I need to dance or else I just-- I'll feel empty
It's just a natural rhythm for me
My dad named me Liliʻuokalani
after Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawaii
Someone asked me, "What does your name mean?"
And I was like, "Oh, I don't know, I've never asked before"
And he's like, "Go home
and go ask your dad why he named you that
so you can know"
Kipu Ranch was established in 1872
The ranch was originally owned by Hawaiian royalty
My parents just recently retired
and they live right on the ranch
I get to go over and have a cup of coffee with them in the morning
and my dad's actually working on the ranch with me
so he and I are out there
blazing through trail
It's pretty neat, you know
I've been here all my life
I'm the oldest of four children
My father,José Angel, was well-known
in the early days of Hawaii surfing
and he was on the cover of the very first Surfer magazine
They call me Johnny Aloha
because I'm like an ambassador of Aloha
I pretty much had to teach myself about the ocean
Since my dad was lost in the ocean
I kind of get his energy when I'm out there
I get a lot of positive feedback
from all the people I rescue
Yeah!
My brother left on a trip and said
"Gloss these ten boards and you'll have enough money for rent"
So I just kind of fell into it right there
and slowly been adding to it
I grew up in Michigan
I was a weirdo in high school
I just had this moment where I was like
"What am I doing here?"
and I just like went home and got a one-way ticket
to Hawaii
Since I was a little kid watching Magnum P.I.
which was my whole family's favorite TV show
My mom and my sister had a crush on Tom Selleck
I had a crush on the helicopter
I just always wanted to fly helicopters
and fell in love with this place
Hawaii is addicting
The aina, the land
is like our mother
So you watch the aina
You take care of it
and it takes care of it
The ocean is Kai
He feeds you, he helps you
but yet, when he gets like this
he's like a warrior
The strength of this wave
the water, you can't believe it
This thing moves mountains
When I was born I was given the name
Ka-pepe'e-kauila
It means the god of thunder and lightening
I could not have this name
until my grandmother, when I was 34 years old
she goes, "Now you are Ka-pepe'e-kauila"
I go, "Whoa"
In the Hawaiian culture
kids are not ready for it
but 34 years old I'm ready
You have a problem, you come out against me?
I'm going back against you too
You're dancing right now, actually
You just don't know it
- How do you mean? - You're breathing
I want to be a dance teacher
One of the things that I would do with my students
is I would tell them to pick a spot in the room
and then just have them breathe
and then have them start dancing to the rhythm of their breathing
You can just (breathing slowly)
and then (breathing) and then (breathing faster)
It's like having a stranger come into your home
It's like grrr.
Just like trying to threaten and get you out of there
because in the past people came in
took kindness as a form of weakness
and that's how the culture went downhill from there
Hawaii, from seeing what it was presented as
like in TV and movies,
it's so different than living here all the time
Waikīkī is like--
- Waikīkī sucks! - is not what Hawaii is
It's just like L.A. for me
Coming up here was like, "This is what Hawaii is"
You see signs around that say
"Keep the country country"
so you don't have development
It's because they don't want the whole island
to turn into Waikīkī
In Hawaii it doesn't matter what you do, what you wear
You're respected the same
You're probably respected less if you're rich
than you are if you're a surf-bum
Just seeing more of the island
has opened my eyes to the beauty of the whole island really
There's amazing aspects of it
Everything changes and you can't stop it
but it's getting a lot more crowded
It's not the same as it used to be
A lot of Hawaiians in the old days
they always said, "You know, I'm so mad at the Americans
They're put in farms here
They put in houses and all this stuff"
So I raised my hand
I say, "How did you come from Molokaʻi to O'ahu?"
"Did you swim or did you paddle a canoe?"
"Oh, you caught an airplane"
"Then when you got to the airport
did you ride a horse or did you walk?"
"Oh, you rented an American car"
We are the melting pot of the world here
There is a story that when the missionaries came
and overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani
she cried and her tears ran like blood
I almost feel like it's offensive for me to have that name
It's Queen Liliʻuokalani
She tried bringing her people together
I should know what power my name holds
We all take our islands for granted
because it's such a beautiful place
but we don't take time to smell the roses
We're all always so busy
running around trying to burn the candle at both ends
and in the middle
It can be overwhelming
She could also be a beautiful mermaid
When you're in the ocean
and you're just surrounded by energy and love
It's awesome
It's a magical, mystical island
It's the first place I ever saw a rainbow at night
A rainbow at night
That's why they say "Keep it country"
They don't like the four-lane highways going
bring too much traffic
too much people they say
Hawaii kind of has it's own personality
It just brought me out of some dark habits
and yeah,
I'd say Hawaii is a mother
The breath of life
Being on an island, being in Hawaii
when you feel the breeze come in
it's like a breath of life
Don't keep it inside you
What you feel let it out