Rodney Mullen is the godfather of the skateboarding world. At 10 years old, in 1977, he got interested in skating after seeing some of his friends riding what is called a skateboard. He won his first championship in 1979 and won his first world championship in 1981. Pretty amazing, huh?
Rodney Mullen speaks more about the reality of skateboarding. He explains that skateboarding evolves from an ollie created in a style of skating called Freestyle.
An ollie is when you and the board jump in the air to make it look like the board is glued to your feet. The ollie in Freestyle skating was the start of what we know today. This style of skating was Rodney's bread and butter. Soon enough, another style of skating came around called Street Skating. Street Skating is riding off any street terrain, such as stairs or a loading-dock ledge. Soon Rodney combined the two to make street skating more unique. Rodney further explains how his flips and spins in Freestyle skating fell over to Street Skating.
Rodney shows some clips from 1990-2000 of him being the only one doing flip tricks off of a handrail, and spins off of a curb. People were stunned to see this unique pattern of skating, it was like they were in a daze. People soon fed off of Rodney's uniqueness and that what made the skater community. Skateboarding in general is like a big family. No matter what style off skating people do everyone supports each other, and in a way that is fascinating. Rodney explains, "The point of skating is not to win, but to be the best you can be, while still having fun with it."
I can relate to what Rodney is saying because through my middle school years I enjoyed skating. I first learned the building block trick, the Ollie. I was so excited because I knew that there was more to come. Skateboarding really keep me and all my friends out of trouble. My idea of skateboarding was to have fun with friends and connect to my friends on another level. I like how Rodney expressed that the point of skating was having fun and not having a coach to tell you how to achieve something.
Rodney Mullen speaks more about the reality of skateboarding. He explains that skateboarding evolves from an ollie created in a style of skating called Freestyle.
An ollie is when you and the board jump in the air to make it look like the board is glued to your feet. The ollie in Freestyle skating was the start of what we know today. This style of skating was Rodney's bread and butter. Soon enough, another style of skating came around called Street Skating. Street Skating is riding off any street terrain, such as stairs or a loading-dock ledge. Soon Rodney combined the two to make street skating more unique. Rodney further explains how his flips and spins in Freestyle skating fell over to Street Skating.
Rodney shows some clips from 1990-2000 of him being the only one doing flip tricks off of a handrail, and spins off of a curb. People were stunned to see this unique pattern of skating, it was like they were in a daze. People soon fed off of Rodney's uniqueness and that what made the skater community. Skateboarding in general is like a big family. No matter what style off skating people do everyone supports each other, and in a way that is fascinating. Rodney explains, "The point of skating is not to win, but to be the best you can be, while still having fun with it."
I can relate to what Rodney is saying because through my middle school years I enjoyed skating. I first learned the building block trick, the Ollie. I was so excited because I knew that there was more to come. Skateboarding really keep me and all my friends out of trouble. My idea of skateboarding was to have fun with friends and connect to my friends on another level. I like how Rodney expressed that the point of skating was having fun and not having a coach to tell you how to achieve something.