Check out the latest installment from Matuse Family Member, Flynn Novak, reporting from the North Shore of Oahu. After Hank Gaskell won the recent Sunset XCEL Pro he still has no major sponsor. So Flynn asks is the pro surf dream dead? Check out this interesting article and video at the following link.
Link: http://surf.transworld.net/features/coconut-wireless-is-the-dream-dead/
‘Tis is the season for the Hoplite Full Suit and so goes the reviews. GearJunkie.com recently sampled the Hoplite 4/3/2mm full suit out in New York. Check out the in depth review and see what others are saying about the Hoplite. With the new upgrades and further refinements we know that the 2009 model is even more Ichiban than before. CLICK HERE to read the review.
To learn more about the Hoplite 4/3/2mm Click Here.
Matuse is proud to announce that the Hoplite full suit and Happy The Seal is now available on Swell.com. The print catalog also boasts two of our classics. So check them out and get yourself into some Ichiban today.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.
What happens when you give a bunch of actors, writers, and directors a mere 24 hours to create and perform an original work of theater? That’s the idea behind the 24 Hour Plays. This year’s event had some big named celeb peeps involved. Press Dogg lends his thoughts here: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/11/10/it-has-been-an-unusually.html
Matuse Family Member, Matt Pressman, is an Assistant Editor at Vanity Fair Magazine and a bard-at-large. The Boston-native, Dartmouth Alum and Manager of VF’s vaunted softball squad, resides in New York City. When he’s not musing on the arts, the economy and other relevant social happenings Matt can be found mad dogging Yankee fans.
Chris Crossen is a writer and artist based in Truckee, CA. Chris writes a blog called “real deep snow”. Like many of us Chris has many hobbies, one of which is surfing. Even though he lives in Truckee, CA he gets his fair share of travel time to wave rich destinations. Chris recently purchased a Chapter 1 top and decided to write about it. Check out his blog to see what he thought and get a cool perspective to his world in around the Lake Tahoe area. Thanks Chris for your honest review. CLICK HERE to read the review. Be sure to scroll down to find it.
An email from Flynn.
Howziiiiiiit?
This past week has been busy for me with the North Shore winter underway, and the first contest of the season (Xcel Pro) going off in 8-12 foot waves. I ended up winning two heats on my way to the Quarterfinals. I got third in my quarterfinal heat but it was enough to make $800 and finish first overall in the two local qualifying events (Ala Moana Bowls and Xcel Pro) for the Triple Crown. So plainly put, I did the best out of everyone in those two events and I’m guaranteed a spot in all three Triple Crown events this winter.
Check out my blog and cave diving video:
Link: http://surf.transworld.net/photos/coconut-wireless-hank-gaskell-wins-the-xcel-pro-sunset-beach/
Aloha, Flynn
Screen shot of the current Surfers Journal Video page.
Matuse is proud to announce that we are the presenting sponsor for The Surfer’s Journal website Video section. Surfer’s Journal hand selected Matuse from a short list of well respected companies to be one of only a few presenting sponsors for their website.
John Campbell, Matuse President/CEO, states “As two brands that are totally committed to delivering a premium product, Matuse not only shares many of the same customers as the Surfer’s Journal but we also hold ourselves to similarly exacting standards as they do. For these reasons, we look forward to building a long term relationship with the Surfer’s Journal where we both can take customer knowledge and satisfaction up to “11.” For those not familiar with the instant classic, Spinal Tap, keep your eyes out for some top notch content brought to you by Matuse and the peeps at Surfer’s Journal!”
You can check out the new website at http://www.surfersjournal.com/video.
Muller free-swimming with Great White Sharks – sporting the first-ever Matuse dive suit.
