" but I still love the old world"....Where to from here?"

[Skipper]

I've been wondering whether the culture of surfing went onshore when it became a sport.
Whether or not it's lost its soul, was a subject that's been canvassed here before.  
This is more about the culture. 
The rebel streak, the outsider and maverick identity of those who transcend societal expectations. Or used to.    

An admittedly spurious notion, it  transpired from a direction the Al's dead thread began to shift towards  - the questionable notion of surfing's 'sporting' identity and the failings of it's administrators and commentators alike in their responsibility and management of its performers.  
    
Perhaps a necessary evil.     
The irrevocability of the capitalist machine's predestiny.
Maybe the 'old world' is really dead. 
But are there any amongst you,  who are lucky enough to still have parents, and still love the old world?     

Glory be the days when it was a way of life.  
And a pox on the architects of this current sham, driven by corporations and vested interests, navigated by the aged and shameless hacks and spineless merchants of lifestyle and commodity, trading on the myths of soul, brother.
Their progeny, the ripaquikbong massive, wilful in their denouncement of anything edgy or outside the margins of their cloistered and myopic frame of reference, continue to perpetuate the vacuous and mundane, the mediocre and superficial, the banal and utterly guileless image of the modern surfer. (with all due respect to my realsurf brothers )
Who are the current rebels? What sets them apart from the herd?     

So long as surfing continues to struggle to gain acceptance within the real world, does its legacy diminish? Does its validity to its core constituents wither away?  

Where to from here? 
 

[pinhead]

There is no singular culture of surfing. There's a bunch of people who surf, they may share some common values, but they all belong to little sub-cultures with their own values and practices. Some of these subcultures are tiny I.e Roy Stewart - one member. The subculture created by the marketing departments of quikripbong and the ASP is just another one. Why worry what they do, just take the path that suits you.

[otway1949]

There is no singular culture of surfing. There's a bunch of people who surf, they may share some common values, but they all belong to little sub-cultures with their own values and practices. Some of these subcultures are tiny I.e Roy Stewart - one member. The subculture created by the marketing departments of quikripbong and the ASP is just another one. Why worry what they do, just take the path that suits you.

If you have your own sense of identity then you have choice when you enter the herd and when you leave and your own intent while you are in.
If your identity is determined by the dynamics of a group you may well be limited and trapped.
Somewhere, hopefully, you can draw your own line in the sand, it doesn't happen for everyone and it doesn't happen all the time. I guess you have to be skipper of your own ship as much as you can!

[Beanpole]

Personally I think now is the seventies on steroids. Even allowing for comps theres more choice and good stuff around than ever.
Surfing musos can actually do both pretty well, surf art is actually good now not just rick griffin and captain goodvibes.
You can ride anything. Pity about the crowds but its an attractive lifestyle. Just remember those old movies were fantasies then and still are now.

[murrum]

 
...
Where to from here?
 

Where to you say? - New York, New York.

Like you say, the loss of the rebel, the outsider, the free thinker/spirit is the result of a need to spread surfing's message far and wide. Massapeal will always tend towards the drab and bland. It's like surfing ate itself and regurgitated up flouro wetsuits and iphone aps to tell people which way the wind is blowing.

Don't mourn it too much though skip - it's only surfing.

[Beanpole]

One thing that has changed is the resurgence of America as a focal point for surfing. They've always loved the hype and can wax lyrical for hours about their own mythology. The Greg Knoll saga is a classic example. They have always milked the legend of surfing to make a buck.

The gap between reality and the gloss has always been there. We can't look back wistfully to the fifties and forties like they do because its all suf clubs and beach patrols with some noble exceptions. We bought the craze and we all grew up with it. The earlier you got in the better. One thing to remember is that not many people who surfed back in the old days surfed well and stuff we take for granted now hadn't been thought of. Unless you have come up with a major progression in surfing performance now don't think you would have come up with one then. So you would have been a straight inner until some one turned their board and did a re entry. I think Phil Edwards is credited with inventing that move.

[Trev]

1962.
It was late Summer and in those days my Mum wouldn't let me go swimming/ surfing in Winter. And her definition of Winter was from Easter on, regardless of when it fell.
But I had had a taste of riding those awesome malibu surfboards the guys in the Kirra Surf Lifesaving Club had tucked away in racks in the gear room. As most of them only came down on the weekends, "sometimes" you'd be able to sneak a surf or two during the week.
Anyway, in 1962 I surfed right through Winter and my Mum never knew (or if she did, she'd decided not to say anything). Never being much good at team sports, I revelled in the individuality of surfing.
So where's all this going?
Even almost 50 years later, I can clearly remember the feeling of riding a surfboard. I've never lost it. So I reckon I'm one of the lucky ones.
Radical modern moves pass me by and I just enjoy what I'm doing.
So, I don't care if the "old world" has moved on.
I'm happy in my own little world.

[steve shearer]

Come spend some time with Bylesy and Herro at Bylesy's surf shop 69 Shirley St.

Bring a brown sanga after midday and some lunch money for the TAB.

Boardies 2 fer 30.

If your lucky the people's Poet Donny Crawford might drop by and let loose with some freestyle.

[steve shearer]

Otherwise I recommend the Ballina Industrial Estate.

Cleggy the white yeti will give you a run for your money.

Just don't mention epoxy.

[Skipper]

^^^
silly me. Of course the answers would lie amidst that god given shire of yours. And just sangys? I could rustle up some mint flavoured meatballs and fennel n spinach pie? With longys of choice. Surely they wouldn't scoff at that. A quest worth considering. Some day.

