Lv3 Sports B: Surfing

For some, it's a serious sport. For others, just a way to let loose. But despite its casual association with fun and sun, surfing has a richer and deeper history than many realize. 

What we today call surfing originated in the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean. We know from various accounts（話）that riding was done throughout the Polynesian Pacific, as well as in West African and Peru. 

But it was in the Hawaiian archipelago（諸島）in particular that surfing advanced the most, was best documented, and unlike elsewhere in Polynesia, persisted（いつまでも続く）. And for the people of Hawaii, wave sliding was not just a recreational（娯楽のための）activity, but one with spiritual and social significance（重要性）. 

Like much of Hawaiian society, nearly every aspect of surfing was governed（規定する）by a code（規則）of rules and taboos（タブー）known as Kapu. Hawaiians made offerings（供物）when selecting a tree to carve（彫る）, prayed for waves with the help of a Kahuna, or an expert priest, and gave thanks after surviving a perilous（きわめて危険な）wipeout（転倒）. 

Certain surf breaks（波が崩れるところ）were strictly reserved（取っておく）for the elite. But it wasn't just a solemn（厳粛な）affair. Surfers competed and wagered（賭ける）on who could ride the farthest, the fastest, or catch the biggest wave with superior skill, granting（与える）respect, social status, and romantic success. 

Though it was later called the sport of kings, Hawaiian men and women of all ages and social classes participated, riding surfboards shaped from koa, breadfruit, or wiliwili trees. 

Many Hawaiians road Alaia boards, which were thin, midsized（中型の）, and somewhat resemble today's shortboards. Some mounted（またがる）Paipo boards, short, round-nosed boards on which riders typically lay on their stomachs. But only chieftains（有力者）could ride the massive Olo boards,  twice as long as today's longboards. Unlike most modern surfboards, all boards were finless（フィンがない）, requiring surfers to drag their hands or feet to turn. 

We don't know exactly when wave sliding was invented, but we know that it had already been practiced in Polynesia for centuries by the time it was described in 1777 by William Anderson, a surgeon（外科医）on Captain Cook's ship "Resolution." 

Although Anderson was in awe（畏敬）, most of the American Christian missionaries who arrived in Hawaii several decades later regarded surfing as sinful（邪悪な）, and they discouraged（反対する）it, along with other aspects of native culture. 

The biggest threat to surfing, however, was the threat to the natives themselves. By 1890, new illnesses introduced（持ち込まれる）by Europeans and Americans had decimated（殺す）the Hawaiian people, leaving fewer than 40,000 from a pre-contact population that may have exceeded 800,000. At the same time, foreign influence grew with white settlers（入植者）overthrowing（倒す）the native monarchy（君主政治）in 1893, and the US. annexing（併合する）the islands five years later. 

The end of Hawaii's independence coincided（同時に起こる）with surfing's native-led revival（復活）, a revival soon exploited（不当に利用する）by the American colonizers（植民地開拓者）. But first, some Hawaiians took surfing overseas.

In 1907, George Freeth, the so-called Hawaiian Wonder, traveled to the west coast and gave surfing demonstrations（実演）in southern California. Then in 1914, Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku made his way to Australia and New Zealand, gliding（滑るように進む）across the southern Pacific waves and attracting rapt（うっとりした）audiences wherever he went. 

Shortly before Freeth went to California, a South Carolinian named Alexander Hume Ford moved to Hawaii. After learning to surf, he became a champion of the pastime（娯楽）. But Ford may have had unsavory（いかがわしい）reasons for his enthusiastic efforts to boost（発展させる）the sport. Like many settlers, he wanted Hawaii to become a U.S. state but was worried about its non-white majority of natives and Asian workers. Ford thus promoted surfing to attract white Americans to Hawaii, first as tourists, then as residents. He was helped by numerous writers and filmmakers. 

Ford's demographic（人口統計学の）plan would fail miserably（みじめに）. Hawaii became a state in 1959 and remains the most racially diverse state in the country. But the promotion of surfing was a far greater success. Today, surfing is a multi-billion（数十億規模の）dollar global industry, with tens of millions of enthusiasts（熱中している人）worldwide. 

And though relatively few of these surfers are aware of the once-crucial wave chants or board curving（曲げる）rituals, Hawaiians continue to preserve（保つ）these traditions nearly washed away by history's waves.