Shaun Tomson - In Surfer's Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life, world champion surfer Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he's gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today.Shaun Tomson - In Surfer's Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life, world champion surfer Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he's gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today. Shaun Tomson - In the winter of 1975, South African and Australian upstarts Shaun Tomson, Rabbit Bartholomew, and Mark Richards arrived in Hawaii with little else than their surfboards and their love of surfing. With courage, skill, and raw ambition, they not only set a new standard for wave riding, but also succeeded in transforming surfing from a casual lifestyle into a professional sport. Published to coincide with a documentary feature film narrated by Academy Award nominee Edward Norton, Bustin’ Down the Door tells the incredible story of these free ride pioneers.Shaun Tomson - In the winter of 1975, South African and Australian upstarts Shaun Tomson, Rabbit Bartholomew, and Mark Richards arrived in Hawaii with little else than their surfboards and their love of surfing. With courage, skill, and raw ambition, they not only set a new standard for wave riding, but also succeeded in transforming surfing from a casual lifestyle into a professional sport. Published to coincide with a documentary feature film narrated by Academy Award nominee Edward Norton, Bustin’ Down the Door tells the incredible story of these free ride pioneers. Shaun Tomson - The surfing documentary Bustin' Down the Door focuses on the Australian and South African surfers that pioneered pro surfing back in the 1970s. Filled with beautiful original footage as well as open, honest, and sometimes emotional interviews, the movie successfully conveys the challenges that Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Ian Cairns, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, and Michael Tomson faced in their quest to bring surfing to a worldwide, professional level. Overall the movie is well worth watching and is not your typical surf movie as it deals with much more than just the sport.Shaun Tomson - The surfing documentary Bustin' Down the Door focuses on the Australian and South African surfers that pioneered pro surfing back in the 1970s. Filled with beautiful original footage as well as open, honest, and sometimes emotional interviews, the movie successfully conveys the challenges that Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Ian Cairns, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, and Michael Tomson faced in their quest to bring surfing to a worldwide, professional level. Overall the movie is well worth watching and is not your typical surf movie as it deals with much more than just the sport.
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Surfer’s Code

Surfer’s Code – 12 Simple Lessons for Business & Life

In Surfer's Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life, world champion surfer Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he's gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today.In Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life, world champion surfer Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he’s gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today. For Tomson, surfing is a hobby, a sport, a religion, an obsession and more-it is a way of life. Tomson’s life lessons have guided his career to the top of both professional competition and the world of business. Now, he shares these powerful lessons, born on the world’s best swells, with all people-including those who might never step on a surfboard. These lessons are born of the collective wisdom of the surf community and are a powerful source of inspiration in the face of extraordinary challenges of every day life.

I tell people that I didn’t develop or create the code. I simply wrote down what was out there all the time in my heart and in the hearts of many surfers, always there but sometimes overlooked. I like to think the code was always there, a part of every surfer’s life, unspoken maybe, but in our hearts, ever since the ancient Polynesians started surfing so many thousands of years ago.

Shaun Tomson

  1. Shaun Tomson - Surfer’s Code - 12 Simple Lessons for Business & Life - “Favorite book of the year” – Los Angeles TimesI will never turn my back on the ocean: Passion
  2. I will paddle around the impact zone: No short cuts
  3. I will take the drop with commitment: Courage, focus and determination
  4. I will never fight a rip tide: The danger of pride and egotism
  5. I will always paddle back out: Perseverance in the face of challenges
  6. I will watch out for other surfers after a big set: Responsibility
  7. I will know that there will always be another wave: Optimism
  8. I will ride and not paddle into shore: Self-esteem
  9. I will pass on my stoke to a non-surfer: Sharing knowledge and giving back
  10. I will catch a wave every day, even in my mind: Imagination
  11. I will realize that all surfers are joined by one ocean: Empathy
  12. I will honor the sport of kings: Honor and integrity