Issues of Localism

by **Bison** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:45 am

"Take the poor Irishman who had the wave of his life one tropical day at Pipeline. He pulls into a spectacular tube at Backdoor, riding through the curl and coming out the other side. Brimming with exhilaration, he paddles back to the take-off spot. Local Hawaiian tough guy Johnny Boy Gomes comes over and, without a word, punches him in the face. "That was my wave", he says, paddling away. Paddy's day goes from adrenaline high to painful downer in an instant."

Steve Pike, Sports Illustrated

by **thurgood jenkins** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:19 am

Thats real classy.

by **Bison** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:47 pm

specialy round St. Patty's...

by **qball** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:45 pm

99 per cent of localism stories, the guy doing the bullying is either bigger or has more friends. p#ssies. I've surfed around a bit now and done some danm dumb things in the water, often when I was one of the few whities. But nobody has ever hassled me. Now I wonder if that is because I usually apologize if I screwed up and generally try not to be a d1ck in the water, or if maybe it's because I'm bigger than 95 per cent of the surfers I've come across and don't exactly look friendly.

by **Jacob** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:16 am

I dreamt last night I was in the islands surfing. As I was paddling into a wave some guy in my way called me an azzhole. I dropped in, came around him and told him to f#ck off. Later his buddies invited me to dinner, when I showed up they told me to get into the boiling pot on top of the fire pit.

by **SoCalBarger** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:01 am

I've surfed some of the most localized breaks in the world and did'nt get more than stink-eye. Mainly because I go to these places ALONE, low-key (no quiver of longboards on the racks, no surf stickers on my car, etc). Do your time, catch scraps, and most of all STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE MAIN TAKE-OFF SPOT! Leave a twelver of coldies for the locals, clean-up the beach, roll some fatties and pass around, lot's of ways to get in, why are so many of you afraid to pay dues? Why do you guy's think you should be able to just paddle out to some localized break and catch any wave you want? Some people spend years paying dues at certain places. Get in line and you'll get some. Localized breaks will be the last places to become over-run with a bunch of Blue Crush, Kelly Slater PS2, d#ck-draggin kooks. These places should be preserved, not destroyed.

by **SooLoo** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:40 am

well put

can i get an AMEN!?!

by **jerichv** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:07 pm

amen brah.....holliluya!

by **jerichv** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:08 pm

by **Jacob** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:24 am

What's up with someone from socal makin' so much sense?

by **SoCalBarger** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:40 pm

So Cal is the un-official birthplace of localism. I grew up in a highly localized surf scene where you had to watch your manners comin up. The older guy's in those days would NOT hesitate to enforce the rules. You learn pretty quickly. What most outta-towners don't realize is how much time some people put in to be able to surf the area, years in most cases. There was a guy who actually moved into "town" and was heckled and checked for at least 5 years before he got any status. That's the way it is. If you don't like being heckled you won't come back. If you come back for more abuse you gain respect incrementally. I've been surfing my local breaks for decades and I still have to give waves to the veterans, gladly. It's all about putting in time.

by **The Landlord** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:45 pm

I can't verify the authenticity of this story, but it came to me from a pretty solid source. Rickson Gracie, Brazilian Ju Jitsu badass and lifelong surfer, paddled out at Lunada Bay. Some of the locals started talking sh!t (must have had no clue as to who he was) apparently it escalated from there and ended up on the beach where Rickson left three or four of them crying for their mommies.

by **SoCalBarger** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:41 pm

BTW, guy's like the Gracie brothers can surf anywhere they want. What can we learn from this? You either put lot's of time in the gym or in the water. or both.

by **Tyedog** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:31 pm

SoCalBarger wrote: Leave a twelver of coldies for the locals, clean-up the beach, roll some fatties and pass around, lot's of ways to get in, why are so many of you afraid to pay dues?

Why did I catch so much chit for making the same suggestion. Bring gifts. Its a simple concept. Works half the time.

by **guppy** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:59 pm

The Landlord wrote:I can't verify the authenticity of this story, but it came to me from a pretty solid source. Rickson Gracie, Brazilian Ju Jitsu badass and lifelong surfer, paddled out at Lunada Bay. Some of the locals started talking sh!t (must have had no clue as to who he was) apparently it escalated from there and ended up on the beach where Rickson left three or four of them crying for their mommies.

I'm not talkin guano on Rick or saying that this story didn't happen but the Ju Jitsu style of fighting from your back will not fend off multiple attackers. I'd love to hear of those punks getting roughed up but...
How reliable is your stories source?????

Issues of Localism

have you personally experienced localism against you?

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