Laird Hamilton is known as the guiding genius of crossover board sports, and he is truly amazing in the water. His size--6'3", over 215 pounds--makes him seem indestructible. Laird is the elder son of sixties' surfing legend Bill Hamilton and is a throwback to that time when surfers prided themselves on being all-around watermen. His mother, JoAnn, gave birth to him in a "bathysphere" with reduced gravity as part of an experiment at the UC Medical Center in San Francisco. JoAnn was also a surfer and decided to move the family from California to Hawaii when Laird was just a few months old. They lived on Oahu's North Shore and later in a remote valley on Kauai, not far from one of the world's best surf breaks. He learned to surf between the ages of 2 and 3 on the front half of a surfboard; and at age 8, hi father took him to the 6-foot cliff at Waimea Falls, where Laird looked down, looked back at his dad, and jumped. "He's been bold since day one," says Bill, "and hell-bent on living life to the extreme." He lives in Hawaii and California with his wife and three daughters.
Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, And, of Course, Surfing
Paperback
$21.99
- ISBN-13: 9781609611026
- Publisher: Rodale Press, Inc.
- Publication date: 08/31/2010
- Pages: 260
- Product dimensions: 9.38(w) x 11.06(h) x 0.60(d)
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Laird Hamilton has been hailed as the world's greatest big-wave surfer. His first book, Force of Nature, allows readers a rare glimpse inside the unique philosophy that has created his circumstances, and not the other way around. After all, this is a man whose biological father abandoned him shortly after he was born; whose first job was working on a pig far; who dropped out of school in eleventh grade. And then the career decision: surfer. Though earning enough to pay the rent as any kind of surfer is next to impossible, Hamilton has ended up in the place we all desire to be: doing exactly what he loves, becoming the world's best in the process, making a great living, being surrounded by nature and family, radiating peak health and fitness, and succeeding by any definition of the word.
How did he get there? And more importantly, how can the rest of us join him?
Force of Nature is a detailed map to that destination, with Laird Hamilton as the reader's guide. It's not about chasing trophies or accolades or cash. It's about quality over quantity, soul and being true to your physical, mental, and spiritual roots. Not only is it possible to thrive in the modern world without adopting its harmful habits, it's essential. And not only has Hamilton mastered this balance, he makes a compelling and articulate case that anyone who wants to can do the same.
This book is a deeply authoritative and cutting-edge guide to peak fitness in mind, body, sould, and surfing. It comes directly from the source and his inner circle, which includes those at the vanguard of sports, training, nutrition, and more. Former pro volleyball player Gabrielle Reece; surf legend Dave Kalama; fitness gurus Paul Chek, T.R. Goodman, and Don Wildman; and Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis all contribute their knowledge. Readers will get an all-access pass into an elite world filled with definitive and provocative ideas.
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Library Journal - BookSmack!
Look, everyone! Look at Laird! So handsome. So pretty. Bronzed. Sculpted. Here he is, shirtless and surfing. And here he is, shirtless and lifting weights. Shirtless and canoeing. Shirtless, caressing his daughter. Shirtless with his pet pigs. Ripping waves on surfboards, tow boards, and hydrofoil boards. All with no shirt on. Laird is basically a professional body. And his ghost writers have prepared a fun-size portion of food for thought covering exactly what it takes to look good shirtless: exercise and eat right. Plus there's some blather about living your passion. Nutritionally, this is either remedial (soda is bad, really Laird?) or points out what rich boys eat (locally caught opah). Exercise-wise, he presents some standard stuff, including "The Anywhere Workout" where you can just use your body to do a decent, CrossFit-esque session. Your average dude* really has no need for this coffee-table book whose main asset is pictures of a shirtless man surfing awesome-looking waves. It's next to useless; instead, take the ideas (e.g., yoga; marry Gabrielle Reece) and find the nearby equivalent (the local Y's aerobics room and