Sure, you often see beginner surfers out in the break being pushed into waves by surf school instructors, and they do catch waves with giant smiles on their faces … BUT the real work comes when you don’t have anyone pushing you into a breaking wave anymore and you have to work for each hard-earned wave. Once on your own, you have to earn each aching muscle with every paddle into a wave; building up stamina as you go. And if you are lucky enough, you may overhear the energizing cheer of “Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!” from somewhere nearby, a hopeful sound from some regulars at the line up, providing you with spiritual support and some tough love. It’s a call for more effort, more drive, and a whole lot of muscle!

To help you build those crucial paddle-centric muscles, iJustSurf.com has put together a quick set of 3 important exercises that will get you pumped and ready for hours of paddling readiness!

1. Push Ups: The grand-daddy of obvious exercises, this simple but effective workout builds chest muscles and shoulder strength that give you a great boost in paddling into waves. Since a majority of work when paddling happens in and around your shoulders, push ups are crucial for building a strong support system for your paddling guns! Push-up exercise, if performed correctly, increases upper body strength and brings about more abdominal and hip stability, a definite plus in surfing!
2. Chair Dips: This is an excellent overall exercise to do for building core surfing muscles. Simple and easy, dips force you to lift your own body-weight, which in turn stresses your upper-body, which builds muscle. Much of the “power” that drives you into a wave is from the balanced and strong strokes supported by your triceps. By strengthening these muscles as well as your core, dips ensure a longer and more steady stroke rhythm for those surf sessions!
3. Vinyasa Flow: That’s right, it’s a yoga sequence of moves that focuses on strengthening your core surf muscles, taking the form of smooth and flowing breath-synchronized movements! Starting with plank pose (similar to the static push up pose and then lowering your body), then cobra pose, you work your way into downward dog, and then repeat the sequence from plank pose.  You will see your paddling as well as surf “pop-up” become smoother and faster, and become more graceful in no time!

Remember to take your time with these exercises, ensuring that you are easing yourself into the routine; working your way into a steadily increasing set of repetitions! Surfing muscles are quite different from other muscles, often requiring you to use sets of muscle groups you have never used in conjunction before!

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Irrespective of where you are in the world, what culture you are from, what color, status, background, we are universally driven by our human needs. It can be broken down to 6 areas of human needs. They may be subconscious needs, but they automatically drive us in what we do and how we do those things.

Of these 6 needs, you can view them into two broad categories. One group is the Primal Need and the other Spiritual Need – there are 4 human needs in the Primal needs group. These are the needs you would seek to fulfill as a base and drives every one of us. The fulfillment of the spiritual needs gives rise to more sustainable joy versus momentary pleasure associated with just fulfilling the primal needs.

• First need is the need of Certainty. Everyone wants stability about their basic necessities like food, shelter and other material resources. When people cannot control their physical circumstances, they seek certainty through a state of mind such as religious faith or positive affirmations.
• Second need is the need for Variety. People have a need to change their state to exercise their body and emotions. They seek variety through different ways like change of environment, physical activity, mood change, change of people they interact with, entertainment and others. The need for variety sometimes runs into conflict with the need for certainty.
• The 3rd need is the need for Significance. Everyone needs to feel special and important in some way. People seek significance through recognition from others or from themselves. Some people meet this need in a paradoxical way. Some people when they feel insignificant or helpless will go out to get others to recognize how significant their problems are and how helpless they are. This ironically raises their significance, just by getting people to acknowledge the enormity of their problem and their helplessness.
• The 4th need is the need for Love and Connection. We all need to feel connected with someone or something be it a person, an ideal, a sense of identity. Connection may take the form of love or just engagement. One can still be connected by means of an aggressive interaction.
• The 5th need is the need for Growth … a spiritual need. Everything in the universe is either growing or dying. Many are not satisfied spiritually unless our capacities are expanding.
• The 6th need is the need for Contribution. Just as we survive through the contribution of others (our parents for example), we seek to be spiritually fulfilled through contribution.

There are many ways that people find to meet these needs whether they are positive, negative or neutral ways. We unconsciously act to fulfill our needs and some actions may fulfill a subset of these needs or all of them.

