History_Of_Surfing

History Of Surfing My Favorite Sport: The History of Surfing Captain King's journal entry from March 1779 three months after Captain Cook died is the first record of Hawaiian surfing. Surfing was first called he’e nalu which is the Hawaiian word for surfing. The Hawaiians left more of an accurate account of their sport by leaving hieroglyphics of surfers carved into the lava rock landscape and chants and stories of great surfing adventures. Some of the chants about surfing date back to 1500 A.D. leaving us to believe surfing begun long before the Polynesian culture. The origin of surfing was a part of the Kapu system of laws, which held Hawaiian royalty above the commoners in the kingdom. Chiefs used surfing and other Hawaiian sports as competition to maintain their strength and command over their people. The Kapu system also determined how, why and with what materials surfboards were to be made. The type of wood used in making a board depended on the future rider's status in society. If shaping the board for the ruling class, a lengthy surfboard between 14 and 16 feet long was crafted using premium wood. Hawaiians made the larger board with the lightwood from the wiliwili tree. Because of surfing, hawaiian, board, wood, surfboard, first, sport, size, made, hawaii, california, beach, after, waves, tree, system, surface, stain, sports, part, kapu, friends, duke, became, waikiki, treated, took, surfers, stone, shape, ride, rebirth, person, people, over