Old School Skater Style
Real Skaters
In the beginning...
This here is what real skaters are like. Skaters arent punks who go around
with spiked and dyed hair and destroy everything. Real Skaters are those
who love skateboarding for what it is. They dont care about what kind of
image they take on, they only care about skating and thats all. The skater
in this picture here is Tony Alva, with the picture taken by Glenn Friedman.
This picture of Tony was taken way back in 1978, when skateboarding had just
started its rise of popularity. Down below is another picture of old school
skater style. Skaters back then took pride in their style of board, with just
a bent tail with no bent nose like todays style, the huge trucks, and the huge
wheels. The huge wheels were mainly because many skaters back then skater vert
on half pipes and in pools. This old school style is very different from today's
street style. Today's street style is often thought to have started with the
greatest group of skaters ever, called the Bones Brigade. The Bones brigade
consisted of a group of daredevil kids who werent afraid to test the limit of
where they could go with a trick. The first bones brigade consisted of Tony Hawk,
Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, and Tommy Guererro. These 5 skaters
basically started it all with attracting new kids to start skating. They were idols
for many kids, and what helped was that they too were kids. True skateboarding,
along the lines of what they did, was pure fun. It didnt consist of thrashing or
beating rollerbladers. Their idea was just to have fun and test the limits. These guys
made several awesome skater videos with tricks that you'll very rarely see a skater attempt
today.
Many skaters today dont understand the true idea of skateboarding. They try to use
skateboarding as a coverup to their punk lifestyle. Since many people thought that
skaters were outcasts and not real athletes from the start, they started becoming
an out crowd. However, skaters in the 80's were not an outcrowd. They defined what
skateboarding was all about. They built halfpipes and skated them from sunrise till sunset,
and often later. Skaters would cruise the streets looking for someone else who had
built a halfpipe in their yard, looking to skate it. However, as many of these skaters
got older, they decided to give up skateboarding, ending the skating era for awhile.
This is where the outcast idea came in. The few who were left were ridiculed for still
skating. Another group who became ridiculed by society was punks. Well, these two groups
merged and many decided to pick up skateboarding. However, they did not truly understand the
idea of skateboarding. They just tried to use it as an image to set them away from society.
This image allowed them to become outcasts and be different from everyone else. They do not
understand true skateboarding. However, not all of todays skaters have become punks. Many
understand the true calling of a skater and explore the extremes of where they can go. Today's
skaters have evolved the X-games. These games allow the true extreme skaters to show off what
they can do, rather than what they can destroy.
The Makers
The first styles......
This old school skater is showing off his skills, and at the same time, he's
showing off what board he's skating. There were three starters of skateboards:
Powell-Peralta, Santa Cruz, and Vision. All three still exist today and continue to
make awesome boards. Accessories started with brands such as Independant and Venture,
and have evolved into many more today. These first makers of skateboards truly defined the
style of skateboarding. These were the true styles of a skater.
Heres a picture of my friend Brad Hensley attempting to slide a rail at East Chicago Central High
School. Brad started me out skateboarding. The two of us built numerous ramps and rails to skate on
because we kept getting thrown out of places we tried skating at. Brad now wanders the country in his
Volkswagon mini-bus traveling from state to state trying to find something to do. The two of us and a
few other guys attempted a comeback of skateboarding in our hometown, but it didnt last for long. Many
people started skating and have stuck with it since, but many of us have moved on to bigger and better things.
I gave up skateboarding to pursue my high school swimming career. I hope to one day pick it up again if the
chance exists. Brad and I planning on a skating reunion one day with us and our kids, Old School Style! A good
skater is destined to come from one of us.
Any questions or comments can be sent to:
Laneline32@aol.com
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