Tom ServaisAlex Knost, rollin' to his own beat since day one.

Alex Knost might be the most polarizing figure in modern surfing.

OK, maybe it's Dane Reynolds. But that's based purely on the most measurable and, to my mind, least nourishing, segment of surfing -- professional competition. Will Dane compete, will Dane not compete ... I don't give a sheizen. I just dig watching his nuanced surfing. The way he waits a beat after his last stroke into a wave, gliding, paws in the air, storing energy, then using that accumulated mo' to paste a rancid, stem-to-stern bottom turn. Brilliant.

Artistry is important to me, not circumstance. Did he pull the Great Rock and Roll Swindle at the contract table? Immaterial. You don't get what you deserve in this world. You get what you negotiate. And despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth you hear from the pro ho's (a grown man will never use the word "fanboy.") crying over the annulment of his world tour commitment, you don't hear his primary sponsor complaining.

Tom ServaisKnost first made a name for himself because of his abilities on a plank, which as you can see, are casually top flight.

But back to that glide in Dane's takeoffs. That jazz musician's caesura, that Shakespearian pregnant pause. He got that from Al Knost. They surf together, crib from one another. Al got it from Tudor. Tudor got it from Takayama. Takayama got it from Squirrely Carvalho. Or maybe Rabbit Kekai. Which means it came from Duke.

And Knost, in that proud surfing tradition, steals as well as he borrows. On dry land he affects a finger popping, offto-score-a-balloon Velvet Underground stance that has always looked ungainly on a west coaster. But Knost's vibe on land shouldn't bug you. Unless you're one of those latent phobics who sweats how other dudes look. Nah, the Knost buzz happens in the water.

First time I saw him surf, I didn't know what to think. Seemed a little posed, a little frenetic. Then, about five years ago, I saw him again. He had embraced his flare for the dramatic, but smoothed it out. Oh, he still jived, Jeeves. He just started relaxing his upper body. Incorporated fades. Stalled into barrels instead of noseriding past them. The result? It looks like he's having F.U. fun. Like he doesn't give a stuff. Like he doesn't need a rulebook or an air horn. Just like Dane.

Tom ServaisLately Knost has been experimenting with other, shorter craft, like this Lightening Bolt pintail, but no matter what he's riding he has style for days.