About Troy Schafer, Professional Kite Board Instructor
Qualifications
-Instructing kiteboarding in Maui and the Caribbean since 2003.
-International Kiteboarding Organization Certified in 2005.
My Path to Kiting
I was an avid snow boarder and with a company called "One Track.". The owners and most of the riders were from Hawaii and I was introduced to their culture. It was the first time I can remember anyone talking about surfing and calling me a "haole." They showed me how to ride the snow with style, like carving a wave. Until then I approached the mountain like a skateboarder. My ski season was cut short in 2001 and I needed something to occupy my time. Believe it or not there is a surf shop in Seattle called Urban Surf. In that shop they had big, bright yellow Naish 2-line kite hanging from the ceiling. Intrigued, I went home and searched for videos. I could not believe these guys flying over the water and jumping insanely high. I had to have one of those kites. Some guy named Adam Koch sold me a 7m AR 3.5 kite and a "sky pirate" kite board and off I went. There were no lessons, instructors or anyone to ask how to kite. I just tried to figure out how to connect the lines off I went. I should say literally up and off. I flew about 30 feet through the air, unintentionally and tomahawked my kite into an old lady sitting in a wheel chair. She accepted my apologies and I so began down the road of teaching myself to kite. What I found is the things you would most naturally do, could get you hurt. To make matters worse, there seems to be an infinite number of ways to do something wrong and only one or two ways to do something right. Back then the safety devices didn't really work and there was a new term kicking around, "kitemares." It seemed like every time I went kiting, I had a life or death experience. Somehow I kept cheating death and each day I grew a little less stupid. I learned simple things too like if I move to Maui I could learn to kite board in beautiful, blue ocean with a warm tropical breeze and launch from golden sand beaches. (Not that there is anything wrong with cold, dark brown water and muddy beaches lined with blackberry bushes). After a year of getting beat up, I was finally standing up and kiting over a shallow reef lovingly named "boneyards". It was unbelievable to actually be above the water instead of in it. I was hooked and have not gotten bored with kiting since. Flying just never gets old.
By now you are probably wondering what makes me qualified to teach you to kite? Since 2003 I have been a kiteboard instructor. Alan Cadiz, owner or Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques, was the first person to teach me how to be an instructor. Back then the gear and sport was evolving quickly and dramatically. What I learned most back then about teaching is when I must explain something, I have to learn every detail to answer my students. I have to refine my lesson plans and techniques to compliment the way they learn. For example, some people can watch something and do it and do not need much explanation. Others want to know the details of every step and do not perform well after just watching and trying to do it for themselves. In 2005 I received my International Kite Boarding Organization Certificate from the main school in Caberete and worked for one of the founders. Although never was a follower of the IKO method, I learned much from working along with many other instructors and the different philosophies from the 5 schools I worked at. By far and away though, most of what I learned is from being the first one at the beach and the last one to go home for years and years figuring out how the fine details of how to do everything. I believe that until I can do it myself, perfectly, I am not ready to teach someone else how to do it. If kite boarding is a language, it is my native tongue and I have learned it with a passion. I lived most of it's history, development and its culture. I can share with you what you would like to learn from how to connect your kite all the way throwing your first kite-loop handle pass on a strapless surfboard. So, book a lesson today and start learning. Contact Troy at [email protected] for a lesson.
-Instructing kiteboarding in Maui and the Caribbean since 2003.
-International Kiteboarding Organization Certified in 2005.
My Path to Kiting
I was an avid snow boarder and with a company called "One Track.". The owners and most of the riders were from Hawaii and I was introduced to their culture. It was the first time I can remember anyone talking about surfing and calling me a "haole." They showed me how to ride the snow with style, like carving a wave. Until then I approached the mountain like a skateboarder. My ski season was cut short in 2001 and I needed something to occupy my time. Believe it or not there is a surf shop in Seattle called Urban Surf. In that shop they had big, bright yellow Naish 2-line kite hanging from the ceiling. Intrigued, I went home and searched for videos. I could not believe these guys flying over the water and jumping insanely high. I had to have one of those kites. Some guy named Adam Koch sold me a 7m AR 3.5 kite and a "sky pirate" kite board and off I went. There were no lessons, instructors or anyone to ask how to kite. I just tried to figure out how to connect the lines off I went. I should say literally up and off. I flew about 30 feet through the air, unintentionally and tomahawked my kite into an old lady sitting in a wheel chair. She accepted my apologies and I so began down the road of teaching myself to kite. What I found is the things you would most naturally do, could get you hurt. To make matters worse, there seems to be an infinite number of ways to do something wrong and only one or two ways to do something right. Back then the safety devices didn't really work and there was a new term kicking around, "kitemares." It seemed like every time I went kiting, I had a life or death experience. Somehow I kept cheating death and each day I grew a little less stupid. I learned simple things too like if I move to Maui I could learn to kite board in beautiful, blue ocean with a warm tropical breeze and launch from golden sand beaches. (Not that there is anything wrong with cold, dark brown water and muddy beaches lined with blackberry bushes). After a year of getting beat up, I was finally standing up and kiting over a shallow reef lovingly named "boneyards". It was unbelievable to actually be above the water instead of in it. I was hooked and have not gotten bored with kiting since. Flying just never gets old.
By now you are probably wondering what makes me qualified to teach you to kite? Since 2003 I have been a kiteboard instructor. Alan Cadiz, owner or Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques, was the first person to teach me how to be an instructor. Back then the gear and sport was evolving quickly and dramatically. What I learned most back then about teaching is when I must explain something, I have to learn every detail to answer my students. I have to refine my lesson plans and techniques to compliment the way they learn. For example, some people can watch something and do it and do not need much explanation. Others want to know the details of every step and do not perform well after just watching and trying to do it for themselves. In 2005 I received my International Kite Boarding Organization Certificate from the main school in Caberete and worked for one of the founders. Although never was a follower of the IKO method, I learned much from working along with many other instructors and the different philosophies from the 5 schools I worked at. By far and away though, most of what I learned is from being the first one at the beach and the last one to go home for years and years figuring out how the fine details of how to do everything. I believe that until I can do it myself, perfectly, I am not ready to teach someone else how to do it. If kite boarding is a language, it is my native tongue and I have learned it with a passion. I lived most of it's history, development and its culture. I can share with you what you would like to learn from how to connect your kite all the way throwing your first kite-loop handle pass on a strapless surfboard. So, book a lesson today and start learning. Contact Troy at [email protected] for a lesson.