“The abundant legends that surround Rabbit Kekai testify to his statue as an authentic folk hero. Hawaiian history has traditionally been passed down in oral narratives. To focus on the conquest, martial arts conflicts and incredible sport feats is to miss the point of the man. Rabbit is a legend who thrives in the present. He is in the water daily, and in the finals of most contests he participates in. More importantly, his labors as a coach help to bring traditional skills to the current generation. Kekai’s devotion to his charges is such that he’s been known to recycle his own contest trophies just so that the local kids could have decent prizes for their event.”
-Craig Stecyk “The Surfer’s Journal”
And then the phone rang.
“Hello Nathan,” said the laid-back Hawaiian accent on the phone, “this is Rabbit Kekai.”
I stumbled and mumbled for a few minutes, trying to explain myself and what I needed to know, and the man patiently waited for me to regain my composure.
I tried to zoom in with the necessary business of my questionaire, but the conversation quickly faded to casual. All too soon I had forgotten my questions entirely and was enthralled in listening to Rabbit's stories, feeding him whatever it took just to keep him going. I could sense him trying not to boast – not boasting at all! – but just telling things that, from anyone else’s mouth, might seem like name dropping, or even flat out lies. But from Rabbit, it was simply the truth.
Rabbit Kekai understands hanging around the beach the way a bird understands the currents of the air. Simply. Intrinsically. “Never face your back to the ocean,” he says. “That’s one thing the Duke taught me. Always respect the ocean. Never turn your back.” Rabbit was ten when the legendary waterman Duke Kahanamoku took him under his wing and showed him a trick or two on a surfboard and in the canoe. Not tricks you can teach, but rather, tricks whose presence you have to feel. Duke Kahanamoku emanated this waterman knowledge perhaps more than any other man in history, and I get the feeling, that in ways that sometimes mentor and student can never really confess, that the Duke looked out for him. Rabbit is quick to credit another coach and mentor, John D. Kaupiko. “I learned everything under the John D. But the Duke he gave me fine pointers.” With such legendary mentors, and nearly 80 years of everyday water activity, Rabbit is truly one of Hawaii’s quintessential waterman. His legend will be remembered, and his lessons, like the lessons Kahanamoku left behind for us, will also live on. “What I got I always give back,” says Kekai. “Now I coach others.”
