MANILA, Philippines – There are lots of swells, long waves that move continuously without breaking, in Subic. And Alfredo “Freddy” Razon Gonzalez is lured to spend a weekend riding along the quests. Yet, duty calls.

“I’m super tempted to go there. But at the back of my head: ‘This has to get done.’ If I’m out of the office, who’s going to coordinate? I don’t like to micromanage, [but] I like to know what people are doing. If I’m not there, things can get delayed by one day,” he says.

Gonzalez, 31, is synchronized with youth culture, particularly the cult of surfers and skaters. Don’t call him “surfer dude,” a laid-back guy who’s life is literally a beach. He is a businessman, foremost.

Frequently shod in flip-flops even before it became a trend, Gonzalez and his wife, Anne, introduced the Brazilian fashion slipper, Havaianas, to the Philippines.

Subsequently, Gonzalez relinquished his post as company president to his wife to open up businesses related to his favorite sports. Gonzalez is president of Aloha Board Sports, which also offers active fashion brands. He also owns another shop, 5-O, devoted to skaters.

At Havaianas Philippines, he merely attends board meetings as managing director, while Anne and Jon Syjuco, vice president for business development, handle the operations.

Gonzalez lives and breathes board sports—with occasional football.

Sports came naturally to Gonzalez. As a hyperactive child, he started skateboarding at six years old. He picked up the difficult skills just by watching videos. In his teens, he took up football and joined the national team from 1996 to 1999. In 2003, Gonzalez played for the Vietnam league, but came home after a year to build up Havaianas.

Some time ago, Gonzalez and his wife spent a month-long vacation in his sister’s home in Diamond Head, Waikiki, famous for huge surfs.

Year-round sport

Surfing has taken him all over the country—from La Union to Siargao. His businesses augur well with his lifestyle and his education. Gonzalez’s degree in Sociology at the University of Portland prepared him for sports and business.

“I like studying culture, people, how society acts, and its subcultures,” says Gonzalez. “Skaters have a punk rock image. They are non-conformists and tend to break away from established norms. Surfers just enjoy life. They get on the board and ride on the waves.”

He adds that the stores should reflect the culture of the board sports.

In the Philippines, surfing season is year-round. Surfers plan their trips by checking the websites specializing in wave forecasting.

Gonzalez cites the waters in La Union as the best bet for surfing. “The waters can be hit by any swell, whether it’s coming from the Pacific or from the South China Sea.”

Besides, it has become accessible and boasts of a growing community, replete with resorts, restaurants, bars and surf schools.

As a fitness regimen, he explains that board sports in general work out the whole body and develop core strength. Basic paddling requires coordinated arm strokes while keeping the body weight evenly distributed on the center of the board. In stand-up paddling, the surfer uses a paddle to catch more waves.

“There are two types of surfing: Prone surfing, in which you’re lying down on the board; and stand-up paddle surfing, where you’re standing on a bigger and thicker board. When you’re standing, you paddle onto the waves and surf them. That’s how the ancient Hawaiians used to surf,” explains Gonzalez.

“It’s good for your balance because it develops all the little muscles that stabilize your body from the waist down. In paddling, the whole trunk area is at work. In prone surfing, you can’t lie flat and paddle as if you’re swimming. You’ve got to arch your back and dig into the water. It uses the middle part of your back which is hardly worked, even if you do weights in the gym,” he says.

“First-timers should get on a nine-ft board which is thicker, wider and keeps you above the water, so it is easy to paddle. You’ll catch a lot more waves and enjoy yourself more. When you’re good enough, that’s when you get into the short board. The high-performance board is tough, even when you sit on it, you’re not stable.”

Getting started

Developing the correct stance and establishing the placement of the body weight are vital in maintaining the balance on the board. It sounds simple, but if you don’t know where to look, how to hold your arms, use your core muscles and the front and back legs, you’re in trouble.

He describes the surfer’s body as wiry, not like the buffed bodybuilder. “Their backs and core are very defined. When you prop yourself up, you need to stabilize your core for balance, or else you’re going to fall off.”

Surfing can also be a cross-training program without the waves. It builds upper body strength and endurance.

To get started with surfing, Gonzalez recommends proper training. “Enroll at surf school and rent a board. Once you get into it and want to continue, you can invest in a long board. It will cost P22,000 for a basic board,” he says. Surfing schools such as Club Manila East in Tanay or the Philippine Surf Academy in Subic have wave pools.

When he’s not surfing, Gonzalez engages in skateboarding for two hours. He finds it more rewarding to do an overall workout.

Asked what he likes about board sports, Gonzalez replies: “For me, it’s a way of challenging myself.”

These sports present a psychic reward. Says Gonzalez: “In team sports like football, you’re always after end results—the score and the trophy. With board sports, you’ll never do the same thing in the same way. Watch every skater or surfer, everybody has his own style. It’s self-expression.”