[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Extract from the lecture held by Professor Pancake, eminent specialist in the geopolitics of surfing, on Tuesday, September 10, 2013, at a bouge in Sibolga (South Sumatra).<\/p>\n
Some of my detractors say of my work: “Pancake’s vision of the world and its upheavals resembles that of a single-celled organism that has survived the ages to the present day”. And I say thank you to them, because I reclaim this hedonistic vision of the world – a surfer’s vision, in fact. <\/p>\n
The aim of this conference is to determine which periods have been the most propitious for surfing since the origin of the world. A futile and ambitious project, to be sure, if we consider that man in his current form only appeared 200,000 years ago, when the earth had been in existence for 4.5 billion years. However, in the not-too-distant future, when space-time travel has been perfected by science and commercialized by some tour operator, this conference could serve as the basis for exploring our primitive shores. <\/p>\n
I’ll pass quickly over the formation of our planet 4.5 billion years ago, the primordial chaos, an incandescent planet whose molten iron core created the magnetic field that to this day prevents most asteroids from bombarding the Earth. But not all, since the encounter of a planet-sized asteroid would : <\/p>\n
Deviate the Earth’s axis, causing a 23\u00b05 tilt, responsible for our seasonal variations. Increase its mass and tear off a piece of itself that we call the Moon. <\/p>\n
However, as collisions became less frequent, the Earth’s surface began to cool and the gases emitted by the melting of terrestrial rocks began to fall as rain 4.2 billion years ago. The surface cooled to form the Earth’s crust, and the oceans were born.
Acids and toxic gases made for an environment that was hardly conducive to outdoor activities! But the foundations had already been laid: the earth’s rotation and temperature variations, the action of the moon and sun on tidal cycles, ocean currents and the phenomena of low and high pressure that generate wind and swell! <\/p>\n
A nod to the Greek myth of the first man fashioned in clay, scientists believe that it was in clay that life was born 3.8 million years ago: in porous rocks in contact with hot springs, amino acids and molecules were concentrated, and chemical transformation gave rise to a cell composed of a DNA chain. The primitive cell then acquired a nucleus and was able to form groups of cells. <\/p>\n
The first living beings were primitive bacteria and algae, who learned to harness the sun’s energy to produce oxygen. This oxygen, saturating the oceans, escaped to create the atmosphere. The sea, sex and sun was born in its primitive version, i.e. without the sex. <\/p>\n
A few points of reference:<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.kisurfschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC01406.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Mudskippers in shallow water, a scene reminiscent of 'gen\u00e8se version surf'.” title_text=”DSC01406″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
In addition, continental drift led to far-reaching geological, geographical and climatic upheavals. Here’s what the earth looked like 1100 million years ago: <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.kisurfschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Rodinia_reconstruction.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Supercontinent Rodinia: genesis of continents, orogenic belts 1.1 Ga” title_text=”Rodinia_reconstruction” align=”center”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
750 million years ago, Rodinia split into 8 continents, which coalesced near the Equator. Global temperatures plummeted to -50\u00b0C, and only marine micro-organisms living near oceanic hot springs survived. The oceans were covered in ice.
Then, volcanic activity, by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over a period of 10 million years, put an end to the cycle of glaciations and reversed the climatic trend, with temperatures rising by up to 50\u00b0. The climate returned to normal, and continental drift created conditions conducive to the diversification of life forms on Earth.
A surfing voyage through time is therefore conceivable, with one or two small periods to be avoided, notably between 250 and 65 million years ago, corresponding to the reign of the dinosaurs and culminating in an asteroid or volcanic cataclysm. <\/p>\n
290 million years ago, the continents once again formed a single continent called Pangea. Hossegor stands in the middle of the land, caps at half-mast. It took another 200 million years for the continents to separate again, forming the current continental map. <\/p>\n
And then, 4 million years ago, the australopithecine ancestor appeared. Homo erectus used tools to hunt, traveled in tribes and learned to master fire. Then he settled down, invented agriculture and animal husbandry, and this apogee prefigured his slow decline: class wars, territorial wars, economic wars.
As a result, at the very end of his evolution, the man of the future is no longer able to hammer a nail, read a road map or grow a salad.
Using smoke signals or flag games, man used to be able to deliver highly complex messages. Now, it takes ten SMS messages to make a simple appointment.
