skateboarding general discussion

[Zeno Marx]

I don't expect this thread to get much play, but sport wise, along with backpacking, it's a true love. I played all sports when I was a kid and teenager, but skateboarding is in my soul. Forget the X-games and the other televised nonsense competitions. To me, that isn't skateboarding. In my mind, THIS is skateboarding:

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're A Girl) documentary (streaming for free on A&E right now)

One of the more endearing parts is an interview with a young girl talking about how happy she is on a board and, in different words, describing being creative, which it's relatively safe to assume she's never felt before skateboarding. Sweet stuff. It's well worth the 39 minutes of life.

here's the trailer...

https://youtu.be/ILmuqWCe2Yc

 

[Bub]

They look just like us...maybe that's the point.

 

[Zeno Marx]

They look just like us...maybe that's the point.

Indeed.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

While not always the case, it's really about exposure. That's all. Exposure. Travel and get exposed. Go to college and get exposed. Join a national group and get exposed. I don't personally understand how exposure can sometimes end up in negative energy, but it happens. For most, it doesn't. Imagine if our go-to travel destination was Africa and not Europe. You go somewhere, build memories, establish skin in the game, and walk away endeared and connected to it. Emotional connexion. Empathy. EMPATHY. We're all one.

 

[peanubutter]

Always wanted a skateboard and got one when I was too old and on my second attempt to get on it the wheel hit a rock in the parking lot and down I went. Can't say I enjoyed it but I did try it.

 

[Stick]

Interesting thoughts, Zeno. Looks like a great film too.

'Travel and get exposed'. Education. Both have opened my mind to facilitate understanding. It's probably fair to say, and to risk a cliché, that some of my experiences have changed my life.

As for boarding, when I lived away from home I used to borrow a friend's longboard and loved it; felt more surfy than the shorter variant and I really got into the rhythm, flow and cruise. When home I tentatively ran the idea of purchasing one past SWMBO and was told to 'grow up'. I still don't have a board.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Always wanted a skateboard and got one when I was too old and on my second attempt to get on it the wheel hit a rock in the parking lot and down I went. Can't say I enjoyed it but I did try it.

Like most athletics, the younger the better when started. Throwing. hand/eye coordination. foot/eye coordination. Center of gravity and balance. It's no coincidence that most professionals these days have been groomed since 5, 6, 7 years old. Ever watch a European throw a ball? Or watch an American play soccer? Generally speaking, there's a reason why certain regions are known for certain athletics. Born doing it.

I didn't pick up a board in any serious fashion until I was 18. I needed transportation. It went from there. The guys who had done it since young teenagers had a very different sense of balance and movement. That kind of thing can grow, but nothing takes seed like when really young, when it can become second nature and muscle memory.

As for boarding, when I lived away from home I used to borrow a friend's longboard and loved it; felt more surfy than the shorter variant and I really got into the rhythm, flow and cruise. When home I tentatively ran the idea of purchasing one past SWMBO and was told to 'grow up'. I still don't have a board.

That's the most beautiful thing. It goes through phases. Most sports can't do that. WE can do that as our body ages, but most sports don't adjust to our limitations or needs. My own personal experience has been that when I was younger, it was about tricks and creativity. As I have gotten older, as you put it, it has become about flow. There's no greater feeling to me than slaloming down a hill, smooth and easy carving from one side of the road to the other, wind on the face, eyes closed, and just taking it all in. The vibrations, the air, the relaxing and easy sense of movement. I know it sounds new agey, but you really do connect to everything and yourself in that type of moment and feel free. Longboards are prime for that experience.

 

[Stick]

That's the most beautiful thing.  It goes through phases.  Most sports can't do that.  WE can do that as our body ages, but most sports don't adjust to our limitations or needs.  My own personal experience has been that when I was younger, it was about tricks and creativity.  As I have gotten older, as you put it, it has become about flow.  There's no greater feeling to me than slaloming down a hill, smooth and easy carving from one side of the road to the other, wind on the face, eyes closed, and just taking it all in.  The vibrations, the air, the relaxing and easy sense of movement.  I know it sounds new agey, but you really do connect to everything and yourself in that type of moment and feel free.  Longboards are prime for that experience.

Sounds like we share something there. Other times I've experienced that 'flow state' is getting right over on the rails whilst carving at speed on skis and on flowy single track on my mountain bike. Hard to describe what's going on but you're utterly focussed, in the moment, alive, senses tingling, intrinsically connected to the world, hypnotic.

What I liked about longboarding was the accessibility. Skiing, unless you're fortunate to live near a resort, typically requires a holiday and a fair financial outlay. Boarding, you flip up the garage doors, grab your board and go. Mmm, I can feel a mid-life crisis coming on...