Surfing Tube Riding: Front Foot Rotation

Aloha Tribe,

Here in the Pacific Northwest, our tubes are, smaller than spots like, say Hawaii at, Pipeline. As such, they require crouching, often, very low crouching with your buns nearly on the deck. You'd be hard pressed to get Ziplocked if you're a Tube Rat of the wilds. Yet, it can be done, mostly in secret spots, but of course :)

Anyways, practice here in the Green Room is challenging simply because it's not every day, yet, when it happens, one can truly learn. In fact, if you're going to learn at all, you have to learn, and, quickly. Give the sea half a spell and your tube'll vanish until the moon dances again. So, the point of all of this is what I just learned in this mornings Dawn Patrol. Now granted, most of you probably already know this, but for me, it was new and fun. I found that by shifting my  right foot, I'm Goofy, after all, mostly, yet I can ride Switch for styles sake or waves beckoning. The point is though, with your lead foot, you simply turn it from the traditional 45 degree angle to the Stringer and instead, rotate on your heel and set your lead foot down parallel to and on the Stringer. This is enough to keep you from digging your left rail (assuming your ride Goofy) if your ankles (Achilles tendon and gastrocnemious - calf muscle) still need more flexibility. This slight shift in your lead foot position might just be the secret you've needed  to keep your  deck rock steady and utterly solid when  or if, you, as I, set my buns on the deck in a low crouch.

Foot shifing, especially subtle foot shifting, is something I learned from watching movies of Occy in extreme slow motion and frame by frame stop motion. He's feet seem magical and oh so light. So, watching his magic in, say, The Occymentary, you can see how his feet dance so lightly upon the deck. Which, gave me this idea.

You see, I noticed that my Frontside Rail would dig, ever so slightly, when I'd set my buns on the deck, and, while the rail shift was slight, I wanted to correct it. So, I began experimenting. Naturally, one can simply weight their heels, or, you can slip your feet ever so slightly to your backslide rail, yet, this move seemed easy, subtle, and flowing. It gave me the feeling of being light on my feet and dancing upon my deck, even from a low crouch.

You know, that's what I love about surfing. The explorations  and experimentations are endless. And in that, I find great art and beauty.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Soul Surfer: The Spiritual Quest

Aloha Tribe,

I'm finding that the more sensitive I get to my longboard, that is to say, the more aware I am of tiny movement fluctuations on the water, the more  I can sense the sea. By feeling the vibrations within my board, I'm noticing not only the chi of the bottom, but also, of the fish beneath my board. It's pretty cool.

I see it all as related. All, interconnected. The energy of the sea, and her creatures, the chi of the board, and my own energy, all mixed and blending and becoming one.  And the more I'm embracing this, the more subtle my awareness of it becomes.

I'm finding that turning my awareness to my board, and finding the chi of my board and through my board, now  is where I'm finding I'm having fun on my quest, my, spiritual quest into the depths of my board, and, of the surf.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Surfboard Dancing

Aloha Tribe,

Well, if you've gone to the NOHO Surf Trainer site, you've probably seen the video of the incredibly fun song Ride My See-Saw by the Moody Blues.

I love to put that cd in my stereo, pull up that song, hit repeat, and play the song again and again as I practice my moves on my board, after all, the video so inspired me, it was truly brilliant, and it's such a great rhythm for moving on your NOHO Surf Trainer.

I'm finding that more more I listen to music as I train, fun music with really moving beats like Ride My See-Saw, the looser I get in my movements in my training, which, transfer almost immediately to the water in my next surfing session. It's way cool!!!

I had the idea that the more time I spent on my NOHO Surf Trainer, the more time I could practice my surfing when I'm not in the water, so, while I just washed and dried my dishes, I stood on my Surf Trainer while dancing to music. It was great. And, the funny thing was, after I finished with the dishes and got off my board, it was truly amazing how "heavy" the floor felt. You know that feeling when you're in the water for a few hours, maybe 3 or 4, and you get out and all of a sudden, it's like gravity really hits you and your mind is nearly blown as you find you can barely move. Well, my training while washing the dishes was just like that, not because of the bouyancy of water and decreasing of gravity, but instead, because of being light on my feet on the board.

Now it's got me thinking of lugging my NOHO Surf Trainer all over my house as I do my different chores during the day. Laundry. Making the bed. Cooking. Washing dishes. Sweeping - this will be a fun one because of the added movement!!! I can hardly wait.

I'm finding that the more I'm on my NOHO Surf Trainer at home, and, the more time I'm on my surfboard in the water, simply being, moving, as I'd normally move, the more being on my board is becoming natural. And, the more natural my movements become on my board, the smoother and more beautiful my surfing becomes, and, with that, it allows me to be more receptive to the power and beauty and lessons of the ocean, which, is one of the things we all seek in surfing.

Such loose movments have me thinking of exploring tandem surfing. Granted, most of us see tandem surfing as an antiquated art, but, why not revive it? Just think what it could teach us about how we move with another person, and therefore, how we can move receptively with the waves. I think that such surfing would dramatically increase our skill as we surf, and, it'd be loads of fun!!!
 

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfboard Dancing : Hula Hips Surfing

Aloha Tribe,

Well, Ill be going to Hawaii soon on a surfing adventure, and as such, I've been thinking about Hula Dancing. Not my strong point. I so need to loosen my hips. And so, I've found a really fun way to do it. It can be done while sitting on your board, kneeling on your board, squatting on your board, or of course, standing.

And, it's a way of dancing with your surfboard and the sea. In this case, using your hips in soft hula swaying movements to work the rails, nose, and tail of your board. The idea came to me in yesterdays surfing session and I've practiced it a lot more today, refining what I learned yesterday.

The basic idea is to feel the flow of the sea, the natural rhythm that she offers you. And, embracing that rhythm, you simply begin to allow your body to loosen up and sway in soft, gentle, beautiful movements. You'll notice, as you do this, that your board will begin to move as you sway upon her in time with the sea.

Each undulation of the waves sends your body into receptive swaying, allowing the water to lead the dance.

As you get more into the movements, you'll begin to notice that you can dip any part of your board, such as either rail, your nose, or you tail, in any combination, to any degree of angle, to any depth beneath the surface, or, above it. And, that's where you can begin, if you like to spin your board as you sway. Spinning your board in 360's is the fun part because you can learn to do it truly fast or with soft, slow, sensual rotations, it's all up to you and how your own music plays in your head as you surf and dance with life. This can also be done, by the way, while laying upon the board and Paddling, by the way and it works just as effectively, you simply use different muscles in more creative ways, that's all.

Now, of course, when you first begin dancing like this on your board, you movements will be broad and perhaps a bit shakey. But, given some practice, you can soon gain control over your body and your board, as you dance with the sea. When you can do this smoothly, you'll find that you can make your initially extreme body movements less dramatic and more subtle, and, if you know how to do Chi Gung, you can do the whole dance simply with your bodies energy, the chi, as it flows within you, yet still allowing your board to dance. In other words, simply by projecting chi into the nose or tail or a rail, you can dig them, or, if you absorb chi from your board, you can lift your nose, tail, or rails. In order to do this, of course, you have to be able to project and absorb Chi, which, comes after you've learned to increase your natural storage supply of such internal energy.