When we have a behavior that fulfills at least 3 of these needs, these actions are considered strongly addictive or sometimes known as habits as they fulfill more than half of your needs. Again, these actions can sometimes be positive, negative or neutral to ourselves.

Most beginning surfers and new surfers may overlook the importance of the simple act of paddling, dismissing it as a means to an end. And while that may be true to some degree – since all we really want to do is ’surf’ – paddling is a vital part of being a stronger surfer in longer sessions. Paddling is what gets you to the line up, and it is what gets you into a wave. And although paddling looks easy enough when you watch experienced surfers, it has some distinct nuances that can make or break you as a surfer.

• The first point to realize about paddling is that it can be surfboard specific. You need to be able to find the specific “sweet spot” of your own board. Think of this spot as the paddling equivalent of a cross-hair on the surface of your surfboard. While in the water (sorry folks, land practice doesn’t work here!) and lying on top of your surfboard, your center of balance should be evenly distributed down the middle – usually along the stringer. If you don’t have a stringer or it has been designed over, your sweet spot can be easily found – you will know you are too far forward if the nose of the board is underwater, or too far back if the nose is more than an inch or two out of the water. Left and right balance will work itself out as you find your paddle improving!
• Now that you have found your sweet spot, you need to concentrate on how to better propel your surfboard forward. Although finding your sweet spot will involve paddling and propelling forward as well, the specific act of propelling yourself forward has some physical nuances. The biggest challenge for beginners in propelling forward – so you can out paddle other surfers in the line up! – is building the back and shoulder muscles to a point where you can easily arch your back continuously for extended periods of time. You will need to arch your back and use your arms to properly achieve planing and gain speed, as arching your back helps maintain your weight over the center of the board.

The aches and pain that you will experience after the first several sessions will be challenging, but you will build up enough muscle and get to a point where your back and ribs will not hurt as quickly into a session!

• Propelling yourself forward will require using the water as resistance for your hands, so make sure that you are taking long, deep strokes into the water. Try to keep your paddle as close to the sides of the surfboard as much as possible to reduce drag, and make sure your fingers are not spread apart. The best method is to keep your fingers together, and your hands slightly cupped.
• Although strictly a personal choice, paddling slightly under your board – rather than out and away from the board – in a sweeping motion will proper you more effectively and smoothly through the water as it reduced the overall surface area you are affecting on the water. However,  depending on the width of your board and length of your arms, doing this may be difficult.

The overall goal of training yourself for paddling is to give you better control of your surfboard as you paddle out into the lineup and into a wave. The more you practice, the better you get! On days when it’s too small to surf, practice paddling to build up your muscles and stamina, and you will be on your way to arching that back to more, and better waves.

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1. Local style is about working together.

Everyone kokua or helps. Help is not always asked for, but rather people will volunteer. A good example is when my father died, there were people who volunteered to pay for the pig, cook the food for those that attended the funeral, make the box for my dad’s casket to be laid in the ground, etc. Others were asked and quickly agreed to help such as setting up refreshments, baking food for the people, digging my father’s grave, printing the flier (announcements), giving us thank you notes for those that attended the funeral, and all of this were done at no cost to us. Everyone came together as a community and chipped in. We all worked together. And my father’s example is not a unique one. This is what they always do.

2. There’s an intricate & intimate social dance that islanders perform together every day on and off the job. Unwritten set of rules of behavior, informally known as “local style,” is essential for anyone who has made Hawaii their home.

Basically certain etiquette needs to be followed while in Hawaii. A lot has to do with trust and being that Hawaii is a small place, this trust is pretty much set in stone, but not spoken of. In my friend’s situation, new neighbors who aren’t accostumed to the cultures and protocols of the islands had moved in next door. Rather than deal with the situation as we would, the new neighbors decided to write a letter in a threatening manner providing a date that the action that needs to be taken must be done or legal action would be taken. Was that necessary? Certainly not. The outsiders simply displayed how they had no trust in people. They crossed that imaginary line, didn’t follow protocols and the social etiquette that we are accustomed to that says out loud that they have broken those set of rules of behavior – a la Hawaiian style.

3. Understated way of social interaction is a complex mix of culture, race and history and is characterized by soft, humble, indirect communication and a respect for others’ accomplishments.

Because of the various cultures that obviously contributed these social behaviors onto our culture today, we all learned to adapt and incorporated them into our daily life. The humbleness, probably a Japanese influence as well as a Hawaiian one. Chinese have this as a part of their culture too. Maybe if people were mindful of these cultural differences, they really wouldn’t have such a hard time fitting in, getting in trouble with the locals and not be so disliked. It all comes down to adaptation, learning to adapt to the environment, the people and most importantly their culture, their ways.

4. Local style is collaborative, putting more value on the “we” and not the “I”.

Typical Haole mentality, throughout history has always been an individualistic one. Not to mention, this is very prominent with American society. It is all about the individual. The “we” thing exists in Asian cultures too, but in Hawaiian culture, since ancient days it has always been a “community” based culture. People, especially the commoners did not have much for their own personal use. Individuality is not or was not something you would really see. You have heard stories of how the people had to work the land for the chiefs. This is because it was a community based society. Individual ownership was limited to the malo, kapa, and their own name. That is why emphasis is put on the Hawaiian name because it was one of the few “individually possessed” items. Everything was about “we”. So this aspect has worked its way into today’s society.

5. Local style is not always very verbal and engaging. It isn’t all talk. Actions always speak louder than words.

I think we know this to be true. You can bullshit all you want but it won’t get you anywhere unless you can show that you can put out what you say you can do. Mainland style is all about impressions. You can lie all you want and people are impressed. It’s all bullshit talk! In Hawaii, the mentality is different. You can say you are a king but unless you can show your regalness, no one really would care.

6. Local people are up to their necks with Mainlanders telling them how they should be living their lives.

Change is one thing many people do not like, in general. In Hawaii however, it is magnified. Last thing people want is outsiders trying to tell them what they think would work best for them. They (outsiders) really would not know. Only the locals would know what would work best for themselves and future generations.

7. People with a superior attitude don’t last very long in Hawaii.

Mainlanders have that mentality that they are superior because of money, education and probably preconceived notions that locals are just inferior because of all those I mentioned. Other things that may make them think that, the mentality of locals, the speech, and basically the “local style” living or the laid back or passive character.

8. The islands have a long history of Mainland newcomers, who are lionized as people of vision and destiny, then publicly mauled for their inability to fit in. It goes all the way back to Hawaii’s first malihini, Capt. James Cook, whose divine aura wore off quickly.

Nothing irritates locals more than outsiders displaying this type of behavior. They (mainlanders) see themselves as a leader of change and find that there may be others who idolize them or seem to show some type of idolizing, probably just awe struck by their conduct or manner of doing things. Nothing more. But as always, these things do not last very long and people begin disliking them for it.

9. Should visionary leaders spend valuable time learning the lay of the island landscape when their job is to blaze new trails in the first place? Is the prevailing culture preventing the state from making significant and necessary change?

There’s always that balance. How much is too much. Most importantly, how much are they really losing if “opportunities” are not available by way of modernization or industrializing an area? It’s always good to communicate this type of information with the locals and get their input. If they feel they should try to progress by building new things, then they should have that opportunity to express that feeling because it is their life at stake. And unlike these “visionaries”, locals are not necessarily for these things for “profit” but rather for a much more comfortable living.

10. Newcomers to the islands often have difficulties fitting in, due to the fact that in Hawaii people have strong associations with family, so a lot of their activities involve family and extended family.

Mainlanders seem to be disconnected from their own large and/or extended families to begin with. So it is easy for them to just concentrate on themselves. Those that have assimilated became part of someone’s ‘ohana and I have heard some say that. That tells me that they learned to adjust to their new environment. They may or may not have had some difficulty at first but learned how to quickly adapt in order to survive in Hawaii.

11. As a rule, most locals are bicultural. That is, they know how to behave in different ways when situational pressures dictate it. Culture and cultural differences are programmed into the locals.

