Riding Sliding Ass

Smiles and Wiggles Everyone (sliding wiggles from my longboard, at any rate),

So, sometimes, a girl just has to make do. And, from that, it's kind of neat, some truly beautiful things can happen. Magical things. Things that make a girl go, woo hoo!!!

I happen to be sitting here waiting for a new fin to arrive for my beautiful Wingnut longboard. In the meantime, the only option I have, just also happens to be about one of the best ways there is to really get a feel to your surfing. Riding finless. Or, as it was known back in the day, Riding Sliding Ass.

Few, I'd imagine, have tried it, at least in today's world, and of those who have, fewer still have really worked it, I'd imagine.

Now then, such an idea really isn't my fault, it was born out of necessity in my case, I need a fin. Now. Today. But, just as with yesteryear, the story was the same to a certain degree, only that back then, fins hadn't yet been developed. According to a truly incredible book and one of my favorites, The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw (every surfer so totally needs a copy, by the way),  fins were developed about 1935 but didn't really get popular until the mid-1940's.

So, my experiments in my finless days I'm going through are taking me back to round about WWII. Wow, I could just imagine myself back then, out at Waikiki or someplace beautiful like that, probably as a nurse in the army or some such thing, I'd imagine. And, a girl who rode the waves. Sure, there probably weren't many, but I'd love to think I'd have been one of them.

Which brings me to my surfing fantasy. A lone girl at some military base somewhere, pre-Pearl Harbor - thus, happier more care-free times, and me, after hours, out with my longboard, without a fin or a skeg, as I understand they would in a few years come to be known.

Riding Slide Ass. I love the sound of that. More so, I love the art that comes from it. For who of us today really try to ride this way. On purpose!!! Sure, there's that totally awesome scene in the super surf movie North Shore where the main character learns to ride a skegless wooden board (oh how I love that movie- I so need a surfing mentor like he had, wow, well, a girl can at least dream I guess). - Sigh -   I digress. Sorry about that. Back on topic, even though, I hadn't really slide that far off. :)  - on an aside, I'll watch North Shore tonight again. Sort of a moral imperative, I think.

Okay, back to Riding Slide Ass. What can it teach? And how? And why? And what can it bring to a girl's surfing? Goodness, what fun questions.

The main thing one learns is about feel. True feel. Really sensing the board. It's a way to pay attention deeply to the rails, to learning to use them ever so subtly.  And, it's about weighting the board. Both for and aft. Finding that perfect release spot. Working in millimeters in fractions of seconds. It's all about feel.

Without a skeg or latter, a fin, or now, lots of fins like some boards  have, the rear end tends to, slide ass. It's actually a pretty groovy feeling. Sure, you can't turn like you're used to, but that doesn't mean you can't put in the hours to see just what you can learn to do. And that's where the art comes in. That's where the challenge lies.

Sure, I could have stayed home today watching the mail, hoping and praying for a fin. But, what fun that? More stoke comes from learning and riding and simply being out there with the waves.

I think for a lot of us, we've gotten away from straight in riding like they used to do in those long gone WWII days. But what joys back then in that type of surfing. Okay, sure, I'm a romantic, I admit it. But in that, I find creativity and a love of simple things. Like my current finless longboard.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Shoaling Wave Rider

Hey All,

Some of you maybe wondering what chi surfing is all about. Well, it came to me today a way to try to explain it. You see, I see myself as a Shoaling Wave Rider. That is to say, a girl who loves to feel the bottom.  In other words, a Shoaling Wave is a jacked up or quickly rising wave that lifts high suddenly when it races across shallow water. And, when you're on it, the idea is to be so in tune, so in the flow, so present, that you can sense and more so even feel the bottom through the pressure of the wave against your surfboard.

Now here's the thing, using training like chi gung, you can learn to not merely ride your board, but to feel through your board. The longboard becomes, a literal extension of yourself as you ride. It's a rather advanced kind of idea in a sense when you really do it right because  it's not just simply vibrations and the like, nor merely subtle movements, but instead, you learn to truly feel the board and what happens to the board, happens to you.


