I first came across Laird Hamilton in Riding Giants, the 2004 documentary about big surf riding, Stacy Peralta's follow-up to Dogtown and Z-Boyz. For some reason, I don't think it registered how amazing this guy is...I've gotten back into surfing since May, trying to go 2x per week out to Malibu, and have since re-discovered Laird.
It turns out he's the man. I heard about him a few years ago in a MJ article about music producer and Malibu guy, Rick Rubin. Laird's his buddy and possibly trainer- and the article specified how Rubin worked out with Laird with large stones in a very primal way. Rubin is also huge into meditation and most likely he, Laird, and Mark Sisson, another Malibu legend (author of Primal Blueprint, Mark's Daily Apple) have crossed paths.
Check out this clip of Laird from Riding Giants (unbelievable)-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcaZarxilJQ
Anyway, last Friday I went out in somewhat big surf (3-6' plus some change). I'd never seen north Malibu look so much like Scotland; fog setting in; grey and overcast...It was really beautiful and the surf was placid and then coming in big. My friend and I jumped in and went for it. She was much more cautious than I was (and a surf instructor). I charged the waves like an extra from a deleted Braveheart battle scene. Needless to say, I got my a** handed to me, and my board (which I'd lent her) got sliced by my fin (luckily no injuries at all). I also drank about 5 gallons of ocean water, so a good lesson to take it easy (a la fools rush in). The next morning I discovered an older Men's Journal issue with Laird's column on Mind and Body in there. It was all about risk-taking and using caution, and could not have been any more appropriate. He said, "When we first started riding Jaws, Maui's monster break called Peahi by the locals, all the best surfers, the guys who had the skill and experience to handle it, were the most conservative. In fact, the more skilled the surfer, the more cautious he was. It was all these less skilled yee-haw guys who would go out and throw themselves into these situations that they really didn't understand. It was a certain kind of ignorance – they didn't have the experience to know exactly what they were getting into. Watching these guys can make it feel like the angels are busy protecting all the fools. That's why if you know what you're doing, you have to be really smart.When I'm going into a situation I don't understand or have experience with, I find somebody who knows what he's doing, and I hang next to him. I watch, I listen, I study, and I take advantage of his time, because even though I might not have the luxury of having his experience, if I'm smart, I can benefit from him and use him as an adviser."
Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/how-to-handle-danger-without-fear-20130417#ixzz2Vw9ssWCZ
I couldn't believe how sage his words were- and I realized, man, maybe I really wrote Laird off too quickly (and also my friend's caution). Was it the photos of him hanging upside down from a tree? (Possibly..) So I went through all my back issues looking for his column. It's usually a page long, but really interesting. Sort of alternate fitness ideas...like try doing your exercises on one leg (which made me think of Alwyn Cosgrove's New Rules series) and stuff like isometric holds (doing one rep but holding forever- ex. squat)- which made me think of Art DeVany's exercise program in New Evolution Diet. Laird's pretty cool. He's got his own individual take on things, but it seems to be right in line with all the guys I really respect.
Here's a link to his morning ritual, as described in MJ. I tried it today, before doing a Rose Bowl run. Awesome.
http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/laird-hamiltons-morning-ritual-20130326
What's the lesson? Keep reading, learning, growing/ take a CPR class..
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