To the casual observer unfamiliar with the joys of surfing, it can seem a mysterious or even trivial pursuit. There’s nothing tangible accomplished through the activity, coupled physical fitness. Some non-surfers have commented that surfing seems to involve mostly sitting there doing “nothing” until a wave comes … not worth the time and effort. And anyway, if the goal is to get physically fit, why spend all those hours in the water when a fraction of the time in the gym would have similar or better results from a bodybuilder’s perspective? How about those people who seem to be totally obsessed with surfing- it seems to be all they talk and think about.
This is one sport for sure that’s captured certain people’s hearts and imaginations, and those who have never ridden a wave can be forgiven for thinking that there’s not much to surfing. This article aims to help such people gain a little insight into the passion so many surfers have for their sport- by exploring and contemplating some surf quotes, it may be possible to gain a bit of an appreciation for an activity that might otherwise seem entirely foreign. Of course, no words will certainly convey an experience, and sometimes now this will be truer than with surfing. So let us begin, but let us keep in mind that “Only a surfer knows the feeling”.
There are not too many famous surf quotes, at least not in the mainstream. Certainly, there’s slang, such as “tubular”, “radical”, and “gnarly”, all of which came out of the intense moments witnessed and felt while out on the water. “Tubular” is dated, but it refers to the powerful barring waves that are what most surfers dream of. When such waves break, they form hollow “barrels”, it is the quest of every true surfer to spend time in these fleeting natural constructions of moving energy, a room of water that exists for one moment in time only.
Let us dispel the notice that surfers are just lazy beach bums (albeit often with ripped bods and great tans). Certain when on land, surfers may seem like they do not care about anything. The great Duke Kahanamoku has somewhere the absolute surf quote, which really conveys the attitude that hardcore surfers have in one little sentence:
“Out of the water, I am nothing.”
That probably sums up how some people view surfers. But that’s just because surfers are often out of their element when on land! Get them in the water, however, and you are likely to see a complete transformation. Because like Hawaiian surfer Gary Sirota said:
“There are no more committed people on the planet than surprises. We fall down a lot. We turn around, paddle back out, and do it over and over again. Unlike anything else in life, the stoke of surfing is so high that the failures quickly fade from memory. ”