Now here's one way to practice it. Find a wave that repeats itself as often as possible. In other words, it always breaks more or less at the exact same spot. And, learn to really ride that wave. And as you do this, truly try to sense what the pressure on the board feels like as it glides down the waves face. Then, just try shifing your ride a bit to your right or left on the wave and again try the same ride. Let's assume there is a large coral shape directly under the path you typically always take. The board will have a certain pressure against the water as you glide over this spot. Now, by shifting your take off either left or right a few feet, perhaps you'll be beyond the edge of the coral shape, and thus, the pressure will be gone. This feeling can be sensed. And that is one way to learn to sense feeling the water through your board as the depth of the water changes slightly due to bottom configurations such as large rocks or coral shapes. This is the type of attention to your senses that is what chi gung is all about.

Using chi, you learn to get so in tune with your board that you feel everything that it does.The depth of the water, the smoothness of the wave, the density of the ocean, subtle speed fluxations, even water temperature differences can be sensed through your board by someone trained in this art.  And that's where the true fun begins, for, this level of riding is but the very beginning of this type of surfing art. With this level of sensory focus, it's truly amazing how much more depth your rides feel, and thus, how much more dramatically your stoke.

Don't just ride mindlessly along, instead, zero in all of your senses to their absolute max and embrace the ocean in a harmonious dance between  Oflow and Tube Meditation with full sensory stoke. You'll be amazed at how this improves your surfing and lifts you to zones you never even dreamed existed.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

The Perfect Surfer Girl Thanksgiving.

Hey all.

So, I had like the totally perfect Thanksgiving these last few days. The perfect Surfer Girl Thanksgiving, that is to say.

Dinner was fish tacos (and shrimp tacos too), Clementine tangerines, tons of papayas, pineapple, several incredibly strong and oh so yummy margaritas and lots of water and hot habanero salsas.

I spent my time reading my tide tables books (I have several, and yes, I still love doing it the old fashioned way, by reading the books), my surfer's dictionary, and just watching the water. 

I'd sit outside each night talking story, suspended in the comforting  water, just soaking up the evening's darkness while watching the sky and stars  and moon  and totally getting lost in the feeling of cold snow falling  gently on my soft skin. It was awesome.

I actually even contemplated a North Pole adventure. Yep, I was thinking it would be pretty radical to bring my red and white Wingnut longboard and giving it a go about as far North as a girl could end up. Perhaps. If not this year, maybe next :) A dream of mine, the perfect red and white wool and fur bikini, my wingnut 9 foot longboard, and a photo of me with the famous red and white barber type pole at the North Pole. Such thoughts make me smile!

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Hurricane Andrew - 1992 - The Wildest Stoke of a Lifetime

It was  1992. I lived in South Florida. Hurricane Andrew was quickly approaching the South Florida coast.

The night before the hurricane hit, I was in Orlando. I had been at Disney World. When I heard of the approaching hurricane, I immediately left and began the drive south for I had to get to my cat, Cholla, for she was all alone in my apartment and I could not bear for her to be in fear when a hurricane struck.

As I drove through West Palm Beach on my way south, the town looked abandoned. Nobody was anywhere. Not a car in site. Previously, on the expressway heading south, I was the only car driving towards the hurricane as far as I could see for miles ahead of me and behind me on the road. The highway headed north was so packed with traffic that it was almost stopped.

That night was a long night as I awaited with my kitty,  the coming of the hurrricane early the next morning.

As soon as I could, I headed to the beach. And, directly into  the churly churly sea. Not only was I the only one in the water that day, I was the only one on the beach too no matter how far I looked in any direction. Sure, it might have been not the wisest of moves, yet, to a watergirl, it had to be done.

The power of the storm was beyond incredible. It's fury, seemingly unknown. I'd never felt anything like it in my life. The water pulled at my so hard it was as though I'd be ripped literally limb from limb.

