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Surf culture is the culture surrounding the sport of surfing, originating during the 1950s and 1960s but which continues to this day. Surf culture is multifaceted. Today surf culture involves the constant search for waves, whether locally or internationally as well as the multiple ways in which surfing is part of one's life. This may include clothing brands and styles, music preferences, literature, films, language, etc. In addition, localism or territorialism is a huge part of surf culture. Localism is the practice by which surfers are involved in verbal or physical threats or abuse to deter people from surfing at certain surf spots. This is backed by the belief that fewer people equals more waves per surfer. Today surfers come from all walks of life from every coastline where waves break in the world, making them impossible to stereotype or generalize.

If there is one fair generalisation concerning the sport, it is the fanatical enthusiasm of its devotees. One famous Australian surfer, Nat Young, once tried to register the sport as a religion, but to no avail. Surfing Magazine, founded in the 1960s when surfing had gained popularity with teenagers, used to say that if they were hard at work and someone yelled "Surf's up!" the office would suddenly be empty. Other aspects of the culture include the woodie, bikinis and other beach wear, such as boardshorts or baggies. Surfers developed the skateboard to be able to "surf" on land; the number of boardsports has since grown. Also, surfing has its own slang, which coincides with Valspeak. Words like "tubular", "gnarly" are associated with both.

A non-competitive adventure activity involving riding the biggest waves possible (known as "rhino hunting") is also popular with some surfers. A practice popularized in the 1990s has seen big wave surfing revolutionized, as surfers use jetskis to tow them out to a position where they can catch previously unrideable waves (see tow-in surfing). These waves were previously unrideable due to the speed at which they travel. Some waves reach speeds of over 60 km/h; jetskis enable surfers to reach the speed of the wave thereby making them rideable. Jetskis not only allow surfers to ride these waves but allow them to survive wipeouts. In many instances surfers would not survive the battering of the "sets" (groups of waves together) without drowning. This spectacular activity is extremely popular with television crews, but because such waves rarely occur in heavily populated regions, and usually only a very long way out to sea on outer reefs, few spectators see such events directly.

Many surfers are seen as territorial, hence the expression "locals only"; or as the rock group The Surf Punks put it, "my beach, my wave, my girl, so f--- you!". The expression "Surf Nazi" appeared in the 1980s to describe territorial and authoritarian surfers. Other surfers, however, known as "soul surfers", hold less aggressive views towards others. These surfers see surfing as more than a sport; it is an opportunity to harness the waves in and to relax and forget about their daily routines. This type of surfing has seen a rise in popularity recently.

Global warming, environmental damage, and increasing riparian development may continue to increase pressure on the sport. Global warming may produce bigger waves...or a return, through altering ocean currents, to a new ice age. Oil spills and toxic algae growth can threaten surfing regions. And, many wealthy homeowners have tried to prevent free access to beaches in violation of English and American common law traditions, in which "the strand" is not private property.

Some of these stresses may be overcome by building of artificial reefs for surfing. Several have been built in recent years (one is at Cables in western Australia), and there is widespread enthusiasm in the global surfing community for additional projects. However, environmental opposition and rigorous coastal permitting regulations is dampening prospects for building such reefs in some countries, such as the United States.

