Watch This Man Destroy A Coconut With His Teeth

Watch This Man Destroy A Coconut With His Teeth

Mangalore Today News Network

May 24, 2016: Opening a coconut is easy as pie — if you have superhuman jaw strength.

 

Kap Te’o-Tafiti, a performer at Hawaii’s Polynesian Cultural Center, just showed us his simple, efficient way to husk a coconut in mere seconds — no sharp tools necessary. All you need is an impressive set of pearly whites.

Reddit aptly dubbed him “the Polynesian Old Spice guy,” and after watching the video below, you’ll totally understand the comparison.




Te’o-Tafiti, cultural ambassador for the PCC’s Samoan village, throws caution to the wind, ripping away sections of coconut husk using only his teeth.

It’s “one of the oldest and most convenient ways of getting to the edible parts of a coconut,” he told the Huffington Post. He also emphasized the need for a strong jaw and healthy teeth.

Te’o-Tafiti has been performing at the Polynesian Cultural Center since 1988, and “uses his teeth a lot for ripping coconut leaves, removing bark from branches and other daily tasks where a knife isn’t easily available,” a PCC representative told The Huffington Post.

Apparently, the feat only hurts if you use a particularly tough coconut, or if something goes wrong — like ripping out a tooth — according to the PCC. Yikes.


Coconut husks are hard and fibrous, so many Polynesian cultures traditionally remove them using a sharp stake lodged in the ground, another method Te’o-Tafiti demonstrates in the video. But unless you live in a tropical paradise, you’re probably not even used to seeing the husk. Most mainlanders are more familiar with the darker brown inner shell — you know, what coconut bras are made from.

And Te’o-Tafiti has an awesome way to open that part of the coconut too. With a swift hit of his machete, the shell breaks perfectly on the seam that runs down the center, forming two perfect coconut cups from which to drink the coconut water inside.

Te’o-Tafiti only breaks out his incredible talent on special occasions, like for videos with over 1 million views, so it’s not something you would typically witness at the center, which promotes and educates visitors on traditional Polynesian cultures.

For those of us without superhuman jaw strength, the center advises leaving the coconut husking to the professionals. But if we did try it, we’re pretty sure it would look a lot like this adorable attempt by one of Te’o-Tafiti’s biggest fans.