Why Training Matters More Than Certification

Twenty-five years ago, I was training in a small, unique, and relatively unknown martial art called Pencak Silat. For over a decade, while working at the dive shop, becoming an instructor, and learning to identify myself as a diver, I was also immersed in this wild Indonesian jungle combat system that taught you how to fight with machetes, sticks, and bare hands.

I was consumed by it. Passionate. For a short while, I even became a teacher, as our small school quietly retired in the shadow of the rising fever for UFC, MMA, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I still use what I learned in Silat every time I dive. Always assume the worst. Assume the attack will come without warning. And assume it will come from more than one direction. This way of thinking is not too different from what Larry Green told me before swimming into a cave dive at Devil’s Ear.

One of the things that made Silat so different from other martial arts was that we had no colored belts. No ranks. No trophies. We were all just students. You finished a class, and then… you came back. Again and again. Trying to get punched one less time in the face. Eventually, if another teacher saw something special in you, you might be asked to teach. But even then, the teachers were still students.

We learned to fight to win… but more importantly, to never give up. To always stay in the game.

There’s a similar truth in scuba diving that doesn’t always make it to Instagram… the best divers aren’t the ones with the most plastic cards in their wallets (or on their apps these days). The best divers are the ones who keep showing up, week after week, to train — long after the class is over.

It’s a mindset older than scuba. Like the martial artist drilling the same kata for decades, or in my case… we called them jurus — over and over, first to look good for ourselves, then to impress others maybe, and then finally, maybe you really get it… that is when you realize that perfection is impossible… that you’d never get there, but you find peace knowing that and you keep trying. You realize that getting there is NOT the point, but rather “chasing it” was the point all along.

Kind of like the musician who spends hours with a metronome, not to play in front of a sold-out crowd, but for the love of the craft itself.

The Mott Underwater Method shares that spirit. We train not because a certification requires it, but because the ocean demands it. The shipwreck demands it. The cave demands it. Our skills aren’t for a photo op… they’re for the moments that matter.

A sudden current shift while filming hammerhead sharks in the Galápagos.
A regulator free-flow at the deepest, furthest point in your plan.
A sweeping silt-out that erases your teammates from view in an instant.

In those moments, the question is simple:

Do you panic, or do you perform?

Recently, I spoke with a student who had completed my UTD Essentials class, their first exposure to a real DIR course. If you’ve been there, you know it’s not an easy accomplishment — and more importantly, it’s not a clear finish line either. Essentials isn’t a medal; it’s a responsibility.

This diver embraced that responsibility. They kept training. Their buoyancy? It got better. Their trim? It became sharper. Their team awareness? Getting much stronger. Are they “done”? No — and they know it.

DIR diving… like Pencak Silat did for me… teaches you that you never get to coast. The work never gets easier; you just get better. And when it finally feels easy, you make it harder… on purpose… so you can grow again.

And that’s the real reward. Not the patch. Not the applause. The quiet confidence that you are more capable today than you were yesterday. The trust your dive buddy has in you, earned through hours of invisible, uncelebrated work.

So if you want to grow as a diver, and as a person… stop chasing the next class for the card. Start chasing your own potential. Get in the water. Practice the basics until they’re beautiful.

Because when it matters, it won’t be your certifications that save the day.
It will be your skills.

Contact James Mott about the Mott Underwater Method

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