Bodysurfing is an ancient art – predating board surfing – and one minimalist in essence. It’s all about you and the ocean. It’s not much practiced in Europe, it’s not well known, and there’s little chance this will change in the immediate future but taking a look at it can help us project ourselves a little into that future.
Obviously, this film shows bodysurfing in its most committed, most extreme version. It isn’t necessarily a reference for the reflection that follows, but it is useful for the imagination. This is how far a simple body-to-nature encounter, without any intervening objects, can go. Kalani Lattanzi makes us think of the mountaineers, in a certain way he reminds us of Nirmal Purja.
If we talk about bodysurfing, it’s because it allows us to take a brief reflection, but one on three levels.
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It is a question of:
- The place of swimming in surfing culture, and the culture of swimming itself
- Our relationship to the ocean and perhaps to water in general
- Minimalism in sport
Sport or mere activity?
“What If the surfer was a swimmer?” said Peyo Lizzarazu, who advised us to reread the story of Duke, one of the spiritual fathers of surfing and Olympic medallist in the 100m freestyle at the Olympic Games in 1912 and 1920, on the occasion of the publication of the book “Waterman, the aquatic and terrestrial life of Duke Kahanamoku”.
Indeed, this exceptional Hawaiian man was linked to water in two ways. Through surfing and swimming. Still today he remains an exception even if the term “waterman” has a true meaning in Hawaii or in Polynesia and has little or no equivalent in Europe. The proximity between surfing, swimming, and even diving seems obvious, but in reality, it is rarely the case. To be truthful, it does not exist much, there is no story, no transmission. Yet here are two telling examples of what that culture could be. Mark Healey, here and this vision of a community around water. We associate the surfer with his board, it is the link between his body and the water, we do not imagine him as a “swimmer”. Moreover, the world of the swimmer is nowadays so closely tied to the swimming pool that it never transposes into another context. So this link seems both obvious and incongruous. Not all surfers are necessarily good swimmers, but more than the swimming technique, it’s the ease in the water, the culture of the ocean that should be retained, and there would be a parallel there which would perhaps be useful in teaching. Water will be a cross-cutting subject, not just for sports.
Our relationship to the ocean and perhaps to water in general
Tomorrow, we can imagine a sporting practice involving the ocean, and by extension with water, so let’s not forget lakes and rivers, that’s more conscious of the natural environment, with simpler devices, on a more emotional than technical proposition. And whether we like it or not, it fits in with the values and issues that are emerging today. A reinvented relationship with life, an interface between oneself and the ocean, smaller, more direct, more intuitive. Outdoor swimming is developing a little, we talk about wild swimming, cross country swimming or sea trekking, but for the moment our relationship with water needs to be rethought, especially at a time when increasing temperatures are going to be pushing more people towards the water and the shores. All these people and children will need to have skills, knowledge and respect. There is a pleasure in water. Let’s teach it and spread the word.
Minimalism in sport
What we also see in these images (and especially in other less radical ones) is perhaps what we are missing on this side of the planet, what is evoked in this analysis and that the current maritime culture has made very marginal. Our culture of the sea and our approach to “sliding sports” are very technical, very materialistic. Tomorrow, when we’re going to have to put “less weight” on the world, build a simpler relationship with it, stop imagining impacting infrastructures for each leisure activity, and move towards more reasoned performance, mobilising the least possible resources. Lightweight practices will be of capital importance. Obviously, it is difficult to compare a bodysurfing session with a kitesurfing or wing session, but let’s admit that in the latter two cases, we are very addicted to and dependent on “equipment”. And that we are used to a plethoric choice, to objects that progress and renew themselves. We touched on this aspect of things in the analysis of sport and energy dependence: the difficult realisation. One of the defining characteristics of the 20th century was the acceleration of the production of objects, and sport cannot be excluded from this inventory.
The bodysurfer is getting back to the basics.
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