The rain wiped my face exactly horizontally with such power that it was filled with sand that tore my skin. And the rip was so strong it would pull be 75 yards in mere seconds, maybe less.

Yet, into the sea I remained. A lone girl. And a hurricane. Never before has my surfing days been filled with such incredible energy, such raw power, such unimagineable stoke.

And here it is, about 17 years later. And I can still feel that stoke from that one day. I can still feel the rides I had, the power of the sea, the pure unimagineable awesomeness. And, I want that feeling of the sea again. I want more. For I am a storm surfer, I am, a Hurricane Rider.

Hurricane Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Night Surfing

Yesterday, as the sun was getting close to setting here in the Pacific Northwest, my two Robert August longboards arrived. One of them is a 9 foot red and white stripped Wingnut longboard, a high performance model and it is so beautiful. The other one is also a 9 footer and it is a blue and yellow stripped What I Ride longboard which is a noserider. I also got travel bags for them, a few extra fins and Wonderbolts,  and a few leashes along with some other surfing items.

I am so very excited. In fact, I actually spent most of last night awake, just looking at my new boards and getting used to them. Which, since it was such a dark night, got me thinking of night surfing.

Sure, night surfing is dangerous and not many do it but the thing is, if you really want to hone your skills to perfection, it is something to consider trying if you're up to it. You see, when you can't see, your other senses kick into overdrive to compensate and thus each of your senses become much more highly tuned than they'd ever be if you didn't practice such an exciting and adrenaline surfing rush.

With night surfing, it's all about the feel. And, by night surfing, I'm referring to when it's blacker than black out. Granted, most night surfers do it on a full moon, and, I'll give you that, it's truly a beautiful time to be on the ocean or at the beach, but if you really want to push your envelope, you need to go when it is  darker than dark. For then, it is all about your residual senses other than sight.  And that's when your skills can really kick in.

You'll notice, if you do this, that your balance seems much more sensitive. In fact, you'll feel downright tippy just standing there let alone really giving a wave a go. So this type of training takes time. You'll need to chalk up lots of hours under the darkest of nights if you really want to feel and interestingly enough, see, results.

Personally, I love pushing the envelope. I've always felt that way about no matter how I train and no matter what I am doing. My goal is to constantly test myself and explore a little bit deeper than I've ever gone before. And by doing this, I've found that it has brought me to places in training that few would ever even imagine exist.

One of the ways to begin this is by focusing on one primary sense at a time. Say for instance, the sense of sound. How do the waves sound to you. Can you hear them approaching as you sit in what should be the line-up, except, probably, you're all alone. Which, by the way, is not safe so don't do it. In fact, quite frankly, if you're reading this and not out on the water  instead, it's probably best for you to not try night surfing either. It takes a kind of sensory development that is like totally beyond anything you'd ever even imagine it could be.

The key to this kind of training, for those of you who shouldn't be reading this because you're actually out on a wave right now (you know, we so need waterproof computers for this kind of thing), is your breathing. Just as it is with any chi gung kind of skill that you'd learn to help you explore your personal surfing level at new depths. The idea here is to breath slowly and softly and quietly. Calm your adrenaline, even though it is rather trippy to be out in the dark all alone.  Relax. Breath. Feel the rhythm of the ocean. At first, this might seem like a simple exercise, yet, as we explore it more in future posts, you'll see that there really is no end nor mastery of it for one can always go deeper into this, which is the cool part.

Bodaciously  Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

SURFING MOVES OF THE DAY: 2

Today, I've been contemplating an easy take-off on a gentle two foot wave. TAKE-OFF,  STRAIGHT-IN, PUMP, ACCELERATED SPEED SURFING, STALL.

An easy take-off leads to two slow, rhythmic pumps with a forward weighting of the board holding a slight crouch to increase speed followed by a gentle stall.

