Surfing

    Surfing is one of the oldest practiced sports on the planet. The art of wave riding, is a blend of total athleticism and the comprehension of the beauty and power of nature. Surfing is also one of the few sports that creates its own culture and lifestyle.

 The act of riding waves with a wooden board originated in Western Polynesia over three thousand years ago The first surfers were fishermen who discovered riding waves as an efficient method of getting to shore with their catch . Eventually catching waves developed from being part of everyday work to being a pastime. This change revolutionized surfing.

There is no exact record of when stand-up surfing became a sport. It is known that during the 15th century, kings, queens and people of the Sandwich Isles were big into the sport of "he'enalu" or wave-sliding, in old Hawaiian,. "He'e" means to change from a solid form to a liquid form and "nalu" refers to the surfing motion of a wave.

There were four basic board types used in ancient Hawaii: - The paipo or kioe, a body board, from 2-to-4 feet long, usually used by children. 
-  The alaia (ah-LAI-ah) or omo (O-mo), a mid-sized board, about 8 feet or longer. 
-  The kiko`o, larger than the alaia, but not as big as the biggest boards;                 between 12 and 18 feet; good for bigger surf, but requiring a high level of skill to handle. 
-  The olo (O-lo), a very long surfboard reserved for royalty that could be as long as 18-to-24 feet in length.