Do true thrill seekers challenge the Pacific Ocean in real Waikiki-style with the new wave of stand up paddle boarding? Or seize the power of the sea balancing on an old school surf board?
Known in its native Hawaiian as Hoe he’e nalu, or more casually as SUP, stand up paddle boarding is experiencing a robust revival. Tourists in the 1960’s relied on the region’s famed Beach Boys of Waikiki (not to be confused with the band) to capture the perfect picture of their vacation flirtation with surfing. The hospitable Hawaiians would stand on their long boards, paddling into the ocean with outrigger paddles to get the shot: unwittingly starting a craze and coining the other name for SUP, “Beach Boy Surfing”.
Or perhaps the moniker could be amended to add “Beach Girls” too? Stand up paddle boarding is said to popular among the ladies, who benefit from a lower center of gravity that often allows them to be more skilled at the sport than their male counterparts.
Unlike traditional surfing, paddle boarding can be relatively easy to learn. With the right training, one can become very comfortable in the water very quickly. But don’t assume that SUP is necessarily a day at the beach, gliding on a paddle board provides an unparalleled intense full-body and core workout.
While what most know as traditional surfing, with just an adventurer and a board, requires similar strength and endurance, as well as balance and intuition. Predicting the break of the waves and bursting through them demands expert timing, practiced technique and an iron will.
American author Jack London wrote about his experience with surfing after having attempted it on his visit to the islands. “The mere struggle with them,” he wrote of the waves, “facing them and paddling seaward over them and through them, was sport enough in itself. You had to have your wits about you, for it was a battle in which mighty blows were struck, on one side, and in which cunning was used on the other side — a struggle between insensate force and intelligence.”
Peruvian and Polynesian in origin, surfing was nearly itself wiped out by persecution after it was forbidden by missionaries in the 1800’s. The sport was reintroduced in Australia in 1915, then enjoyed a heyday in the 1960’s charming beach-oriented pop culture, and has yet to fade. The rich history of surfing has shown that the sport can hang ten in the test of time. Though SUP could continue to climb in popularity due to the slight ease over traditional mechanics, the challenge of a body and a board alone on a wave seems irresistible for those with an insatiable yearning for adventure—despite, or in spite of, the intrepid gentleman Jack London.
Related Lifecrowd Session:
Wade L. – SUP Instructor
Keep Your Nose Up and SUP!
