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
