The beginning of surfing
Humans have been riding waves for centuries. Born in the warm waters of the South Pacific Ocean, surfing has been for more than a thousand years ago a central part of the Polynesian culture. The migration of surfing to Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean is said to have been the testament of the ancient mariners of that time. In 1866, Mark Twain a famous American author visited the Hawaiian Islands and wrote his first impression of surfing “In one
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place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing.” (Twain, 1866)
In 1885, three young Hawaiian princes traveled to the Coast of California and surfed for the first time the cold water waves of Santa Cruz with boards made from local redwood (Surf historians Geoff Dunn and Kim Stoner in Riders of the Sea Spray).
In early 1900’s, Duke Kahanamoku and a friend, two other young Hawaiians, started to spread the joy of surfing even further in Southern California and Australia. A new surf lifestyle was born inspired by the one from the islands of its origins.
The new era of surfing really started with George Freeth considered to be the “Father of Modern surfing”. Using heavy and huge 16-foot wooden boards, he faced difficulty in promoting the sport. By cutting the surfboard in two, George then created the first more manageable “Longboards” as we know them today. A few years later, in 1975, the first professional surfing competitions started in California.
History of surfing in Taiwan
In the early 1960’s surfing began to develop in the Jinshan area of Ilan region in Taiwan.
However, at the same time, the Taiwanese government started squarely a Martial Law with a requirement to strictly supervise the coastlines. Therefore, slowing down drastically the growth of any coastal sport, surfing was mainly limited to American soldiers in Ilan region.
Nevertheless, surfing started to develop slowly with the help of Taiwanese surfing pioneers in particular with the brothers Mao Guh, Yao Dong and Sun Yao. Still popular today, Mao Guh opened the first surf shop in Taiwan called “Jeff’s Surf Shop” in Dashi, Ilan. Besides, the spokesperson of surfing in Taiwan is Jung Wen Chen, the founder of the ROC Surfing Association.
Finally, with the suspension of the Martial Law, surf clubs started to blossom all around the country increasing the popularity and growth of the sport within the Taiwanese community.
Today, according to the ROC Surfing Association, around 30 000 Taiwanese are riding the waves of the Taiwanese coast lines and local and international competitions are organized (Tealit.com, 2015).
12 Competitive surfing
The competitive aspect of surfing is supported by the worldwide association called the World Surfing League, WSL. Organizing and coordinating all annual major competitions such as the Championship Tours, the Qualifying Series or the Junior Championships of surfing among others, are the essential tasks of the WSL. The most prestigious surfing competition in the world are the Championship tours as only the top 10 best surfers selected through the Qualifying Series of the previous years are allowed to compete.
Besides, the competition world of surfing is about to change and exponentially expand within the next 5 years as surfing has been announced to be featured as an official sport for the first time in the Olympics in Japan for 2020.
Furthermore, Taiwan is hosting a stop from the Qualifying Series in Taitung called the Taiwan Open of Surfing at Jinzun Harbor. According to the WSL, in 2015 the best Taiwanese surfer on the world Tour is Pan Hai Hsin ranked 766.
Surfing is an undeniably prominent recreational interest. It is assessed that more than 10 million individuals around the globe appreciate surfing in its different structures. As far as amusement and tourism, surfing is a captivating subject for geographers (Stebbins, 2000). It is one approach to staying fit; it can show individuals about the maritime and shoreline environment while surfers create income for some financially denied territories through surf tourism and the marketing of surf-related hardware, garments, and music. It is assessed that the surfing business is worth $2.6 billion a year (Farmer, 2008). Encompassed via ocean on three sides and with extraordinary water conditions consistently, surfing is an undeniably huge brandishing, social, and financial movement in Taiwan. The investment in surfing is rising each year. Surfing is a developing game in Taiwan and is turning out to be progressively critical as far as well-being, occupation, and wage era (Hawk and Sean, 2000). The game of surfing can pull in visitors who wish to have a great time on the waves, additionally requires perfect and safe shorelines and a sure level of offices.
Surfing straightforwardly produces 10m per annum income for the nearby and the national economy, and in a roundabout way contributes through related tourism, an expected 100,000 individuals come to Taiwan consistently to surf. As the proprietor of one surf school
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states that surfing pulls individuals to the territory, individuals come particularly for the surf, they burn through cash in the zone, utilize the neighborhood and in this way add to the nearby economy. Surfing is especially vital in more remote ranges of Taiwan, as the accompanying respondent expresses that surfing advantages the nearby economy significantly because we are situated in West Wales where there is not a ton of salary. There's a little retail advertise in the territory, however, it is entirely low in businesses. Surf Tourism is one of the greatest businesses, particularly where people are close to the shoreline.