Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul (And, of Course, Surfing) [Hardcover]

Laird Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 28, 2008

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 quantitysoul 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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

     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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; First Edition edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594869421
• ISBN-13: 978-1594869426
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Surfing

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Inspires You to Change Your Thinking! December 16, 2008

By Jeffrey Spencer

Format:Hardcover

This book opened my eyes and at the same time confirmed some of the philosophies I have regarding health. Laird leads an amazing life and has an amazing attitude towards living. His words are very inspirational and at the same time his philosophies towards life deserve attention. Since reading his book I've started doing power yoga (vinyasa sytle), changed my weight routine over to his circuit training, and have made a few diet changes. The book is very easy to read and I found I did not want to put it down.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Coach July 29, 2009

By Stacy Scott

Format:Hardcover

The first time I scanned through this book in the bookstore I saw a bunch of exercise routines and yoga poses and I passed on it because I'm not a gym guy.

However, I was at the bookstore again and had some time to kill so I took a second look. I read the first few pages and I was drawn in to his words. I recommend you read the Intro the next time you're in the bookstore to see if it's something you'd be remotely interested in.

I don't know, he just seemed to have a lot in common with the way I think and that's what piqued my curiosity. I really think to enjoy this book you need to have tried to learn something foreign in your life and really embraced it, not giving up no matter how hard it was. I think too many people take the "safe way" out in life and watch from the distance and comment on it. To those people, this book might be mildly interesting.

But Laird is no ordinary guy. He's done some insane things (if you don't believe it, just flip to the page that details all of his injuries). And although the book is an easy read, anyone who has faced similar (I use that term loosely) fears, challenges, or obstacles just gets it. You see how right on he is with his words.

When you get to step inside the mind of a man who has pushed the boundaries of what is humanly possible and in turn created new ways to look at it, you get a rare glimpse that few people have ever experienced.

What's funny is this book is mass published and can be purchased by anyone but I truly believe he poured his heart into this book and that's why I find this book so special.

My wife and I joke that he is a "life coach" just because he seems to cover so many topics and has something interesting to say about each.

I just think his book is fun.... It makes me appreciate life and the environment I'm in. And by the way, his nutrition advice is really helpful. I feel much better throughout the day and I've slimmed down quite a bit too. I've even started doing yoga which I never thought I would do and am in such a better mood before I go to work now (which my co-workers appreciate). Read more ›

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Proceed with caution... March 2, 2009

By Matthew Menotti

Format:Hardcover

This is not an autobiography. This is not a collection of stories from one of our planets best watermen. This is not a retrospective on an active exciting life. This is not a guide on how to marry one's personal passions with ones family. Any of those things would have been far more interesting and worth reading. This book is a haphazard collection of grocery lists, yoga poses, pictures of surfing, interviews with folks you've never heard of before and nutritional pseudo science. If you're into that, rock on you'll enjoy. Personally, this was a total letdown.

39 of 53 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Laird Is the Force of Nature: Dude Get Stoked About Life and Eat Some Poi November 3, 2008

By G. Charles Steiner

Format:Hardcover

The first thing you need to know is that this book is published by Rodale Press: glossy photos and generic glosses on what's personal, valuable and important in life, i.e., largely standard English, bromidic writing, with a strong commercial angle in mind.

Not that Laird Hamilton doesn't manage to put his own personal stamp on the final product; no, he actually does pull it off.

The book is tweaked to speak with Laird's own experience and voice. Laird Hamilton is sui generis after all, and because of this fact, the book is as much a testament to his being a force of nature as much as it is an inspirational how-to. The world is Laird's gymnasium.

To illustrate the commercial aspect of the book, however, Laird writes, "There's no such thing as not enough time.... So when I hear someone say they don't have time for fitness -- I'm not buying it.... That's messed up." That's fine. That is Laird himself speaking. But then, on the last page of the book, there's a list of Resources where you can buy all the stuff Laird references throughout his talk or writing, things like the Bosu ball he uses or the muscle milk he drinks.

The second thing you need to know is there are lots of photos of Laird in the book, colored ones as well as black-and-white. In some of these, he looks gorgeous; in others, he looks downright goofy. In still others, particularly while surfing, he looks like an indistinguishable, unrecognizeable and small figure or dot in the ocean. Interestingly, in the Forward to the book, Laird writes that it's a big world, but we humans are not so big. Maybe inserting photos that show the surfing celebrity as a human dot in the grand ocean was part of the author's plan....

Further inside the book, there's a section on circuit training (the standard stuff) and one on the power of Yoga (the standard poses). I admit I was surprised to learn that Laird advocates Yoga, but then, in reading the book, I learned Laird is a flexible athlete, both physically and mentally.

Laird's own personal twist on all these exercises is that he does not believe in routine or doing the same exercises or circuits over and over again. He advocates changing it up in order to challenge the body regularly, and he especially wants you to pay attention to the moment as well as to the body such that in doing the circuit, for example, he wants you to exercise more than just one muscle at a time but get lots of sleep afterward. Laird likes 8 to 10 hours a night himself.

There's a section on raw food eating ("Don't Eat Dead Food," i.e., raw milk), including a recipe chapter with lots of color photos of food, and there's a section on the supplements Laird recommends, including the use of the dubious colloidal silver, which Laird claims to take only topically, not internally (as the quacks recommend). While Laird does recommend eating raw butter and raw milk, the recipes for salmon, for example, do involve heat and baking. It's clear that there's nothing fixed or rigid about Laird's recommendations or plan. He's clearly a self-confessed meat-eater, not a vegetarian.

There's a small section on his wife and children (3 girls), too.

The very last few sections of the book contain surfing tips with not-so-special technical knowledge offered such as "To become an advanced surfer, it's critical to know ho to use your upper body in conjunction with your lower body."

Overall, Laird Hamilton ultimately wants the reader to understand that you need to have fun with your life and stay in tune with fun. Lastly, he wants the reader to know Pe'Ahi is his girl and will always be his girl, with all due apologies to wife and daughters.

The book reveals that Laird Hamilton is a total athlete. You can read about him; you can follow his recommendations; you can be inspired by him; but it's clear you can never match him. He's non-pareil. Read more ›

24 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy read, lots of pictures. Laird is an interesting guy. December 6, 2008

By Scott Sterkel

Format:Hardcover

This book was not bad. There are a lot of pictures, but there is also some good info. Laird's nutrition and physical fitness routines are somewhat unrealistic for the average person that works at least 40 hours/week, but the principals are right on the money. His life experiences are from a man who has lived in Hawaii his entire life and has never had a real job. Although unrealist for most, it is interesting that a guy who was never a World Champion at his sport of choice(Surfing),has been able to create and live the life that he has. I don't even know if he ever was on the Pro Surfing tour. Laird is a fascinating character and if you know anthing about the guy, you will probably like this book. If you've never heard of the guy, you might not care for it.