Chess, Surfing, and the Flowing Feeling of Passion

Aloha Tribe,

Hmm, well, some of you may have read recently that I'm sitting here with a torn meniscus  in my left knee, my back foot, of course, being goofy foot, and as such, I'm not out on the waves on my beloved longboard. I'd love to Talk Story on some tropical shore, sipping local brews while spinning yarns  of how I raced down the face of that damned 47 foot monster, flying like liquid mercury over the wrenching white water, carving lines of beauty at breakneck speed over the rippling swirls of death, yet, alas, I slipped off a stupid porch - a wooden deck, a moss covered wooden deck of doom, after stopping at my neighbors to pee, of all things. Darn I should have simply gone at the beach like a surfer girl should.

But, such an injury has given my chess game a chance to grow a bit these last few dark, cold, rainy, sleepless nights, windows flung wide to the open air, allowing the night's embrace to chill my bones, yet, at the same time, to draw comfort and light from the lone fire stirring in my cast iron wood burning stove and the single candle burning amidst an iron candle holder atop my 250 year old London pub goat's cart wheel dining table. Naturally, as I see it, chess, vodka, and long lonely nights all tremendously aid surfing skill.

But first, the dishes.

Okay, back from the dishes, now, later in the dark. Chess and surfing. Let's see...

Chess, to me, is all about art, and, feel.  Sure, I'm a tactile girl, I love feeling things, and, the feeling of moving, physical sensations in fact drive me wild so, since all movement effects me so, all sense of touch so drives me, even the seemingly mundane task of  holding beautiful wood chess pieces, especially those of my beloved Russian chess set, feeling their curves, their weight, the balance that each piece has as it shifts in my soft grasp, brings thoughts of how I ride my longboard. With unbridled passion.

Chess offers lessons in foresight, logic, planning, taking risks, seeing and playing art, study, friendship and hanging with a brah,  special language, tribal rules, history, legends, heroes, all like surfing does. Surfing can simply be hopping on a board and racing to the shore, just as chess can simply be pushing wood and crushing your opponent. But, there's so much more to both sports and arts. For lost in mundane mediocrity, one ceases to dance, and it is in the dance where the art of chess and surfing rise.

In studying to be a Soul Surfer, that is to say, a girl who simply surfs for the pure physical pleasure and love of it, one can explore the depths as shallowly or as deeply as one might care to delve. The same, for chess. In surfing, there's so much to learn, from weather and waves and beaches to board shapes, lines, fin placement, who's who, surf science, Surf Language, moves, techniques, strategies, sharing with friends, and a gazillion other things. The same, as I mentioned above, chess.

I find that the study of one, truly enhances the other. As odd as it sounds, I love to catch a wave, and, in it, find a new exploration on the chess board regarding an opening or perhaps an ending, even during a typical 8 to 10 second ride, my mind races with thoughts driving in at about 1/25th of a second or so, thus allowing me ample time for not only feeling my board, but also mental exploration of my ride, or, as the case can be at times, chess applications. My surfing allows me to see chess moves in the waves, in  the way my body moves and flows, in the feeling of the sea upon my muscles, the smell of the air, the sound of the breeze, the warmth of the sun on even the coldest of days. And, as I surf, I find myself imagining how I can express a given ride as a series of chess moves, whether it is in Openings, or Endings, or my favorite, the beautiful and artistc Middle Game. Likewise, on the chess board, I see new ways to Carve or Acid Drop, alternative methods of Bottom Turns or Pearling Control such as my Submarine surfing move into  new and exciting disciplines. Oh how I love the Submarine, by the way , for it's such a radical move that. There's nothing like it anywhere by anyone!!! And, just as with great chess, sometimes, things come by seeming accident, yet, in reality, are actually the result of fully, totally, 100% passionately living in-the-moment with total focus.

A perfect chess en passant is, to me, like tickling white water and bouncing off it into a beautiful Cutback. The feeling is the same.

To me, I don't see either sport or art as inclusive upon itself, but instead, find expression for both in all about me, as, in each other, in expressions of seeming total disparity.

For some, perhaps many, to run as fast as you can with your board and leap into the sea in a diving swoop of unbridled spontaneous joy, is a beautiful path. But, not typically mine. I'm more the type who loves to study the sea first. To feel her, to know her movements and expressions as I sit upon an overhanging cliff or beneath a shading tree. I watch, and observe, and learn. Just, as with chess. I love to watch other surfers ride, feeling total stoke for them as though it were me out there riding. Just, as I love to sit and watch a hearty game of chess at the local club, imagining the feel of the pieces as I watch others move them, seeing the moves in my mind before they are made before me. The love and joy of others, whether in chess or surfing, fills my heart with just overwhelming excitement for those dancing in the moment of their passion, for I truly feel bodaciously stoked for them. You see, in the movements of others, using Chi Gung, I can literally feel what the other feels, I can feel the weight of the chess pawn or knight, or, the biting edge of a rail in a perfect power Bottom Turn. Chi Gung offers a way to literally feel such physical expressions of others, in your own body, and thus, to learn not merely from watching but more so, from feeling what others do. In the case of chess, which is a mental game, it is the Nei Dan of Chi Gung which allows you to feel, sense, and embrace the very thoughts of those you watch even before they touch their pieces, in other words, you know, really know what they will do, for their thoughts are upon that very thing. And, in surfing, it is the chi or qi of Nei Dan which allows you to sense and feel what a particular move feels like literally of a surfer whether he or she is actually surfing in front of you or even in a movie.  Time, in such situations, does not exist. All that matters, is the flowing feeling of passion dancing with art.

