Proving ground (part 2) | Life of Kai – Season 3 Episode 3

Kai Lenny chases his big wave dream of a title at The Eddie before switching gears to compete against the World Tour’s finest surfers in a high-performance battle down the beach at the Sunset Pro.

Ride shotgun with Kai Lenny as he redefines what’s possible on the world’s biggest waves, chasing his dreams to become the ultimate waterman. This is Life of Kai.

Produced by Red Bull Media House.

For More Check Out:
Reset | Life of Kai – Season 3 Episode 1 – https://youtu.be/59dkMcFL6ts

Proving ground (part 1) | Life of Kai – Season 3 Episode 2 – https://youtu.be/O_KBC-MW7Ek

Proving ground (part 1) Proving ground (part 1) | Life of Kai – Season 3 Episode 2

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There’s no event that’s this prestigious as Monumental and as powerful as edow it’s it’s the biggest event in the history of surfing when you receive an invite to this event you are being honored as one of the best Big Wave Riders of the world it’s an absolute dream come true

To surf in the Eddie been dreaming of that moment since I was a little kid and by the afternoon the Eddie was the biggest ever look this beautiful [Applause] Hey after the first rounds wrapped up I was leading the whole thing I knew if I didn’t have a good second heat it wasn’t going to happen I had high expectations for the waves I wanted to catch your Curr point leader of the at that that is a proper close

Out this year’s Eddie IA event was one of the most special big wave events big wave days we’ve ever had 40,000 people down so that’s like a stadium I’ve never seen WEA that good not even close it was unbelievable how consistent and how big it was every single heat had close out sets

Every single Surfer put it all on the line and for the crowd that was there they enjoyed every minute of it I’ve never been a part of an event like that it just felt like you were going to battle I look at this St at the Eddie it was just different you know it wasn’t only about winning it was a day to celebrate in stampart Legacy and just leaving it all out there sometimes I think the anticipation of an event like this there’s so much weight to it that you don’t necessarily

Stumble at the finish line but you almost get in your own way the way the Eddie works is you surf twice you have two Heats each one an hour long you’re allowed to serve four waves per heat you’re judged on your top three and that’s how you have a champion

Is your best three waves of the Day I knew you had to be in probably the ’90s or high 80s if you were going to win the whole event I just felt like no matter what I did no matter how badly I wanted to go I wasn’t in the right place and it was obviously Luke’s

Day they always say that Eddie picks the surfer I mean you couldn’t script it better on duty lifeguard when said I cow Luke really does embody the spirit of Eddie I cow I really think Eddie was looking down Smiling I have a feeling like this Eddie just changed something I think it kind of brought the soul back into surfing in a way what I took away from the Eddie was the love I have for big wave surfing had never been stronger and there were moments when I

Have an epiphany of what it would mean for me to redefine my surfing not to prove anything to anyone else so much as it is to to prove to myself that I deserve to be at the highest level oh kind of just looks like it changed a little bit get out there Kai

It’d be fun to go back out there for sure oh he’s going out c one yes go show us how it’s done bro imagine if this was our HOA just think we’ll never really be able to show our true HOA prowess you never know maybe one day there should be

A q there one Q there should be the day I retire they’ll announce it they’d ask you to judge me and Kai grew up like the same street and at that time surfing was kind of just one of his things he was like just doing all of it sort of equally all

At the same spot like you all at at the point of hokea The significance of this place Hoka I mean this is the first big spot that challenged me when I was in my formative years wind surfing this was the Mecca here on Maui Hoka is like the pipeline of wind surfing I remember as a kid I got to see

Kind of like a mixture of all surfing life and that gave me that switch on the head it’s like I can do that I started wind surfing when I was 6 years old my dad really helped me to take it to the next levels and go up to

Hoka and and just have a lot of fun first time I heard about kyeni I heard there was like a little lired Protege on Maui doing all the stuff sub kite wind surf surf big waves tow in by the time like I I met him I thought he

Was just going to be floating above the ground as Kai was coming up winning standup World titles paddle board World titles kite World titles wi surfing World titles I mean I don’t even know on paper what he’s won but there’s no way you can ride all these other boards and

