i had this blog in my draft folder so i must have forgotten to post it.  this was about 6 years ago???  i took Jiko-san and the kids to swim at one of the most dangerous places on Oahu.  the reason i take people here is to teach them about keeping calm, and teaching them about survival.  and this is the best place to do that…

right when we got there, these teenage boys were swimming and one of the guys started to panic.  you could see his panicked eyes and hear him gasping for air.  i told the boys to watch because this is exactly what i don’t want you to do.  luckily, the guy had his friends to save him so he was ok.  this place might look calm, but it really isn’t…

so i jumped in first and told Shunsuke-kun to jump.  this kid was only 10 years old but super brave.

he just raised his arms and jumped.

i take grown adults here and some refuse to jump.  so it takes some courage to jump into the wild ocean.

once you land, this is where you experience the unknown.  waves, wind, currents and wildness.  something this kid probably never experienced before.

Shunsuke-kun looked a little nervous, but i’m telling him “hey, keep calm and you will be ok.”

then his head started to go underwater.  so i said “hey, not that calm!”  haha.  he came up and we started laughing.  laughing is the key to keeping calm.

to be calm, you have to be comfortable.  if you’re uncomfortable, you panic, and when you panic, you drown.  it happens all the time in Hawaii, especially right here.

now the hard part is climbing up.  this takes even more courage than jumping.  waves smashing off the sharp rocks so you have to be ready.

Shunsuke-kun made it up, but he took home a Hawaiian tattoo with him.  it’s scars like this that will make you strong.  it will turn a boy into a man instantly…

then Yuuya-kun jumped in right after.  try to look behind and you can see the waves breaking on the rocks.  that’s the only way to get out of the ocean here.

nice landing and another boy turned into a man.

right after Yuuya-kun jumped in, a huge wave came and broke off the rocks.  we waited, kept calm, and when it was safe, we climbed right back up.  i’m pretty sure these kids didn’t forget this day.  experiences like this can help you save your own life, and maybe someone else’s too…

after that amazing experience, we went to cool down at Waiola Shave Ice.  thank you Jiko-san for letting me teach your boys how to become brave watermen…