Skateboarding

"I consider skateboarding an art form, a lifestyle and a sport."
-Tony Hawk

Skateboarding's history is chalk full of culture and the American way of life. It was originally discovered on the west coast, somewhere in California. No one really knows who was the first to create a skateboard. It was a lot of people who got the idea at the same time.

Winters seemed long for the bored surfers. What were they to do when the waves were too cold? They eventually got the idea to attach rollerskate wheels to the bottom of old surf boards. This was eventually know as " sidewalk surfing."

In 1959, the first roller derby skateboard was for sale. This sparked the revolution that is what skateboarding is today. Ever since this skateboarding has never been the same. With constant updates and new technology it only gets better for generations to come (Fry).

This is the ultimate American dream. This sport was first founded in America, along the California coast line. It symbolizes so much more than just getting on the boarding and doing tricks. It symbolizes freedom in the sense that you really can do anything on a skateboard and it can lead you many places. Just like American dreams such as Tony Hawk who has built his whole life around skating. He has become a millionaire from just this sport alone. I just goes to show you that things really can happen if you have the dream and work at it.

The Media and Skating

The media has a lot of influence over skateboarding and is a very powerful tool in popularizing it around the world. There have been songs, video games and even motion pitures produced about skateboarding.

The only song ever written about skateboarding was by a man named Lupe Fiasco. His hit song, "Kick, Push" was released in 2005. This song blew up and opened many gates in the way of skateboarding. There is a museum in Great Britian dedicated just to skateboarding. This shows you just how popular it really has become.

The movie The Lords of the Dogtown is a great movie because it demontrates the skating sulture of the 70's. Not only the you get to see the journey of the famous Zephyr skate team and their roots. The most famous skateboarding video game is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. This is the most popular but with new technology is being challenged. The game SKATE for XBOX 360 is very new and seems to add a fresher look to skating.

Skateboarding Anatomy

Skateboarding has changed over the years. The style, parts and parks have gone through considerable reconstruction. The most original skateboards were made of plastic and clay wheels. Eventually they changed to wooden decks and polyurethane wheels.

There are many different parts to a skateboard. Most people don't realize how complicated a skateboard can be. Some parts include a deck, trucks, hardware, barrings, wheels and griptape. You also need things like wax so you can slide on curbs. The deck is the most complicated part of it all. It is made of different plys that are steamed together. There is a special shape to the deck. If this wasn't so then skaters wouldn't be able to perform the tricks they do(Pan).

Do to the new demand of tricks boards have changed considerably. They used to be flat and used mainly for low ride skateing and pin-point turns. Now they have developed a nose and tail, which are the front and end parts that raise up. This allows for the ollie and this tricks that go with it(Snyder).

Many things can go wrong with a skateboa

The Founding Fathers

(Rich)
There are many people responsible for the popularity of skateboarding today. Not only did they popularize it, but the revolutionized it. The earliest know skaters know to make it popular are the Cali surfers along the West coast.
Skateboarding was born in the 50's. It was not until the 60's that there were any pros or it was evenm popular yet. Skaters like Torger Johnson and Woody Woodward made "freestyle" skating so popular. Then along came the 70's and skateboarding got huge. The Zephyr team sky rocketed skateboarding all across the nation and set the bar very high for generations to come. This team was made up of skateboarding legends, Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. With the 80's, came another style of skating known as vert. The most famous vert skater is non other than, Tony Hawk. Tony is known as the best skater to ever walk this earth. He has his own video games and is a retired "shredder." Possibly one of the biggest revolutions yet happend with the help of a man named Rodney Mullen. He is responsible for the kinds of tricks known as flip tricks. This includes the kickflip, heelflip, and all the variations the go with is. This is known as street skating. There are many famous skaters today. Some of them are Rob Dyrdek, Bam Margera, P.J. Ladd and Mike Mo to name a few.

The Founding Fathers

There are many people who are responsible for the start of skateboarding. Not only the start but also how they have revolutionized and changed it. The ealiest know people to popularize skating are surfers along the Cali coast. They invented and started the whole phenominon.

In the 60's the skateboarding style was know as "freestyle." The men responsible for this kind are pros like Torger Johnson and Woody Woodward. Then toward the 70's the style changed as did the popularity level. The Zephyr skate team sky rocketed skateboarding across the nation. This famous team include the Godfathers, Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacy Peralta. This type of skateboarding also eventually changed when it hit the 80's. This was the time period when vert was introduced. Vert includes halfpipes, quarterpipes, and any sort of big ramps. The man to make this popular is non other than Tony Hawk. He is known as the best skater to ever live. He has his own video games and is now a retired skater.

Rodney Mullen soon after revolutionized skating yet again. When he intoduced the flip trick skateboarding blew up. This kind of skating is know as street. Mullen has won 13 golds in his last 14 competitions and is a master of fliptricks. He invented the kickflip, heelflip, and all the variations that go with it. There are many famous skaters nowadays. Some include Rob Dyrdek, Bam Margera, P.J. Ladd

Where and When Skateboarding

You can find skateboarding all over the nation and even other countries. Skateboarding is more typical down south because of the beautiful weather and nicely paved roads, but is surely moving North. You can skate almost anywhere there is cement. Even cruising around Strongsville you can see stair sets and curbs to grind. The most exciting place to skate is at skateparks with fellow skaters. There are also indoor skateparks which are open year round due to the crappy winter weather.

Skateshops are poping up everywhere across the nation. It is very easy to find a skateboard anywhere. With th enew technology today, You can easily find a board you like online and have it shipped to your house. The more avaliable skateboard are the easier it is.

Vert skateboarding is the most original kind of skating, besides the 60's and 70's "sidwalk surging." It is made up of many different types of ramps and rails, with so many tricks to do. The most famous vert skater of all time is Tony Hawk. He is most famous for landing the first 900 and commiting to the loop. This is more of an airial type of skating that involves a lot of spins an dslides on bigger scale things. This differs a lot from street because it's generally inside. Vert can be things like bowls to power slide in, usually at skate parks.

The more common type of skating is street skating. This is more common because not every teenage skater has some mini ramps, and quarter pipes avalable. So they result to going to the streets and finding new spots. This includes more spots like gaps, stairs, handrails and curbs. The style of skating on street is also very different. When skating this, skaters more commonly do flip tricks and shuves and slso you get less air. Street is definately more common, however vert is the elder of the two.

Skateboarding Citations

Fry,Kathy Editor of SkateLog.com PO Box 12320, Venice Beach, California 90295 USA Email Address: See How to Contact Kathie Fry OTHER WEB SITES BY KATHIE FRY AskAboutSkating.com ScubaDoll.com GmailUsers.com CountriesAndCities
©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company

Ritter, R. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1.
Shaw, James R. "Skateboarding History and Culture." Skateboarding History and Culture. 8 Nov. 2008. EzineArticles.com. 15 Mar 2009 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Skateboarding-History-and-Culture&id=1669227>.