History of surfing (1 part)
Surfing is very popular kind of sport nowadays. For some people it’s way of life, culture, others treat it like an art, but not many people know, that it has a very long and interesting history.
Surfing appeared many years ago in ancient Hawaii. It was one of the most important traditions of their life. Surfing competitions demonstrated power, pride, feelings. Hawaiian men didn’t fight, instead of it they prayed or asked Kahunas (priests) to pray (dance and sing) and for successful surf. They solved their problems and conflicts by surfing tournaments. Moreover it was a training for Hawaiian rulers. At those times there were two kinds of surfboards which represented social level 
of people. First kind is ‘Olo’ for nobles, known as ‘Alii’ and second kind is ‘Alaia’- for common people. All boards were made of the same material the Wili Wili, the Ula and Koa trees. The difference between social classes was shown by the length of the board 10-12 feet for ordinary people and 14-16 feet for authorities and noblemen. Process of creation of the board was really labour-consuming and took a long time. It required special tools for making a board, which should also be made in advance.
However, with the arrival of Captain Cook in the late Eighteenth Century all those traditions were sent to the past. Huge numbers of Europeans, who attended Hawaii after Cook’s adventures searched only for material benefits and land for settlers. Therefore ancient culture of Hawaiians was replaced with western religion, people were forced to accept a new lifestyle and soon almost lost their roots.
Fortunately, some western people, who observed surfing in its natural, original environment had congeniality for this kind of sport. At the beginning of the twentieth century a new stage of surfing development started. Everything began with a group of teenagers known as the ‘Beach Boys of Waikiki’. Although it was believed that only native Hawaiians could surf, George Freeth, who had Irish-Hawaiian origins proved that that opinion was wrong. He moved to California and promoted surfing all over United States.
Later, Duke Kahanamoku, who was one of participants of ‘Beach Boys of Waikiki’ created a surf club, or the club of the waves. He made this kind of sport international, brought it to Australia, where it really quickly obtained popularity. At first, Duke Kahanamoku demonstrated surfing between Olympic performances in Australia. Than he was travelling around the world presenting how fun could time be in the water.
Please remember, that surf and kite are very interesting kind of sport. Surf - is very popular in many countries, also in Spain. So we are glad to invite you to Tarifa. On our site you may find kite course Tarifa, find kite lessons, find surf and kite equipment.
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