A.M

ell kite,trage kite teach kite.As an instructor I think that this company is performing more a disservice than a service to our sport. Sure their PR side will tell you that they are promoting safety through certification, and they are pretty good at selling that idea. But in fact their instructor courses and teaching method have no real goal besides generating more money. They trick students and instructors into thinking that they have more experience than they actually do. Sending them out to our beaches with false promises of certification. I agree that we need to have some sort of self-regulation before all our spots are closed or anybody gets hurt. But IKO is only acting like an advocate of safety with out having any content to the safety they preach. I am no huge fan of the other certifications, rather I would like to see some standardization of lessons that actually has a solid plan on how to teach people how to kite safely. I base this opinion on 5 years of teaching in many different locations and having numerous occasions to re-teach IKO students or work with IKO instructors. Anybody that has seen a lesson or taken a lesson in Cali can attest to the low level of instuction in IKO&＃39;s own backyard. It is actually scary to think these students and instructors have a piece of paper that makes them feel safer than they actually are.