Quotes

  • “It's just the best way to start your day. People who surf, they know the object is to have fun. You work hard, but you work hard to have fun.” Cynthia Derosier
  • "I could not help concluding this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so fast and so smoothly by the sea." James Cook
  • "In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing. Each heathen would paddle three or four hundred yards out to sea (taking a short board with him), then face the shore and wait for a particularly prodigious billow to come along; at the right moment he would fling his board upon its foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!" Mark Twain
  • “Surfing wasn't about money back then. Surfers always lived cheaply and scraped by.” Mark Cunningham.
  • “It's a culmination of your life of surfing when you turn and paddle in at Mavericks.” Jeff Clark.
  • “It's all about where your mind's at.” Kelly Slater.
  • "None but natives ever master the art of surf-bathing thoroughly." Mark Twain
  • "The idea that an individual can find God is terribly self-centered. It is like a wave thinking it can find the sea." Sir John Templeton
  • "It was so big wave, it didn't even know we were there." Welcome to the Weird and Wonderful World of the Webber Clan, Interview by Tim Baker, Australian Surfing World Magazine, Issue no. 271 (2004) Daniel Webber.
  • "Surfing soothes me, it's always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I'm on a wave." Paul Walker
  • "How would you like to stand like a God before the crest of a monster billow, always rushing to the bottom of a hill and never reaching its base, and to come rushing in for a half mile at express speed, in graceful attitude, until you reach the beach and step easily from the wave?" Duke Kahanamoku
  • "Out of the water, I am nothing." Duke Kahanamoku
  • "Sometimes in the morning, when it's a good surf, I go out there, and I don't feel like it's a bad world." Kary Mullis
  • "If you direct your attention to the position of a bird with regard to the wave surface, it will speedily be noticed to be nearly always on the rising side or face of the wave and moving apparently at right angles to the wave's course, but really diagonal to it." Lawrence Hargrave
  • "I tried body surfing once, but how often do you find a corpse?" Emo Philips
  • "You will never hear surf music again". Jimi Hendrix
  • "Then, after I've gotten rid of Batman and Robin for good, I will rule the waves. Me, the Joker, king of the surf and all the surfers. Then, Gotham City! Later, the world!" Joker
  • “There is that desire to go surf the waves by yourself, just you and nature and I will never do it again, never.” Davis Bunn.
  • "Give us back our suffering, we cry to Heaven in our hearts— suffering rather than indifferentism; for out of nothing comes nothing. But out of suffering may come the cure. Better have pain than paralysis! A hundred struggle and drown in the breakers. One discovers the new world. But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore!" Florence Nightingale.

Film and television

The surf culture is reflected in film. Bruce Brown's classic movie Endless Summer glorified surfing in a round-the-world search for the perfect wave. John Milius' homage to the Malibu of his youth in Big Wednesday remains a poignant metaphor for the similarites between the changing surf and life. Beach movies such as the Gidget series and Beach Party movies like Beach Blanket Bingo are less reverential depictions of the culture.

Duke: Man, five days on that board and I'm nothing but skin and bones.

Ginger: What skin.

Mary Ann: And what bones.

Willard: "Are you crazy God damnit? Don't you think its a little risky for some R&R?"

Kilgore: "If I say its safe to surf this beach Captain, then its safe to surf this beach. I mean I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole fucking place!"

In the extended version of Apocalypse Now, there is a scene in which Willard's team steals Kilgore's surfboard as they begin their journey up the river.

  • Surf movie
  • TV commercials
  • TV documentary series
  • TV drama series
  • TV episodes
    • The Flintstones - "Surfin' Fred" (1965). Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty are holidaying on Rock Island, where a surfing contest is to be held. Fred hopes to relive his carefree teenage years, dancing to "hip" music with swarms of holidaying teenagers and revelling in their adulation of his sporting prowess. However, in the surf, Fred is repeatedly blasted by monsterous waves, as he tries desperately to impress the young crowd. Rock star and teenage heartthrob, Jimmy Darrock, who has been recruited to present the winner's trophy, avoids recognition by wearing sunglasses and assuming the role of a lifeguard. But, he had not counted on Fred's ineptitude on a board. Darrock has to retrieve Fred from the surf and perform resuscitation on him. When Wilma paddles over, a huge wave throws Fred onto her shoulders. Wilma manages to navigate through the pillars of a boardwalk, bringing her surfboard to rest inside the revolving door of the hotel. Fred and Wilma win the trophy for most adept use of a surfboard, and Darrock performs in the hotel restaurant, singing about the surfing craze.
    • Gilligan's Island - "Big Man on Little Stick" (1965). A surfer by the name of Duke Williams washes up on the shore and collapses, having spent five days at sea on his surfboard. The girls fall for Duke, played by Denny Miller, so Gilligan tries to learn how to surf by tying his feet to Duke's surfboard. Despite their interest in the newcomer, Ginger and Mary Ann panic when he makes a pass at each of them. To resolve the conflict, the castaways pretend the girls are not available. Ginger is with the Professor and Mary Ann is with Gilligan. So, Duke decides to leave the island and manages to depart by catching a huge wave. The men sit around the radio, anxiously listening to news of Duke's arrival in Hawaii. To their dismay, Duke doesn't remember where he's been for the last two weeks, having hit a rock and suffered amnesia.
    • The Brady Bunch - "Hawaii Bound" (1972)
    • Even Stevens - "Surf's Up" (2003)
    • The Surreal Life - "Surf School" (2004)

