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Surf culture

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Pontiac woodie, used by early surfers

Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion and life surrounding the sport of surfing.

The culture began early in the 20th century, spread quickly during the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to evolve. It affected fashion, music, literature, films, jargon (WP), and more. Surfers, who come from many walks of life, are bound by the hunt for great waves, the desire for the ultimate ride, and life in and around the ocean.

The fickle nature of weather and the ocean, plus the great desire for the best possible types of waves for surfing, make surfers dependent on weather conditions that may change rapidly. Wikipedia:Surfer 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. Also, since surfing has a restricted geographical necessity (i.e. the coast), the culture of beach life often influenced surfers and vice versa. Localism or territorialism is a part of the development of surf culture in which individuals or groups of surfers designate certain key surfing spots as their own.[1]

Aspects of 1960s surf culture in Wikipedia:Southern California, where it was first popularized, include the Wikipedia:woodie[2], Wikipedia:bikinis[3] and other beach wear, such as Wikipedia:boardshorts or baggies,[4] and Wikipedia:surf music.[5] Surfers developed the Wikipedia:skateboard to be able to "surf" on land;[6] and a number of other Wikipedia:boardsports. Of these the most popular being snowboarding and skateboarding, in addition to other spin-offs that have grown out of the sport ever since.[7]

Surfers and spectators in boats at Mavericks, a world-renowned big wave break a half mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, California

Big Wave culture[edit]

A surfer in Santa Cruz, California

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 Wikipedia:big wave surfing revolutionized, as surfers use Wikipedia:personal watercraft to tow them out to a position where they can catch previously unrideable waves (see Wikipedia: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; personal watercraft enable surfers to reach the speed of the wave thereby making them rideable. Personal watercraft also allow surfers to survive wipeouts. In many instances surfers would not survive the battering of the "sets" (groups of waves together). 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.

Though surfers come from all walks of life, the basis of the beach bum stereotype comes from that great enthusiasm that surfers can have for their sport. Dedication and Wikipedia:perfectionism are also qualities that surfers bring to what many have traditionally regarded as a commitment to a lifestyle as well as a sport.[8]

For specific surf spots, the state of the ocean tide can play a significant role in the quality of waves or hazards of surfing there. Tidal variations vary greatly among the various global surfing regions, and the effect the tide has on specific spots can vary greatly among the spots within each area. Locations such as Bali, Panama, and Ireland experience 2-3 meter tide fluctuations, whereas in Hawaii the difference between high and low tide is typically less than one meter.

Each Wikipedia:surf break is different, since the underwater topography of one place is unlike any other. At beach breaks, even the sandbanks change shape from week to week, so it takes commitment to get good waves (a skill dubbed "broceanography" by a few California surfers).

The saying "You should have been here yesterday." became commonly used phase for bad condition. Nowadays, however, Wikipedia:surf forecasting is aided by advances in information technology, whereby mathematical modelling graphically depicts the size and direction of swells moving around the globe.

The quest for perfect surf has given rise to a field of tourism based on the surfing adventure. Yacht charters and Wikipedia:surf camps offer surfers access to the high quality surf found in remote, tropical locations, where Wikipedia:tradewinds ensure offshore conditions.

Along with the rarity of what surfers consider truly perfect surf conditions (due to changing weather and surf condition) and the inevitable hunt for great waves, surfers often become dedicated to their sport in a way that precludes a more traditional life. Surfing instead, becomes their lifestyle.

The goals of those who practice the sport vary, but throughout its history, many have seen surfing as more than a sport, as an opportunity to harness the waves and to relax and forget about their daily routines. Surfers have veered from even this beaten path, and foregone the traditional goals of Wikipedia:first world culture in the hunt for a continual 'stoke', harmony with life, their surfing, and the ocean. They; these "Wikipedia:Soul Surfers", are a vibrant and long-standing sub-group.[9][8][10] Competitive surf culture, centered around surf contests and endorsement deals, and Wikipedia:localism's disturbance of the peace, are often seen in opposition to this.[8]

The historic surf village of Wikipedia:Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, is a good example of a place devoted to the surfing lifestyle, having been introduced originally by OB Lifeguard George Freeth.[11][12]

Localism[edit]

Even though waves break everywhere along a coast, good surf spots are rare. A surf break that forms great surfable waves may easily become a coveted commodity, especially if the wave only breaks there rarely. If this break is near a large population center with many surfers, territorialism often arises. Regular surfers who live around a desirable surf break may often guard it jealously, hence the expression "locals only." The expression "locals only" is common among beach towns, especially those that are seasonally encroached upon by vacationers who live outside the area. Localism is expressed when surfers are involved in verbal or physical threats or abuse to deter people from surfing at certain surf spots. It is based in part on the belief that fewer people mean more waves per surfer.

Fistral Beach showing the beach bar setup ready for the 2010 Boardmasters Festival

Some locals have been known to form loose Wikipedia:gangs that surf in a certain break or beach and fiercely protect their "territory" from outsiders.[1] These surfers are often referred to as "surf punks" or "surf nazis." The local surfer gangs in Malibu and on Wikipedia:Hawaii, known as da hui, have been known to threaten tourists with physical violence for invading their territory. In Southern California, at the Venice and Wikipedia:Santa Monica beaches, local surfers are especially hostile to the surfers from the Wikipedia:San Fernando Valley whom they dub "vallies" or "valley kooks". The expression "Surf Nazi" arose in the 1960s to describe territorial and authoritarian surfers, often involved in surf gangs or surf clubs. The term "Nazi" was originally used simply to denote the strict territorialism, violence and hostility to outsiders, and absolute obsession with surfing that was characteristic in the so-called "surf nazis." However, some surfers reclaimed and accepted the term, and a few actually embraced Nazism and Nazi symbolism. Some surf clubs in the 1960s, particularly at Wikipedia:Windansea in La Jolla, used the swastika symbol on their boards and identified with Nazism as a counter culture (though this may have just been an effort to keep out or scare non-locals.) The "locals only" attitude and protectionism of the Santa Monica surf in the early 1970s was depicted in the movie Wikipedia:Lords of Dogtown, which was based on actual events.

Localism often exists due to socioeconomic factors as well. Until relatively recently, surfers were looked down upon as lazy people on the fringe of society (hence the term "beach bum.") Many who surfed were locals of beach towns who lived there year-round, and were from a lower economic class. For that reason as much as any other, these groups were resentful of outsiders, particularly those who were well-to-do and came to their beaches to surf recreationally rather than as a way of life. Australia has its own history where surfers were openly treated with hostility from local governments in the sport's early days, and the tension never really went away, despite the sport's enormous increase in popularity. Maroubra Beach in Australia became infamous for localism and other violence chronicled in the documentary film Wikipedia:Bra Boys, although the surfers in the film maintain they are not a "gang."

Writers on the subject of surf culture, and the violence in it, vary in their assessments. Bron Raymond Taylor, in Dark Green religion,[13] says that David Parmenter "overstated the tolerance and harmony", but "others have exaggerated surfing-related violence",[14][15]

Surf terminology[edit]

W i k t i o n a r y
Definitions, etymology, pronunciation of
Appendix:Glossary of surfing terms

Surfing (particularly in Southern California) has its own slang, which has comingled with Wikipedia:Valspeak. Words like "tubular", "radical", and "gnarly" are associated with both. One of the primary terms used by surfers around the world is the word "stoked". This refers to a mixed feeling of anxiety and happiness towards the waves breaking.

The Shaka greeting sign[16]

Surfers have often been associated with being Wikipedia:slackers or 'beach bums' (with women being known as 'beach bunnies').

The Wikipedia:shaka sign, associated with Hawaii, origins unknown,[17][18] is a common greeting in surfer culture.[16]

Issues affecting surfers[edit]

Main article: List of environmental issues

Global warming (WP), environmental damage, and increasing riparian development may continue to increase pressure on the sport. 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 Wikipedia: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.

Spirituality[edit]

A surfer memorial service, Huntington Beach Pier, Orange County, California.

Many surfers combine their love of the sport with their own religious or spiritual beliefs. In Wikipedia:Huntington Beach, California for example, a local Wikipedia:Christian, Wikipedia:non-denominational church occasionally meets on the beach for Sunday early-morning services. After the closing Wikipedia:prayer, the minister and his congregation paddle out for a morning session. In addition, many surfing communities organize and take part in memorial services for fallen surfers, sometimes on the anniversary of passing such as the Wikipedia:Eddie Aikau memorial service held annually at Wikipedia:Waimea Bay, Wikipedia:Hawaii. Participants in the memorial service paddle out to a suitable location with flower leis around their necks or with loose flowers (sometimes held between their teeth)., The participants then get into a circular formation, hold hands, and silently pray. Sometimes they will raise their clasped hands skyward before tossing their flowers or leis into the center of the ring. Afterward, they paddle back toward the beach to begin their surf session. Often these services take place at sunrise or sunset. In locations with a Wikipedia:pier, such as Huntington Beach, Wikipedia:Orange County, California, the service can take place near the end of the pier so that any non-surfers, such as elderly relatives, can watch and participate. Often the participants on the pier will throw down bouquets of flowers into the center of the ring.

The most extended treatment of surfing as a form of nature religion was written by Wikipedia:Bron Taylor in an academic journal in 2007, which led to a good deal of discussion in surfing magazines. Taylor discussed surfing in more detail, as well as other spiritualities of belonging and connection to nature, in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future.[19] Australian surfer Nat Young tried to register surfing as a religion, but to no avail.

