I was talking to a gent who had been one of the very last students of Masa Wantanabi. Now anyone that remembers Masa and Aloha Dive Shop in Burbank, has already probably dated themselves, but those were good times. Diver education was a bit different then. In any case, this guy I was talking to was very young at the time and familiar with using scuba to clean the boats in their docks, but he had never been diving in the ocean.
He took a class from Masa. He had some trouble finding his mask when it was knocked off his head during a regular pool exercise and had some trouble keeping his composure. He tended to bolt for the surface. Finally, Masa told him to use a brush and scrub the bottom of the pool. When he did this, Masa used to a pool broom not only to knock off his mask, but also used it to hold him on the bottom until he retrieved it and put it on. A few of these exercises and he never had a problem with it again.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
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