We all grew up with different cultures. For me personally, there was the Hawaiian culture which we all were exposed to. Then there was the Japanese people in our town whose influence was unavoidable. And in our household it was Filipino culture with a combination of the other two that I mentioned. This is normal for local people.

12. 6 degrees of separation. In Hawaii, it is more like 1 degree of separation. Be mindful of what you say to people because you’ll never know if they are related.

Everyone knows everyone. Or, they end up knowing that person’s aunty, uncle, cousin, neighbor, etc. It’s a very small place. Just a man who works in our buidling asked if I was from Oahu after finding out that I was from the islands. I told him that I was from Molokai. He said he didn’t know anyone from Molokai, and told me that he was from Kauai and I said that my uncle was from there and he asked the name. I said “VILLABRILLE” and he said, “Kenneth?” Turns out that this guy and Kenneth were classmates. That is 1 degree of separation, not 6. Recently in school a young Hawaiian man saw me with a “Justice for Hawaiians” t-shirt. He stopped me and we began talking, following the normal protocol by identifying genealogy. Although he comes from Waimea on the island of Hawai’i, his great-grandparents were from the island I am from and he began asking me if I knew who this person and that person was. How many degrees of separation? One! But multiplied so many times. He and I share the same cousins. My classmate is also his cousin. And the list goes on. So it is a very small place.

13. Hawaii is all about developing relationships. Regardless of your qualifications, people aren’t likely to work with you until they have established a relationship with you.

This goes back to culture. Emphasis is put on family and becoming a part of that family, the community is what it boils down to. This is how relationships are established, through familial connections.

14. Do not confuse slow with incompetent. Some people equate the slower pace with people as not having talent.

Nothing more than different lifestyles. Some may see New York as a much more faster pace environment than the laid back Californian environment. Californians do things differently from New Yorkers. It’s just the way that it is. Hawaii is no different. Their standards are different from other places. People need to learn to accept things as they are rather than trying to judge based on what they are accustomed to.

15. Fast-talking braggadocios may get by on the mainland, but people in Hawaii have very little tolerance for the brash and arrogant.

This goes back to the part about how local style isn’t just all talk but a lot has to do with actions. This “talk” can come across as arrogant, snobbish, high-makamaka. Locals just cannot deal with that type of bragging because it really doesn’t matter to them. Unlike here in the mainland, people thrive on those type of things. It’s basically the norm.

16. Learn to balance confidence with a healthy dose of humbleness. There’s a certain style of leadership in Hawaii – humility, coupled with results. It is the most highly respected form of leadership.

This is just basic “good character” and what gets people admired. If we look at those “successful” in Hawaii, they are the ones that exhibit both of these type, and that is confidence and humbleness. One example is Nainoa Thompson, who was a key player in revitalizing the ancient Hawaiian navigation system across distant seas. He is now one of the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estates’ trustees. He was selected as a trustee because of his commitment to the culture, his knowledge and he is very humble about it. This I am sure why one of the reasons he is admired, because he has balanced the two.

Aloha, and welcome to Hawaii!

Arching your back will make sure that your weight is properly distributed on your board, which translates into a variety of related improvements in  your surf sessions. The back arch allows most surfers to paddle faster, dig harder, maneuver better, and distribute their weight more evenly. If you watch videos, or look at photos, of surfers paddling into waves what you will see is that a great majority of them paddle into a wave with their backs slightly arched, or they paddle flat and then arch their back as they approach the wave.

The simple arching of the back – an often times exhausting task for the beginning surfer – allows surfers to use their body posture to make minor adjustments to their fore-and-aft weight distribution at those critical moments right before dropping into a wave. Additionally, once a surfer has managed to paddle successfully into the wave, they may also have to arch their back as a maneuver to avoid digging the nose of the board into the bottom of the breaking wave.

Arching your back also improves your overall maneuverability on a surfboard. By reducing your overall flat contact with the board and moving your weight forward, you shift your weight relative to the center of mass of the board, thus allowing you to tip your board nose down, nose up, right side down or or left side down.

