Blood Surf 2: The Beat Up
Two weeks ago Swellnet contributor blindboy wrote an article titled 'Blood surf' in response to an article that appeared in the Fairfax press of the same name.
Like shark attacks and terrorism, surf rage is a news story guaranteed to grab attention. And just like the previous two, the attention we give surf rage is disproportionate to reality. In the fortnight since his previous article, blindboy has been trawling the back pages of Google and YouTube - those repository's of news and culture - conducting his own quasi-forensic research. It ain't scientific and it ain't exact, however it's convincing in its own way.
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In my previous article I stated that there were no statistics on violence in the surf. In terms of complete credibility that remains true, but it was pointed out in the comments that there are 92,000 hits on YouTube for 'surf rage'. So in the absence of any more reliable data I thought I would take a look not only at YouTube, but also a Google search for the same term.
The Google search threw up 4.2 million hits which seemed a touch excessive in terms of looking at them all, so I restricted myself to the first 200 as a sample. Most of the usual cases appeared quickly including the incident described in the Fairfax press as well as the incidents involving Nat Young and the one with Jeremy Flores and Sunny Garcia. Altogether there were about 20 separate incidents, most of the entries being repeats, general discussions of the issue or irrelevant music or gaming pages. Searching YouTube is a much more tedious task so I restricted myself to the first 100. Amongst them I could only find three further incidents.
Extrapolating these figures to the total number of entries is not valid as the rate at which new incidents appeared fell off exponentially page by page. I suspect therefore that very few further incidents would appear throughout the rest of the entries. Now I'm happy to admit that this is not in anyway a definitive analysis of the incidence of violence in the surf but if it is even close to the reality then it confirms my initial impression that surf rage is a media beat up reserved for slow news weeks.
The incidents I found covered the period from 1998 to this year and every corner of the surfing world. This suggests that the actual risk of an incident is close to zero for most surfers. Interestingly, one of the Google entries was for an old survey on another surfing site in which 48% stated they had never seen a surf rage incident. The other aspect of these incidents that quickly became obvious is that, as far as I could determine, beyond the Nat case and the case in the Fairfax press, none featured serious injury. This is not to pretend that being involved in a fist fight or having your head held underwater is trivial at the personal level. It is not. But at the level of society - the level at which an event is worth extended comment in mass media - these are trivial incidents.
The damage done by emphasising the tiny number of truly violent incidents that do occur is that it creates an impression that this is acceptable to some sections of the surfing community. It is hard to find evidence that this is the case anywhere even at those locations reputed to be excessively violent. Looking through the cases and the videos the overwhelming impression is of the complete disapproval of the onlookers. The cultural power of that disapproval is significant and should not be underestimated.
There can be no quarrel with journalists investigating and reporting serious incidents. What is much less acceptable are the generalisations and exaggeration that so often accompany such stories. They demean the vast majority of surfers, misrepresent the culture, and ignore the immense goodwill between surfers that lets tens of thousands of us who barely know each other, if at all, interact in a highly competitive atmosphere everyday, all around the world with not much more than the odd robust exchange of views. //blindboy
Comments
Bra boys biffs probably make up 50% of the statistic anyway.
Anyone remember the Underground Surf Mag from Cronulla, they released a vid called Paranormal? There were some funny punch-ons in that between the booger groms.
And the other half would be out of Hawaii with Sonny, Dustan, and the north shore boys.
I hear on the grapevine that the 'bra boys have been having a few problems in Bali with local bouncers and the Brazilian contingent. One apparently got into a nightclub brawl and ended up slightly perforated. Live by the sword.....
Perhaps the interest is due to the cheap media trick of juxtaposing the external view of the easy going surf hippy with an unknown and violent subculture. From an outsider's point of view the contrast must be intriguing. I've been asked about surf rage by relatives and while I say it isn't particularly bad, I have to admit that is only because we follow strictly enforced norms of behaviour. An outsider would think we are all catching swells willy nilly having a grand old laugh then spending the evenings in stoned brotherly joy.
While the emergent rules around surf etiquette have allowed us to function effectively in crowded line ups the majority of the time; with the globalisation of surfing perhaps its going to be us westerners who adapt to an evolution in surfing etiquette, as opposed to us teaching the developing surf market "how we do it" I am extrapolating from the stabmag commentators who type furiously about the correct way to claim waves and pass judgements of character on those who won't follow their line. Who's to say that the drop in rule is an unwavering institution? Are we dropping in (masculine ownership/outcome view) or sharing the swell (feminine/communal/experience view)?
