barok 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 so I have boarded alot this season, 40 times to be sure, and I and am into trying new things - I think I might go skiing with zwelgen sometime soon, but all in all I am wondering, where is there good surfing in Japan ? I am thinking about a move and want to learn how to surf, so where should I go. . . Looking for a place that is good for beginners and intermediates, and somewhere that is not soooo crowded, and where the beach isn't disgusting. . . anyone ? Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 yeah, i'm really keen to learn to surf too. it's in my blood, i've got to to do it. going to wait til golden week holiday in sri lanka though. anyone who does both have any advice for a boarding to surfing transition? know i'll need upper body strength to lift myself up, but after that?? i always imagine surfing to be like a deep powder run... Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 I went from bodyboarding/surfing (i did both) to snowboarding, not vice versa, and thus cannot offer any advise as such. db will surely had some beautiful nuggets of advise. Deep powder definatley has a surfing feel to it. Its not so much "lifting" yourself up, its more of a "pop". Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Barok, nekobi, Glad to hear you'll give surfing a try. First things first... don't be tempted into a really thin short board just cause they look good, go for a board with a bit of thickness, width and a bit of length, as when your learning you need a lot of stability to get to your feet smoothly, you'll thank me for it later. 6 foot 5" minimum if you are around 6' tall. Also avoid bananna boards with a lot of rocker (lift in the nose and tail) as they are harder to paddle and catch waves with when you are learning cause they push a lot of water. A large part of surfing is water and wave knowledge, so get down to the beach and watch the waves before you get in... where are they breaking, are there any currents, what is the easiest way to paddle out safely. Practice duck-diving under broken waves as well. Another thing that really helps is just lying on the floor at home and trying to get up to your feet in one quick and fluid motion, while staying balanced and crouched low with feet about shoulder width apart. Think stable and low centre of gravity. If you have a board, but it on a bean bag and try the same thing. You'll look like a ****er but it all helps. Lots of swimming and pushups really help as well. Like snow-boarding though, there is no substitute for getting out there and giving it a go. Learning surfing is one of the most enjoyable things (although a little frustrating sometimes) that you can do, as each time you get out there you improve and learn a little bit more. When you catch you first really good clean wave, stand up and carve a few turns, you will never forget it, one of the best things in life. Don't even get me started on getting your first barrel! Haven't done much surfing here in Japan, but I have a few mates who I'll ask to reccomend some good starting spots. Sorry about the long post! O.K get out there and get some. Dims Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Barok - ignore the post above. Instead, eat as many pizzas as you can and then hop on an indo board. It's what I do and it works for me. If you are realy just a beginner, get a longboard. That 6'6" crap won't cut it. You'll get too pissed trying and will give it up quick. There are a lot of different takes on how you should learn to surf, but the assholes that say 'do it on a shortie' should be shot. Get a funboard or a true longboard and just go out and have fun. Try to progress from there. You have to learn to surf before you can surf and this will be the best way. If you have any board questions, just send me a private message and I'd be happy to help. Dims - not calling you an a-hole but trying to give these guys some reality. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Hey boys, I am hanging for a surf again.. What ever you need to know just send me a personal message and I will reply. I have worked as a surf coach before for both stand up and bodyboarding, and currently working in the surf industry here. powder is good but give me a square pit anyday! Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Dude, you really haven't gotten the hang of this whole divide between on top and off topic posts have you? In an earlier thread (which you probably missed as it was in the "off topic" section) I expressed my interest in learning to surf. I am seriously considering moving to Sydney next fall to do it right. Hey Indosnm - surf coach eh? Is that like a snowboard instructor? How can I hook up with a lesson? Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 just come to the beach zero! I am usually @ Irago (Aichi) or Omaezaki most weekends... Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 My post above was bigtime tongue in cheek. I hope I didn't **** anyone off Indo - email me back! I'm putting in a big order to the states for some boards. I'd like to pick your brain for shipping info and I'm curious about what you are doing too. What a country we live in eh? Ski/board for 5 months, surf year round! enderzero - I wish I had some info about Syndey for you. From friends that have lived and worked down there, I hear it is very crowded and can be very aggro. Japan has some great surf and a completely mellow vibe. Plus, the skiing/boarding sucks down there. I'm thinking about NZ myself. Maybe in a year or two. Link to post Share on other sites
