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Surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing was first
observed by Europeans at Tahiti in 1767, by the crew members of the Dolphin.
Later, Lieutenant James King wrote about the art when completing the journals of
Captain James Cook upon Cook's death in 1779. When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in
1866 he wrote,
"In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and
all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing."
References to surf riding on planks and single canoe hulls are also verified for
pre-contact Samoa, where surfing was called fa'ase'e or se'egalu (see Kramer,
Samoa Islands) and Tonga.
The New Zealand Surfing Style
Surfing begins when the New Zealand surfer finds a ridable wave on the horizon
and then attempts to match its speed (by paddling or sometimes, by tow-in). Once
the wave starts to carry the New Zealand surfer forward, the New Zealand surfer
stands up and proceeds to ride down the face of the wave, generally staying just
ahead of the breaking part (white water) of the wave (in a place often referred
to as the pocket or the curl). A common problem for beginners is being unable to
catch the wave in the first place, and one sign of a good New Zealand surfer is
the ability to catch a difficult wave that other New Zealand surfers cannot.
Surfers' skills are not tested only in their ability to control their board in
challenging conditions and/or catch and ride challenging waves, but by their
ability to execute maneuvers such as turning and carving. Some of the common
turns have become recognizable tricks such as the cutback (turning back toward
the breaking part of the wave), the floater (riding on the top of the breaking
curl of the wave), and off the lip (banking off the top of the wave). A newer
addition to New Zealand surfing is the progression of the air where a New
Zealand surfer propels oneself off the wave and re-enters. Some of these
maneuvers are executed to extreme degrees, as with off-the-lips where a New
Zealand surfer over-rotates his turn and re-enters backward, or airs done in the
same fashion, recovering either with re-rotation or continuing the over-rotation
to come out with his nose forward again.
