When I was preparing for this submission (WFSA freestyle article contest) and I asked a couple of people in my class if they knew what freestyle skateboarding was and “to my amazement” hardly anyone more than myself had a faint idea what it was, so with the following paragraph I would briefly like to share some of my thoughts about freestyle skateboarding in general to raise an awareness of freestyle skateboarding throughout the area.
Freestyle skateboarding is both a sport as well as an artform. It is a very expressive form of skateboarding that vividly portraits a person’s attitude and personality in the way they skate. Being a very technical artform freestyle skateboarding needs the full co-operation and co-ordination of the mind and the body for one to express him/herself as strongly as possible. Freestyle skateboarding is an interesting sport since what is mostly valued are not the manoeuvres and tricks that are performed but the artistry and imagination behind each movement. The brilliance with freestyle skateboarding is that anything goes, from standing on your head to balancing the board on your nose if you wish to do so, the possibilities are infinite. Some may think that there has to be something that can’t possibly be done, but who knows what will be humanly possible in the next 50 years?
The previous couple of thoughts reminded me of an incident that occurred quite some time ago when it was said to be impossible for someone to run 1.6km ( 1 English mile) in less than 4 minutes. This was without question accepted by the public and no one ever thought twice about that it actually might be possible for someone to complete the full circuit in under 4 min. The day Roger Bannister completed the course in under 4 min. (3.59.4 to be exact) he proved many tunnel visioned people and scientists wrong, thus breaking the barrier that held the human mentality and physique back from progression.
Freestyle skateboarding, as I see it, has always been about pushing our mental and physical limits to make something new, exciting and enjoyable for everyone. That’s what makes it such a unique sport because there are no limits, since in the near future people will become both stronger, faster and more intelligent. And believe it or not there will come a time when advanced tricks like the 900 will be considered as novice moves…..For every person that walks this earth there is one thing that drives them so compellingly that they would not be able to function properly without it, for me that’s skateboarding.