Not have interest in traditional surfing whether it’s big waves or small [Applause] waves there really haven’t been many Surfers come from say wind surfing background or kiting background to start surfing and be really great at surfing the way that they turn is not from the wave energy as from the wind

Energy when you come from a fundamentally different sport all these things transition into how you look riding a wave and Kai’s really worked hard on that he has really been able to transition that and create a great foundation for his small wave surfing it’s two on the dot heat Starts Now I want to do it all so I’m trying to get there with my shortboarding in all aspects of performance surfing he’s stepped up a ton I respect when people put their head down and work towards something he’s really got good probably intimidating for guys he’s competing against it’s almost like a guy coming

And stealing your girl you know he comes and beats you in heat I’m leaving depending on the time of the year different tribes would kind of flow in and out of this beach park I would say consistently the best Maui Surfers would converge down at the beginning of

The beach park Pavilions it was a Rowdy Bunch for sure there’s no question there was a bit of a divide between Surfers and wind Surfers just trying to break into that Core group of surfers was um you know tricky growing up whenever I look at Kai

And I never thought of him as a surfer there’s always been some drive or motivation to want to feel a legitimacy with my surfing I think it all stemmed from not being considered a surfer more of a wind Surfer it’s a lot now to be able to have a chance to

Prove that I’m not just a big wave surfer I’m not just a wind Surfer I can actually compete against the very best welcome back to the hurly pro Sunset Beach another great heat in the water consider you got a wild card and KY Lenny the championship tour is made

Up of the top 34 Surfers around the world the best Surfers in the world that make it onto that platform compete for a world title you have two wild cards that are allocated for each event at Sunset Beach I would say that Kai is a

Specialist so it was an easy fit for the wild cards one thing about being a wild card I will say it’s not easy cuz you’re going to come up against the top seat you’re going to have to somehow find a way to beat those guys in order to get deep into that

Contest wild cards can take it all the way Kai’s one of those guys when you’re a little kid that dreams of competing at the world stage the emotions and the mental side can for sure get in your way do I really deserve this you know I’m coming from you know

Such a different place in surfing but that’s what makes it kind kind of an interesting wild card is somebody that you don’t know exactly what they got welcome back to the booth what’s happening guys I’m just excited to see Kai take on flip to and out the back looks like we got

Kai Lenny looking for some beautiful turns out in front of this wave he’s got a nice little kick out the kid inside was just over the moon being able to go in a heat with phelipe too FIP too off the bottom straight up into the corner

It’s like why not go against the best guys right away what are you kidding me Felipe Toledo on fire he can beat those guys he can beat just about anybody one out the back behind them kyeni looks like he’s got a nice wave quick turn in the corner right there another beautiful

Sweeping turn kicking back out he’s excited he wants more out the back Liam O’Brien going to get out on the face second wave of the set nice and clean bang off the top beautiful lip line drop comes around for more woof backing him up KY on a beautiful wall what’s he coming

Into little under the hood snap doesn’t take the cover though big gouge on the face to finish nice work right there I’m just wondering whether they’ll say he rode out it’s like he did questionable huh I was thinking the same thing they want to see it with control right out into the flats

So you know that you pull the maneuver off you’re going to get scored for it and there you go 3.73 no credit absolutely no credit that that’s a lot of points missed out there KY Lenny needing a 5.4 here we go he wants it again he’s got clean water KY

Lenny 23 seconds on the clock can he do it on the Buzzard got it you got it moving 66 on the rail and he goes down oo unfortunately High Lenny he’s going to bow out into the elimination round too takes the win but you have to give yourself permission

Y because if you give yourself permission to just play Full Throttle yeah I think mentally I’m like like all these guys like madebe here I got a wild card and you know I haven’t done good in any Qs events anyway so it’s like the back of that’s like floats in the back

Of my head you know you can serve for these guys I’m telling you you you this is this is you you can be here but you got to give yourself permission okay and if you give yourself permission you’re going to feel like a ton of bricks are

Going to be lifted off of you and then it’s going to be like now I see it now I feel it now I am it yeah yeah you know what I mean just give yourself Permission welcome back to the elimination round this is a very important afternoon for these men as they try to avoid elimination Strider this is not where you want to be now KY Lenny up and at it beautiful lip line snap great flow back into the pocket wave regains composure gives him