Arching your back also greatly improves your visibility while you are surfing. By placing your head up and allowing your body to naturally shift weight as you turn your head left and right, you can continue to paddle while easily scoping your immediate surrounding area. This simple arch allows you to look around and paddle into a wave without affecting your speed, momentum, or balance. By keeping your head up in the back arched position, you will be able to quickly see potential waves easily. A true sign of an experienced paddler is that the constant head up and back arched posture while paddling.

For beginners looking to improve their back strength and back-arch in and out of the water, there are a variety of “assist-aids” and strengthening regimens available. One of the most recent and innovative surfboard products that assist the beginning surfer with learning the back arch while strengthening the core back muscles is the in-water product called DPop by Denno Pop. For surfers looking to gain more muscle strength outside of the water, yoga poses such as cobra pose mimics the surfer’s pop-up position perfectly.

Whatever path you choose, the goal of arching your back while surfing is within reach … … just remember that arching your back while you paddle is simply smarter!

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Taking a small volcanic rock home may not seem like much of a big deal—until the curse settles in. Many vistiors returning rocks report all manner of bad luck striking them; the death of family pets, the loss of a job, a sudden illness- all of it and more are linked back to a belief that the act of taking a rock from Hawaii is bad mojo. This is the legend behind the superstition, and the reason why people who believe it are willing to send rocks back to the Islands, at times personally returning the stolen rocks as an act of redemption.

Is it true? Some say that this legend is a result of modern Hawaiian park rangers; those stalwart protectors of nature, who grew tired of seeing visitors making off with the local landscape. Sure, a small rock or a bottle of sand from a beach is no big deal…unless of course a million people, annually, walk off with the same souvenir!

The “thievery” has gained such notoriety that a website has popped up offering a return service for those unwilling to return to the islands in order to return their ill-gotten booty. Volcano Gallery.com offers a unique service in actually returning lava rock to their proper destination, as opposed to the toss it out the back window approach most hotels in Waikiki and Maui have adopted when dealing with hundreds of packages containing lava rock received each year. The website promotes their approach in this manner:

“Once we receive the returned lava rocks we will carefully wrap them in a leaf of the Ti-Plant, which is commonly associated with Good Luck. Your lava rock(s) will be returned at a special location in Volcano close to the home of Pele, the Hawaiian Fire Goddess and Creator of Lava. The lava rocks will be returned to Pele along with an offering of orchids to ask for her forgiveness … for a voluntary donation of $15.00″

Whether or not you believe in the legend is not the point … the belief that anything natively Hawaiian, such as sand, rock, or pumice, will effect bad luck on whoever takes it away from Hawaii is more about respecting where you are, where you are going, and how you treat everything else in between.

Bonus Pop Culture Reference: In one episode of the 70’s show The Brady Bunch the gang had visited a shrine to Pele and removed a rock (in this case it was a miniature statue). Without even leaving the island they were plagued with bad luck, from a giant spider crawling in their suitcase to a near-death wipe out while surfing, the Brady Bunch had to return the idol in order to lift the curse and return home safely to the Mainland.

[ Original Artwork by Wardell Brown ]

Summer is the most important time for sunglasses to be worn, and we have just stumbled on what may be the new item for the surfer inside all of us – Bomber floating eye wear! The staff at iJS got wind of these new eye wear and its unique approach to floating eye wear for water sports:built-in EVA ( Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) foam!

Designed and patented by jet ski racer, Tommy “The Bomber” Bonacci, the sunglasses utilizes the smooth, light, and dense properties of EVA foam inside the frame of the glasses.

Techie note: It is used as padding in a variety of sporting equipment such as handle grips, ski boots (snow, waterski, etc.), hockey gear, boxing and mixed martial arts equipment. EVA is also typically used as a shock absorber in sports shoes.

The thin foam that lines the sunglasses’ stem pieces are inset, meaning that overall width is virtually unchanged. The corner foam is also very low profile, never touching the face or blocking vision.

We managed to get our hands on a pair of Bomber eye wear, and have sent the staff off to the wild blue ocean to test them out for all you watermen … stay tuned!

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