Once wasn't enough hey .
Two words .
Click bait .......
Didn't Aristotle helped point out the finer points of this fuckery centuries ago?
If one listens to the wrong kind of music, he will become the wrong kind of person.” ~Aristotle
And here's me thinking it was Alice Cooper who said that.
So what are the chances of getting a smack in the head for bad behavior......or attacked by a shark??
I suppose it depends on your manners and where you surf brutus.
tried Winki or Bells??
I had a couple of sessions at small Winki over summer as I was passing through. Crowd seemed friendly and going back I can't remember ever having a problem there but I can understand that there might be time when a blow in might wisely limit their wave selection. Ever surf Dee Why brutus? It is still a pretty good education in manners!
yeah BB when its small pretty mellow....but like this week..a zoo......Bells is totally different to winki....more transient population......and an older crew that keep things orderly.......is that what happens at Dee Why..??
I know as soon as the crowds increase etiquette seems to go out the door....
That's because Bells is a fat crappy old mans wave that never barrels Brutus :-). Now Winki, that's a wave worth fighting for and that's why it's crowded, 3 times longerer, 3 times betterer.
oh morris..stop showing your ignorance of Bells and winki...obvious that you haven't surfed both at their best.......
but I like you are prepared to fight for your waves...........and you like the winki barrels.........300m big call....buts its all in our minds..perceptions.....delusions.......you just keep surfin winki........
I think you may have missed the sarcasm in morris's post Butus. He grew up surfing Bell's and Winki with me since the mid 70's . He was out there surfing Rincon with me on Wednesday arvo, we occasionally meet up there as I don't like going over to gippsland and morris has a number of restraining orders still active in the western districts . He was just talking up winki and down bells for all the young frothers out there. And yes Bells does barrel and you know about it when you get one.
ah shaun ......I thought Rincon was in the USA??
no need to talk up Winki ...it has much better waves than Bells..but that other Seppo place.....???
but I do remember parko disappearing at Bells a couple of years ago....then judges said nah Bells doesn't barrel so they deducted points from him ,for hiding from the judges......hehehe
Bells and Winki aren't really comparable waves anyway, chalk and cheese.
Must say one of my most memorable surfs at bells was with you, I was just a grommet so I was too scared to look at you let alone talk to you. Anzac day 78 or 79, you , Lynch another bloke and me with a howling offshore.
shaun.....mate nothing to be scared of...I think wayne and I in those days were so stoned or on acid....a lot of people now tell me about the intimidation factor...I'm just a big huggy bear mate....
Dee Why has always stayed the same brutus. It's dominated by the young and the brave. You have to be young to be quick enough and you have to be brave when there is any size because the rocks are close and usually there is nothing like a ramp, you just throw yourself over the edge. It's not as heavy as a few other Sydney spots like Deadmans or the Cape but it still intimidates a lot of surfers. There is very little aggro as it's just not tolerated any more. There used to be a bit but these days most seem to have learnt not to drop in and the inside spot is held tightly by the better surfers. Mainly locals but others sometimes manage to slot into what's happening.
Us old guys wait for the easy days. I used to hate seeing people claim quality waves and blow them so when I got to the point that my percentages were dropping I decided to leave it to the younger crew, that's how it should be. There are plenty of other waves around, a bit crowded and some days are crazy but I know the area well and manage to either be ahead of the crowd or sneak a few more than the average in the middle of it. Hope you are getting amongst it down there.
yeah BB..see where you are coming from...what you don't have that we do.....is a transient group that is coming form Melb,the day trippers.....a lot of travelers and a lot of very average surfers paddling out....a fair bit of chaos......saw 2 incidents this week that involved a bit of push and shove....fair bit of aggro out of frustration....and of course the ever present greed.....