Music

Surf culture is reflected in surf music, with sub-genres such as surf rock and surf pop. This includes works from such artists as Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, The Surfaris ("Wipeout!"), Dick Dale, and The Ventures. The music inspired dance crazes such as The Stomp, The Frug, and The Watusi. A newer wave of surf music has started in the acoustic riffs of artists such as Jack Johnson and Donovan Frankenrieter, who are both former professional surfers. The rise of surfers creating their own music and new style of surf rock has started.

Fashion

Surfwear is a popular style of casual clothing, inspired by surf culture. Many surf related brand-names originated as cottage industry, supplying local surfers with boardshorts, wetsuits, surfboards or leg-ropes/leashes. Today, its popularity extends so far beyond the surfing community, that some of its most high profile brands are listed on the Stock Exchange. These surfwear companies gain exposure through sponsoring professional surfers and the contests in which they compete.

Events

Competitive surfing is a comparison sport. Riders, competing in pairs or small groups, are allocated a certain amount of time to ride waves and display their prowess and mastery of the craft. Competitors are then judged according to how competently the wave is ridden, including the level of difficulty, as well as frequency of maneuvers. There is a professional surfing world surfing championship series held annually at surf breaks around the world.

Although competitive surfing has become an extremely popular and lucrative activity, both for its participants and its sponsors, the sport does not have its origins as a competitive pursuit. It is common to hear debate rage between purists of the sport, who still maintain the ideal of "soul surfing", and surfers who engage in the competitive and, consequently, commercial side of the activity Billion Dollar Breakers: The Professional Surfing World Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, Sunday, 13 April, 1997. An organisation called the Spirit of Surfing has chosen not to accept surf label sponsorship, since an association of that sort could detract from the sentiment they wish to promote.

Organisations

Spin-offs

Surfers developed the skateboard to be able to "surf" on land. Later came windsurfing (also known as sailboarding), bodyboarding, wakeboarding, skimboarding, snowboarding, riverboarding, kiteboarding, sandboarding, and mountainboarding, all now competitive sports. Another fast growing boardsport is skurfing a mix of surfing and more conventional water sports in which the participant is towed behind the boat. Pineboarding and sandboarding are recreational boardsports. The word "surf" is polysemous; having multiple, related meanings. "Surfing" the World Wide Web is the act of following hyperlinks. The phrase "surfing the Internet" was first popularized in print by Jean Armour Polly, a librarian, in an article called "Surfing the INTERNET", published in the Wilson Library Bulletin in June, 1992. The term "Surfing" also applies to a gameplay in the Counter-Strike video game, whereby players slide down ramps at high speeds to perform radical maneuvers.

Multimedia

Print media

Sculpture

Graphic art

Tourism

Education

  • Surf schools
  • Surfing instructor certificate
  • Diploma of Surfing Studies

Spirituality

Australian surfer, Nat Young, tried to register surfing as a religion, but to no avail.

References

See also

External links

Surfing | Surf culture | Cultural movements

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Surf culture".

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