Surfboard Dancing is awesomely fun, and, while it may not be for everyone, the thing is, it truly has something to offer everyone. For with it, you can learn more about your board and how your body moves, and the effects of your movements on your board in relation to any given sea condition, than you'd normally experience with more traditional surfing methods. The reason for this, is simply based on playfullness and creativity. By being relaxed, by having fun, by truly playing and allowing yourself to let go, your energy or chi will flow freely and as such, you'll gain greater awareness of the subtleties of your board and of the sea upon which you ride. This is an awesome thing because the more receptive you are to how waves effect your board and thus your riding, the more you can experiment and grow. And this, of course, allows for even greater experimentation and increased skill and awareness. The cycle, is, truly endless.

So, relax, let your hair down, and sway your hips. What have you got to lose beyond looking silly, and, who cares what others think anyways. After all, surfing is about having fun, and having fun means being playful, so, let your inner child come out and truly surf. Try Hula Hips Surfing. You'll be glad that you did.

By the way, if you really want to perfect this, buy yourself a NOHO Surf Trainer for it is truly awesome for learning Surfboard Dancing. You can perfect your flowing moves in the safety and privacy of your own home, and then, when you are confident, bring your beauty to the surf.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing Paddling Styles: 360's and 180's

Aloha Tribe,

We all spend a lot of time paddling out. The thing is, how many of us truly love it? More so, how many make it fun and play with it!!! I for one, have, for the shear joy of it.

One of my recent experiments and training sessions involved Paddling Out while spinning my longboard in 360's as well as 180's.

Now granted, at first thought, there might not be too much of a reason for doing such a thing, until, one looks at it deeply, which, I have. You see, such study is all about rail mastery. And, she who can control her rails, more so, turn rail digging into art,  truly  opens up a whole new world to her surfing.

When Paddling Out with 360's,  you start with the normal Freestyle paddling stroke, then, as your board turns 180,  you begin more of a Paddling Backstroke, in a sense, in that your arms move in the opposite direction just like they do when you Backstroke swim. So, in other words, mid-Paddle, you switch our paddling direction as your board spins. It's pretty cool.

I started out simply by working my rails as I Paddled Out, allowing my board to Zigzag through the water in slow, gentle curving arcs. And, once I got comfortable with Paddling Out while rocking my board from rail to rail like that, I began to experiment with rotating and thus Spinning my board, eventually, into 360's after a few times of practice. It was way awesome. :)  

More so, playing with Paddling Out like this makes this aspect of our sport and art into something fun, and, turns what we do into arstistic expression.

I don't know  how many of you play while you Paddle Out, I suppose most are simply focused on getting out to the Line-Up. But, why not have fun in the process, and, why not learn something more about your board, and yourself too in the process!!!

And, this of course, is merely the beginning. You see, one of the moves I love is the Paddle Out Reentry. So, by combining a Paddling Out 180 with the perfect timing of the incoming wave, you can time it so you're in the right position on the new wave face at the perfect time to begin a new Pop Up and a new Ride.

To do this, one needs to truly become one with the waves and to understand exactly when and where they will break and precisely where the peak will be. It turns the aspect of wave analysis into art also as you become, in a way, a Wave Shaman or Wave Kahoona.  And what could be cooler about that for it offers such truly indepth studys of waves and the sea.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Longboard Surfboard 360's Spinning

Aloha Tribe,

Yesterday was a wildly fun day on the water. I spent my session learning to spin my board. At first, I simply wanted to do it while sittiing in the lineup. Instead of slowly paddling my board around, as a wave came, I wanted to simply use my inner thighs to control my board, with my hands free in the air. By applying various degrees of pressure with my inner thigh  muscles, I  was quickly able to learn to dip the nose of my board and angle it down so my board would spin either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Next, once I practiced the technique for a bit, I began to focus on board speed and spinning my 9 foot  longboard faster. I played with the speed for awhile until I was able to do it smoothly and consistently and then I focused on precision stopping the spin on a dime from either a clockwise or counterclockwise spin, then, either resuming the spin in the original direction or immediately reversing direction.

After working at all of the above for a few hours, I started doing some yoga on my longboard. I began with straight leg bends from the seated position, then moved into paddling from that position. Next, I worked on a modified form of Downward  Facing Dog by doing it from my knees, getting a great extension into my arms as I leaned forward.

At that point, I thought I'd try both the American and Chinese Splits to loosen up my legs a bit.  And I followed that by sitting cross-legged on my board and just feeling the movements of the water.

By this time, I wanted to try spinning my board from my knees. So, I began doing 360's off my knees, while kneeling in a seiza position where my buns were on my heels. When I had full control over that, I moved to a higher kneeling postition where my thighs were perpendicular to my board and the water. Next, I began experimenting with 360's from the Pop Up position, when you first land on your feet but have not stood yet.

All in all, it was a truly magical session offering me a beautiful study of digging my rails and playing with them with various degrees of pressure and using various body parts and muscles for control of the rails, nose, and tail.

During the course of all of that training, I kept my endurance up by doing wind sprint paddling sessions between each of the various maneuvers I was practicing. I couldn't have had more fun.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Crunches, Reverse Crunches, and Flutterkicks on NOHO Surf Trainer

Aloha Tribe,

Today, I've done perhaps a 1000 Pop Ups, several hours of lay down Paddling,  about 1000 squats, 200 Drop Knee Cutbacks, all on my NOHO Surf Trainer, and now, it's time to get to work.

Have any of you tried crunches and reverse crunches on your NOHO Surf Trainer? What about flutterkicks, just to get the legs in shape? They're all awesome for working the core. I've been doing them for the last 1/2 hour as I've been contemplating tonight's fish soup, which, I'll be making in just a bit. I'm not sure how many I did, I was more or less going as fast as possible, so it's probably in the neighborhood of maybe 900 or so crunches and reverse crunches and probably about the same number of flutterkicks. Just enough to warm up a bit before getting dinner ready.

Well, I guess this was just a quick one, but, I thought I'd share.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Longboard Surfing Constant Pressure Surfaces

Aloha Tribe,

I was thinking, last night, about Constant Pressure Surfaces. It kept me up for hours as my thoughts danced with board designs, sensory awareness skills,  and mathematics as they all related to these waves beneath waves.

You see, inside of waves, or, beneath them, if you want to think of it that way, are miniature duplicates of the waves we all love to ride. Now, for the most part, I'd imagine, surfing has to to focus on these waves within waves, yet, there are those who surf, who truly master them, namely, dolphins.

A surfboard floats on top of or partially between the edge of the water and the air. And, the level to which it floats is called bouyancy. The surfboard, as we all know, floats upon the wave. Well, beneath waves are other zones of waves with similar "edges," and these are the Constant Pressure Surfaces. So, what an animal like a dolphin does is it has the ability to sense these Constant Pressure Surfaces, and, since dolphins are neutrally bouyant, they can surf beneath what we would think of as the top of the water, on the top of the  Constant Pressure Surfaces. So, while the dolphin is completely under the water, as we'd think of it, the dolphin is on top of the Constant Pressure Surface beneath the surface of the wave. And, just as waves have peaks and faces and troughs, so do Constant Pressure Surfaces.

