the video to understand and use the concepts on this site but it gives a more complete picture of the techniques described especially for kayakers. Click on the photo below for a short intro to the video:
Paddling Parables
There is also a section just for parables that didn’t fit into the teaching progression model. Parables were the preferred method that Jesus Christ Himself used to teach spiritual truths to those who could understand in no other way. The definition of a parable is “the use of the familiar and understood to explain the unfamiliar and unknown.” Ashley Denton pointed out in his book “Christian Outdoor Leadership” that between 50-85% of Jesus’ teaching was in the outdoor setting. He goes on to say that parables function as a teaching “Trojan Horse” with truth hidden inside them that reveals our true motives and battles against the status quo. Every outdoor leader understands that God has given us the most wonderful classroom in the outdoors. It is our hope that God provides an unending source of revelation through the parables provided in this resource.
"In these days, God taught me
as a schoolteacher teaches a pupil.”
Ignatius of Loyola
Dance
Psalm 30:11
2 Samuel 6:14
Paddling is much like a dance. Dancing is often a spontaneous expression of joy and delight. For Christians, our delight is in the Lord. Life is a dance. You dance with God, hopefully every day, and you dance with others around us. In the dance of life you want to avoid stepping on too many toes but be open to being guided by our ultimate dance partner – God – through the steps, then taking the time to help guide others through the process of learning the steps. Likewise in our boats, we need to work with the water to keep us on the good pathway through chaotic waters. In paddling it is important to dance with the water and not fight against it.
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