Surf teacher riding wave of enthusiasm
SANTA MONICA BEACH — A 52-year-old surfer shows thousands of Los Angeles children how to catch waves. It’s a beautiful sight, for most.
Kip Jerner, a former stuntman for “Baywatch”, 30-year county lifeguard and Transcendental Meditation guru has taught more than 10,000 local children how to surf over the past 11 years.
Nearly 4,000 of Jerner’s surf students have been from the inner city, another 1,000 have been blind.
Jerner’s non-profit company, Kanoa Aquatics, runs summer surf camps along Santa Monica and the South Bay. This year, he taught 2,000 youngsters surfing at all skill levels.
It’s too late to catch him this summer, since the camps ended last week. However, he does give private lessons around the year.
Jerner, who’s been surfing since he was 10, said teaching the blind to surf has been an interesting but worth-while challenge he undertook, when he realized it may good for them.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Jerner said. “Then, as I thought about how I would do it, I was stumped.
“I thought about what I would need to know... if I were blind.”
Jerner said he blind-folded himself and proceeded to give himself a surfing lesson. He crouched by the board, felt the sides, nose and tail. He identified where he needed to stand.
“Over the years, I’ve learned what’s needed most to teach the blind how to surf is simply narrating as much as possible what’s happening,” Jerner said.
Jerner’s best blind pupil is a boy named Joseph, a 15-year-old who attends the Los Angeles Braille Institute.
“He’s amazing,” Jerner said, who will be working privately with Joseph this fall and spring for future competitions, in which the teen will be competing against surfers who can see.
Jerner, who has provided lessons to Jim Carrey and his daughter, said he often incorporates yoga and meditation into his surf classes. He says developing a sense of calm and serenity are skills that go hand-in-hand with good surfing, and they are qualities children need these days.
“I want to pass on the knowledge I have, because people need it,” Jerner said.
“Tensions are so high in society today, a lot of children don’t know how to handle all of the negativity.”
Practices like meditation, yoga and surfing help.
“Surfing’s also a lot of fun,” Jerner said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.