This is a super move to practice one's Chi Surfing. First, of course, you want to get the move down from a neuro-musclar perspective by doing it again and again. And after  a score or more rides, when it feels pretty good, you try the same series of moves with less movement, less weighting of the board, less pump at even a slower, softer  pace, and add more chi to each of the movements prior to the stall.

Here, it's possible to beging sensing the board as more than simply something you ride, but instead, as an extension of your body.

By doing chi gung on a series of moves like this, you can learn to sense the board and feel the water through it as  you glide upon its surface. It's an awesome move because as more chi is directed into the board through the bottoms of your feet and then guided to the nose of the board, you'll feel the board's balance shift forward and there is a noticeable speed increase.

As you approach the beach, now is the time to practice yesterday's move, the stall. Use what you learned yesterday by weighting your back foot and letting your body weight shift smoothly backwards toward the tail. Play with this a bit if you like, accelerating and stalling a few times while trying to keep the moves harmoniously balanced in a beautiful expression of riding. The idea here is to feel the wave, to sense it, more so, to be it. To be, the wave. Then, you break free, accelerate a bit, and then stall back into feeling the wave once more. This is an incredible method of getting to sense how the wave truly feels when you're blending with it and when you break free for a few seconds.

Today's series of moves can be done truly gracefully and that's where the fun comes in. Interestingly enough, that's also where the chi awareness of the board and of the wave also comes into play. In other words, the softer you movements, the slower they flow from one to another, the more you'll sense the true feel of the board, as well as what is happening inside your body.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

SURFING MOVES OF THE DAY: 1

So, today, I am going to look at a typical beginner's move. The WHITEWATER TAKE-OFF off of a slow, mushy, off-shore 2 foot wave leading into a STRAIGHT-OFF STALL.

Now I know that all of you reading this would see this is the beginner of beginner rides, but, well, a girl has to start somewhere, so, here is where I'm at as I contemplate this wave and set of moves  today.

Such a wave  and moves offers wonderful lessons and insights. Sure, it's just a baby wave, a total kook wave, but if looked at right, one can truly learn from such a ride. And the lessons, it would seem,  can then be applied throughout one's surfing career, since, at least for my style as I see it, I'll be using the STALL as one of my core building blocks from which to expand.

I love the idea of simply picking a move like the straight-off stall and practicing it again and again and again, as many times as possible during a given surf session. My idea here is that visualizing and practicing my surfing moves as series of harmoniously connected moves linked together in logical and graceful patterns. This is not unlike karate katas or kung fu (wushu) forms.

My thought is that by honing such basics, and by repeating the sets of moves dozens or scores of times , I'll be able to find truly fascinating depths that otherwise I might have missed.

What I'm enjoying is reflecting upon a certain kind of wave, then, imagining an interesting move that can be done on such a wave. I see this as sort of a game, as well as a way to practice visualization skills, and more so, I see it as a way to improve my actual surfing as I practice the forms I've created.

I see the stall as truly a beautiful, soft, graceful, feminine kind of move, especially if done with with lightness and slowness or yin chi or energy. And the feelings that it creates within one's body are truly utterly  fascinating to explore.

These inner body explorations are what the Chinese art of chi gung is all about, and such adventures are awesome ways to dance and express oneself upon the perfect waves we all quest to experience.


That's the thing about chi gung as an art form for it teaches a person how to explore what is happening deep within their own body and that, after all, is really what surfing is all about too. In surfing, it's all about the ride, and in chi gung, it's all about the flow, and the thing is, the ride and the flow are the same thing.

The more one practices chi gung, the softer and more flowing one becomes, and, the softer and more flowing you become, the more sensitive you are to the wave. This, of course, leads to dramatically improving your surfing skills no matter what your current skill level is, from total kahuna tuna like me to a top pro. All can benefit from the inner body awareness that chi gung teaches.

