History of surfing
Archaeological evidence even suggests that ancient cultures of Peru surfed on reed watercraft for fishing and recreation up to five thousand years ago.
[5] Amid the 1640s CE, Michael Hemmersam provided an account of surfing in the Gold Coast: “the parents ‘tie their children to boards and throw them into the water.’”[5] In 1679 CE, Barbot provided an account of surfing among Elmina children in Ghana: “children at Elmina learned “to swim, on bits of boards, or small bundles of rushes, fasten’d under their stomachs, which is a good diversion to the spectators.”[5] James Alexander provided an account of surfing in Accra, Ghana in 1834 CE: “From the beach, meanwhile, might be seen boys swimming into the sea, with light boards under their stomachs.
The art of surfing, known as heʻe nalu (literally, wave sliding)[6] in the Hawaiian language, was recorded in his journal by Joseph Banks aboard HMS Endeavour during the first voyage of James Cook, during the ship's stay in Tahiti in 1769:...their cheif [sic] amusement was carried on by the stern of an old canoe, with this before them they swam out as far as the outermost breach, then one or two would get into it and opposing the blunt end to the breaking wave were hurried in with incredible swiftness.
Oral tradition confirms that surfing was also practiced in Tonga, where the late king Taufa'ahau Tupou IV became an expert surfer in his youth.
Prior to entering the ocean, the priest would also aid the surfers (mainly of the upper class) in undertaking the spiritual ceremony of constructing a surfboard.
Aside from the preparatory stages prior to entering the water, the most skilled surfers were often of the upper class including chiefs and warriors that surfed amongst the best waves on the island.
Local Hawaiians, mixed with imported workers from Asia, were put to work on sugar plantations and Protestant missionaries attempted to turn the population from their traditional beliefs into Christians.
But the first surf icons who gained widespread recognition, George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku, became famous for practicing their traditional sport and helped spread it from Waikiki to around the world.
[12] In July 1885, three teenage Hawaiian princes took a break from their boarding school, St. Mathew's Hall in San Mateo, and came to cool off in Santa Cruz, California.
[16] North Carolina has the greater weight of published verifiable accurate evidence and impacts a broader geographical area when compared to other east coast states.
The Wrightsville Beach Museum Waterman Hall of Fame honors, recognizes, and inducts community members for their contributions to the island's watersport culture.
Not only is Malibu a rare world-class wave, but being adjacent to Hollywood it became the stereotype of Southern Californian surfing culture for the rest of the United States and the world.
As a current Olympic sprint champion, Kahanamoku was invited to tour the Eastern states for an extensive series of swimming carnivals and at his first appearance in the Domain Pool, Sydney, smashed his previous world record for 100 yards by a full second.
[26] In 1890, the pioneer in agricultural education John Wrightson reputedly became the first British surfer at Bridlington in Yorkshire when instructed by two Hawaiian students, Princes David Kahalepouli Kawanaankoa Piikoi and Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Pikkoi, studying at his college.
[citation needed] This conception was revised again in the 1980s, with newer mainstream portrayals of surfers represented by characters like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1962 album Surfin' Safari, the first album to be released on the Capitol label by The Beach Boys, include a rather tongue-in-cheek description of the sport of surfing thus:"For those not familiar with the latest craze to invade the sun-drenched Pacific coast of Southern California, here is a definition of "surfing" - a water sport in which the participant stands on a floating slab of wood, resembling an ironing board in both size and shape, and attempts to remain perpendicular while being hurtled toward the shore at a rather frightening rate of speed on the crest of a huge wave (especially recommended for teen-agers and all others without the slightest regard for either life or limb).
There are three main contemporary modes of making money purely as an active surfer: sponsorship, surf contests, and social media influence.
This was also about the time when surfing switched from core action: simply riding a quality wave, to a more style-oriented endeavor where turns, tricks, style, and artistry began to be important.
Dynamic moves, such as nose-riding, top turns, and cut-backs were becoming even more important than catching the best wave and riding it for the longest possible time, which had previously been the primary goal, and seemed self-evident to earlier surfers.
As described in the documentary Bustin' Down the Door much of the prestige and money to be made from contest surfing resided in Hawaii, specifically, the increasingly important epicenter of worldwide performance-surfing: the North Shore of Oahu.
But when Australians and South Africans showed up to join the Californians who had been migrating there in waves for nearly 20 years, multiple tensions arose between not only the Americans vs international surfers, but even more powerfully between the local Hawaiians and the haoles generally.
In the last few decades there are generally less than 60 men and 30 women who qualify for the highest level of the surf league each year in its modern form, the WSL.
On a similar basis, surfing history could justifiably be divided between pre-polystyrene and post-polystyrene surfboards, or pre-fin and post-fin as the original Hawaiian boards did not have fins until Tom Blake added one in 1935.
Technology has changed surfing repeatedly and dramatically throughout its modern development, generally making the sport more accessible, cheaper, easier, and raising the level of performance.
During the surfboard production boom of the 1960s, the predominantly male shapers would sometimes construct specifically smaller boards for girls (who are often lighter and shorter, affecting weight/length requirements for paddling).
A fundamental reason for longer, thicker, more buoyant surfboards generally is they paddle faster, and paddle-speed is crucial to wave catching.
In 21st century professional surfing the common boards have slowly become shorter and wider, with a more rounded nose and sometimes 4-fins (very rarely 2-fins and never 1-fin), although non-professionals still regularly mix and match all those options based on personal taste.
Although the original Hawaiian surfers would ride large unbreaking ocean swells on their Olo boards, surfing a breaking wave larger than 4.5 to 6.1 meters (15–20 ft) was extremely challenging with pre-modern equipment, if it was attempted at all.
For the most part, surfing is agreed to be purely recreational, as it did not develop from, or turn into, a useful mode of daily transportation (as opposed to skiing or skateboarding, which can be both).
[36] Another example is Katy Perry’s Billboard #1 hit song “California Gurls,” featuring Snoop Dogg[37] released in 2010, which highlights the same beachside lifestyle first popularized in the 1960s.
