As you watch, he attempts to pop-shuvit onto a sidewalk, producing a "boink" sound that resonates through your room. The boarder spins his deck 180 degrees under his feet, but he doesn’t jump high enough. The board makes a bunch of clacking noises as it gets caught on the curb. Then, when you hope he will just walk away, he starts cursing at his board and at everything around him. You’re thinking to yourself, Boo Hoo, I just want to read my book.
I used to be that person … the one in the room reading the book. I would wonder how skateboarders could have fun “terrorizing” the community. They seemed to always be causing public disturbance and being super emo. That didn’t seem like much fun … Well, it didn't until I went to college and met my roommate Felix. Skateboarding became so cool all of a sudden (being emo still didn't).
Once
upon a time, I was a freshman in college and I had a crazy roommate. I
have him to thank for getting me interested in skateboarding. My
roommate's name was Felix, and he taught me my first trick on a
skateboard.
The trick Felix taught me was the ollie, which is demonstrated in the picture above.
The first time I saw Felix jump with his skateboard, I was amazed. I had never actually seen anyone ollie in real life. Only in videos.
I asked him to show me the trick again. And again...
As I observed closely, it looked as if the board were glued to his feet. How was that possible? I remember my first attempt at the ollie. When I jumped, the board remained on the ground and when I landed back on it, I lost my balance and fell.
Felix was kind enough to explain the ollie to me, but I was dumbfounded by its complexity. The simple trick of jumping on a skateboard involved perfect placement of the body, flawless foot movement, and perfect timing as well. In order to pick the board off the ground, you have to create friction between your shoes and the griptape while you jump.
That day, I made it a goal to eventually learn the ollie. Who knew eventually meant 6 months? Yep, 6 MONTHS of continuous falling, painful wrists, and a nice pair of DC shoes before I finally executed my first successful ollie. This process of learning the most elementary skateboard trick helped me gain a new respect for skateboarders. When I finally performed my first ollie, it was like my life was complete (seriously) and I was really glad I didn’t quit in the process.
After I learned the ollie, I just wanted to learn more and more. A snowball effect started and skateboarding flew to the top of my hobby list. I underestimated how much fun a person could have with a piece of wood and 4 wheels. I literally had to put myself in a skateboarder’s shoes to realize what the big commotion was about.
It’s been 4 years since I learned the ollie, but skateboarding is still my favorite hobby. This blog I’m creating will revolve around skateboarding and the other hobbies i’ve picked up as a result of it (surfing, snowboarding, and kitesurfing). Through the sharing of my experiences and random thoughts, my goal is to get others interested in skateboarding, or to at least see it in a different light. I’m grateful that Felix shared his skateboarding experience with me and hopefully the things I share will benefit others as well.
I’m Shaun Huangmo and I welcome you all to Get Board!
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