My Kwan Su Dudes

Some of you might be asking what exactly 'Kwan Su Dudes' means or what is stands for. One of my favorite childhood movies was Surf Ninjas, where two brothers find out they are actually princes and save their Asian island along with their one-eyed uncle and Rob Schnieder. So why did I title this blog entry Kwan Su Dudes? After looking on the internet last week for skydiving in Israel I came across surfing lessons at Tel-Aviv's Gordon Beach. And today was my first lesson and it was awesome. After the instructor talked to us about the sea, the types of waves and most basic safety instructions for about an hour they handed out body suits to some (it was a nice, warm day so I decided just to go with the long sleeve surf shirt) and we headed to the water. They started us with the basics, how to paddle on the board, how to sit and lye on the board and other things related to balance on the board. After some exercises of paddling and what not it was time to get out of the water and learn how to stand on the board. When standing on the board one goes from the lying position to the standing in two moves. It starts with you pushing up your upper body and when your half your chest is off the board you jump up and stand on the board. We practiced in the sand a few times and then ventured out into the water. I was the first to try to stand in the water with the instructors help. He held the board perpendicular to the waves and gave me a push. As he yelled I jumped up and stayed standing. It was a rush to succeed the first time trying (and the second). However, after these two times assisted it didn't go as well. I tired paddling and standing by myself for the next fifteen minutes and only succeeded in standing once more. It was so much fun trying to stand and falling with little regard to bodily damage (it doesn't hurt falling unless you hit the board really hard).