Some more time to do some turns I think he’s looking really Sparky out there I mean look at him he’s in the lip he’s throwing tail I think you know great work for him let’s go in the meantime Jackson Baker nice bang off the top there on that close out section going

Down the line trying to squeeze one more out of the wave but that maneuver falling short for Jackson Baker now KY Lenny up and got it going down the line bangs it off the top little floater that was a very Hollow very difficult section he does not want to finish third in this

Heat you’re out contest over Jack Robinson now again with his back against the wall here we go Jack Robinson trying to do something and here he does strier in the break you see this looks like it’s going to stand up for him it does bangs it off the close out section get a

Little fist pump from him I Lenny to avoid elimination is going to have to find a 5.01 about 30 left in this heat Jack with priority over as well as Jackson going to be tough to find a wave come on come on come on come on die here

We go spraying it out the back engaging the rails throwing the fins closeout section manages to get one more turn in you can hear his Camp really liking that one as he waits to see if there’s anything else from this wave there is not but Strider you think that was

Enough negative Ghost Rider do not Buzz the tower that one was is not the 5.01 that he is looking for so this is the last we will see of Ky Lenny at the hurle pro Sunset Beach it is Jackson Baker and Jack Robinson moving on to the next

Round when I lost my Heats I mean that just is like a knife through the ribs for me I so comp competitive and you know I take it so personally she’s amping to talk to are you calling her now yeah hello oh yeah what did it look like on the

Telly I didn’t think you made any mistakes like you surfed such a smart heat you surfed so well your surfing just had so much spark like you look like a CT quality Surfer out there today well that’s that’s all that matters for sure it was just that’s like the hardest Sunset to

Surf yeah no it was terrible but like you surf so well I was so so so proud of you all right well I guess I’ll probably be coming home soon Kai is so competitive and to the point where like he’s competitive with himself yeah I know the way I better than ever before

For sure so for sure be happy with that I just just have to like remind him that he’s human you’re not going to be perfect at everything you do right away it’s going to take time he just sets these goals for himself and just wants to accomplish them and that just pushes

Him to be as talented as he is even though I didn’t put on the exact heat I wanted I did throw a turn that felt like it belonged at that level that was a beautiful big inside Bowl turn very impressive by kyen you know he’ll look back on this heat and

His lost opportunity was in that one big carve that he he was incomplete on but beautiful look at that gouch I mean just laying into that Pete that was slight esque hi small wave surfing has gotten so good I mean he’s not scared of anything he does have the ability to

Surf at a world class level even on 4ft waves it’s kind of intimidating you know like with the guy like I had 60t waves and you know what what to expect from him at Sunset 6 to 8T this year was really a breakout season for me I’ve been slowly making my

Dents out here on the NorthShore KY Lenny has done the back door shootout KY Lenny stalling pulling up into the barrel he’s obviously well-rounded to be able to pull in the barrels at pipe and back door compete in the Eddie and then have like determination to compete against World Tour Surfers at

Sunset that dude is really motivated maybe more than anyone between the back door shootout Sunset and the Eddie this winter has proven that the NorthShore is still The Proving Ground and it’s still very relevant in surfing I felt incredible to surf in this event I know we’ve all had

The ed cow poster in our rooms Growing Up So to have the opportunity to actually go out there for Eddie iow and is Ohana the uh the iows it’s a dream come true for me um it’s this day feels surreal I wouldn’t have missed it for

The world one of the parts of the Eddie is that it’s celebrating water men and water women from Hawaii and the history of that and the culture of that and KY Lenny is he’s the Contemporary guy from here anytime you finish in the top 10 in the Eddie that’s uh something to hang

Your hat on but to finish fifth incredible so he’s right there and it’s just a matter of time before before he becomes a champion I respect Kai so much what he does on surf board and it’s pretty cool to see him come from the wind into the waves to where he’s one of

The best in the world Now it’s funny you know the road map keeps on changing I never felt like I was ever on a freeway it’s always felt like I was in some Side Road off in the trees all right Kai dropping in five you know there’s always some Forks

In the road and you have to make a decision which path do you want to choose 5 I’m often choosing the harder path for me because I think an ultimate challenge you know leads to becoming exactly what I want to be which is the best surfer possible that’s what it’s all About