Hmm, perhaps some of you might be thinking, you stayed up until the wee hours of the morning thinking of that!!! Goodness, Lily, what for!!!

Such is my quest for the perfect feeling, I guess. Surfing, to me, is about feelings. That is to say, physical sensations. And, they are felt both with the muscles of the body, as we all perceive them, but also, for those who know how, they can be felt deep within the body too, in, what the Chinese call, Meridians. These Meridians are parthways, not unlike rivers actually, that run all over the inside of our bodies. And, the stuff that flows around them (though most used to think within them), is an energy Chinese call Chi. The core of the art of Chi Gung or Qigong, which, is basically the study of this energy.

By feeling the energy or chi of a wavee within your body, beyond simply in the muscles, you can connect with the wave in truly unique and beautiful ways. So, how does that all relate to Constant Pressure Surfaces?

Well, not only can the chi sensations be felt within our bodies, but also, outside of or beyond our bodies as well. An example, is sound or smell. An external stimuli comes from beyond us, to us and we then sense it. Well, physical sensations are the same way, Heat and cold can be felt. As can pressure. And, speed. As well as direction, to name but a few.

So, imagine yourself at your favorite break, surfing, as always, with an awareness of the surface of the wave, specifically, the correlation between the gravity force and the bouyancy force. So, according th Waves and Beaches by Willard Bascom, there are two forces that come into play, specifically Slope Drag vs. Hydrodynamic Drag. In other words, how well does your surfboard glide down the surface of the wave.  Dolphins, it seems, have a unique skin which enables them to sense the Contant Pressure Surfaces beneath the waves, and more specifically, to therefore glide down the slopes of these Constant Pressure Surfaces, thus, surfing underwater, so to speak.

And that got me to thinking. Can such Constant Pressure Surfaces be sensed? And, how would one do it?  And, why?

The answer is, they can indeed be sensed by a surfer who has trained themselves to interpret the chi of their environment. And how does it register? As a thickness or density. Sort of like standing on cotton candy, in a way. And as for the why, goodness, as they say with Harley's if  you have to ask that...

Actually, the why is the cool part. that by sensing such  Constant Pressure Surfaces, while you are surfing, this does a number of things for you. One, it brings you to the level of extreme sensory awareness, thereby making you hypersensitive to all physical experiences, thus, giving you, in a way, the stoke beyond all stokes. It is, but merely a way to play with a wave, to have fun, more fun, if you want to think of it that way, because, it offers greater sensations much more intensely.

As for board designs, now this is where it gets really wildly fun. Unless, the thought of shaping bores you to tears and you just want to ride. But, for those who dream of shaping, like I do, such thoughts dance in the imagination of how to create a new concept of board to handle such deeply intense physical sensations. Golly, I'd give anything to be trained by a Master Shaper, you know, for to be able to express such thoughts and dreams as the physical reality of a new board line, oh my gosh, it's enough to make a girl squeal in excitement. And, it's not just board designs which come into play but fin design too. Oh the artistry of it all!!!

Such thoughts come forth in the dark of night, contemplating the next days surf. So, if my longboard can be used to detect such Constant Pressure Surfaces, what about, an Elephant Gun!!! Which, of course, makes me wonder about rockers. But, that's for tonights sleepless night to reflect upon. God how I want to go Night Surfing. The New Moon was Valentines. Oh poo. And the Full Moon isn't until the 28th. Then again, I'll be surfing my favorite break again on the 28th, after all, that's the last day of the month of Lupercalia. For, what could be more within the surfer's soul than the spirit of the dolphin and the soul of the wave, just as, within each waves dances the heart of Constant Pressure Surfaces, just teasing to express themselves.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Waves and Beaches Study for Surfing Depth

Aloha Tribe,

So, I was reading a truly great book on shaping called The Basics of Surfboard  Design by Bob Smith. I think the book is awesome. It doesn't really get into how to make a board, that is to say, it doesn't focus on the techniques of how to cut foam or lay down glass, instead, if focuses on the concepts behind why boards work. The book gave me insight into truly studying my own boards, and as such, I got ideas of how to push them to test the limits of their lines.

Well, here's the cool thing. The book also references another book. A book that, Bob Smith says, that many surfers have, but how few truly enjoy studying it. So naturally, I HAD to get Waves and Beaches by  Willard Bascom.

You see, how surfboards work, and how beaches form waves, and why waves are as they are, and how different lines on boards effect their rides in certain waves and on different kinds of beaches, utterly fascinates me. For, I see this study as the core of our art. With it, we can find out who we are, for such knowledge offers personal insight into why we ride as we do and what we can expect.

So, Waves and Beaches arrived today. And, I'm utterly stoked. The only thing that could be better would be, perhaps, a sunny day and maybe a margarita to go with the book as I contemplate it's hidden gems and depths.

I know not what adventure awaits me in my studies of waves and beaches let alone the lines of surfboards, but, I know, that, when all is said and done, I'll know a little bit more about who I am.

Now I admit, I got into figuring out wave speed today in direct relation to maximum longboard paddling speed vs. wave length and wave height. And, such mathematical calculations made my eyes dance with life as I ran scenario after scenario through my mind of different breaks.

For you see, it's the subtle things, the tiniest of things that draw me and fascinate me, for, with them, comes, in time, mastery of art, and, mastery of self.

Perhaps, upon reflection, I'm a bit of a surfing science geek, dreaming of physics and math, bathymetrics and Gravitational Wave Analysis. My mind races at the possibilities, and, the conversations.

One of my favorite things to do, when I'm not surfing, is studying surfing and talking about surfing, preferably, at a pub, beer in hand, or even more to my choice, margaritas swirling waves before my mind.

When I think of surfing, I admit it, I think of the Marvel comic book Superhero too, the Silver Surfer as he flies on his board through endless space. I have almost the complete collection, minus only 6 issues. Hmm, a surfer who loves math and comic books, goodness, I'm afraid the Tribe might revoke my surfing license. :) At least I can round those odd interests out with my love of throwing knives and sticking a blade into a playing card stuck on a tree from 42 feet, without a single spin of the thrown knife. Surfers are a unique bunch, it seems.  And, I suppose, that's what makes parties such wild fun. But, getting back to the Silver Surfer, what draws me to him, besides the beautiful art and how it inspires me to move, is the paths his board takes as he surfs the stars. It's funny, but just looking at a single cover or but one page, I can feel his ride within me, the turning of his board, the speed as he races to unknown worlds, the pull of centrifical force as he slingshots around stars.  That's what surfing offers all of us, the ability to feel, to truly feel movement within our bodies. And, that is what we play with and how we play and why we play. Our sport, our art, is one of pure personal pleasure. Felt within our own bodies, as well as mutually shared when we are even more stoked for someone elses ride. Few in the world experience such bonding with others as we, the members of the Tribe. We can simply look into the eyes of another surfer, and see their life and their rides and feel them within ourselves in that moment of connction, and, what could be more beautiful than that?

And it all comes from our awareness of that which we do, our surfing. Whether it is experiential, or through study or both, such dreams become magic, and such magic, well, that is our dreams.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Workout: SUP, Pop UPs, Rail Grabs, Drop Knee Cutbacks, Cross-Stepping, and lots of lay down Paddling

Aloha Tribe,

So, today I'm at home, at least for the moment. Perhaps I can get to the water later. Most certainly, for the full weekend coming up. :)

This morning, I've been doing some fun training.

