Jai Ashok Mahtani _ This is the Real Surf Culture
                     This is the Real Surf 
Culture
Presented By,
Jai Ashok Mahtani
● I’m Jai Ashok Mahtani from South Africa. Many 
sportsmen can argue that their sport is not just a 
game, but a way of life. 
● The said statement sounds fancy but is often 
more hollow and airy than the balls used in their 
games. 
● When it comes to surfing, however, it’s a 
completely different story. 
● How you may ask? 
● Well, there are a lot of aspects when it comes to 
differentiating between surfing and other sports, 
but let us indulge in some of the major ones that 
are responsible for constituting the very essence 
of life in surfing. 
What is the Surf Culture
● Surf Culture has a completely different meaning than the one you might be 
thinking of. 
● The depiction that is shown in pop culture and Hollywood is the polar 
opposite of what surf culture means. 
● Surfing is a way of living life peacefully with your surroundings, be it human 
beings or animals or plants. It is the ultimate mantra of life that is channeled 
through a sport. 
● Surfing can mean anything to anyone, but in its essence, surfing is a device 
developed by natives from the pacific islands for humans to live in 
concordance with nature and with themselves.
The History Behind Surfing
● Every great game has an equally great story behind it, and such is the case with 
surfing as well. 
● It was first recorded in 1778 by none other than the mythical English explorer: 
James Cook. 
● His diary initially served as a testimonial to surfing being a game for savages. 
● Little did James Cook know that nearly a hundred years later, his noble 
countrymen Mark Twain and Jack London would forever cement surfing into the 
history of the world through their works.
● Literature had got surfing’s waves rolling, but it was a polar opposite event that 
popularised the sport in the country that spewed to the world its greatest surfer, 
Robert Kelly Slater. 
● When the United States Of America captured the pacific islands, surfing was 
quickly picked up by American tourists as the US government was vigorously 
encouraging American citizens to visit Hawaii. 
● The sport of surfing grew exponentially on all coasts of the USA, and surf culture 
was ‘officially’ welcomed to America and subsequently in the entire world, 
through the form of Beach Cinema.
Pop Culture
● When beach movies like ‘Blue Hawaii’ with bigshots like Elvis Presely started 
popping up on the big screen, surfing culture was amended to suit the needs 
of consumerist America. 
● Various movies and TV shows deviated significantly from true surf culture, so 
much to the point that surfing was considered as one of the ‘sexiest sports’ 
in America.
● Such a telephonic rise resulted in Bikini surf shops, sexualized surf classes, 
and many more instances proving that in today’s overtly capitalistic world, 
traditional practices are severely mended to meet the consumer’s needs.
● Many natives of Hawaii didn’t consider American surf culture as the real surf 
culture and often regarded it as a form of disrespect to their home-grown 
sport.
● Since the surf culture that we are familiar with due to the massive 
bombardment of ‘bikini surfing’ in movies is not the real surf culture, then 
what exactly did surfing represent?
Surfing and Religion
● It comes as no surprise that a sport that is considered a way of life by 
many of its players has played a part in religion. The first and foremost 
connection between surfing and religion is water.
● Water is the first offering that is given to any god in any culture. Water 
is where the divine resided when nothing was created. In Genesis, God 
is described to be hovering over water bodies. 
● The connection of water, surfing, and religion can be attributed to some 
characteristics that are shown by all 3 of these things. 
● Being immersed in water gives you a sense of calm, a vast sea is a sight of 
beauty, and water is the purest, smoothest, cleanest award of life there is. 
● Water, surfing, and Religion. 
● These 3 were interwoven since the quintessential legends of Hawaii and 
stories by Mark Twain were introduced to the world, but sadly their 
relationship has dwindled in popularity since pop culture boomed ‘sexy 
surfing’.
Surf Culture in the Modern 
W● Sourfirnlg dis now arguably the most popular water sport in 2020 with over 20 
million surfers worldwide. 
● It is now recognized as an international sport with the World Surf League 
being the largest surfing association in the world. 
● WSL also recognizes Hawaii as a separate surfing nation rather than it being 
a part of the United States of America, a necessary ode to the surfing 
hometown.
● One reason why surfing is considered to be more than just a sport is because 
of its connection to water. 
● As mentioned earlier, water is an important part of any religion, but in 
today’s growing atheist world water is not just about having faith. 
● Experiencing water through surfing is a completely different sensation. 
● Being provided with the calmness of water without its suffocation, allowing 
to build up composure, and being cut off from all earthly distractions makes 
surfing a suitable tool to help soothe the mind.