History Of Surfing

3 Pages 725 Words

My Favorite Sport: The History of Surfing


Captain King's journal entry from March 1779 three months after Captain Cook died is the first record of Hawaiian surfing. Surfing was first called he’e nalu which is the Hawaiian word for surfing. The Hawaiians left more of an accurate account of their sport by leaving hieroglyphics of surfers carved into the lava rock landscape and chants and stories of great surfing adventures. Some of the chants about surfing date back to 1500 A.D. leaving us to believe surfing begun long before the Polynesian culture. The origin of surfing was a part of the Kapu system of laws, which held Hawaiian royalty above the commoners in the kingdom. Chiefs used surfing and other Hawaiian sports as competition to maintain their strength and command over their people.

The Kapu system also determined how, why and with what materials surfboards were to be made. The type of wood used in making a board depended on the future rider's status in society. If shaping the board for the ruling class, a lengthy surfboard between 14 and 16 feet long was crafted using premium wood. Hawaiians made the larger board with the lightwood from the wiliwili tree. Because of its size, this board could weigh up to 175 pounds. The other board was intended for the commoners and was made smaller about 10 to 12 feet, with a heavier and denser wood. After they selected the wood to be used, they prayed and placed a fish in a hole near the tree's roots. Then they would cut the tree down to make their board. They then took the tree away shaped it to size with a bone or stone. When they had the general shape and size of the board, they took it to the canoe house, near the beach for the finishing touches. With granulated coral rough stone, craftsmen would remove the marks on the board's surface. After the board had been sanded, they applied a black finish to its surface with the root of the ti plant, or the stain from banana buds. Sometime...