I set up my NOHO Surf Trainer on my 9 foot Robert August What I Ride Longboard and got to work. I began by using my 6 foot Kahuna Big Stick to represent SUP (Stand Up Paddleboarding).  The Kahuna Big Stick is about the right length and weight to simulate a real paddle. It  was great. I got the idea from Laird Hamiltons' awesome book Force of Nature. So, I did SUP for about a half hour or so.

Then, I did my first half hour session of my typical hour and a half session of Pop Ups on my NOHO Surf Trainer. Basically, I'd lay on the board and paddle for 50 strokes, then, I'd Pup Up. Once I was up, I'd Cross Step the length of the board, Hang Ten, Cross Step back, and drop to a Prone Out then do the sequence again, interespersed with periodic bursts of repetitive Pop UPs, just for fun.

Next, I practiced a combination of Drop Knee Cutbacks on my NOHO Surf Trainer to work my legs a bit, and also Rail Grabs in various combinations, to add more leg work from deep squats all the way down to the board.

I planned to try  some Nose 360's and Tail 360's outdoors but it's 28 F outside. So, I opted to stay in. I don't have enough room in my Surfing Room to spin my longboard so I'll have to do them outside on a warmer day.

Intead of the 360's, I did more Pop UPs  and lots more  lay down Paddling.

So far, it's been a pretty awesome workout.

Now, I'll do another 1000 crunches on my NOHO Surf Trainer. It's fun to do them this way because it adds a strong core stability training to crunches. I'll also put on my fins and do another 1000 flutter kicks, also on my NOHO Surf Trainer to work both my upper and lower abs using both exercises.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Valentine's Weekend Surfing - Proning Out

Aloha Tribe,

For Valentine's weekend, I went to Whidbey Island for 4 days of surfing. I had a truly beautiful time. The surf was between 18 and 22 foot, Churly Churly, often Closed Out, some beautiful Peelers,  rain, some sun, and lots of seafood soup.

The best way to ride most of the time was ahead of the whitewater, often simply in a Prone Out. But that got me to thinking. Proning Out is, more or less, for the most part, a lost art, it seems. So few do it, fewer still truly study it, and less, master it.

Yet, it is a truly beautiful art, filled with subtle details to be explored.  I'm finding all aspects of surfing moves and techniques truly fascinating, and each offers a depth that adds yet more flavor to our art.

It's the tiny distinctions between each type of move, the thing that makes it unique, yet, more so, gives it room for personal expression, that so captures my heart and soul and mind. For, as with each of us, it is all about the ride. That feeling of being one with the sea. Learning from her, embracing her, feeling her within you and around you, being truly one with the surf. That, to me, is what surfing is about. In part.

Of course, I'm drawn to the boards themselves, how they are shaped, each line, and, why. I am drawn to our fascinating history and culture, to our legends and giants in the field, to the person who's just having fun. The food fascinates me, as does simple things like waxing my board, for in that, I find a spiritual sense of peace and depth and beauty. I love riding around with my boards on my car, or, in it. The smell of my wetsuit, fresh from the sea's embrace. I truly love being part of the Tribe. A sister to all of you.

I'm stoked. I admit it. And, I can't get enough. I love our movies and our literature. Our paintings and our sculptures. And our music.

For surfing, to me, is a way of life. A truly beautiful way of life that permeates all of me, making me who I  am, and each of us, who we are.

I'm finding that exploring something seemingly simple, like, Proning Out, to have such a complexity to it that it seems endless in its offering and lessons. And that is but one move.

It's all about the feeling. The movement. Both within me and outside of me, that draws me so. And that's why I so love combining surfing with Chi Gung, because that art offers such a truly magical way to explore the depths of feelings and sensations even more than ever imagined, using concrete training exercises based on ephemeral experiences.

My NOHO Surf Trainer is giving me truly a wonderful way to explore deeper into the moves I find myself studying, for a ride on a wave is so short, yet, paradoxically, forever in feeling, and, that feeling can then be colored and flavored into new creations and experiences of sensual sensations.

It was, a great weekend. The surf was wild and rugged and raw, primal in its power and fury, and oh so very vigorous. I can still feel its flowing.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Training 2 - Duck Diving and Mavericks Paddling

Aloha Tribe,

So, as some of you may have read, I've been having a truly radical time working out with my NOHO Surf Trainer, and, yesterday's awesome workout for several hours got me thinking of tons of new training ideas.

First, and this one is not directly related to the NOHO Surf Trainer, but comes about because I wanted to include it with my NOHO Surf Trainer exercieses, is an exercise I thought of yesterday that I forgot to include. Namely, the Duck Dive.

After all, since I'm practicing Paddling Out with my NOHO Surf Trainer, it only makes sense that including Duck Diving as part of my training needs to be included.

My first thought, of course, was simply to pratice the actual and literal Duck Diving technique of pushing down with my hands on the rails, while keeping my knee and a foot in contact with the tail of the board. And, this of course, worked out perfectly on my NOHO Surf Trainer.

So, next, since I'm a longboard girl, I thought I'd better do it "right," the way you'd really do it with a longboard to get through a wave, so, I held onto the rails of my board and rolled over to about a 45 degree angle, like you'd do with a longboard, and held that position, while holding my breath to simulate being under water, then, I rolled back over. This too worked great the way I did it.

And now, for the part that doesn't really relate. I wanted to include some extra equipment, purely for training purposes, so, I utilized the addition of iron boots (those are those body builder kind of shoes that are sort of an iron sole which straps onto your foot), kettlebells for my hands, and, my 40 pound leather boxing  heavy bag. All of this was for me to further train myself for proper longboard Duck Diving against resistance.

So, at this point, I got off my NOHO Surf Trainer, and moved to a clear section of the floor, and attached the weights onto my feet and also held the kettlebells in my hands and, hugged the heavy bag, then, I simply rolled over to the proper Longboard Duck Dive 45 degree angle while holding my breath, of course, then, I rolled back. And, I simply did this again and again and again to build up strength, muscle memory, and, endurance. It is, I must say, a GREAT calorie burner and workout.

Well, with that idea, I wanted to make my Paddling Out more realistic too, so, I took some rubber stretchy yoga straps and fastened them to some weights in front of my longboard, then, I laid on my longboard, with my NOHO Surf Trainer attached of course, and, I held onto the straps which were attached beyond the nose of my longboard, and, I began paddling from a laying down position.

My first attempt was for a 100 yard Line Up, so I Paddled Out about 20 strokes, while holding onto the elastic straps, which would pull tight each time I drew my arms back while paddling, and, at that point, I got off my NOHO Surf Trainer, went into the other room, and did a longboard Duck Dive with my heavy bag and weights, then, I went right back to Paddling Out on my NOHO Surf Trainer. And I repeated that several times to simulate Paddling Out and Duck Diving under large waves.

