i was sitting next to ben aipa all day yesterday. he was coaching a few competitors, and i was coaching shun. if you don’t know ben, let me introduce him. ben aipa is the hawaiian ambassador to surfing. he’s been surfing, shaping, and coaching before most of us were even born. ben was once my coach and shaper so i know him very well. he tells you like it is. he’s straight and if you surf good, he will tell you. and if you don’t surf good, he will tell you too. he sits on the beach and watches you like a hawk. his eyes are watching each and every surfer in the water and that passes by. ben’s coached many world champions and too many pro surfers to list. check out this photo of ben aipa wondering who the heck this young kid from japan was….
so as shun was getting ready for his heat against the under 16. i talk to shun before he jumps into the water. then i go sit down next to ben. ben asks me who this kid is. i told him that shun is an aspiring young pro surfer from japan. the heat starts! shun gets the first wave, takes off, and surfs it like a champion. ben turns to me and says, “kirby, when i see talent, i know talent. this kid is good! this kid has the perfect technique and form. look at my arms.” i take a look and his hair was standing up! “kirby, i have chicken skin. and when i think that a surfer has talent, i’m usually right.” WOW!!!! that’s huge words coming out of ben’s mouth. so we sit there watching the heat where shun is surfing against guys way older than him and twice as bigger. shun showed no fear and even won the heat!! yeah, he beat top surfers including hawaiian amatuer star matty costa.
shun surfed well against his elders and while ben and i were sitting down on the wall all day watching shun beat some of hawaii’s best, ben told me “wow, now this is fun!” i made a mistake by putting shun in the wrong division, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. shun turned some heads yesterday and i’m sure that his elder surfers will respect him a lot more now…. i’m proud of that kid….
check out shun’s semi-final heat in the under 16 division. the same heat as 2 of hawaii’s top amateurs. before the heat, i told shun not to be nervous. easier said than done yeah? haha… i told isaiah that shun was nervous and isaiah told me “uncle, i’m more nervous than him. he’s surfing so good!” haha…
ezekiel lau was the winner of the under 16. i think he just came back from the nationals where he won too. ASP, watch out for this kid!!
isaiah is surfing really really good!!! i use to tell him, “show me all 3 fins!” now he does it all the time. good job isaiah!!!
