We would almost like to claim: Every active person, no matter if man or woman, can learn kitesurfing. If you feel fit, you can't be too young or too old for kiting. Our oldest kitesurfing student in Egypt learned kitesurfing at the age of 78.

• You should have good motoric skills and a healthy self-confidence.
• Your body weight should be at least 35kg, because especially in stronger winds you should have enough counterweight.
• As with all water sports, you should be able to swim and stay afloat for at least 15 minutes, and you should be able to swim in open water, in the sea or on lakes.

Even though it looks like it. But: For kitesurfing you don't have to expend a lot of power or muscle effort - it's more about practicing a technique that doesn't require a high application of force. Kitesurfing requires much less power than windsurfing, surfing or wakeboarding, because when kiting you wear a harness that distributes the power of the kite over your entire body. So you don't necessarily have to be well trained, physically super fit and muscular for kitesurfing. A normal fitness level is absolutely sufficient.

Experienced kitesurfers can easily cruise for hours on end over the water with only moderate exertion. Only when you practise jumps or freestyle tricks will your fast forces in arms and legs and especially the back and abdominal muscles be challenged. Only after your first attempts at jumps will you be surprised by sore muscles after your kite session.

To learn kitesurfing you do not need any previous knowledge. However, it helps if you have already dealt with wind (e.g. kite flying) or board sports (e.g. wakeboarding, snowboarding, surfing, windsurfing).

But even without experience you will achieve fast learning success.

As a person wearing glasses, you probably often wonder whether you can still handle your glasses in the water when you are moving around. That is also the case with kitesurfing. The spray water constantly makes your glasses wet or even rinses them off your face. But don't worry, there are simple solutions for this. We recommend contact lenses for low vision, which experience has shown to keep a good eye on water sports. Possible losses and the salt water make daily lenses more suitable than the slightly more expensive monthly lenses.

Kitesurfers like to wear sunglasses to protect their eyes on the water from the strong UV radiation, but also from splash water. Polarizing lenses make vision even better. You can find suitable sunglasses at every KBC center. As an alternative to contact lenses, sunglasses with prescription are also a good choice for you as a wearer of glasses. These should be fastened with an elastic strap to prevent loss. You can find sunglasses with prescription at any optician. We offer the elastic bands, which you can purchase in every KBC kite school.

To learn kitesurfing, you should choose a spot that has very easy conditions suitable for beginners. Absolutely ideal conditions for beginners are flat water, no waves, shallow water, plenty of space, a constant, medium wind and pleasant temperatures. So you will not be distracted by anything and can concentrate completely on your kite, your kite instructor and learning to kite. If the water is shallow, i.e. maximum hip-deep, you will always have solid ground under your feet and can easily walk back to the starting point of your exercises (without having to swim), because the kite will often pull you downwind (the side facing away from the wind).
However, it is important to practice or simulate the action in deep water during the training in the standing area, so that the change to deep water is not so difficult and you are prepared for the demands of launching, landing, releasing and kitesurfing in deep water.

Some spots (e.g. KBC Tarifa) are not exclusively standing areas. Here the kitesurfing courses take place swimming or by boat training. This has the big advantage that the kitesurf student is not surrounded by solid objects or obstacles where he could get injured. The communication with the kitesurfing instructor is done here by radio using a headset.

The temperatures should not be too low, because in the beginning you are standing a lot in the water. If you freeze too fast, you lose energy and your training sessions will be shorter. So the choice of the spot depends on the temperatures and the wind and therefore on the season.

The Kiteboarding Club you are lucky to learn at a renowned German kitesurfing school, which has been teaching kitesurfing professionally since 2000. The training concept, developed by the sports scientist and founder Thomas Beckmann, has proven itself since then and is practiced at eight kitesurfing schools worldwide. Many of the KBC kitesurfing instructors have a degree in sport and are therefore highly qualified beyond the VDWS kitesurfing instructor training. Most of them have been active in the KBC network for many years and alternately work as kite instructors or station managers at several KBC spots. Competence, friendliness and readiness for action is the maxim. They love what they do and are happy to share their learning success with the students. They can also easily respond to individual requirements. The KBC is considered a forge for young kite instructors. The kite instructors who have been trained at the KBC are in great demand at all kite centres. The kite school often gets special praise for the familiar atmosphere and the great atmosphere: A relaxed Easy Going, but at the same time a perfect organisation in the background.

Almost all KBC kite schools teach in German, only at KBC Dakhla and KBC Tarifa you will find only English speaking kite instructors. At all KBC centers, we also teach in English, some of them also in French and Arabic on request. You should make sure that your kite instructor speaks a language that you understand 100%.

Wind and a high wind yield are essential to learn kitesurfing. Without wind the kite will not fly and you can only finish the theory and material part of your kitesurfing course. KBC kitesurfing schools can be found in areas where windless periods are rare. The wind force for learning to kitesurf should be in the range of 12 to 25 knots. The stronger the wind, the smaller the kite size.

If your course cannot take place because of too little or too much wind, we will refund the missed performance in the form of a voucher. You can then make up for the part of the course when the wind is right.

• Your child's motoric skills and general physical development should be good.
• Your child should have the will to learn kitesurfing, he should have the ambition to fly the kite himself.
• It should show not only the courage but also the necessary respect for the sport.
• Your child should have the maturity to assess a situation correctly and always keep a cool head and control.
• The wind and water conditions on site must be suitable. KBC Holland on the Ijsselmeer, for example, and especially in the shallow lagoon of KBC El Gouna, offers training.
• The wind should not be too strong, ideally between 12 and 16 knots.
• The right equipment is available at the Kiteboarding Club, children's harnesses, children's neoprene, small boards and kites in the smallest sizes.

The kids course at KBC
At the Kiteboarding Club we train children from the age of about 10 years. After a previous assessment, we always start with individual supervision, so that the little student can be given full attention. The training units are suitable for children with many short, practical exercises, playful and vivid.

The training for children starts with 3 hours participation in the normal basic course with a small theory unit, a spot check, kite assembly and disassembly, 3-step safety system and trainer kite flying. The further part follows for safety reasons in 3 hours of individual supervision - 1.5 hours each per day.