Making Waves in Waikiki - Hawaii Surfing Heritage

The Hawaiians are credited with being the fathers of surfing and are known for the sport in the 15th century have. The name for the Hawaiian surf He'enalu "- can be translated as wave sliding. During its early history, surfing was taken as a sacred practice and only those of high social status could take one with, in other words - kings and queens were Hawaiian surfers. Ironically, today is surfing as a sport by the general population to those observedwho left the company, on the contrary, as it began.

As people in a cluster of small islands in a very large lake, the Hawaiians were not surprising fascinated by the sea, and attached great importance to its forms and moods. Similarly, the Inuit are said to have many names for snow, Hawaiians hundreds of words to describe various forms of ever-changing sea.

Just as modern surf bums insist on surfing as a lifestylerather than a dedicated sports and found that large portions of time and money for the exercise of the waves, Hawaiians also unfathomable to practical limitations, such as the writings of Kepelino Keauokalani, a 19th Century Scholar Hawaii show in its observations of local Hawaiian surfer :

"All thoughts of work, in the end, only that the sport is left. The wife may go hungry, not the children, the whole family, but the head of the house, never mind. 'Everything for the sport,which is his food. There's nothing all day except surf. Many are already in the surf vier clock in the morning. Men, women and children "

Such was the desire of the ancient Hawaiians wave slide for when storms do not produce enough away to ride the waves, surfers win with the help of a "Kahuna" - a priest to pray and ask the gods would come to surfing, Hawaii coast .

However, was surfing moves in a period of decline after the arrival of ChristianMissionaries who believed that surfing was an act hedonist and a waste of time. Preach vehemently against the existence of surfing, and in 1800 the sport was almost completely eradicated. Kalakaua was not for a couple of hardcore surfers David, who continued to practice sports like surfing and the Hawaiian kings can be set as extinct.

However, the gradual decline in influence of missionaries permitted to sail to breathe again, and in early 1900,Surfing was not just his former popularity in Hawaii, but began to spread to other beaches in the world.

At the end of 1920, tourists from around the world were in the newly built hotel in Waikiki to hundreds that are all curious about the world's most famous beach and see people surfing exotic of the book for themselves. Another 30 years later, and the waves of American immigrants began surfing waves come from California in search of the famous HawaiiThis was achieved legendary status surf circles.

Now is the surf-billion dollar industry, practiced in Indonesia, the world, from Iceland to - but do not forget the Hawaiian kings and queens of vanguard, without which the surf was invented sport if ever.