By Brad Gerlach

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I’ve got something radical to say: The next level of high performance surfing will not be reached because a surfer is working out harder or training in the gym. This surf jock’s entrance into surfing has a very definitive ceiling that I’d like to shatter. I’m here to propose an idea that I believe will allow a surfer to reach peak flow by leveraging the gravity-defying positions that exist in a wave while never having to step foot in a gym. I’ll even make the case that all the weight lifting and gym work is too blunt and will lead to square lines in your surfing. I’d like to cultivate an awareness of your body, knowing when to soften, how to be like water and how to use style to cultivate both speed and power. Trudge along with me.

Let’s think about gymnastics vs. ballet for a second. Two beautiful disciplines with very distinct differences. Gymnastics is about athleticism. Gymnasts don’t move with the same grace and beauty as people who spend their lives doing ballet. Gymnasts are fun to watch of course (this is no dig), but ballet has a depth and flow that is rarely exhibited by the gymnast because of the precision in their training.

The best surfers in the history of our beloved surfing were the most sensitive to the way the board glided on a wave. Miki Dora was called “Da Cat” for a reason. Gerry Lopez was the epitome of ease as he unlocked the sublime on a wave and in the tube. Tom Curren continues to awe with his buttermilk flow. And John John is the new elastic cat. Just watch his YouTube channel with the recent “Slow it Down” footage and you tell me if he looks stiff.

I have been guilty of falling for the gym route in the past, but when I was a kid none of my heroes worked out (and yes, I know Rabbit was jogging in Freeride but that’s not weight lifting and it was to build up cardio for Hawaii). My favorites either skated or surfed (most did both), designed surfboards and came up with new ways of surfing critically by using the wave, their bodies and surfboard design to get there. Surfers like Larry Bertleman, Buttons, Mark Richards, Cheyne Horan and skaters like Greg Weaver, Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacey Peralta.

I think all the athleticism in surfing started in the ‘80s with the second generation of pro surfers. And it makes sense: the contests weren’t mobile and had no waiting period so we were all subject to surfing shitty waves a lot. Tom Carroll, Pottz and even Tom Curren were training to get an edge in these conditions. If you go back and look at surfing from this time a lot of it is in sub-par conditions and a lot of it looks forced. Yes, surfboards were not the consistent blades they are now and hardly anyone was studying their surfing on film. But my study of that led me to the belief that athleticism is a barrier to riding in places on waves that nobody has.

It’s time we acknowledge that. As aerials reach a new level and attract most of our attention, performance on waves seems to be enjoying a bit of a resurgence as well (although I don’t believe it ever went away in the core). Remember the talk of 2018 was how JJF tore the living daylights out of the Margaret River rights? Why was that? It was because it was arguably the best performance surfing many had ever seen: Speed, power, control, freedom, variety, unpredictability, attitude — it was all there. You could feel it through the TV.

Of course, there is a time and place for strengthening the body, balancing out weakness, etc. But only when the body is well balanced, organized and in tune — otherwise there can be serious damage to the body and a high probability of ruining one’s ability to truly produce and use power. This is not just an opinion, these are notes from the field.

The real jump forward in your own surfing will come after you realize all this and develop the ability to, in the words of Bruce Lee, “be like water.” To be clear: You want to possess the ability to collapse or fold effortlessly and bring the entire body close to the surfboard at the snap of your fingers to keep control of the board no matter how upside down you may be.

For reference take a close look at Dane Reynolds’ famous turn at Haleiwa during the comp. The only way he could’ve pulled that off is by being close to the surfboard. You ever see Dane in a gym? What about Clay Marzo’s surfing? Have you seen how close he gets to his board on the those tube stalls? I could go on but here are some key questions to ask yourself:

Do you think you can recognize the surfers who go to the gym to rip harder and the ones who don’t? What part of ripping is mental vs physical? Can you see the difference in the surfers who stretch and are flexible? Shane Dorian told me in 1999 when we were filming September Sessions that he never stretches. Is he mentally loose? Which one are you? I am not advocating just surfing and sitting on your ass, but just what do the top level performers rewriting the performance paradigm actually do?

I am not saying that Wave Ki is the only way to learn this but all of this softness is in there and its origin is surfing and it is the ethos of what we teach and practice. Come check us out.

Check out Brad Gerlach’s Wave-Ki here and follow them on Instagram @waveki.

[Editor’s note: I’ve had the greatest time chatting and collaborating with Gerr the past few months learning about Wave-Ki and talking surfing. I encourage everyone to scope the site and check out his philosophy. There’s a lot in there we can all apply.—Travis]