The man of the future uses only one or two fingers on one hand. Just as the foot of the ape man atrophied over time due to his nomadic lifestyle, it’s not out of the question that the hand of the man of the future is reminiscent of that of E.T., marked by the prominence of the index finger. Isn’t it said that science fiction is often visionary? <\/p>\n
So if there’s one invention I’d like to remember from the last few millennia, it’d have to be surfing. For while gliding is not man’s prerogative – other species are more adept in the aquatic environment – he has nonetheless invented tools for gliding over the surface of waves. It’s the world’s most harmless and salutary invention: surfing is a cult of nature, a hedonism in action, an intoxication of sensations, an imitation of the prowess of the animal world, a quest for symbiosis rather than competition. <\/p>\n
It’s hard to date the invention of surfing. Surfing already existed in Polynesian cultures at least 300 years ago, and was practiced standing up on long wooden boards. The board and the ability to handle it were objects of social prestige. Today, in isolated Pacific regions such as the Solomon Islands, some coastal peoples surf the waves in dugout canoes or on their stomachs, holding short boards at arm’s length. These tribes didn’t wait for the arrival of the white man to start surfing – they’ve probably been doing it for centuries. <\/p>\n
In Polynesia, surfing was once both an object of worship and pleasure, which in the Christian religion was completely antinomic and even blasphemous. A pagan practice, surfing entered a dark age when European colonizers forbade its use, and it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the practice was rediscovered and gradually spread throughout the world.
In a nod to religion’s past escapades, in a village in the Solomon Islands where youngsters now surf on palm-stem boards, the Anglican community sometimes takes a dim view of such amusements, especially if they take place on the Lord’s Day, and I’ve seen children banned from surfing for several days. In another village, the priest gave me a hard time for surfing on Sunday, dragging all the youngsters along with me. <\/p>\n
Surfing as a hedonistic practice offends religious and conservative morality, which explains why even today, surfers can be, if not demonized, at least victims of degrading prejudices.
The modern reality of surfing shows, however, that all social backgrounds surf, all denominations, all sensibilities. And the Christian Surfers movement is a good illustration of this point of view: surfers are not just hippie drug addicts. <\/p>\n
I’d put the genesis of contemporary surfing between 1900 and 1980, a period of research and discovery not only in surfing but also in society. The wave of ’68, which had originated in the USA, washed up on other shores, albeit in small waves, but it nonetheless changed mentalities: it challenged the established order, worshipped love and peace, sought escape through travel, shamanism and Eastern cultures, and returned to nature, of which naturism was one aspect. <\/p>\n
For a surfer, the world was a long, untouched beach on which to discover waves and authentic coastal communities, as in the days of Pangaea, the vast reunited continent of Earth. It was a place for sharing and experimentation. Thanks to advances in communications, the 50s and 70s were undoubtedly a golden age for surfing. Since then, many surfing paradises have disappeared beneath the concrete. <\/p>\n
It’s hard not to find our surfing news a bit bland in comparison: virgin beaches have become resorts, surfing has become a mass sport, waves are eaten like pancakes, the surfer looks less and less like an adventurer.<\/p>\n
But it’s not human nature to be bitter. The surfer’s ability to adapt means he can savour the magic of this demanding sport all the more: he has to deal with ever-increasing numbers of surfers, and as a traveller he has to go further and further afield to find the Wild, the pure spirit of nature, but the satisfaction is all the more intense. Thanks to surfing, he can still escape the inexorable march of human society, if only for a short while! Liquid gold always flows through the surfer’s fingers. <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][dmg_masonry_gallery _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” gallery=”7289,7288,7287,7286″ columns=”2″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/dmg_masonry_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Nias, Lagundri, October 2001<\/p>\n
The number of surfing spots is shrinking as a result of overcrowding. Is this why, like skyscrapers, surfing has taken on an aerial dimension with all these skateboard-inspired tricks?
This will be the subject of a forthcoming conference on June 15, 2014, at the Tourti\u00e8re Festival in Peyrehorade.<\/p>\n
Thank you for listening.<\/p>\n
Pr. Pancake <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Was there ever a golden age of surfing? Back to the origins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[227,184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-detox"],"yoast_head":"\n