The Advent of the Land Paddle

Since the very first humans learned how to build boats and discovered the paddle thousands of years ago, the water paddle has evolved.  

In present day, paddles are used for all sorts of vessels.  Paddles are relatively similar, each paddle has some sort of blade that has enough surface area to push enough water to move across the water and a shaft to connect the blade to the hand grip and provide leverage.  

Back in 2005, I was stranded.  I received a call from my auto repair service letting me know my car was repaired and ready for pickup.  I ran into a problem, I live miles away from the repair service and had no ride to pick it up.  It occurred to me that I own a longboard company and thought I should just take one of our longboards and ride over to the shop and pick up my car.  For the first couple of miles, I was feeling good, the ride was mostly downhill. I kept pushing (kicking) that longboard for miles and miles. By the time I arrived at the repair shop, my legs were trashed.  I typically kick with my left leg and ride the board with my right foot forward.  One leg was on fire for pushing all those miles, the other leg was thrashed from being up on the board the entire way. My back was hosed.  My spine was feeling the strain from bending constantly forward as well as sidewards.  

That experience got me thinking...there has got to be a better way to ride a skateboard or longboard.  As I started watching many long boarders and skaters kick and kick and kick to move their board, I thought to myself that has got to be terrible on the body, especially as you get older.  As you get tired, the exposure to injuries increase because as you continue to kick and kick, eventually your feed could get hung up on your board and knock you off balance.  

I developed a completely new perspective.  It dawned on me! There has got to be a way! How about making a paddle for board riders?  After making several prototypes, introducing to the market the first land paddle, our journey just began.

After years of R & D, Kahuna Creations has delivered the absolute best solution for land paddling. It has been tricky developing a paddle for the land because you don't push water like you do from a vessel, you are "paddling" on top of the road.   The genius behind the design is to provide the rider with full power generation throughout the stroke.  We developed a "road blade" that provides a smooth stroke throughout the entire motion.  Envision a swimmer that reaches way out in front to "pull" the water, then transitions to a "push" as she completes the stroke.  The same method is used with land paddling.  The Kahuna Creations Road Blade is the key to making it all happen.  The blade is engineered to provide grip as the rider reaches in front to "pull" against the road, then as the stroke transitions to a "push" the Road Blade maintains the grip throughout the stroke.  

The Road Grip is designed with an "undulated" or wave like form that provides constant, smooth contact with the road throughout the stroke.  The geometry of the blade reflects the stroking angles on the road.  The product is also designed with several dampening holes, of varying size and length, each of which provide the perfect "feel" throughout the stroke and dampen the effects of the road to keep everything smooth.

The design is a organically beautiful and yet simple. Anybody can have  a great experience land paddling.  

The Kahuna Creations' land paddle experience is incredible.  The learning curve is surprisingly quick.  To get started, simply get your longboard and Kahuna Big Stick out to an open, flat parking lot to get used to the paddling feel.  

Check out our Landpaddling 101 Online classes to get a sense of how to learn to ride and have fun!        http://kahunacreations.com/pages/land-paddling-101

Land paddling is super fun, safe to ride, easy to learn and a great core workout.  We have been approached by many athletes that now actively Land Paddle with Kahuna Creations; MMA fighters, Triathlon Champions, NFL Hall of Fame football players, American Ninja Warriors, SUP Champions, Fitness Pros, Tennis Pros and Pro skaters. The feedback we have been getting is astounding!  Kendall "da spider" Grove, PRO MMA fighter, enthusiastically explains that Kahuna land paddling is great for balance and core development. He said he hates working out at the gym, so he gets out on his landpaddling equpment and goes riding.  Kelsey Withrow, World Champion Triathlete, loves landpaddling because "trathletes are used to working out uni-directionally. Biking, swimming and running are all uni-directional and only develop certain muscles. Land Paddling, gives her an overall body balanced workout to augment her physical fitness regiment.  

We discovered that land paddling is a great outdoor activity that can provide balance, core training, upper body development, overall ligament and supporting muscles and tendons from your toes to you head.  There are not many outdoor activities where you can get out at lunch and get a quick upper body and core workout that is super fun and invigorates your mind.  

It is time to roll!

www.kahunacreations.com