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