At this point, I was having a great time and decided to just get a nice workout, so I continued holding onto the rubber straps while Paddling Out using the NOHO Surf Trainer, and my goal was to paddle for an hour. What I was trying to simulate is that I had read that at Mavericks, sometimes you have to Paddle Out for over an hour to get to the Line Up, if you are unlucky, so, I thought that would be great fun to train that way, just to see if I could paddle that long. To make the Paddle Out more challenging and more in line with what I can only assume Mavericks paddling could be like I used ALL of my rubber cores, to make the resistance the most I could for the Paddle Out.

My workout was brutal. And, I'll probably pay the price tomorrow as I get ready to go surfing over at Westport.  But, it was worth it and I LOVED it. The NOHO Surf Trainer is absolutely everything I could want in a surf trainer and with it, I'm sure I'll get into great surfing shape.

I can so hardly wait for my afternoon session with this incredible piece of training equipment. It'll be fun to see what other moves I can practice on my NOHO Surf Trainer. Ultimately, I'd bet that I could try them all!!!

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Review and Training :)

Aloha Tribe,

One of the presents that Santa brought me at Christmas was a NOHO Surf Trainer. It can be used for both Longboarding and Shortboarding as well as any other variation of surfboard. And, I must say, I absolutely love it!!! Basically, it's a set of half balls that strap to the bottom of your board, either a short board or a longboard,, and, it allows you to practice your surfing moves in the comfort of your own home or yard when you want to get in some serious drilling time, perhaps because the surf is too flat or too wild.

I have mine set up in my Surfing Room at the moment, primarily because it's about 28 degrees F outside. I know, I know, I should suck it up and either go outside in my string bikini and workout, ignoring the cold and thus simultaneously practicing cold training, or, put on my 4/3 wetsuit, booties, gloves, and hood, after all, I live in the Pacific NW where such attire is rather necessary, and workout in my surfing uniform. Perhaps, later. At the moment, I admit, having a nice warm fire in my Family  Room, with the heat flowing beautifully into my Surfing Room, I'm spoiled. Oh poo.

At any rate, getting back to my thoughts on this training device, as I said, I truly love it. The half balls, if you want to think of them that way, consist of two half balls connected together, sort of forming half of a 3-D figure 8, made of a nice rubber type material which does not ding, dent, nor hurt in any way, my longboard. The NOHO Surf Trainer is attached to my board by some really cool rubber clamps, that simply hook or slide onto the rails of my board. Since I have a longboard, and, I bought a NOHO Surf Trainer to fit a longboard, the set  comes with 4 of the figure 8 balance devices and 8 hooks. The way it clamps on is by an elastic cord that connects between the figure 8 device and the hooks on the rails of the board.

I took the NOHO Surf Trainer out of the box it came in and had it set up on my board within minutes, it's literally that easy. Now, here's a tip. Since I have hardwood floors, I simply placed several rubber yoga mats on the wood floor first, then, I put my board with the NOHO Surf Trainer attached to the bottom of the board, on the yoga mats, simply to prevent slipping, after all, it was my first time using this.

The rubber yoga mats work perfectly!!! And, if you have carpet, that would probably work great too I'd imagine. I also think the NOHO Surf Trainer will work great in my yard on the grass as well as in my sand Surfing Training Sand Pit in my yard.

Since I am relatively new to all of this, I decided that the first thing I'd do is Paddle Out. After all, that's what I'll be doing the next time I go to the beach, so, I might as well get some practice here.

So, I practiced two different types of paddling strokes. The first, was smooth rhythmic strokes, long and sure, as though I was making my way into the surf. Since I've figured that perhaps the average, if there can be such a thing, paddle, is perhaps 50 yards or so, I thought I'd do  50 yard paddling routines.

I paddled out, and, got in the Line-up. Now, the Line-Up is a bit tricky on the NOHO simply in that, since it sits your board about 6 inches or so above the ground, you really can't drop your legs straight down as if you were sitting for real in the surf, so, I simply held me legs slightly above the floor, which, by the way, is a great workout for the thighs and abs.

I didn't find the paddling hard, my balance on the NOHO Surf Trainer seemed pretty okay. Nor did I find it too difficult to move into a sitting position, though, I was a touch slightly wobbly. I'll have to drill more and more and more on that one.

If I had my NOHO Surf Trainer balanced on something like saw horses, then, I could literally sit on my board with my legs dangling down just like in the surf, of course, naturally, I wouldn't recommend you all try that. I simply will, because, well, I love practicing all phases of my surfing.

Next, I practicing moving from a sitting position to a laying position on the board and, I began my next phase of paddle training, Sprint Paddle Training. Now sure, just like with the Paddle Out paddle training, you have to be aware of the depth of your strokes, after all, you aren't really in the ocean, then again, with but a slight adjustment of paddling depth, I had no problem adjusting to this training.

I figured, for exercise and drill sake, that my Sprint Paddle would require three lighting fast strokes, so, that's what I did, then, I got to the really fun part, the Pop-Up.

Okay, this was a bit more challenging and I was a bit wobbly, but, with practicing even for just a few minutes, I already noticed dramatic improvement as I got used to how the board moved on top of the NOHO Surf Trainer.

This part, the Pop Up was really fun for me, so, I did it quite a few times. Perhaps, 20 minutes or so, working up a rather good sweat.  After all, the fire in the woodburning stove had heated my home up quite nicely.

After Popping Up, I stood, and, imagined gliding down the face of a beautiful wave, Angling my board to a perfect (after all, it was my wave in my imagination), right.

And now, for my Bottom Turn.

I tried. I failed. I Stalled. Silly Lily.

I was slightly too far back on my longboard and lifted the nose a bit too high for what I envisioned doing if this had been for real. So, since I failed, I simply dropped down into a sitting position, then lay on the board and, Paddled Out again, just like if it was the real thing.

Now that I had the basic feel for this truly awesome and incedible training device, I decided to do a bit of Cross Stepping, Hanging Five, Hanging Ten, Cheater Five, and Drop Knee Turns training. So, I ran through countless repetitions of each, just to get the feel for them, as well as carving my board left and right with toe and heel pressure, as well as with hip awareness, and also with simply upper body movement, just to get the feel of how each worked my body, as well as my board on the NOHO Surf Trainer in different ways.

This training device rocks!!!  You can walk to the front of your board, on a longboard of course, and do a Nose 360. Or, you can drop back to the tail and try a Tail 360, and, you know what, the tail or nose respectively will lift so beautifully off the floor (in my case, rubber yoga mats), and spin the board.

I had to write this review at that point, I was so stoked, but next, naturally, I want to try some Spinners, but of course. And then, a Spinner with a Nose 360 and, naturally, a Spinner with a Tail 360. After all, why not, and, that's what the NOHO Surf Trainer is all about and built for, for running drills again and again and again, as many times as you'd like.

Using this magical surfing exercise tool, I can, right in my living room, get an aerobic workout by simply doing drills over and over at a relatively steady and realistic pace, or, I can get an anaerobic workout by really pushing myself and doing, say, 100 Pop UPs in a row, as fast as I can, as though, they were done at the speed of sprinting, in order to develop  fast twitch muscle fibers in my body (sure, a bit more of a necessity for a shortboarder than a longboarder, but, why not, after all, it's the fast twitch muscles that make a girl lean and shredded. I figure, I'm my surfing is to look great because of my NOHO Surf Trainer, I might as well really push myself and get my body to look as great as my soon to be acquired surfing style.