In general, for many of us, we learn to surf and it's just something we do. It's a physical thing. Now sure, many if not most also love talking about it too, hence the whole surf language that has developed over the decades. But, as far as I know, there's been very little talk if any really of what happens inside of our body as we surf. Personally, I find such inner explorations truly fascinating, for they teach us as much about the inner waves within our own bodies, as they do about the waves we love to ride.

It's possible, with training, practice, experience, and focus, that one can match their inner waves to the surfed wave, that that's where I see the true art of surfing.

This of course, brings us full circle back to today's move. The simple straight-off stall. It's a move that involves riding in a straight line towards shore and then, casually, lightly, in a mellow kind of way, simply shifting one's weight to their back foot, in my case, my left foot since I love to ride goofy foot though I am actually a switchfoot and can thus ride both ways.

I see the straight-off stall as a great beginner move to practice because I don't have to worry about turning or big perfect waves or really much of anything. I simply glide in a sort of bumpy kind of way through the whitewater and then, when I'm ready, slowly stall.

The subtlety of the move is where chi gung comes into play for I've found that I can use less and less leg pressure and strength to stall as I apply more chi to my rear foot. This, allows the move to become more beautiful as an expression of inner and outer surfing, melded into one series of moves.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Perfect Waves at Shipwreck Beach, Kauai

Getting Shredded

Aloha Surfers,

My Wingnut longboard isn't here yet, but it should be coming anytime. In fact, I just heard today that it should be here by Thursday. Now that's exciting.  I can so hardly wait.

In the meantime, I've been exercising. A lot. Now granted, I'd love to be doing my Laird Hamilton type workouts but with my torn acl and torn meniscus, most of my focus is on healing my hurt leg. So, I'm using my chi gung skills to focus and direct chi or energy into the damaged areas of my knee. This supplies the area with blood, oxygen, body fluids, and internal energy, and is greatly helping it heal.


I do my physical therapy twice a week at the clinic and about 5 times a day, at home every day, and I do about a dozen or so different exercises. Each exercise, I try to do to form failure. Then, I move to the next exercise.

Sure, it may not be the fastest way to get shredded, but, you have to work with what you have. So, I'm eating less (two fish tacos a day - 250 calories each , two papayas a day, - 100 calories each, and about half of a pineapple - about 100 calories), and exercising a lot more. Sure, my Doctor wanted me closer to a minimum of 1000 calories daily, but I'm finding that 800 feels about right. I have plenty of energy so far and have been able to maintain my exercises and daily around the house chores.

I should know by  the first week of January how my left knee is doing. It's kind of a bummer in that I am goofy foot so my left leg is back when I surf. But, at least with all of my leg exercises, my legs will be super strong with buns of steel too.

Oh, so, as far as fish tacos go, today, my fish tacos of choice were from Taco del Mar. And, I had it with everything, including extras that I added.

One Taco del Mar taco with everything
2 Habanero chilies chopped
2 Jalapeno chilies chopped

And then with that, I had a  papaya. I had this that  for breakfast, and  it is also what I am planning for  dinner. I had no lunch. With dinner, I'll add  about a half of a pineapple.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Shipwreck Beach, Kauai

One Girl, One Board, One Perfect Wave

Hey Surfers,

WHAT:  

I've found the perfect board.

The most bodacious longboard on the planet, a 9 foot Robert August Wingnut longboard.


MY DREAM:

To go from kahuna tuna to bodacious nose rider and big wave rider in one year.


WHY THIS BLOG IS UNIQUE: 

My blog will quite possibly be the first surfing blog ever written by a Chi Gung (Qigong) Master, and I'll be applying this 4000 year old Chinese energy art to my longboard riding style.  In addition, you'll read here, for the first time, the principles of Chi Gung as they apply to the study of waves as well as for creating series of surfing moves (Chi Gung Surfing Wave Forms).


Along the way, we'll talk about my favorite cookbook BAJA: Cooking on the Edge by Deborah M. Schneider, and also what I call -

                                                            
The Surfer's Diet
  
2 Times a Day (breakfast and dinner)


Fish Tacos
Papayas
Mangoes
Pineapples
Water - about a gallon a day
Margaritas
Coronas.



