What got you into skateboarding?

What made you decide to pick up a board and devote all your time to skateboarding? What was your inspiration? For me; I had aIways been into skateboarding ever since I was eleven years old and seein Michael j.Fox skate sparked my attention even more; I just wish I would have seen Gleamin the cube when I was younger, then It would have been all down hill from there!
But my brother had this old beat up, worn down board that I used to just roll around on cus I didnt know how to push yet. Also, I used to play this MTV skateboarding game, (which is a bit ironic considering how I think MTV is the reason kids decide to skate for the wrong reasons), however, I didnt fully dedicate myself to skateboarding til I was 16 when my friend took me to an Emerica demo, and I remember watching leo romero and bryan herman skate and saw how they did it with ease and so much concentration that it was inspiring to watch.And I observed how all the local skaters acted as a family, jus acted as one. And thats when I knew I wanted to do it for myself, so that very day, I grabbed the same old peice of crap board and learned how to push. And thats the day it all started. :) now lemme hear yours.

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Permalink Reply by cory tate on October 9, 2009 at 10:07pm: mine was with Bob Burnquist
I think it was a year he wasn't really feeling it, Bucky won
Burnquist did just like an ollie to fakie and landed on his ass on the board and just rolled down
burst out laughing, and thats one of the things that still gets me with skateboarding, just watching video parts from certain people, like Koston, Marc Johnson, etc, you can just tell how much fun they were having at that time.
That's what I love=]; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alberto Trevino on October 14, 2009 at 6:11pm: haha yeah i know what your talking about with bob, that stuff is always cool to catch; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amber on November 12, 2009 at 7:23pm: Man, i know, it shows that the professional skateboarders definitely dont think of their "job" as a job. They get up everyday and are happy to go to work!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jeremiah allen on October 10, 2009 at 5:26am: i proboly just thought it was cool back then and one day i bought a thrasher and then just really got into the whole lifestyle and the ideals of skating; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by emilio ramirez escarcega on October 14, 2009 at 6:32pm: because skate is so fucking amazing and because my father also skate whe he was younger; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jordan on October 15, 2009 at 3:39am: i startd sk8in bcuz teh guyz in TV maed it look coolz; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Zahorak on October 15, 2009 at 4:54am: I saw a group of older kids skating once a long time ago. thought it was the coolest motha fuckin thing ive ever seen. Ask if i could try some shit fell in love been skating ever since; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by monkeelino on October 15, 2009 at 6:42am: There were a bunch of toys left at my grandparents' house and my older cousins had left two skateboards: one red and one blue fiberglass nash board about 5" wide each (they were probably from the late '70s; I discovered them in the early '80s). I would try and ride down the hill by my grandparents house and thought it was the greatest feeling. My grandparents let me take the boards home and once I'd worn them out, I went through a few years of department store decks and eventually got a Caballero as my first "real" board (complete with rail guards, nose guards, a tail plate, and possibly even truck guards). I skated pretty steadily until about age 15, then highschool, playing some team sports, and getting a job took up most of my time--I never really lost interest in it, so much as just started doing other things more often (as did most of my friends who I skated with). When I left for college, I left my board (the pink Mike V elephant from Powell) for my little bros. They trashed it beyond rideability by the time I graduated... Skip ahead 12 years and I just happened to be watching some videos by this phenomenal harmonica player (Jason Ricci--he also skates) and he put up a bunch of YouTube videos up of the pros who are still skating now but were the top guys when I was a kid (Gonz, Tony Hawk, Mike V, Rodney Mullen) and I simply said, "Hey, if they're still skatin' there's no reason I shouldn't be." Bought a board and never looked back. My 7 yr.-old son and I do a fair amount of skating together now, which is a lot of fun (except when he expects me to jump a 12-set or something like he's seen P-Rod or Sheckler do on TV). Skating has always been such a fun and freeing experience. It feels good to simply glide over top of things, but I really like the way it changes the way you see the world--even during the 13 years or so I didn't skate, I still looked at the street or buildings like any skater would. Most people see sidewalks and curbs, but skaters see gaps, obstacles to jump over or launch off, transitions to exploit or play upon, and your whole environment becomes a playground. A simple rock on the ground becomes something you can pass or go over in 100s of different ways when you're on a skateboard. Skateboarding just opens up your imagination that way.

It's great hearing everyone's stories.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amber on October 15, 2009 at 12:30pm: Great story, the day I actually got hooked to skateboarding was when I went down a hill too. I didnt even know how to push, barely knew how to stand or turn, but i did it anyway. And it was the most exhilarating, but slighty scariest experience ever, this was after that emerica demo i went to, even tho i saw skateboarders in action, i still hadn't experienced any of it for myself, til that day, and its hard to describe, but i just loved it! It was too good.
Youre a hundred percent right about skateboarders seeing the world differently, thats why theres nothing on earth like skateboarding.; ▶ Reply to This