The Hawaiians are credited with being the fathers of surfing, and are known to have practiced the sport as early as the 15th century AD. The Hawaiian name for surfing “He’enalu” – can be translated as wave sliding. During its early history, surfing was taken as a sacred practice and only those with a high social status could take part; in other words – Hawaiian kings and queens were surfers. Ironically, today, surfing is seen by the general population as a sport for those who have dropped out of society, the very opposite to how it began.
As a people living on a cluster of small islands in a very big sea, the Hawaiians were not surprisingly fascinated by the ocean, and attached great meaning to its moods and forms. In a similar way to which the Inuit are said to have many names for snow, the Hawaiians also have hundreds of words to describe the various forms of the ever changing sea.
Just as modern day surf bums insist on surfing as a lifestyle rather than just a sport and thus devote great portions of time and money to the pursuit of the waves, Hawaiians also found unfathomable bounds with the practise, as the writings of Kepelino Keauokalani, a 19th Century Hawaiian Scholar, shows in his observations of the local Hawaiian surfers:
“All thought of work is at the end, only that of sport is left. The wife may go hungry, the children, the whole family, but the head of the house does not care. He is all for sport, that is his food. All day there is nothing but surfing. Many go out surfing as early as four in the morning: men, women, children.”
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Making Waves in Waikiki: Hawaii’s Surfing Heritage
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Tags: ancient hawaiians, California, century, Christian Missionaries, David Kalakau, Hawaii, Hawaii's, hawaiian kings, hawaiian shores, hawaiian surfers, Hawaiians, Heritage, Iceland, Indonesia, Making, sport, Surf, Surfing, Waikiki, wave, waves, world
The skateboard is a certain device which was conceived as a means of surfing outside of water. The history of skateboards cannot be specifically traced back to a certain age but is indeed very fascinating. Some hold the belief that the art of skateboarding began on the beaches of California while some other hold other that the background of skateboarding can be traced to some other place. In the recent times however skateboards are seen as an emblem of youthful energy and vigor. In the early era of 1930s the kids in the United States attached the roller skates to a board which measured up to two to four inches. But it was not before 1958 that the modern range of skateboards was invented.
Talking about the design of the skateboards it can be easily claimed that they were inspired from that of surfboards. In the initial phase they were quite similar to that of the surfboards but in the following times there was a change in the design due to that of the commodities. The first range of skateboards was manufactured in the year 1965. They were thick by one inch and had in them rubber wheels and also cast iron trucks. With varied range of skateboards available the skateboarders are also able to classify themselves accordingly like free style skateboarders, high jump skateboarders, downhill skateboarders, long jump skateboarders and so on.
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Skateboards Give You the Freedom to Fly Past
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Tags: Allan Ollie Gelfand, America, California, design, Freedom, Give, jump, Ollie, Past, Popularity, range, roller skates, rubber wheels, Skateboard, skateboarders, skateboards, Thomas Welsh, United States, year, youthful energy
The Thrill of Snowboarding
Snowboarding, the art of gliding across snowy slopes on a single elongated board, has become highly popular among lovers of winter sports. Even those who don’t like the cold, but love the thrill of physical activity, have found joy in snowboarding. No matter where in the world you live, there is a dreamy snowboarding location nearby. Before you plan your next vacation, you may want to consider the condition of the slopes.
Snowboarding Resorts
The nation is peppered with resorts that offer snowboarding lessons, to suit any vacation plan. You’ll find snowboarding resorts in states across the US, if you know where to look. In Canada, Lake Louise and Whistler are two highly popular spots for snowboarding and snowboarding lessons. California’s Squaw Valley is a great, dreamy snowboarding vacation resort for those wishing to learn the craft of snowboarding. Sun Valley in Idaho, and Moonlight Basin in Montana are popular Rocky Mountain snowboarding vacation destinations.
In Nevada, Heavenly is the best resort for snowboarding, and Jackson Hole is where you want to go if Wyoming is the state of your choice. If the resort you choose features snowboarding, there will be a bevy of other winter sports to enjoy as well. Amid lush mountain scenery and crisp white snow, you may discover that snowboarding is the answer to your dream vacation.
Utah is filled with great resorts; where you can do all the snowboarding you please and even receive lessons. Deer Valley, The Canyons, Snowbird, and Park City are all well-known and beautiful resorts that you might want to check out if you’re visiting Utah. For snowboarding, you can hardly do better than the beautiful peaks of Utah.
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Hit the Slopes: Dreamy Snowboarding Vacations
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Tags: Beaver Creek, Butte, California, Canada, Colorado, Copper Mountain, Dreamy, Idaho, Jackson Hole, Lake Louise, Montana, Moonlight Basin, Nevada, Park City, resort, Rocky Mountain, Slopes, Snow, Snowboarding, snowboarding lessons, snowboarding resorts, snowboarding vacation, snowy slopes, Squaw Valley, Steamboat Springs, Sun Valley, Thrill, US, Utah, vacation, Vacations, Whistler, winter, Winter Park, Wyoming