Instead of standing and providing resistance against your kite, you move along with it. In the sport, large kites are used as a means of propulsion for a ride on kite buggies, boats, grass, or skis. The joys of flying kites are brought into flier's bodies, allowing them to go for speed and distance across various terrains, to jump and turn in free form modes combining kite and personal acrobatics, or to synchronize team shows to music.

This new sport requires a financial commitment as well as enthusiasm. Kites capable of providing the required traction power cost anywhere from $300 to $1,300. Buggies-tricycle-like vehicles steered by foot-are priced at about $500. But no matter the cost, whenever a kite takes to the sky, heads turn. If we experience the wind as the power of nature, the breath of God, or the universal spirit, then perhaps a kite is our representative, engaging with that force and taking us with it.

-Andrea Martin