After all, why not? The NOHO Surf Trainer does it all.

Get one. Use it. And, be creative. Truly push yourself and drill and I'll bet that in short time, you'll see your surfing improve, move by move by move.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have got this for a present. Now it's your turn. Give yourself a treat, workout on this and get your body in shape, and, more so, get the surfing style you've always dreamed of.

Hmm, upon reading what I just wrote, I suppose it sort of sounds like a commercial or something, but you know what, all I can say is I'm really this way stoked about my NOHO Surf Trainer.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surf Shaman: A Seemingly Mythical Being who might actually be a Feral Surfer

Aloha Tribe,

So, what is a Surf Shaman? What do they do? And, on a more fun note, how can one become one?

A Surf Shaman is, in part,  a Watergirl or Waterman. He or she embraces the seas and swells as  forms of personal healing, prophetic, and magical expression, as well as for artistic experiences for happiness and living-in-the-moment.

In a way, there really is nothing that a Surf Shaman can not do, at least in one way or another, and that's the truly exciting part of it. If you can imagine it, you can do it. All that needs to be done, in such a case, is to figure out how. And that precisely is what a Surf Shaman is gifted at doing.

To the Hawaiians, such a person was a Kahuna, a spiritual eldar and leader, gifted in the more esoteric arts of life. In our way of thinking about it today, such a person could be a truly gifted Professional Surfer, though, they may not actually think of themselves as such nor now it. Some might see them in the light of the Kahoona from Gidget, in a way, or, in the term we'd use today of the Surf Bum or as they say in Australia, the Feral  Surfer.

Such people spend so much time with the sea that they truly understand her ways. They can predict how to ride a given wave, where to ride it, and, when. They can, seemingly, call waves, at least, some seem to have this ability. And, they are completely in-tune with the weather as it relates to the seas, as well as all sea life and all sea physical geography of any given place.

A person like this needs a lifetime of studying the seas in all that she offers, as well as in riding waves, often, perhaps, upon a single semi-battered board which they truly know literally perfectly.

Explorations into a field such as this lead to thoughts of what comes first, the board, or the rider? Naturally, the answer is both. For as the rider develops in his or her surfing skill, they begin to truly and fully understand their surboard or boards.

So, what does such a person do? And, how do you find one, if, they even happen to literally exist? Well, in answer to the second question first, they could be anybody, anywhere, at any time, but, this is the thing, they'll most assuredly be the last person you'd expect of such a thing for the simply look like everybody else, yet, there is a difference. They will have a truly powerful charisma, noticeable in their eyes, as well as in how they move or even remain still. It's an energy, a huge abundance of chi, if you will, that emanates from the person and permeates all around them, both all living things as well as their environment.

Now then, what do they do? Well, that's a challenging question in that each is truly an individual, therefore, doing, that which, they do. I know, that's a stupid answer, but, well, it's the way of it. Here are some things that may be done. Though, many will seem impossible based on our current understanding of science, primarily, physics.

They  can call waves. That is to say, they can focus their minds and thus their energy upon the sea, and, in so doing, harmonize with the sea, leading to, the formation of waves. Now granted, one could look at such an expression from many angles. Perhaps, they literally call waves. Or, maybe the sense waves coming and thus simply end up at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. Imagine such a person's benefit to things such as surfing tournaments. Some sponsor's eyes somewhere should sparkle at such a thought, even if it did seem impossible. The thing is, what if...

They can also work with the weather in all of its forms. Calling for rain or sunshine, wind or stillness.

People with these types of skills can sense the thoughts of animals, their specialty of course being, all sea creatures.  As such, they can seemingly know in a precognition sort of way, where fish may be or when they may school here or there.

Now naturally, such a person often terrifies those with limited frames of reference and experience, yet, that does not mean such a person does not exist, simply because you have never, to you knowledge, met such a person.

Throughout history there have been people gifted in seemingly impossible skills, yet, the tales always exist. And, even if one chooses to not believe in such seeming impossibilities, at the very least, such speculation makes for great fireside sessions of talking story on the beach. For we all lvoe stories, be they mysteries, adventure, romance, or even horror (namely, that which frightens our sense of well-being and familiarity).

So, now for the fun part, assuming that such a person does or can exist, how in the world does one go about training to become such a person? In a nutshell, in a single word, smile. For in a genuine and pure smile comes incredlbly powerful magic, and, it is the root of all such training, for, in order for it to be authentic and pure, it must be genuine, and, that is the core behind it all, genuineness of heart and soul. In a  way, you could even call it a sort of innocence, for such a person often seems rather happy-go-lucky, seemingly flying by the seat-of their surf shorts, with twinkling eyes, a soft heart, a quick hand to help, and an intuitive receptiveness to all life and all that exists, especially, all as it relates to the sea and surf.

Now of course, there's a bit more to it than smiling at all that life has to offer. That is, but, the starting point. Simply being purely and truly happy with what you have where you are, right this instant. In other words, simply being, a surfer. For we all have a bit of the Surf Shaman within our beating hearts.  We are the luckiest people on the planet for we truly know how to play, and, for some lucky few, live to play and, more so, play to live.

Okay, so, let's say such a tale for you was not merely talking story but instead, was lifted out of myth and legend and lore and you wanted to truly train yourself to gain such skills, as well as literally uncountable ones beyond. How would you go about doing this? Partially, on the frustrating side, it is something that is inside of some more than others, they, are the naturals. But all of us can develop our skills in one way or another, to one degree or another.

The  place to start such a journey is with sensory awareness. And, a place as good as any other to do this from, partially because the art is over 2000 years old, and partially because such training is specific, concrete, and, already established in set training programs, is, chi gung. Chi gung, if nothing else, teaches you how to develop all of your senses so that you can detect things that virtually nobody, anwhere, can also sense. You'll learn to hear, see, feel, smell, taste, and, even dance with the sixth sense beyond the realms of the seemingly impossible. All because, in a nutshell, you learn to truly pay attention to the moment.

In such an experience of depth of paying attention, it is as though life itself is happening in extremely slow motion, not at all unlike in the relatively recent movie Spiderman, where the main character at one point in the film, sees and experiences a fly's wings beating frame by frame, as though, watching such an experience on a dvd player with slow motion and stop motion frame freezing.  Such an awareness becomes, not the realm of mere extreme trauma, as is the case with many people, but instead, becomes the realm in which one lives constantly  or, at will. This, then, enables such a person with such skills to truly and fully embrace their senses and thus, to express themselves in seemingly magical ways.

Well, that's the first step. The bare beginnings of a tale, a story told by a campfire, late at night when the wind slowly sings offshore to the gentle lifting waves, talking story for those who know how to listen.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Advanced Surfboard Shape, Lines, and Riding Expression

Aloha Tribe,

I'm finding that I actually am utterly fascinated with the shapes and lines of surfboards as they relate to performance. Now, of course, all surfers want a board that rides great, but how many of us really ponder why our boards ride as they do?

The key, to such study, it seems to me, is not only experience, namely, shaping awareness as well as excellent surfing skills.  More so though, what is truly needed, is a very special kind of experience, one that is utterly unprecidentedly  unique. In other words, you need to train yourself to be sensitive enough the the minutest subtleties of each board overall (which of course can be achieved by riding all kinds of boards) as well as with each line of each board (which comes from shaping knowledge, experience, and study)  as it relates to waves during actual performance (this, naturally, is where surfing skill comes into play).

Thus, the greater the sensitivity that one can train in their body for observing incredibly tiny subtle differences in lines, the better for this type of study and exploration. This, of course, is where a field like chi gung comes in. You see, chi gung is all about developing and honing all of your senses to peak perfection, and in the process, to full attention to the tinest changes in each sensory experience.

Therefore, the perfect blending of this would be the harmonious partnership between a gifted,  imaginative, daring shaper and a highly skilled surfer chi gung master, both of whom, preferably, must be extremely articulate. Granted, the shaper could be the surfer and the chi gung master themselves all roled into one person, but, well, hmm, you see,  that sort of defeats the idea of collaboration and the excitement and fun that mutual intellectual sharing offers, making the sum, greater than the parts.

Now sure, once upon a time, back in 5th grade, I shaped my first surfboard. But, that was then and many waves have passed since those days. Now, the chi gung master part, that, I have down, after having spent an entire lifetime studying, practicing, and mastering such a discipline. So, that leaves the surfing and shaping part, of which the surfing part in particular, to me, is the exciting and fun part, because, that is the part I am working on  now.

Eventually, my surfing skills (one day) will match my chi gung skills and body awareness levels, as well as sensitivity skills, and, at that point, finding the perfect shaper to craft with  as a partner sounds so truly exciting. For when we meet and this happens, it will  surely lead to unprecidented cutting edge surfboard technology and art, which, will immediately lead into a new awareness of riding and what can truly be expressed as the artistic lines drawn on waves by a  great and seemingly magical  board. What fun times await!!! In fact, I am utterly stoked for the day when such a harmonious blending of creative talent between two gifted people can be realized.

In the meantime, I need to surf daily. A  lot.    :)

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

My Quiver in my Surfing Room

Aloha Tribe,

This photo is of my Surfing Room in my home. The blue and yellow longboard is my 9 foot Robert August nose rider What I Ride. The red and white striped longboard is my 9 foot Robert August Wingnut. And, the lime green board is my 7'3" Hawaiian Blades with an official Hawaiian State Seal and the coolest shark toothed sword painted on it.

Each board is so way awesome. I just feel so blessed and grateful to have each and every one of them.  I truly love them all.

Oh, and the large black bag behind the What I Ride is the bag that holds my Dolphin monofin for freediving. You can also see some of my library here, my Russian Chess set,  and a few odds and ends.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Using Chi Instead of Muscular Tension and Movement For Surfing

Aloha Tribe,

Well, some of you may have read about how I love to use chi in my surfing. So, I guess a few of you may be wondering what I mean by that, and, why do it, right?

You see, our bodies are filled with energy, it's sort of a bio-chemical, electro-magnetic kind of energy, in a sense, but it also blends with all of the fluids that we have in the body too such as blood and synovial fluid, and so on. What you can learn to do, is to move this energy, not just with your muscles, say, by moving your leg, nor, merely by tightening or contracting  the muscles of of you leg, but, you can also learn to do it by guiding this energy, the chi, with your thoughts.

The reason this is beneficial to surfing is that it enables you to remain balanced, from a pure physical sense, yet, at the same time, shift your internal body weight where ever you need it to go, and, the cool thing is, it can happen as quickly as you can think.

Let's say, for example, that you need your feet to be "sticky," so that they can adhere better to your board. In the movie I just talked about in my previous entry, Occymentary, one of the guys there talked about how Occy's feet seem glued to his board. And, that got me so excited and therefore, to thinking.

So, here's what I'm doing to make my feet stickier so that I'd stick  a little better to my board when I needed to.

Basically, what I am doing is focusing with great attention to detail on absorbing chi through my board, from the water, and, circulating it within my feet. This creates a sort of sticky kind of sensation.

Sure, it means multi-tasking, after all, there's like what, a zillion things to think about while surfing, but it's a way to do this physically.

At a entry  kind of level, which, actually would be a majorly advanced sort of level, one would shift their feet around, literally, by lifting them here or pressing them there. Beyond that, one would do the same thing, only, using muscular tension in the feet instead of literally moving them. I remember in Laird Hamilton's incredibly inspirational and cool exercise book Force of Nature, he talks about how he developed certain muscles in his feet by surfing barefoot and walking barefoot all the time. That's sort of what I mean. By really focusing on foot development, sort of like bodybuilding for your feet, in a sense, you'd create the flexibility, speed, strength, and coordination of your foot muscles that would be light years beyond what most people do with their feet, namely, wanding through life, unaware of their feet, while, wearing shoes and socks everywhere.  That being said, of course there's a place for fishnet stockings and heels in a girl's life, but, on the surfboard is not the place.

After spending whatever time it takes you to develop and hone your foot muscles to perfection, think of doing things like dealing playing cards with your toes, as an example of this, your feet will be ready to move as you need them to.  The reason this is important is that in order for the chi to flow, anywhere, it needs the muscles to be flexible, but also, you need to be truly aware of the tiniest of muscle movements. It's all in the details, and as such, how aware you are, using all of your senses, to, your full body.

Once you have complete awareness of any or all muscles, as well as organs in your body, which, takes time, granted, you'll have an idea of what kind of focus this requires.  Naturally, there are shortcuts. And that's where a good teacher can help for she can move your chi or energy for you, and flow it here or there, so you can feel it, as well as supply you with more than you'd naturally have, so that you can experience whatever given exercise you are trying to do. This, of course, can save a student tons of training, yet, to truly master it, as with all things, one has to be in the trenches willing to do the work, so to speak.

To me, using chi is a truly beautiful and spiritual way to experience riding a wave, for it enables you to feel and sense the wave beyond anything you'd normally ever experience, offering you lessons beyond what you ever dreamed possible even existed.

As such, using something like chi to infuse your muscular tension and body movements, you can truly become part of the wave, one with her, feeling the energy of the sea not merely beneath you as you surf upon her but more so, within you, making you one.  This, of course, is the point where it starts to get fun, because at this point, you can start to sense what will happen with a wave or on your ride before it happens.

Well, I guess that's enough for this ride.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Turning With My Hips Led To Lifting My Feet

Aloha Tribe,

So, in yesterday's session, I was really focusing on using my hips. Up until now, I more or less would weight my  board with my toes or heels, in a general sort of way. But yesterday, after watching a truly wildly fun movie about Occy called Occymentary, I watched him move in slow motion and also frame by frame, studying his feet and how  light he was on them, and also, his hips.

Naturally, that gave me all kinds of fun training ideas to try. So, I spent my outing yesterday for several hours working on being light on my feet and also moving my hips before my shoulders when I turned. Watching the dvd in stop motion, I noticed how Occy would use just the ball of his foot or just the heel of his foot as he'd turn, so that is what I was trying to do. It was truly fun to try to be so light-footed.

And, oh my gosh!!! Like, totally major the difference :)

I was stunned. And, it felt good to move like that too.