Surfing music[edit]

Main article: Wikipedia:Surf music
Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys. Surfing helped popularize Surf music and vice versa

Surf culture is reflected in surf music, with sub-genres such as Wikipedia:surf rock and Wikipedia:surf pop. This includes works from such artists as Wikipedia:Jan and Dean, Wikipedia:The Beach Boys, Wikipedia:The Surfaris ("Wipe Out!"), Wikipedia:Dick Dale, Wikipedia:The Shadows, and Wikipedia:The Ventures. The music inspired dance crazes such as Wikipedia:The Stomp, Wikipedia:The Frug, and Wikipedia:The Watusi. While the category surf music helped popularize surfing, most surfers at the time, such as Miki Dora, preferred R&B and blues. A newer wave of surf music has started in the acoustic riffs of artists such as Jack Johnson and Wikipedia:Donavon Frankenreiter, who are both former professional surfers.

Surf rock[edit]

Surf pop[edit]

Dick Dale in 2005


Instrumental[edit]

Fashion[edit]

Bethany Hamilton wearing surfwear

Surfwear is a popular style of casual clothing, inspired by surf culture. Many surf-related Wikipedia:brand names originated as Wikipedia:cottage industry, supplying local surfers with Wikipedia:boardshorts, Wikipedia:wetsuits, Wikipedia:surfboards or Wikipedia:leashes, as well as other hardware.

Some clothing Brands include RVCA, Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, O'neill, Rainbow, Hurley, Reef, Rip Curl, Sanuk, Volcom, DaKine, Element, Oakley, Von Zipper, Redsand and Maui Rippers.[20]

Events[edit]

Wikipedia:International Surfing Day celebrates the sport and lifestyle on June 20.

Surfing contests[edit]

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 Wikipedia: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.[21] An organisation called the Wikipedia: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.

Surfing organizations[edit]

Wedding Cake Island, in Coogee Bay, Sydney, Australia. Subject of a song by Australian activist band Midnight Oil

Spin-offs & influences[edit]

Boardsports[edit]

Surfers developed the skateboard to be able to "surf" on land. Later came windsurfing (also known as sailboarding), Wikipedia:bodyboarding, Wikipedia:wakeboarding, Wikipedia:wakesurfing, Wikipedia:skimboarding, Wikipedia:snowboarding, Wikipedia:riverboarding, kiteboarding, Wikipedia:sandboarding, Wikipedia:mountainboarding, Wikipedia:carveboarding all now competitive sports. Another fast growing boardsport is Wikipedia:skurfing a mix of surfing and more conventional water sports in which the participant is towed behind the boat. Wikipedia:Pineboarding and sandboarding are recreational boardsports.

Surfing in multimedia[edit]

Films about surfing[edit]

Main article: Wikipedia:Surf film

The surf culture is reflected in film. Bruce Brown's classic movie Wikipedia:The Endless Summer glorified surfing in a round-the-world search for the perfect wave. John Milius's homage to the Malibu of his youth in Wikipedia:Big Wednesday remains a poignant metaphor for the similarities between the changing surf and life. Beach movies such as the Wikipedia:Gidget series and Beach Party films like Wikipedia:Beach Blanket Bingo are less reverential depictions of the culture. Wikipedia:Liquid Time (2002) is an avant-garde surf film that focuses solely on the fluid forms of tubing waves. Wikipedia:Blue Crush (2002) is a film about Wikipedia:surfer girls on Wikipedia:Hawaii's North Shore.

Some film events include the Sydney Fringe Festival, Wikipedia:Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.[22] the Surf Film Festival[23], Saint Jean de Luz Surf Film Festival[24], Wavescapes Surf Film Festival[25], and the New York Surfing Film Festival.

Television shows[edit]

TV documentary series[edit]

  • "Surfing 50 States" (2006)
  • "I'm a Big Wave Surfer" [MTV's True Life] (2004)

TV episodes featuring surfing[edit]

Fictional surfers in TV[edit]

• Duke: "Man, five days on that board and I'm nothing but skin and bones." • Ginger: "What skin." • Mary Ann: "And what bones."

Television advertising[edit]

Major advertisers appeal to the surfing market (and to would-be surfers)[26] with commercials featuring, in some cases famed surfing athletes, such as the Wikipedia:Coca-Cola commercial featuring Kalani Robb and Maila Jones,[27] and a Kashi food commercial featuring Kashi nutritionist and surfer Jeff Johnson, 2006 [28]

Print media[edit]

Surfing magazines[edit]

Video games about surfing[edit]

Surfing in non-fiction[edit]

A surfer waits as a wave crashes

Conceptual metaphor[edit]

The word "surf" is polysemous; having multiple, related meanings. "Surfing" the Wikipedia:World Wide Web is the act of following Wikipedia:hyperlinks. The phrase "surfing the Internet" was first popularized in print by Wikipedia:Jean Armour Polly, a librarian, in an article called "Surfing the INTERNET", published in the Wilson Library Bulletin in June, 1992.

Popular[edit]

Academic topics[edit]

Natural science[edit]

Surfing in fiction[edit]

Comics[edit]

Prose[edit]

  • "Tapping the Source: Waves and Mystery, Guns and Grit" "Dogs of winter" and "Tijuana Straights" By Kem Nunn
  • Surfing in Hawaii: A Personal Memoir, by Desmond Muirhead
  • Paunalu, by Rustom Calisch
  • The Impact Zone, by Ray Maloney
  • Wikipedia:Fear Nothing, Wikipedia:Seize the Night, by Dean Koontz. Christopher Snow, the main character, is a surfer, as are his best friend Bobby Halloway and girlfriend Sasha Goodall. Bobby makes his living running a surf forceasting service called Surfcast. Christopher's experience of surfing is rather unusual: suffering from the genetic disorder Wikipedia:xeroderma pigmentosum he cannot go out during the day, but only at night.
  • In Search of Captain Zero, by Allen Weisbecker.
  • Where Tigers Rest at Midnight by Christopher Hess
  • "Breath" by Tim Winton
  • "The Winter of Frankie Machine" "The Dawn Patrol" and "The Gentlemen's Hour" by Don Winslow

Wikipedia:Philosophical novels


Art[edit]

Painting portraying surfer in tube
Main article: Surf art

Surf art is Wikipedia:visual art about or related to the sport of Wikipedia:surfing. There is a strong connection between Wikipedia:art and surf culture, which reaches back 3,000 years to Peru, where some of the world's first historians carved Wikipedia:bas-reliefs of surfers. The intersection of the surf and art realms today, however, extends far beyond art documenting life. Both have stretched to encompass each other and the areas of Wikipedia:popular culture and commercialism. Art today incorporates graffiti, advertisements and everyday items, and surfing is as much about clothes, attitude and punk music as it is hitting the waves.[29]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

[30]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Malibu Surfers Fight Paparazzi. X17online.com.
  2. ↑ Harshaw, p. 708
  3. ↑ Harshaw, pages
  4. ↑ Harshaw, p. 35, 68, 196, 300
  5. ↑ Harshaw, pages
  6. ↑ Ben Wixon (2009). Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming and Park Design, Human Kinetics.
  7. ↑ Skateboarding, Ben Wixon
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Dawnea Adams. Soul surfing: tune in your power to live the movie of your life.
  9. ↑ Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, Rick Bundschuh. Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, Wikipedia:Simon & Schuster.
  10. ↑ Matt Harshaw. The Encyclopedia of Surfing, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  11. ↑ The Surfboard: Art, Style, Stoke, by Ben Marcus, Juliana Morais, Jeff Divine, Gary (FRW) Linden
  12. ↑ Google Books "George Freeth Ocean Beach"
  13. ↑ Dark green religion: nature spirituality and the planetary future, Bron Raymond Taylor]
  14. ↑ Dark green religion: "as noted in Warshaw, Zero Break, xix"
  15. ↑ Bron Raymond Taylor also notes Nat Young's Surf Rage as an example of the actual event; Young was a victim of violence
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Trevor Cralle. The surfin'ary: a dictionary of surfing terms and surfspeak, Quiksilver.
  17. ↑ Watanabe, June Wherever it came from, shaka sign part of Hawaii. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. URL accessed on 13 January 2011.
  18. ↑ The Shaka. Wikipedia:Polynesian Cultural Center. URL accessed on 13 January 2011.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Bron. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. University of California Press, 103-126. ISBN 9780520261006
  20. ↑ Brent. Surf Clothing and Culture. Fleetclothing. URL accessed on 2010-06-03.
  21. ↑ Billion Dollar Breakers: The Professional Surfing World Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, Sunday, 13 April 1997
  22. ↑ Jinman, Richard (October 30, 2003). "Baiting Bondi's fringe". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/29/1067233249351.html?from=storyrhs. Nude Night Surfing </li>
  23. ↑ Surfilm festival and exhibitions
  24. ↑ International Surf Film Festival France, Filmfestivals.com
  25. ↑ Wavescapes Surf Film Festival set for the Bay of Plenty, The Surfing Yearbook
  26. ↑ 1977 Coca-Cola TV commercial, video
  27. ↑ Ocean Lifestyle Magazine
  28. ↑ TV ads TV ads
  29. ↑ "Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing", San Jose Museum of Art
  30. ↑ Contains content from Wikipedia

    31. </ol>

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