Chess teaches you to think and plan, and, if you bring your chess to the level of art, to feel, for you can literally sense what your opponent will do, not merely logically nor by force, but instead, by something so much more powerful, be feeling or reading your opponents thoughts. It's a chi gung thing, nei dan as I just mentioned a moment ago, specifically. I first noticed it in fencing when I was training for the women's epee in fencing for the Olympics as I tried for Samoa. According to concepts of chi, "where the mind goes, the chi flows." In other words, first, you have to think it. These thoughts, when focused, can be sensed by those with proper training. Now, as for surfing, if you can think, you can be instantanously spontaneous in your creative approaches to any given wave. You can use your brain to pick where to be to catch a wave, what to do as you make the drop so you don't wipe out, and, how to ride, even when surprises pop out at you like a water burst at Makaha on Oahu, if you're not ready, you'll shoot 20 feet into the air.

Sure, some think of chess as slow detailed, calculating mental effort, and, it can be. Yet, some love the game of Blitz Chess where you play lightning fast, simply responding as quickly as you can to what your opponent does.

The thing is, with enough training, or, using an art like the 4000 year old Chinese discipline of chi gung, you can learn to think incredibly quickly, thus, everything appears in extreme slow motion. For most people, such events seem to come randomly in their lives, if at all, typically, during some extreme accident or trauma or emergency. Yet, once one learns how, through mental training, one can constantly be in such a state of awareness. A super example from a fun movie is in the first Spiderman movie a few years ago when the main character, Peter, noticed a fly buzzing in extreme slow motion just as he was about to get into a fight scene in the film. Such stuff is not the mere fantasy of movies but nor simply the realm of those in desperate situations, but, can be with you always.

So, by developing your brain, for example by playing chess, you can indeed improve your surfing in ways you may not have anticipated.  Interestingly enough, your surfing will enhance your chess and your chess will enhance your surfing, so, on those dark nights, such as tonight, at 2:12 AM when the world around me sleeps in the wilds of the woods outside my door, I sit here with my favorite Russian styled Chess set  and, my other set, the one that's gone to the North Pole, it's a magnetic set and equally fun. I love chess sets and chess pieces, just as I love surfboards and surf fins. Of course, my true heart belongs to surfing, chess is simply a fun passion for me, yet, it has always been in my life since I was a little girl, in fact, interestingly enough, I just thought about it and I actually learned chess the same year I made my first surfboard. Funny, that. Between the two, my life followed chess in that I lived in the middle of the country after leaving the Great Lakes and my beloved surfing there. But now, I am near the sea and surfing is my life, as it has been since a year ago last Summer when I almost died. I got my board for Christmas last year thanks to Santa and a very very kind Robert August who personally shaped it for me, and began my surfing in the late Winter, learning the wilds of the Pacific Northwest then heading out to the North Shore. Oahu rocks, I truly admit that. And, what could be a cuter town that Haleiwa? Soon, when life is right, I shall live there. Had circumstances been different this Fall, my original plan, some of you may have read, was to surf there from September through Christmas, for about 4 months or so. Life got in the way, I lost a pet, now I have a torn meniscus, but, my heart still soars the waves.

Speaking of tearing my meniscus, according to the Doctor, a true specialist in the field, and one of the  Pacific Northwests top guys, said such an injury would probably never heal, yet, at least after 6 weeks the pain should be gone he said. I tore it last Monday. Tonight, I just got through with about 3 hours of tightwire walking and balance training on my indoor tightwire. Too many bears and mountain lions hunting outside in the swamp on a dark night like this to train outside, perhaps when the moon is fuller. My knee, using chi gung for healing, feels GREAT!!! I feel solid, flexible, confident, stoked, agile, and strong tonight. Tomorrow should be interesting, that is to say, in a few hours when it gets light. I'll hit my loose rope for some Soft Rope training, shooting for 6 hours today. I should be able to make that since I just got in 3 hours okay.

I so hope that more surfers all over the world get into Chi Gung (Qigong) as a form of healing them of surfing injuries, it's truly an incredible discipline. In the meantime, my goal is to help as many hurt surfers as I can. And, along the way, perhaps get a good chess game in now and again.  :)

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley