Denver Area Students Unite Through Canoe/Kayak

Through Sports, specifically canoe and kayaking, we are able to assist in developing the whole person to achieve the "unlikely" or "unthinkable".  By assisting our participants in identifying and creating stepped goals to reach their greatest potential we are able to overcome any adversity and learn to identify associated patterns in life in which we can utilize that same skill.

The FRPA has connected youth around the world locally through canoeing and kayaking to explore life in sport to strengthen their academic success and overall character development. Learning that being a leader in the water and identifying their best potential in this ever changing medium, they will go on to identify and overcome the adversity in the workplace or classroom even easier.

By initially acting local, our top mentors then go on to effect global results. By utilizing these same ethics to work Internationally, we are able to help foster a regions self sustainability, realize Nationalism over tribalism and better become familiar of the importance of education to become providers in their community instead of simply existing or falling to crime in impoverished areas. These ethics also carry on to minimize recidivism by simple allowing equal access to something meaningful in life, while teaching a solid set of skills.

• Typical Example Lessons, both in and out of the water can be taught.

      Intra/Inter-Language/Culture/Race Immersion through non-verbal Communication Skills Challenge

• Blind Folded Faith Skills with Seeing Eye Leader in creating trust and understanding between different socio-economics students (In/Out of water)

Time in a frame

The significance of canoeing and kayaking is that it provokes ones own question for human existence on the planet most directly over any other sport. This is the only sport with a constantly changing medium (water, wind, rain, flood, rocks moving and obstructions in places that can take life away) that one can not fully predict nor can they plan a perfect solution pre-competition.

That wave suddenly appears, the tree suddenly is trapped against the rock that was swept down in high water. A rock or entire shelf of a mountain falls in from the shore to create an entirely new passage and feature.

What sounds so dangerous and unpredictable we help create a path to calm and the ability to breath with the water and slow the speed of interaction with these unknown forces to a fraction of a second, to what seems like eternity. Our students learn to not react and to accordingly plan/create a terms of solution to solve the problem before them in a calm and very well internally communicated way.

React vs. Response

Too often reaction is the way people tend to make decisions that include no thought as to the consequences, the effect it has on others, and the ability to create more positive things from it. After several sessions alone, our clients, often are now able to not react but to respond with several positive options as an end result. By understanding the power of water and it’s similarities in life, our clients better understand to flow with things and learn from everything ‘thrown’ at them. They will never overpower the water, but they can make critical decisions and outthink the water after observing the sensory test (3 of 5 minimal to create a test affirmation- visual, smell, tactile, sound, taste) processing and making a final action or statement to create an opportune and familiar final result. 

Our participants learn to see every wave and know how it will affect their boat and how shifting specific body parts or vision they can apply a non force application to supplement  that wave, creating something calm and familiar. Human nature is to tighten up and push against a force pushing on us in a river, instead of remaining loose and reading that every motion allowing each body part to separately move as the water is allowing for greater energy, safety, positive experience and ability to feel calm and energized without the ‘rush’ or ‘fear’ that most get. This react vs. response mode is transferable in the workplace and/or daily life, allowing a person to better enjoy whatever it is in life they are doing while reaching new personal levels of their greatest potential

An Understanding of Humanities Commonalities

As we have seen throughout time, EVERYONE in the world has always been prejudice against something available to them. Race, Gender, Socio-economic differences, Religion, possessions, neighborhood or geographic locations, canned food manufacturers... the list can fill an entire book. Regardless of who we are, we have some sort of prejudice whether we are conscious or not of it at the time.

As a program, we prefer to focus on a basic understanding of humanity and the understanding the raw basics of life.

" It's about People to People exchanges to strengthen humanity".  President Dwight D. Eisenhower statement in his intentions for Humanity exchanges.

People to People

We all know that everyone needs and loves to breath fresh air, we all love the feeling of smiling, we all love the ability to see a beautiful sunrise/sunset, and we all love the ability to wake up to a loved one or family. Regardless of skin color, religion, sex, socio economic demographic and education, we all love these few simple things. Too often we allow the media or others in charge of our countries, schools or churches to mold us into thinking a specific way which quickly overlooks the basics of humanity and the human need for co-existence and positive contact.

After a basic few statements to a very diverse group across many languages and backgrounds, from drawn pictures, we understand the primary body language keys in communication. This communication is only with pictures drawn on cards and shown to the group.

       (  i.e.  Smile, Frown, Sad, Angry. Tonality of voice, Hand placement, stance, speed of movement etc... )

Pair up students. Ideally the instructor is able to pair the subjects with someone with a different religious, cultural, language, and/or socio-economic background.

1.) Non Verbal Communication, which enforces the other senses to become more acute.

2.) Maintaining no known knowledge of the persons specific background and demographics between the subjects in the project

3.) Educating another member of the group to find a specific body part and point it to a specific goal object (ie. Pointing our left shoulder to the 2nd tree on the left at the top of the hill) without being allowed to speak. ( With a clinic leaders assistance in explaining the project in a familiar tone to every person in their language)

Afterwards they are to play a pictionary style game to describe their greatest weakness as a person, followed by the greatest strength (if known to be both English speaking).

With a known language difference they are each given a specific object to draw and write out what it is in their language, still with no speaking. The other non-language speaking person is to recreate that same writing with the picture. After both have exchanged the non verbal exchange, they then speak what the object is. They then do this with two other objects before moving on to the next project.

Blind Leader

Blind lead by sight partner (one subject blind folded and the other assisting verbally and physically)

Building blocks to create a pattern or shape while moving through a simple obstacle course or to perform a simple set of tasks (stepping over ropes to then sit on a chair)... Moving onto much more difficult tasks.

These partners then split up and are forced to teach each other after reconvening how to paddle a kayak in a straight line in a pool or lake with non verbal commands. One person is taught by an instructor or is an experienced instructor in kayaking.

After accomplishing the above sample tasks there are many forward movements to carry on to for the lessons of interactions of no knowledge of the personal partners. All this while comfortably progressing toward common understanding of each others basic personal values and passion drivers in life while pursuiting the fascinating journy toward personal excellence.

 "It's about each persons fascination for the process of life and everything/everyone within it.