Where was I ? Oh yeah, I'd be the first to admit that these reflections are borne of fanciful idealism. Wistful, unrequieted longing for a loss of innocence and spiritedness. But at the same time i'm realistic enough to see the futility of it. 
I'd readily defer to most of you with a better knowledge of the characters that might somehow still inhabit a place identifiable as this 'old world'.  The free surfers? And maybe even the pro circuit attendees that run against the grain. 
The obvious names come to mind - Machado, the one eyed and finless one, Kidman .....and their ilk on the one hand and Dane and...? on the other.
I accept the futility of seeking to recreate a time and mindset well and truly past. 

Everyone does inhabit their own notion of surfing's culture - from the poster adorned bedrooms of groms with toothpick sticks,  to the crusty leather skinned ol' boys and their mals who congregate amongst the beachside  carparks of our coastline.

If Slater is surfing's nadir who's its the zenith?

Who could deny the Americans' zest for perpetuating the myth of the soul surfer, both commercially and subculturally.  They've always had their finger on the pulse and I guess it's not surprising as they've inadvertently or otherwise defined it. 
With surfing now reaching out into other less likely nations - Europe, Latin America and Japan to name a few, how will this affect the reign of soul culture the US have held?  
           

[alakaboo]

skipper, i've flagged this topic for later consideration.
For the moment I'm too sapped to drink the requisite red wine.

The closest I've come to the 'soul surfer' is the old blokes I'd surf with in southern California. F
There were some dole cheats living in the jungle in Sumbawa who might be truer to the idea, but they seemed to me to have an edge of desperation.

[gibber]

To be completely honest, the ones I see who are trying to exhibit all this soul are the ones with a vested interest in the genre.
I really don't give a fck if you surf cause it's a sport or a lifestyle or even as an escape from the world and all it's ills (real or not)
I try to surf as regularly as I can, I watch comps when I can, I buy good gear for surfing when possible and I love being a surfer
I don't care whether I'm core or soul or whatever.
I just do what feels right for me.

Oh and boo, not much in the way of jungle east of the Wallace line but I get your drift

[Karlos]

You know, I piss & moan about this new world what with the crowds of the clueless inhibiting my enjoyment but you know what? I couldn't give this shit up if I tried. I still love my parents & I still love the old world, but the latter ain't coming back in a hurry so I keep gritting my teeth & enjoying it all, no matter how much I sometimes deny it.

The old world IS really dead & I'm not sure if there are any rebels out there. If there are, they're doing what they're doing well under the radar because they quite wisely don't feel a need for anyone to know about it.

[gibber]

The old world IS really dead & I'm not sure if there are any rebels out there. If there are, they're doing what they're doing well under the radar because they quite wisely don't feel a need for anyone to know about it.

Amen to that brother!

[offshore1]

[Grooter]

The old world is gone, the new one is well-entrenched, but hidden between these two generalisations are the other worlds that other people call their own. Take, if you will, the IT professional. Cube-farm worker by day, but a surfer on weekends – truly a dichotomy if ever there was one. While a work from home day and the odd sicky pulled when it’s pumping sees this culture emerge during mid-week for the most part it is withdrawn, surfing only during the dawn to ensure that the “fix” is obtained and the three hours of peace from the maelstrom of home and work ensures sanity can prevail for the days ahead till the next one.

Draping oneself in the attire of the Big Three is not practiced in this hidden world, the corporate uniform is mandatory during the week therefore the chance to surf is limited only to the weekends. Certainly the young IT professional may wear the clothes, typically to fit with their crowd of non-surfing mates, but the gradual condensing of life where it is lived from one 3 hour surfing slot to the next witnesses these clothes turn to rags and end up in the shed to be used for ding, car and home repairs as required as the cultural inhabitant ages. There is no need to look the part, if said part is no longer recognised as important.

This culture has never bought into the romantic notions of the free-surfer, the nomad, the care-free idealist that purports to know so much about the world – as long as they are never far from the sea. Like wise the wearing of the Big Three uniform, the cachet of surf DVD’s, the obligatory poster of a champion surfer on the wall of the bedroom/shed, the latest acoustic caterwauling’s of the likes of Jack Johnson featuring prominently on the iPod playlist do not exist . For you see, this culture is far removed from it and thus is not clouded by these menial decorations nor cares to be check-listed against the mandatory requirements that define a member of the old nor new world.

This culture does not care for quality surf, green caverns, bowling point breaks or the usage of thinly volumed high-rockered equipment. All this culture cares for is the cool embrace of the ocean, the chance to wash off the cobwebs of the Real World and to be able to dive and ride on its great swells. Quantity is favoured, time spend immersed is cherished, the chance to be at peace surrounded by only a few souls under a dark grey sky is prised above floundering amongst stickered boards and over-populated lineups devoid of any welcoming vibe – for this just creates the stress this creature is trying to cast-away.

You can keep your head in the old world, embrace the Brave New World, or you can choose to live between worlds, in the margins, away from the spotlight, and just simply exist, as a surfer, whenever you can and however you can - there's no money or fame in it though, you'll have to leave that behind.

[steve shearer]

This culture does not care for quality surf, green caverns, bowling point breaks

Um...I'd have to call BS on that one Hatchy, judging by the numbers of IT workers who flock to the Northern Rivers.

[scod]

I have never considered myself a surfer, I doubt I ever will. Thus the culture is something I merely observe, I have no stake in it.

I guess I think more along the lines of gibberer, except I don't fall asleep in my food, but then I don't undertake drives of epic proportions either.