Surfing vs Everything Else... Just love the feeling.

Ben Frazier is a master of the most natural form of waveriding...

The year was 1989, in Imperial Beach, California... I was 13 years old and was faced with a decision, what form of waveriding did I want to choose as my sport? My Dad was a stand up surfer, so there was a couple of classic 70's sticks at our house including an old Lightning Bolt single fin (man, I wish I still had that thing). I even moved one of the boards into my GI JOE filled bedroom as a motivating tool. I also looked into kneeboarding after seeing the pictures in surf magazines of guys burning bottom turns on massive wedges. I played around bodysurfing at IB as a kid, played around being the key word, but still hadn't made a decision.

Max Bollinger has the best kneeboarding style since Romonowsky...

Being a grommet in Imperial Beach, I started to notice more and more "boogieboards" in the line up... Guys like Manny Vargas, Jackie Fisher and friends were owning the Northside of the pier on these small little pieces of foam. Drop Knee, prone, stand up... Spins and El Rollo's. The options were limitless. I ultimately chose bodyboarding and painted an entire house for my first board, a $75 Morey Boogie Mach 7-7. Not being a spoiled kid, I actually slept with the thing the first night after unwrapping it. Of course, I stuck 5 major surf company stickers on it and I think I even drew a Quiksilver logo on the deck. I moved to Hawaii soon after and remain a bodyboarder to this day. There really is no better place to be a bodyboarder than Hawaii.

RJ Duernberger doing what a bodyboard is made for...

I've added a little bit of my history to this for one simple reason... What has changed over the years to make people dislike each other based off of what they choose to ride a wave with? As a kid, I was so happy just to be in the water riding waves, which I am sure every surfer felt at the beginning of the waveriding journey they love so much. How this basic excitement changed into ultimately what could only be described as oceanic discrimination, we'll never know. Stand up's against bodyboarders (and just about everyone else for that matter)... Bodyboarder's against bodysurfers and stand up's, everyone against longboarders and now SUP's. How kneeboarding got the biggest shaft is a mystery to me... Have you ever watched kneeboarders at 15' Wedge? Inspiring acts.

Bobby Kithcart is a master of drop knee... Seems like a pretty useful way to enjoy nature to me.

There are many theories out there as to why bodyboarding is considered a lower form of wavriding... Surfing Magazine was the parent company of Bodyboarding Magazine and shut it down in the late 90's to "steal away ad's" and kill the sport. That seems a bit far fetched as bodyboarding probably only generated about 2% of these companies income in the first place. Then there was the fact the big surf companies started sponsoring the best riders in the late 80's and early 90's (remember Roach with the Quiksilver gear?) and eventually pulled out of the sport. Australia is an exception to this even to this day with many top level riders sponsored by some high level SURF companies. This is because bodyboarding generates cash there. Solid waves, ballsy riders and contests in solid conditions. Not that the US does not have this, it's just bodyboarding was handled differently here.

Ultimately, bodyboarding became like any business venture which fails to produce revenue and disappeared into the underground. This caused the growing generations of groms to primarily see stand up surf heroes on TV and magazines, which in turn creates a superior kind of feeling with the new generations. Remember Mike Stewart getting a poster in a major surf mag in the 90's? You think that could happen now? Couple that with bodyboarding contests in America being held in 1 foot slop on a regular basis making the sport look more like an episode of Baywatch than a professional sport and you have a complete generational overshadowing of a sport. The new bodyboarding tour is fixing that issue and having contests at some solid venues, but the damage is done. At least for USA bodyboarding it is.

Longboarding is graceful and fluid... What's not to like?

It's now 2011 and stand up surfing is King of the corporate world. I do not think this will ever change and will most likely only get bigger with the new Dream Tour making everyone's fantasy surf trip glands drip and Hollywood popping out big budget surf flicks every couple of years. Bodyboarding had a few glorious years in the spotlight and has since drifted back into the shadowy underground with all other forms of waveriding. Even with all of this, all versions of the unique sport of riding nature thrive... I have remained a bodyboarder, long knowing the chance of stardom in the sport vanished in 2001. if not before.

Everywhere you go, every spot you check there are people enjoying natures gifts just as they did the very first time paddling into the inside shorebreak closeout or small reef mushburger. We all need to go back to that place in our hearts and minds. Accept each other regardless of what they ride. There are jerks and novices in every branch of the surfing community. Just because a guy/girl is carrying a bodyboard, kneeboard or a pair of speedo's and some fins does not make them less of a person or not knowledgeable in the Ocean. Respect each other regardless of their stress relief of choice.

The money making craft doing what it does... Enjoy what's underneath the board. That's why we started.

I too am guilty of being in an empty line up and seeing a (insert vehicle carrier here) walk down the sand towards "MY" peak and say to myself  "what's this clown doing paddling out here?" Only to find out they are nice and rip harder than I ever could. We are people enjoying nature's gifts. We are all family. Since focusing more on photography in the past few years, I have learned to appreciate all forms of surfing. This is why I posted these few images of each respective sport. In each photo, the rider is enjoying what Nature has provided us and looking good doing it.

Aloha all, thank you for reading through my rant... I hope you enjoyed it. See you out there soon on whatever you ride. Please feel free to comment on this post.

- JP