World renown photographer and overall pusher-of-the-envelope, Mike Muller, was recently selected to be a part of the “Summit on the Summit” Crew. This is an esteemed group that includes rapper Lupe Fiasco and Alexandra Cousteau (Daughter of the late Jacques Cousteau). Their mission is dedicated to fighting the global clean water crisis. Visit the site below and be a part of this:
Link: http://www.summitonthesummit.com/?tafcjnef=fy09&ppc=DSp234688342#/climber-bios-michael
He swims with sharks and is the Matuse Dive Attaché. For more looks at Mike Muller’s uber-ichiban body of work, check this link: http://www.krop.com/muller/
Joel’s Tumo suit in this shot gets its name from Tumo meditation. Article written by Stephen L. Kimberley, M.D.
Tumo is a branch of Tibetan yogic practice that utilizes visualization and breath control for the fortuitous movement and application of energy. The most well-known aspect of this is the ‘mystic heat’ or tumo, as it is commonly known, in which tremendous bodily heat can be generated. Among other things, this enables the practitioner to withstand severe cold, which has practical importance when living in a cold monastery or cave! The other arm of tumo yoga is trance running. Adepts in this discipline can run many miles at any time of day or night, crossing streams and jumping huge boulders without hesitation, and arriving at the destination without apparent effort. They have often served as messengers between distant mountain cities.
Both of these remarkable ‘siddhis’, or yogic feats of attainment, constitute miraculous physical or psychic capabilities that are beyond even the imagining of the average human. These powers and others are achievable for anyone who practices and masters the mystic heat through visualization and generation of the ‘tumo fire’, which is an aspect of the electron fire; the intense electron energy that feeds the stream of life. The great Tibetan saint Naropa (1040 A.D.) was an initiator and innovator of this yogic practice, and up until the last century this very powerful art was only passed on by oral tradition as distributing it in writing was thought to lead to abuse of its potent magic. In The SixYogas of Naropa he prescribes detailed visualization of the fire, which he likened to the hair of a boar, sharp and jagged, or the cloven tongue of a serpent. It is often depicted this way in the flamed borders in the paintings of Tibetan mandalas or tankas. The flames must be visualized in minute detail and alternating between infinitesimally small and gigantic in size. Visualization of a deep blue wrathful deity (God-being) with 36 arms embracing his consort is used at the same time. “Om Ah Hum” is the mantra specific to the mystic heat.
When this sacred tumo fire is intently visualized and combined with specific breathing exercises (Vase -Shaped Breathing and Nine Breaths) the energy that is generated can be vast and powerful. It should be stressed that visualization is an art that takes practice, but just the intent to visualize is enough to activate the tumo sacred fire energy.
It is important to understand that tumo is above all a spiritual tool that enables one to advance towards ascension. It is the union of the physical world and the spiritual universe. The generation of this sacred energy is a step on the way beyond, and the energy itself can be applied to a multitude of situations, including healing. Most people will not achieve the degree of inner heat that is referred to in the tales, but regular practice for even a few minutes a day will generate enough sacred fire to enhance bodily health and spiritual advancement. Gradual or even sudden increases in physical abilities and stamina are signs that there has been advancement and that greater things are in store.
Tilopa, Naropa’s guru, after sitting motionless for a year had this to say about the powers of ‘kindling’ the mystic heat;
“Birth is purified through the kindling of the inner mystic heat, higher awareness is spread, when motility [free movement] becomes the muttering of the Om Ah Hum, and when the noetic (inner knowing) act enfolds itself in intentionality…” (The Life and Teaching of Naropa, H. Guenther, Oxford University Press, 1963)
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Tumo with Hood 5/4/3mm.
From top to bottom: CDM gets a dolphin escort on his journey. CDM capitalizing on some perfect shorebreak. No board necessary. CDM throws a fan in a secluded Australian cove. Livin’ the dream.
Matuse Family Member Chris Del Moro has spent the past few weeks in Australia traveling via kayak tri-hull from Byron Bay to Sydney with Dave Rastovich and crew. The crew used wind and human power to make it down the coast in an effort to raise awareness about whale fishing in Australian waters. In the end they hope to gain signatures and awareness to help remind the Australian government of their promise to protect the ocean and it’s creatures.