ROYAL WOOD

Pick up Issue 06 of Contrast magazine to read a great article on the Vanilla Gorilla, CJ Kanuha.

ROYAL WOOD

CJ KANUHA

Words Daniel Ikaika Ito

Photography Kirk Lee Aeder

Professional surfer Cj Kanuha is paddling out without a leash. In addition to an absence of a leg rope, the 27-year-old Native Hawaiin's board doesn't have fins. It's also missing the customary commercialism of pro's shred stick - No sponsors' logos or stickers. This means any published images of the Kona boy's surfing during this session will not yield a photo incentive check from his sponsors: Insight, Etnies, Nixon, Surf Prescriptions and Kona Brewing Company. Normally this act of branding defiance is the first sign of career suicide for a professional free surfer. It's a veritable olive dropped in a hemlock martini - shaken, not stirred, barkeep.

Kanuha really doesn't give a shit about money during this surf. Only the ocean matters right now. He digs in to the sea with conviction, strokinng through the lineup on a 13'6" wooden surfboard. The lanky, regular foot needs to make it past the breakers quickly because it's impossible to duck dive an olo - an ancient surfboard shape that was traditionally rode by Hawaiian royalty. 

"It's like trying to control a car with no power steering, old school, and your breaks are shot, you're down to the pedal, pumping 'em, going down a steep hill: That's what olo boards are like," says Kanuha about surfing a finless, traditional papa he'e nalu (surfboard) versus a contemporary-three-finned short board. "Riding a short board's like putting your pedal to the metal and jumping in your frickin' Ferrari, and doing 180s around corners with frickin' doughnuts all in one turn."

Kanuha's "Ferraris" are modern thursters shaped by Doc Lausch under the Surf Prescriptions label. The olo he is surfing is self-shaped. Kanuha learned the art of wooden board building by Hui O He'e Nalu founding member Tom Pohaku Stone.

"For me, shaping olo boards and doing all the old school things, and doing it the old school way, and making he'e nalu crafts out of Koa and Wiliwili, is always fun, " explains Kanuha. "It's amazing to get out there and feel the ride that you just made out of something so special."

The olo board that Kanuha is riding is not a very popular shape compared to the alaia. It's kind of like a Blackberry versus an iPhone. Sure, they both work well, but the latter is a lot more user-friendly and can do more tricks.

CJ's full name is Clement Keli'ipo'aimoku Kanuha III and he was named after his dad, who was known as "Junior" by friends and family. Junior was a figurehead of Kona and the Native Hawaiian community. He was instrumental in the preservation of the Keolanahihi Heiau, which is the sacred sites that sit adjacent to Ali'i Drive near the surf spots of Lyman's Point and Banyan's. Coincidentally, Banyan's is CJ's home break.

According to CJ, Keolanahihi Heiau was basically a king's fortress where the ali'i lived, and where the young warriors trained. Across Ali'i Drive is where the high chief Keolanahihi had her complex where she stayed with her ladies in waiting. The idea was to have the warrior men and royal women interact to foster strong bloodlines.

Junior passed away before Christmas last year after a long battle with prostate cancer, which CJ describes as the hardest thing ever. In addition, CJ's mother was receiving treatment for breast cancer at the same time.

"The last year and a half was really, really gnarly for me surfing-wise," says Kanuha about the emotional rollercoaster that he endured from 2009-10. "I had to make sacrifices when both my parents had cancer. They both were doing treatments, both were really sick [...] it was hard for me at the time, but then me and my wife got married, so that was a huge bonus, and I was really, really excited. That was huge, that made my day - just being able to have my dad and mom there, watching me get married was all-time."

CJ is dedicated to perpetuating his father's legacy and the Hawaiian culture through a cultural center and non-profit organization called Kamali'i O Ke Kai (Children of the Sea). The main goal of the NPO and center is to educate kids in traditional cultural practices like canoe-building, lauhala weaving and wooden surfboard shaping, says Kanuha.

As the patriarch of the Kanuha family, new husband and role model in the surf community, CJ is rededicating his focus to professional surfing with aspirations to compete in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. He recently returned from an eco-awareness trip to Costa Rica with the Etnies team, which was his first surf trip in two years.

"My dad would want me to go up there and still surf and rip," says Kanuha. "That's one thing with the ocean, that's our outlet, to get in the water, and for me, I have always been fortunate to spread surfing throughout the world and spread the Hawaiian love. And for this year, I've just been blessed with opportunities to go and do things, and I'm just stoked to work and surf."

Perhaps this is why CJ is paddling out the olo today, instead of his thruster. The wooden board is a tribute to his kupuna (ancestors) and is also a way to restore Aloha in modern surfing.

As he paddles for a waist-high wave, the heavy koa board starts to trim. He gets to his feet easily. The olo slides across the ocean surface with ancient power and Kanuha stands tall with royal grace, folding his arms in a regal pose. This ride isn't for the surf industry because it's much deeper than that for CJ.