Whitewater ninja -Gustavo Toro

When most people think about getting better at kayaking they think about working on freestyle tricks or running harder lines on bigger rappids and that's what makes it soo hard to get better at kayaking. The one and only way to get better at kayaking is by becoming what some call a "Whitewater Ninja". You may or may have not heard this expresion before and may or may have not seen a "Whitewater Ninja" out on the river. If you haven't heard this expresion before, don't feel left out, because it's probably the best kept secret in the kayaking world. If you say you have seen a  whitewater ninja on the river you're either lying or it wasn't a very good whitewater ninja, because they're not supposed to be seen.

By now you might be wondering what a whitewater ninja is and how to become one. The best way to describe a whitewater ninja is by pretending kayaking is a video game. It doesn't matter how much game time you get the whitewater ninja is that kid that uses cheat codes and makes every body else feel bad by beating them without even trying. And if you really want to know how to become a whitewater ninja, I'm sorry, but if I told you...... I would have to kill you. All I can say is that it is kind of like in the movie "Karate Kid," the only way to learn kung fu, is not by doing kung fu but by doing other random stuff that you would think has nothing to do with it. So just have fun and hope that one day you can call yourself a whitewater ninja, meanwhile I'll see you on the river, but you probably won't be able to see me.

when everything "clicks"

hey internet Gustavo here on the second week of keeners session 2.
Have you ever had that sensation when you do something and it just feels perfect? Even if that something is done daily by other people or even you have done it before but its just this time that you feel that something clicked and everything was perfect even if you know it wasn't. Like doing a skateboard trick and just feeling that it was the best anyone has ever done, or doing a loop in a small hole and feeling like you can do anything.
Yesterday, with the water level at just the right level we were able to surf the Waikiki wave at the bottom of the Lorne. This is a very challenging wave because you need to do a long ferry into the wave. After many attempts I finally managed to get on it, and realized why it is such a great wave. it is steap with fast moving glassy water going into it, this helps you get crazy air while not having to stabilize yourself. after an hour of surfing there I was only able to get in twice, but got one of the best surfs in my life almost sticking an air screw. It was there with that air screw that I didn't even stick that I felt that it clicked. It is in those moments that you know why it is that you love what you do.

why we do it

hello internet Gustavo here
After being at one of the world's best kayaking programs kayaking with the world's best coaches I finally realized why it is that we kayak.

Any person that kayaks has been asked more than once what it is that they love about kayaking. It is there that we wonder why we love so much a sport that puts your body in a little plastic boat that gives you cramps, a sport where we go down huge rapids with a big chance of getting hurt or even drowning. This sport is special: It is not until you have tried kayaking and met the people that do it that you understand the passion that some they have for it.

Most people think of kayaking as a sport, which is correct, but its is not the sport that we love but the lifestyle. It is a life style that lets you travel around the world to some of the most beautiful places with the greatest people ever. It teaches you how to relax, but also how to get your adrenaline so high you can't even explain it. It makes you feel strong and powerful after you've done a big hard rapid, but still keeps you humble knowing the strength of the river and mother nature. Most importantly, it teaches you how to get away, not just in body but in mind. many of you might be wandering what i mean by "get away" but all of you that have kayaked know that every time you get in your boat and into the river you forget everything else, all the stress from work, school, big cities, relationships, whatever is bothering you and just focus one the river. All of this together is what makes us come back to the rivers we love.

Kayaking on the Upper Petawawa