 This is a review of the history of surfing by Matt Warshaw. He worked for Surfer Magazine for six years and has a BA in history. This book took about four years to write. It's very legit and I am a surfer. To confirm this, I love the painted different angles he had in this book. There's facts and you got to remember fakes or fake history. It's well researched book and it's well worth reading especially if you're into extreme sports or you are a surfer or want to go surfing. Surfing in general is cool, wild and free. It's simplicity however before 1930 the boards weighed about 50 pounds so that's heavy compared to three or four pounds now. Some surfers don't want competition. I spent six months in Costa Rica. I don't care about competition. I did see one at night which was very interesting to see. One of the best times of my life were during those six months and here's some words and culture that influenced the world. Dude calm and aggressive share the stoke. Cowabunga awesome. Gnarly. Whoa. And there was a ton of innovation sometimes brought on by competition and design and surfing is like a meditation dance. Even if you're landlocked you can do it. You can find a way. And it's important to understand the soul surfer. There's dynamics of waves. There's vibrations. It's not just wind. There's offshore wind that helps it but there's swell periods and nature. Nature's force and power. I'm going to jam through this basic history. I'm reading off a list so it'll be very straightforward and somewhat boring at least you can see some of the data. So what is surfing actually? So in Peru they had a raft. It's called a cabaito which you just ride down a wave to make things easier. Is that surfing? No. And there's a bunch of theories but we don't really know. So it was pretty much born in Polynesian islands. Hawaii's pass. Kids playing on these small boards. It was a royal sport as well. And they had a fun and recreation activity to it. Not just being scared of the ocean of the mysteries, the sharks and the dangers, the octopuses. Death. And missionaries when they came to Hawaii they dampened it. That's not all they brought. And eventually they spread to the rest of the US. Through writing interests Jack London and Captain Cook who died there. And it's spread by this Hawaiian surfer named Duke who went to Australia and other places. So eventually they made hollow boards. Tom Blake Finns in 1935. There were lighter, stronger fiberglass resin boards, Bob Simmons around the early 50s. Southern Cal culture was really big with surfing. Which I'm partially from. There's localism. There's non-conformity of surfing. They understand the wave technology and the nature, the periods, the durations, the sets. It's a building of energy and scientific measurements. The culture had at certain times a beats and a Jack Kerouac style, a hippie surfer, a rebel or a nomad. There's a salt hair slacker. Australian had their own type of culture. Of course they had the waves. They had a surf rescue type culture. The late 50s they started using polyurethane foam. There's wetsuits near me, near Santa Cruz. Jack O'Neill developed these wetsuits for cold water. Even though you sank in it, it helped and prolonged your surfing sessions. Surfer magazines started to get big. Surfing boom in 1950s and 60s. As well as skateboarding. And how do you judge a competition? People flock to see it. Who is it the person that rides the best? Most tricks? It's time to compete. But it's like a waste of time watching corrupt politicians that work almost. You're just watching, you're not in the game. Hollywood 60s gave it an image, a fake image, Endless Summer came out in 1963. It was raw and made about $1 million. I have not seen that movie. There was a shortboard revolution in 1967. Aussies really pushed this and innovated this. They had brands such as Rip Curl, Quicksilver and even Cross Seld with those ugly Ugg boots. Bro, Dude and Mate are part of their culture now. Laid back and embraced that surf culture in the Oz territory. A lazy surfer. And it could be a bad surfer. All the competitions try hard. 70s commercialized it as one big lie, cheesy movies, Beach Boys lifestyle, good music. However, they tried to convey it into a sellable fashion. A fake one. There's a hippie Mino Loomis fashion. They have a board called The Fish, 1970s Pat O'Neill, Jack Sun invented the leash. A good leash, which is very controversial, but is very important. Boogie board and body surfers. Tubing, which is riding in the wave. You can very accessible with the shortboard timing the pipeline in Hawaii. Bali was undiscovered and then corporate sponsors started to come in 1979. There was travel, racial tensions during this time. And surfing has no colors on most. It just it's very simple. That's what's great about it. It's almost like kicking a soccer ball around to global sport. Some of the boards were like six, six in size, double fins. And they moved the fin six inches forward to give it better direction. Twin fins are small, single for big. Longboard came back around the 1980s. The more chill vibe. 1981 had the Trifin Thuster. Almerk boards around the late 80s. I have an Elmerk board. I think it cost around $500 for me. Surfline, the company and reliable wave data. You could call versus a website, which you could see. You could save money instead of praying for waves. Are there waves or they're not? There's always this issue of people that near the next of the beach says people lie to keep people away versus inlanders like me. You can keep