Good for You ...
To the OP, I got my box of goodies from wesspur yesterday and spent most of today in my large sycamore climbing & mock rigging every possible scenario I was reading about in a rigging manual. Trying to get more proficient with rigging techniques. I didn't cut anything but feel like I learned a lot in the process. Redirects, whoopies, loopies, balancers, pretensioning, rope management, etc.. Even thought about how and where to cut on certain limbs applying what I've been reeding in the same manual. Good times.
You can learn a lot from books and even on the internet if your willing to search and wade through a lot of BS in tree forums. Having said that, practical application of any book learned techniques is essential before you put yourself in a situation that could result in damage or injury.
In my own most recently posted video I give a good example of how not to do it when I let a major limb crush a chain link fence. Had I properly rigged that limb to swing where I needed it to go I wouldn't have hit the fence. A simple overhead swing line would have done it, or in more critical situations where failure is not an option, a spider line (like a giant whoopee sling)
could have set to hold the limb horizontally while it swung to a safe landing.
Care must be used when you have a lot of load on your rigging system. A loaded rope can crush you or burn off your arm if caught like I did in this video: (I get bit by being in the bight)
[video=youtube;Knmld9Em6PU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knmld9Em6PU[/video]
So that is how not to do it, or more accurately where not to be when you make the cut. Mistakes can be painful, and you don't even have to be in the tree:
[video=youtube;kypHmmh0WiU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kypHmmh0WiU[/video]
You seem to have a good attitude and are willing to get out and put the time and effort forward to build your skills. Good luck in your endeavors and always stay alert, develop a situational awareness about where you are and what you are doing. And above all stay safe and avoid shortcuts that could put you, or the men working with you, at risk.
Now enjoy the chitstorm that will follow this post.