<font color='#0000FF'>Hi
I suppose it depends on what exactly you call technical diving.
Once you've decided exactly what type of diving you are talking about then you will know the steps to take. Deep wrecks, caves, rebreathers etc.
As one of the DIR contingent I would recommend you look at GUE as a training agency and the way they build your skills
www.gue.org.
Starting at Fundamentals stage you learn how not to be a vertical diver (and believe me, at this moment you ARE a vertical diver), how to learn better buoyancy, the basics you need to be a 'technical' diver, and the importance of knowing how to plan a dive without a computer and of course, all done with a minimalist hogarthian equipment setup. Thats just a few of the skills you learn. Its very intensive and extremely good fun, usually taken over a weekend.
The next step would be a Tech1 course which concentrates more on accelerated deco with stages and also qualifies you for nitrox and trimix to 50 mtrs ish saving you doing several piecemeal courses with other agencies. This is a 5 day course, 40 hours of instruction and I think 8 dives or so.
Andy Kerslake is the GUE instructor in the UK and runs courses all the time, usually only with 2 or 3 students to maximise instructor student time.
I am sure that if you ask other GUE trained divers such as Bob Cooper and Mark Emery they will endorse my comments.
And of course, DIR divers always look the coolest underwater, which is what technical diving is all about surely !
