Surfing

Surfing has been a past time for many people on coasts, such as in California, Hawaii, and especially islanders—such as Samoan and Polynesian islands. When surfing was introduced to the Hawaiian, Samoan, and Polynesian islands it became an integrated part of their culture and lives. Surfing is now a hearty past time for many islanders and it’s become a very popular spot in island areas and the coasts.

The reason I chose surfing to research is because surfing is probably one of the most fun—at least, that’s what it looks like—water sports. Surfing also looks like it’s a very hard sport to master; I mean really, balancing on a snow board is hard enough, but adding water and an infinite amount of waves crashing into your board and knocking you off your balance? I’d rather not. However, I have respect for the surfers of California, Hawaii, Polynesia, and Samoa. How could I not have respect when they’re continually risking their lives through riptides pulling them out to the ocean and drowning them, or getting eaten or torn away from their surfboards by the jaws of a waiting shark? It’s inspiring to see surfers that recover from shark attacks or near-death experiences in the water return to their sport that they love so much and have so much passion for. When a dancer has such emotion in their performances, and when an artist conveys their feelings to the blank canvas, it’s the same as a surfer conversing with the waves on their board. It’s a very passionate feeling they have for their sport, and it’s very inspiring to see the athletes perform as they do when they surf.

Surfing originated in Western Polynesia, when fishermen tried to balance on wooden boards with the fish that they had caught. They believed that riding these boards...

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... innovated the idea of surfing through ‘pipelines.’ Surfing through the pipes transformed from perilous to a fun idea when Lopez first surfed through the ‘pipe’ and gave people motivation to do so as well. Of course, there are many other infamous people in the surfing sport, but these are only a namely few that are famous for different contributions or things in surfing.

Overall, after researching surfing, it was interesting to find out the different things such as the history of surfing, the advancement of the construction of the surfboard, and the famous people in the sport. The impact that surfing has had on the Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures for so many years is very interesting to understand—how integrated the sport is in their cultures and lives. It’s inspiring to see such a simple sport is revolved around such a beautiful culture like Hawaii or Polynesia.