Eat, sleep, surf, and repeat. Almost everyone of us has dreamed at least once about having this lifestyle. Catching waves all day, chilling on the beach, talking about new surf tricks, and enjoying each other’s company sounds amazing. The feeling when you catch a wave and are driven on by the sea is almost impossible to describe. Nevertheless, where does the sport ‘surfing’ come from, and for how long have we been doing it?
The first people surfed on waves in Peru. It is unknown when exactly this took place, but what we do know is that they did not use surfboards. Instead of using surfboards, they bodyboarded on the waves. During the 12th century, the first waves were caught with surfboards in Polynesia. People discovered this by finding cave paintings from the 12th century that show people riding waves on boards. Polynesians brought surfing to Hawaii, where it became a hit. Surfing was not just a sport in Hawaii; it became a whole lifestyle. Everyone was part of this lifestyle, from toddlers to wealthy kings. However, there was a strict rule system that regulated who could surf where. The members of the elite society had access to the best surfing spots. For commoners, it was strictly forbidden to surf in those royal surf spots.
This rule system was part of the ancient Hawaiian culture, also called Kapu. The Kapu system had a strong hold on politics, religion, gender roles, and the way of living life. The Hawaiian culture contained a lot of rules for who was allowed to do what. Women were, for example, not allowed to consume bananas, coconuts, or pork. Those rules were also called kapus. Breaking kapus in any kind of way resulted most of the time in receiving the death penalty. Surfing became the most important thing in life. It became a way of praying for the gods but also a way to gain respect within the upper class. You could show your strengths and skills by catching waves. It even became part of the military’s training.
The Europeans were first introduced to surfing by James Cook’s dairy. He was a European captain who witnessed Tahitian surfers for the first time in 1778. He wrote about this in his diary, and that is how Europeans were provided with information about surfing. First, a lot of people were worried about the surfers because the strength of the waves seemed really dangerous. However, the Tahitian surfers came from a culture where everyone knows how to save themselves in the ocean.
After the colonization of Hawaii (1898), the surfing lifestyle of the Hawaiians changed a lot: they had to wear clothes, the kids had to go to school, and they had to visit the church regularly. Surfing was heavily discouraged, resulting in a general lack of excitement for it, and this period is known as the “dark age” in surfing history. Nonetheless, surfing persisted, and people continued to do it.
Fortunately, Hawaiian tourism slowly increased again, and the sport became more and more popular. A lot of people travelled to the island to try to catch some waves. The lifestyle never became the same as it was before, but surfing had never been that popular. More tourists came to the island after Hawaii became a United States territory. Duke Kahanamoku also helped a lot with spreading surfing’s reputation in both the United States and Australia. Duke was a professional swimmer and won several medals at the Olympics. After he won the 100-meter freestyle contest, using his crawl techniques that he copied from surfing, he travelled around the world and introduced surfing in all the areas where it was possible. From then on, surfing became even more popular, and the techniques and gear kept improving.
Surfing went through a long history to become the sport we now know. Surfing has not always been a chill and relaxing sport. First, it was part of a very serious lifestyle, and then the colonists put an end to it. It became really popular after tourists discovered the sport. Nowadays, people all around the world are catching waves and it is no longer about who is the best because the best surfer out there is the one having the most fun.
Sources:
- https://planetsurfcamps.co.uk/history-of-surfing/, planetsurfcamps, 31-05-2023
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_surfing, wikipedia, 31-05-2023
- https://collectionsofwaikiki.com/history-of-surfing/, collectionsofwaikiki, 31-05-2023
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapu_(Hawaiian_culture), wikipedia, 07-06-23
Sources of pictures:
First picture: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/standing-tall-gm143918363-17739573?phrase=surfing, Shannonstent, 08-06-23
Second Picture: https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/antique-black-and-white-photograph-surf-board-hawaii-1898-gm1330245129-413724711?phrase=surfing+history, Ilbusca, 08-06-23
Third Picture: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/friends-running-into-the-ocean-with-their-surfboards-gm909575096-250525734?phrase=surf+fun, AzmanL, 08-06-23