seanbird 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Enderzero--Sydney has some of the best surfing schools in the world and yes there are some very localized areas.The northern beaches is probably the best.If u want some more info I will be happy to help u out.I will be in Hakuba next week if u want to catch up or just email me. Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 one very big part of surfing that wasn't mentioned swimming ability. If someone is not a strong swimmer, I don't recommend going out surfing until you learn/get in shape, especially if the waves are kicking. Leashes do break and if you can't swim, you'll have a very big problem. The seeming simple act of paddling out can be very tiring if you're not in shape too. Start with smaller waves and a bigger board until you learn how to stand up and also turn, then you can move to bigger waves and smaller boards. Surfing is an awesome experience, especially when you catch that "perfect" wave and nail it all the way in but the surf itself can be very dangerous if you don't know its power. Good luck with it Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 people, how am supposed to do any work if I come in and find topics like this! Here is a thread with some of my thoughts: http://www.skijapanguide.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000393#000000 There is tons more that I could say in addition to the above, but I can't say it all at once. The only areas I have surfed in Japan have been Chiba and Ibaraki. I didn't like either of them. The waves can be ok, but the environment is filthy and ugly. It is depressing just being at the beach, and that isn't the way it is supposed to be. I don't know where is good both in terms of waves and environment. I plan to find out this year, that is one reason I want to buy a car. The surf is good in the north, but it is cold. For learning I strongly suggest staying in warmer water as it makes the rather difficult and trying period of learning easier to cope with. I am very keen to do some serious exploring this year so it is cool to hear that other people are interested in surfing as well. There is heaps of surf in Japan, so the lack of waves is not a problem. As for similarities between snowboarding and surfing. It seems natural that they would be quite similar, but they aren't in many respects. I do not think that it is all bad news though as there are some core concepts that can be shared between the two activities. Balance is one big factor in both. I have been contemplating the similarities for some time so far this season (I like to analyse things that I do to understand what is at the core of it, that way you can get better). I have come up with a rather abstract link between them. Both surfing and snowboarding require acute spatial awareness. Time and Space. What speed are you going relative to the slope/wave, your position on the slope/wave, your position relative to other people. So far my best runs on a snowboard have been when I milked every bit out of the run that my skill would allow. Think of those better than normal runs: steep line, avoiding the crud in the powder, hitting the roller, getting a little air time, carving across to the natural half pipe shaped chute and wanging around in that, pop out the end of the chute, dodge some trees, avoid some people etc etc, all in one run whilst maintaining the same speed and flow. I certainly get a big buzz when I have a run that flows like this. Everything just happens the way you would plan it if you were visualising the run from the lift. Your spatial awareness has kicked in and allows you to fully utilise your personal best level of skill. The same thing happens in surfing, except it happens a lot faster (not so much in terms of relative speed, rather with surfing the good stuff happens on a wave in much faster succession. waves are in reality very short experiences). Riding a bigger wave and doing a steep powder run feel a little similar, particularly when the speed builds up. Turning a snowboard on a groomer uses the metal edge quite a bit, when riding deep powder it seems to me that you 'bank' the board more than use the edge to turn ie you use more of the boards base to make the turn. The weight shift required to turn in powder is closer to that required to turn a surfboard than is the weight shift required to turn on a groomer. Surfboards also have edges. The entire 'edge', ie side, of a board is called a rail and the edges are the lower part of the rail near the fins. Some people will call this the rail as well and others will call the whole thing the edge and not use the term rails - doesn't really matter). Anyway, edges on a surfboard are used for turning just like you use the rear edges of a snowboard for turning in powder. However in surfing, the fins also play a huge roll in "holding and edge". Overall, the sensation (turn in powder/turn a surfboard) can be quite similar. Having ridden in a pipe should help familiarise you with the concept of getting up the face of a wave and hitting the lip. I have never ridden a pipe, but I will speculate that getting air and landing it on a wave is WAY harder than in a pipe. Surfboards are not attached to your feet and the wave is moving. Also in a pipe you can have run after run whilst in surfing you may only get one chance to fly per session. Going big in the air on a wave is a great way to kill the day if the waves are crappy. Regarding upper body strength: I think it is a bog factor. You spend about 90% of your time paddling the board and the rest riding (those %'s are very much open to debate). You are always paddling and battling rips and chop and incoming waves to get to the place you need to be to catch the waves. Then you need to generate a big burst of power to actually catch the wave. If that power isn't in hand then you go without riding and spend all day bobbing around and getting cold. My surfing fitness is pathetic, has been for a few years now and I suffer from lack of power in my paddling. There is nothing that I have read in the above posts that I don't agree with (not that I am an expert anyway, I am quite an average surfer these days). But Plucky got me going with his later admitted tongue in cheek first post. prick Link to post Share on other sites
