A saw a recent commentary on a paddling group. It was written by a guy who is quite confident it his abilities, and from what I’ve seen, he has some excellent paddling skills.
When I dug into it a little more, I found more and more posts about how the way he does it is right, end of discussion.
The logical inference is that everyone who doesn’t do it his way is wrong.
Let’s get Hegelian on this Master-Slave dialectic.
The Lord/Master is in conflict with the Bondsman/Slave. The Lord appears to hold power over the Bondsman, commanding compliance and labor from the Bondsman. who provides it.
The paradox is that without a slave, there is no master. A Lord depends on the Bondsman for recognition, but receiving recognition from a lower status person is ultimately unsatisfying.
The Bondsman, however, by his very definition, is engaging with the world through his labor, and comes to see the world more holistically, since the Lord never really interacts with the world, relegating all labor (and hence connection with the world) to his subordinates. Ivory tower indeed.
Simply put, if a guru declares himself the keeper of all that is true and good, and there are no followers to recognize it, what power does the guru really have?
None. The guru has none. A self-important guru is impotent without his sycophants.
I have seen this more and more lately. Therefore, I want to remind us all that paddling is a wonderful activity. It is a sport. It isn't a religion. It shouldn't be a cult.
That means that there are no right or wrong ways to paddle.
But there are efficient and inefficient ways to do things.
If you can't do a j-stroke, fine. Switch sides every five strokes. It's not wrong, it's just less efficient.
But wait...unless you use a bent shaft paddle with a high cadence. Which is fine and efficient.
I've heard "No solo canoeist would ever use a kayak paddle. That's wrong."
No, it's not wrong. If you want to start your own "no double bladed paddles allowed" in your church, go for it. But don't expect me to join it. You can use a kayak paddle if you want to. It's not wrong. It's just different.
I'm writing this because I am growing weary of "experts" who tell people they're wrong because they're doing something that works for them.
So maybe instead of "You're doing that wrong," perhaps a better way to encourage someone is to say "I have a different way I do that which might be a little easier on your shoulder, would you like me to show you?" This gives the paddler agency to say "Yes, please! Show me!" or "Nah, I'm good."
Recently an old codger approached my wife (a paddler of over 35 years) on a river and told her she was holding her paddle wrong. She bit her tongue and said nothing. The old codger, for the record, wasn't as efficient as he could have been, if he knew how to do a crossbow draw, instead of putting on the brakes an losing all his momentum.
There are enough gurus in the world. I don't think we need them in paddling.
And Stephanie is a fine paddler. And gorgeous too.