In Belgium it is quite hard to become a certificate for canoe instructor or guide. Once upon a day, there was an initiator course. But that disappeared as fast as it came. Meanwhile people from NKV and VTS are working hard on a new version of this course.

Since I didn't want to wait, I looked around for something that could get me on the way. BCU stars is an option. My major problem with BCU is that bcu is focussed on traditional boats. Being used to a Viper 11 playboat I'm not a big fan of paddling traditional boats, especially on whitewater.

I ended up with Canadierkurs.de, doing a guide certification program that works according the ACA system.

Right now I have my level 3, and I must say I haven't regretted a second or a penny of it! Armin Burzlauer is a great instructor with an incredible eye for detail. As you could expect from a guide course, not only your personal paddling technique is improved, but also different rescue techniques are trained and explained. And don't you think you can always take the easy solution. Armin pays good attention to what you do, and will challenge you to try the harder option as well. Both for rescue techniques as for paddling techniques.

If you believe you can use the strokes you like you're also wrong. A limited set of strokes and techniques is trained and used. You'll have to do your manoevers with those strokes. And yes, they are feasable, but maybe not always as easy as other fancy strokes.

To make a long story short: this guide training is definetly worth his time and money! If you're interested in becoming an instructor it's also a great way to start your instructor training and test if you're ready for it. Large parts of the instructor training are also covered in this guide course.