Plucky 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Sorry brah...that was a wine induced post. Not like it will be much better sober. Give it a shot - come up north this summer if you can. I would love to have a convergence up here. All the brahs from SkiJapan. We do some backcountry at Hakkoda, surf the next day. We could make this fun. If you are interested, let me know. I'll have 2 extra boards for people and one suit. Can probably get some more suits too. Probably some more boards too. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Some other thoughts: Snowboarding in powder - you need to, on average, have you board pointing downhill more than across the hill to maintain speed. surfing - you need to ride across the wave (not down the waves slope) to maintain speed. Also, I have one perplexing aspect to my snowboarding that does not allow me to equate surfing to boarding with any strength. I surf goofy and can't ride natural/regular. I ride a snowboard natural and even do things on the snow as though I was on a wave, even though my feet are back to front relative to my surfing stance. Having said these things, I think that doing either activity would be a great boost into the other, based more on balance, spatial awareness and overall mental attitude. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 no worries Plucky, you plucky pluck! Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by db: I surf goofy and can't ride natural/regular. I ride a snowboard natural and even do things on the snow as though I was on a wave, even though my feet are back to front relative to my surfing stance. That is really odd meat 'n' two veg. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 If I add some flotation to my snowboard, can I use it for surfing too? I think having bindings would surely give me an advantage for jumps... Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Plucky o' wise one, I know it was probably way past your bedtime but If you read my post I said 6'5" M-I-N-I-M-U-M. I suggested a board with length, width, and thickness. Where I come from this does not sound like a shortboard, therefore I am not in anyway one of the "a-holes" that you are talking about.Yes I agree that a longboard is a good way to go, and I was going to suggest learning on a mini-mal (as I did when I was learning) but as you know longboards have their problems as well... i.e. transport without roof racks, getting out the back on dumpy on-shore days, and finding an affordable one in Japan could be quite a challenge! Pray tell, which part of my post do you think was not based on surfing reality? Dims Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Ahhhh Plucky, toungue in cheek was it eh! In that case ignore the above post. In honour of the Cricket World Cup I should have let your smart-arse post go though to the keeper anyway! Live WC cricket on at the clubhouse in Shinjuku by the way. Get down there, good bunch of blokes, great vibe. Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 am i too old to start? i too considered a move to sydney, this reason (surfing) contemplated to a minor degree. i had a mate who cycled nearly 30 mins to the beach every day (surfboard under his arm) to learn to surf when he was 26. but i wont get to back to oz until im 30. r there patrols that say 'sorry mate, youre too old to start, lawn bowls is down the road?' Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 any girl surfers around these parts? been body boarding on my mike stewart morey boogie for quite sometime, but want to broaden my horizons. thinking of learning when im on the central coast (wamberal being the beach of choice) in march. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 mikaz I started last year at the ripe old age of 25! Never have I enjoyed or been so annoyed at learing since my first day on skis. And that first clean wave ride down and along the face(still trying to get the hang of turning beofre hte wave catches me) is aliken to your first powder run or landing your first jump. Such a buzz. Longboarding is what I am doing and I say stay away from Typhoon days and go to areas where the surf is smaller and more enjoyable. As for the rest of it I can offer no good advice as I am a solicitor of it myself. I will say though, take up surfing if you can, abide by the surfers code and socialise with people while you are floating in the water and you will have a great time. Most of the people I know who surf don't mind teaching you a thing or two(not of the fist kind!) about the break or the technique. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 zooki - get started, it will stay with you forever once you do. Dont listen to moggy! head for waves like this, after all, death is under-rated! Link to post Share on other sites
RayInJapan 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 The key question db is "did he make it?" Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 then watch this little video clip http://www.surfermag.com/vids/sattackmov/ Link to post Share on other sites
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