I love that Cronulla has worked out their etiquette in the water...but imagine everytime that ther was good waves over 1/2 the guys in the water you have never seen before...and no idea about any local rules....ahhh
Not too different really brutus, we have heaps of tourists and occasional surfers from other parts of Sydney. The local crew, by and large, are actually amazingly tolerant of ignorance and the kind of misjudgements that happen in crowds. A lot of the time we have short period swells with lots of medium to low quality waves so one wasted wave isn't the drama it would be in long period quality conditions where you have only a few waves in well spaced sets. The whole culture has shifted radically over the years. The age and gender mix we have now are calming influences. When it was a pack of testosterone fuelled young men things tended to get out of hand more often. Good waves here today, bowlie lefts in the shorebreak, long walled double O/H rights on the outside banks, medium sized dredging point waves, so no complaints.
we had great waves Friday Arvo......wind was blowing into the tube...and then Temp went to 33 ....there were about 5 guys out for a few hrs....4-5' perfect .......and yeah still had a guy that looked and dropped in never seen him before....but was sent on his way ,as no respect.... = bad behavior.....
sounds like cronulla is a lot mellower now...maybe because Dog left hehehe.....
I think things down here get pretty heated when its 4+ .....but when its 8' .....down to handful of guys...
Is it just me or is the big bloke giving the bald bloke a massage? It's not even a surf rage photo
We'll well! You put it out their once again, Mr none steam media. Do you really belive you are no different to the rest of the news scum that need to jump on anything out of the so called normal. Seeing as you posted it on face book you should supply a link?
DIckhead.
?????? Well we know you're angry Jordan but about what isn't exactly clear.
Have you ever been in a traffic jam and screaming about the traffic. Stand back and have a think about it, you are the traffic! A post about how stupid media is about surf rage, stand back and have a look at yourself, you are the media!
Dickhead.
So saying pretty much the exact opposite of what was said in other media makes me guilty of the same fault? Sorry mate I don't see the logic there but if you want to think that way it's OK by me. Just don't expect me to agree.
That's why you live and surf on an island paradise just south of Melbourne where the people are normal, the water is so fucking cold and there are so few other surfers around that violence is not even in the surfing dictionary. You can shove the East Coast of mainland Australia where it fits best - too much testosterone floating around there!!!
When I surfed burleigh a lot in the nineties there was plenty of agro and punch ups and I don,t think it has changed much you are not going to get the facts from google
I will probably try Facebook and other social media as well for incidents that went under the radar but it will take me a while to get around to it. I am happy to change my mind if anyone can show evidence of a high rate of violence in the surf but all that we have so far are anecdotal reports which really are not much use. I usually surf 4-5 days a week and in the time since the Fairfax piece was published I haven't even heard an angry word and that's in the middle of a very crowded area.
The research in the first and second is relying entirely on media or web reported events. Yes the media do beat things up admitted and usually due to the nuanced set of rules we tend to abide by don't understand the context where it may be not entirely blameless. However how many surf rage incidents are reported just like fights after a few down the local the reported volume would be inconsequential to actual volume, all a google or a youtube search is going to do is show what is most popularly reported on the internet.
I have seen been involved in (never administering) a few incidents over the years a couple deserved most not, I usually find is that those so quick to administer the 'rules' tend to only observe a couple of them and with cocks promoting violent localism I find it's getting worse. I travel a bit solo and see it a fair bit I am older and bigger now so usually know how to avoid it but there is a rage bubbling under the surface in some places that is for sure, I don't think we should tolerate in any form at all anymore it's time to evolve.
I doubt the proponents of enforcers have spent much time at their local spots waiting their turn like everyone else, so when one of them gets burned on the 1000's wave of the day I kind of feel little to no sympathy, I have seen this many times (at least 10 blindboy for your magical stats machine :)) these same sorts flog a beginner who is still learning the arbitrary rules different spots have and have slighted them in some real or slightly imagined way you no like had the bad manners to be caught inside and run over by someone with enough skill to easily avoid them.
its funny this article popped up after a surf in Vic on Friday .
As others have said, most punches don't get reported.
On the other hand, I think at most breaks where punches happen, probably 80% of the punches are thrown by the same one or two blokes.
It all just depends if they are in the water.
Mind you, if you counted up all the glowering looks with the implied threat of violence, well just about everybody does those every now and again. Fortunately, the last thing most people want to do is get into a fight.
I think surf rage is real and it is a fair story. We might not ever get into a fight, but you do regularly see the real potential for a punch up. Fortunately, for most people, good sense prevails. There is not much actual violence because most of us adjust our surf behaviour to avoid it.
But, it is a bit like vandalism. The amazing thing is not how much vandalism there is, the amazing thing is how little there is.
Here's a couple for ya blindboy
. I know violence is not a laughing matter but it's pretty hard not to have a giggle at the stupidity of these guys!