Exercise: I will also be using Laird Hamilton's book Force of Nature as my primary exercise inspiration. I'll shoot for surfing and other forms of training at least 6-8 hours per day.

The additional training will come from:

Surfing

Weights - kettlebells, trees, rocks, elastic bands, circus hammer, Indian clubs, 2" diameter climbing rope

Chi Gung (Qigong) - the newly created, never before done anywhere on the planet Surfing Qigong!!!

Stretching - using elastic bands and a ballet bar as well as Eco-Yoga

Balance Exercises - bosu ball, indo board, tv game surfboard, skateboarding, slacklining, trapeze work

Paddling my new Wingnut Longboard using wind sprint training - daily in the river

Bodyboarding- using my new bodyboard (it just came today for my upcoming Birthday)

Mountainboarding - This also is a Birthday present.


I'm also in the process of also planning my next surfboard purchase. As we speak, it is being investigated to see if it is doable. As I find out more about it, I'll talk about that board more. The new board will be my big wave board, the perfect gun. And, until I get that one, I'll be using my red and white stripped Wingnut Longboard to get me ready during the course of the year, and, by next Christmas, I'll have, if all my Santa dreams come true, my big wave gun too so that I can start to explore larger waves. Both boards are (and will be hopefully) from Robert August, my favorite shaper of all time. I dream of an all Robert August quiver (with the addition of my lime green Hawaiian Blades Thruster, of course - I already, after all, have that one).

My blog will be primarily focused on my daily training, from beginner to hopefully within a year, a beautifully stylish nose rider and if I"m lucky, maybe even a tube rider,  and then after that, toward riding big waves. Along the way, I'll  include my diet, my daily training for 6- 8 or more hours a day, any surfing trips I can go on during the year as I hone my nose riding skills

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

The Perfect Longboard

Aloha to the Tribe,

So, I've like totally been on the quest for the perfect longboard surfboard for the last few months, and, I've found her.

It all began with a potentially life challenging disorder, the worst case of esophogitis that my Doctor and a Specialist has ever seen. It was so bad, it was potentially life threatening. Well, one thing led to another and I ended up in the hospital on the heart floor where they monitored my heart day and night while also making sure I was still breathing. I had nearly suffocated several times during several nights, waking up, completely unable to breathe. It was pretty scary.


While in the hospital, my life ring was my books on surfing and freediving. I had with me the surfing books Surfinary and also Wingnut's Complete Surfing, Gerry Lopez's awesome book Surf is Where You Find It, as well as the freediving book; Manual of Freediving. These books, got me through it.

When I got out of the hospital, I looked at my life. And, what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was then that I decided I wanted to surf. More so, I wanted to surf a longboard like Robert "Wingnut" Weaver and Robert August (from the movie Endless Summer) and, I wanted the beautiful graceful, soft style of Gerry Lopez (oh how his style calls to me so).

And that was it. It was that simple. I had found out what I'd do for the rest of my life. And, I felt stoked. Totally and bodaciously stoked!!!

When I got home from the hospital I began my training. I'd watch the movie Endless Summer 2 every day while eating breakfast and dinner. And for the rest of the day, I'd exercise, focusing on surfing skills.

Now the thing is, I have the perfect Thruster already. She's a lime green Hawaiian Blades with the official Hawiian State Seal and the coolest shark toothed sword on her deck. Totally gorgeous. But, I needed a longboard and a very special elephant gun. First, the longboard, then, the elephant gun when I could. And so, my quest began.

For me, the choice was pretty easy, it had to be one board, one very specific board, for it was the board that began my dreams, it is the Robert August Wingnust Longboard. 9 Foot. Red and white strips. Completely bodacious.

I ordered her a bit over a month or so ago and she will be shipped to me today!!! So, that means that sometime this week, I'll have my perfect longboard.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley