They say that surfing is the father of all “extreme sports.” I think it’s true. Conventional sports are an invention. Some dude made a ball and designated a goal. But alternative sports are a reaction to our environment. The first appearance of surfing in the US is credited to Woody Brown who began surfing on plywood in the 1930s. Woody was like, “Hey, let’s play on these waves. I’ve got some wood, let’s try and stand on it and ride the waves.” (not a real quote). He saw his environment in a different way. It is in that spirit that we blade.
I recently went on a surf trip to Rincon, Puerto Rico. Having only stood up on some white water one time previous, it was a risky move. I wasn’t entirely sure if I had the ability to get out past the surf, let alone actually stand up and ride a wave. What I did have was a strong sense of confidence, possibly to a fault. By the third day of surfing I was dropping in on dudes, dragging my hand through the wave and going left (which is apparently harder if you are regular footed). On the other end of the spectrum, I realize why they invented a leash. Having 6-foot waves pound you in the face and hold you underwater is just part of the experience.
Starting something brand new made me realize how long I have been blading. To be a grom again made me appreciate how comfortable I am on blades. I think it’s important for us to get out of our comfort zone once in a while. Do something different — go surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, skiing, all that shit. Fuck it, even play basketball or kickball or some other ball thing. It’s about having fun.
Thank you for this article because it made me realize things I overlooked.
I have been rollin since 1992 starting out on some crazy blue and white “Rollerblade” brand skates that had metal frames, then within a week I was throwing 360’s and crap off of stairs and gaps, well it has been a long road from those days to now, While I was living in Japan for about 7 years, I shattered my femmur free skiing in the mountains of Northern Japan, once I was out of the wheel chair, I picked up a surfboard and put my skates down, never thought I would be able to roll again, so I started surfing. Surfing will heal you, mentally and physically, I then moved to Oahu, Hawaii to just surf, while I was there I ran into an old friend, “a skatepark” and at this park there just so happend to be a roller, watching and wishing I could just skate, I went home and grabed my RB Alpha 1’s and went back to the park, (now this has only been about a year after shatering my femmur 3 inches from my hip, which took 12 hours and a small stroke later to put together) strapped my skates on and dropped in on the bowl, somthing never felt so familiar, like having a childhood best friend come back after dieing, and say whats up. and since this moment I have been back in the game, I also since then moved back to the midwest and started surfing the greatlakes, kiteboarding(which is the heat) and once again rollin as much as I can…. Never give up, never stop progressing, and if you ever doubt that you can do it anymore, I am 33 years old, 2 kids, married, and working full time. I have nerve damage from my stroke from the femmur repair and my left leg is a little shorter then the other, and have about 50k of titanum in my leg. If you doubt, go to the west coast, Hawaii, anywhere with surf, grab a board and paddle out, you will never see yourself the same after your first wave!
Thanks for sharing, Clint. Glad you pulled through and re-discovered your blades!
Thank you so much for this arlcite, it saved me time!