you down slave to real estate or to debt. There was a very good racial story. I don't want to mention in this book, but check it out. Kelly Slater really brought the sport up with his talent winning an East Coast surfer, Florida person. He was on Baywatch involved in Hollywood, a musician. And I didn't hear about Jack Johnson, which is another good musician. Ariel's starting to grow. Mavericks near me, the big toe in surfing. And later paddle boards, which my brother does in the early 2000s. Surf cams, the sea, the waves. And elites wanted to control the flow of surfers have no inlanders coming in. A few movies, step in the liquid, Endless Summer 2, which I have seen, which is surprising. I haven't seen the first. The making of foam, it had toxic materials in it, such as TDI. They call this blank Monday. There weren't enough shapers because of this toxic, somewhat like Black Monday. There was a crash. Surf tech and even Costco began selling Chinese boards. There was a super bank in Queensland where they put sandbags on the reef. That's very interesting. I want to do more research on that. And there's manipulating of the environment for the waves, for the pleasure, which is very controversial. Kelly Slater has wave pools. Now for the culture of surfing, there's real surfers out there. And it could be pricing and masculinity. The bigger the waves, the more status has always been a part of that culture. Too scared to go out there or get hurt and drown. The East Coast had a buddy system and no surfing, more regulations and fear. The beach is such a big part of California and Hawaii that there's no stopping it. There's gonna be none. Competitions could be try-hards. Some surfers like me love the dawn patrol and the tides. Away from the crowds, more freedom and in the zone. I don't mind surfing in the dark. Some are scared and don't want to be alone or as well as want to be seen. There's that fear of the shark factor. There's dopamine, surf and sex, sometimes mixed with potheds and that feel good vibes. Can be done to escape and it's nature, just like a fisherman. Now concerning females, there's always share the stooks. It's perfectly fine for female surfers. They do wear that bikini. It can remind me of guys thirsting on Twitter. Sometimes they'll just, they're just there to try to talk to chicks or they go white night on a Twitch channel. It's the same thing, same concept. And for female surf competitions, they hardly got any attention. Does this deserve equality? When in terms of data, you see men purchase most of the web suits and equipment. And some females just go out there in the bikinis for attention. The reality is we already know the nature, especially if you're an independent surfer, not a cheerleader. And for surfer magazines, there were no interviews with the females. Feminists complained. And use your attention and time unless she's gained. There's the cost of female sports, public schools fund this. And in terms of female surfing, they don't really get many tubes. It has to do with the lack of leg strength. And it can be the lineup to catch these waves. It's very crowded. Scars in general, female beauty and scars do not mix very well. A scar can damage your prospects. Some surfers be cucking, mostly pro surfers, recognize the sole surfers and don't cuck. My opinion's on surfing. It's free, it's nature, it's ebb and flow. It's refreshing, it's flow state, almost like rock climbing. All you need is just a board and surf. I would never diss someone because I know what it's like to travel far to go surfing. The Inlander. I spent six months in Costa Rica. At first, it was three months and I decided to extend it because I was having so much fun. Bali's just as bad ass. Freedom. I have five boards. I'm more of a big wave surfer, not gigantic. You understand you are not in control. The wave takedown, you can die. Relax, hold your breath and cover your head. Outdoorsmen can clash with the meathead manager, just what it is. You can be called a bum, living lazily, always at pleasure in recreation. From this book, I want to pursue other things. There's big lessons. The videos used to cost a ton to produce, carry and video production for this. Now all you need is an HD camera, Adobe Premiere and work and YouTube. It's a reminder that you can do this broke resourcefulness as well as not buying up all the surf sites saying this ocean is mine. It's free and cheap equipment, just like how football is the world sport. All you need is a ball, become a free rider, not tribal and elite. For other resources to check out, you can check out Endless Summer, Gidget the Movie, which I have not seen. Step into the liquid, I have that video. Duke Kahanamoku, Jack Johnson and another book called Barbarian Days, A Surfing Life by Wayne Finnegan. And in this, I want to start with a German I met on that Costa Rica trip. Obviously Germany is not known for their surfing. He had an American flag on his board, a Hoopti board just like me yellowed and cracked, dented and yellowed. And I surfed with them in Pavones and I didn't really hang out with them as much. Pavones is one of the longest waves. Then I saw him on another site, Boko Baranka. This is a during like a three or four month period. Then I saw him at Witch's Rock, of all the things. And I have much respect for the Inland Warrior, because I am one. I had a walk to walk to go. He wasn't exactly the best surfer, but who cares? He was a sole surfer. And I always try to help out these Inland people just like Rolf Potts for backpackers.