I know that in boxing, to punch with knockout power, you start at your feet, move up your legs, bring your hips into it, then your body, then your shoulder, and finally, your arm. So, that's kind of what I was focusing on. Fully body movement with an awareness of each part moving. It totally blew my mind, it was great.

I know the idea here is something  that all of you know and all of you do, and so it's not anything new, but, it was to me. You know, that's the great thing about being at the bottom, everything is so new and exciting and fun. And, the simplest things or ideas, like, be light on your feet or move your hips, just can so way change the whole way something is looked at. Now, of course, the next step is to "not" move the feet or hips like that but to do it with chi, and thus, to simply weight the body with the body's own energy. This is where it really starts to get fun for me. You see, once you experience something, say, physically, then, you can replicate that feeling. At first, of course, one simply repeats the movements themselves. But, beyond that, one can learn to simply tighten the muscles involved in the movement, but, without the actual movement taking place. And, the next step is the one I just mentioned, where you send chi or energy (blood, body fluids, oxygen, and so on) into the area without the muscle tensions nor literal physcial movements.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing This Coming Weekend

Aloha Tribe,

I'm hoping to go surfing this weekend. Yesterday, I ended up in the hospital. Totally frustrating. So, I wasn't able to surf or go swimming yesterday or today. I probably should lay low tomorrow and Friday too, but being out of the water is just killing me, you know. By Saturday, I've just got to go surfing again.

My plan, now that I know I can fit both of my 9 foot longboards inside my Subaru Outback is to go with someone and bring two longboards, one for each of us. It'll be an awesome trip, with, hopefully, about nice 4 footers or so.

I think I'll simply eat a bit of fruit between now and Saturday, just to get over what's going on health-wise, that, and doing lots of chi gung, of course. I should be in pretty good shape by Saturday, and, if so, not only do I want to surf as much as possible, but I also want to swim as much as possible, ideally if the seas or larger, maybe 6 foot or more. That would be a nice relaxed way to break back into it after a hospital visit and a few days of down time (I so way hate not exercising daily).

I have my surfboards hung in my library and I just love the smell of the surf wax on my three boards (two longboards and a thruster and soon, a new elephant gun). I find the smell very meditative, especially as it blends with my neoprene wetsuits, also in my library.

Life is awesome. How can it not be for a surfer!!! Sure, there may be a wrinkle now and again, like I've had lately, but the thing is, the surf is always coming, and that, makes me smile and my eyes to twinkle with excitement.

Love to all,

Bodaciously  Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

9 Foot Longboard Fits Inside 1998 Subaru Outback Sport

Aloha Tribe,

Great news, I've found another car that a 9 foot longboard fits inside of. Yep, my second car is a beautiful fire engine red 1998 Subaru Outback Sport and it will easily hold both of my 9 foot longboards and my 7 foot thruster, or a few bodyboards, my backpack, ukulele, and assorted travel gear, including several Baja California maps, a Baja California travel book, as well as a map or two from Seattle to Mexico.

So, this gives me yet another car that my longboards will fit inside. Of course, my Outback also has a great roof rack on it and that holds my two longboards great too. I simply duck taped some pipe insulation (acquired at Home Depot - 1 inch inner hole size, maybe 2 or 3 inches around, I'd imagine) around the roof rack supports, put my boards in travel bags, and strap them to the roof of the car if or when that is how I want to carry them. It's awesome to have options.

Now with this car, here's what I did. I moved the passenger seat as far forward as it would go toward the dashboard, then, I tilted the seat back as far back as it would go. Then, I took off the head rest from the seat simply by pushing the button and pulling it out. Next, I folded down the passenger side rear seat by tilting it forward toward the front of the car. At this point, I was able to slip my 9 foot longboard in the back hatch, through the trunk, over both tilted seats, and onto the front dashboard, with a few inches to spar both front and back, giving me plenty of room to pad the nose  of the board and the tail of the board with either towels or pipe insulation.

This arrangement gives me room for a passenger behind me (yeah, a surfing buddy), and their 9 foot longboard and my 9 foot longboard on the passenger side of the car, with all of our gear both under the surfboards in empty spaces, as well as in the trunk area behind the person sitting behind me (the driver).

Sure, we can't sit "together," and it's more of a front seat rear seat seating kind of thing, but that's cool, at least we both fit with our surfing gear.


Roadtrip!!!

Hmm, you know, a Fish Taco Surfing Roadtrip, from Seattle to Baja Mexico sounds just about right. And, with my Outback, I could do it. :)

I wonder how I'd make the Outback a Baja Outback, that is to say, lets see, I'd need, larger wheels, sand tires, an outside mounted gas tank (like you'd have on a Jeep Wrangler), an outside mounted oar (if you have to ask, perhaps you shouldn't make this trip) and a front mounted winch. Any other ideas out there? Oh, a Spanish Dictionary, but of course. And lots of water. What a fun plan.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

9 Foot Longboard fits inside 2002 VW Bug

Aloha Tribe,

So, awesomely fun news for those of you wondering if a longboard can fit in various cars, I just found out today that there's at least one car a 9 foot longboard will fit inside of. My bright orange 2002 VW Bug.

Yep, you read that right,  my beautiful 9 foot red and white striped Robert August Wingnut longboard fits inside of my bright orange VW bug. How way cool is that!!!

ROADTRIP!!!

Okay, is this an Endless Summer moment or what :)

And, there's plenty of room for my tent, my ukulele, and a green canvas Rambler backpack from Duluth Pack. In fact, I can even get my bodyboard in there too. There's enough room for two 9 foot longboards easily with several inches both front and rear to spar, as well as my 7 foot Hawaiian Blades thruster. Only one person can fit with the longboards though, since my bug has a bench back seat instead of the bucket seats like the new 2010/2011 convertible bugs.

Of course, I can put my board on top of the bug too, I have a soft rack, but, it's kind of cool that it fits inside, it keeps it safer if I have to stop somewhere for food, gas, or to check out the local swell.

I'm so excited, I'm literally twirling in happiness. I tend to do that, twirl, that is, now if I could just figure out how to do a Spinner on my board, I'd be set. Of course, then I'd want to learn to do a Nose 360 and of course, a Tail 360. All in good time I guess.  I'm a dreamer, I admit it. I like to think that's a good thing. You know, come to think of it, I think all surfers are probably dreamers. And, that's probably what makes us all love life so much.

I'm so happy, I just had to share with all of you in the Tribe, just in case any of you are wondering about getting a new car.

So, now I'll have a way go on surfing adventures anywhere with my longboard safe and sound inside my car. I can just slip all my surfing adventure travel gear  into my car and go. How cool is that!!! I feel like, with this new discovery that everything fits inside my bug, that I'm truly starting to fully live the surfing girl lifestyle. You know. And, for those times when  I want to travel with someone else in my car, I can always simply strap several boards to my soft rack on top of my bug. Then again, if I am traveling alone, gathering a group of surfers in all kinds of different vehicles for a Baja California caravan sounds kind of fun. Who's up for it? There's some nice 4 to 7 footers down there today with 10 to 15 footers for tomorrow from what I understand. At the very least, it's a fun dream. At least I have a totally cute way to go now, if I wanted to.

Aloha,

Bodaciously Stoked,



Lily of the Valley