19 June, 2014 19 June, 2014

The Long Short Story of the Shaka

From Ballito to Pipeline (or any other beach across the globe), you’ll see it being thrown around. The ‘shaka’ has become the universal signal by frothing surfers the world over to display their stoke. But how did it come about?

This week we throw you back to Zag issue 38.1, in which Kerry Wright told us The Long Short Story of the Shaka.

(click article to view larger)
Shaka-story-1-small

We also found a couple of epic examples while scanning the archives this week. See below.

od-cover-small
Mark Wright stokes himself out with a shaka inside a glassy tube on the cover (Issue 16.4).

******

Sri_Lanka
David Van Zyl teaches a Sri Lankan grom how to pull a proper shaka (Issue 37.8).

******

Frank_Rose_GT
Mike Roscoe throws a shaka attempt. Frankie and Turnbull think it’s great (Issue 15.2).

******

Muizenberg-85n
Brandon Benjamin gives his session at Muizenberg the double shaka approval (Issue 37.5).

******

It’s not only the shaka that shows how stoked we are. Below are some examples of other hand signals used to display joy.

oldie-small
Paul Naude peacefully tucks in.

******

Carel
Jeffreys Bay local, Carel Olivier, surrenders down the line (Issue 38.2).

******

Jordy-Cover-small
Jordy Smith busts a peace sign inside a churning pit (Issue 34.4).

******

So there you have it. Next time you see a surfing brother, tweak that thumb and pinkie out as far as you can and pull a lekker shaka.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *