Drawing parallels form Skateboarding, the frontside grind is like the Olli, I thought today... Beginner Skateboarders might kick a kickflip or pop a popshuvit before they can do a nice clean olli and clear an obstacle. The same holds true for jumping on skates before you start spining, flipping and grinding (of course we don't have a 'board tricks' since we're using our bodies). Wile I was giving tips to my brother who just started skating again after over 10 years and is totally new to the Aggressive Style it occurred to me that new Rollerbladers face a similar disciplinary lesson. A new Rollerblader might have an easier time locking in that first soul, makio or as my brother did... Top pornstar. But you'll never really even get on the learning curve until you can put down a decent frontside. Similarly I noticed the same when hanging out with Skateboarders. Once you perfect your Olli you have a strong platform to develop you interest, skill, and style, indeed a platform to become a Skateboarder from, practically at least.

People like to throw the phrase 'learning curve' around. To claim that their is a learning curve to anything and it doesn't all come down to dumb luck implies that getting better at either has a logical progression to it. There are simply some things you need to really grasp well before you can start doing other things and so on. This progresses until the individual reaches a point where they feel more free to be creative, if you will break free of the learning curve. Personally I feel fine with drawing parallels between Skateboarding and Rollerblading as long as we are talking within the realm of learning curves. Like with everything this case is the same similarities should be explored and differences should be celebrated! This is the type of relationship between Skateboarders and Rollerbladers that has been developing, at least as far as I can tell and sometimes thats not saying very much.

Here is a cold hard truth: The most likely reason that Skateboarding gets so much more respect and credit by the general Action Sports community is because that community itself is spoon fed by the mainstream media, for the most part. One must ask the question how 'double Kickflip" is a household term and "True TopSoul" is unheard of to most of the Action Sports Community. They've never seen it, they've never tied it, they haven't even attempted it on the Playstation 3!! Thus, they don't know what it is. No one has seen Professional Rollerladers, let alone know their names and so how can they have an accurate idea or sense for the sport? Lets not begin discussing the culture yet, let the industry and mainstream catch up  on the athleticism first; its more 'accessible'. Finally those who would rather be strictly for or against any one of the two should at least educate themselves in both before they start talking and embarrassing themselves to those who are in the know.

A lot of people from Rollerblading and Skateboarding have moved on past the petty bickering. When I had the above moment of clarity I couldn't stop thinking about it. How some participants in both cultures and the individuals that support them have grown out of the schoolyard jocking for position in the mainstream. Of course skateboarding won that battle and rightfully so, they were here first. The question I kept playing around in my mind with was, although the two culture sports have begun at least to move on can the mainstream?

Which is more difficult

Which looks cooler

Which is more accessible to young kids

Which is more accessible to adults

Which is better?

Personally this makes me fear the future of both within the mainstream. Don't forget that it was not that long ago that all "Action Sports', 'Alternative Sports' or 'Exterme Sports' were shunned by the mainstream completely. If mainstream culture can never envision Rollerbladers without them being heels to the Video Game, music video featured Skaterboarders then perhaps the vision of the mainstream and Skateboarding might eventually skew and force us all to an eternal existance within the underground? Rollerbladers won't be bothered; we've been down here for a long time. Both the mainstream and the Action Sports community has seen to it. What about Skateboarders thou? They have been the ambassadors for the Action Sports community ever since Rollerblade and other companies (and subsequent Teams of Skaters) were forced out of the X-Games. So will the entire Repot between Alternative and Mainstream fall apart all together? Some might say there is too much money at stake. But big money companies are resourceful and will always find something to put under the label of 'Exterme', thus they can spin anything into an 'Exterme Sport' to draw in crowds and sell brands through. Just look at companies like Red Bull, there concern is that their is Adrenaline involved, period. Everything else is peripheral and only earn Kudos for style.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is. Can Skateboardings identity ever exist and be complete without hate towards Rollerbladers, or is hate towards rollerbladers so intricately a part of the culture that it simply can not. Worse, what if it can not exist in the mainstream without the animosity? Using deductive reasoning if Rollerblading ceased to exist then so would skateboarding. Certainly in the eyes of the mainstream and perhaps in the eyes of many participants of skateboarding who would rather hate on a forum about Rollerbladers than watch some skating (inline or otherwise) that would appeal to him/her.

On that note I would like to draw another parallel. In Many lating-based languages like Greek and Spanish rollerblades or inline skates are called "Patinia". A skateboard is a "Patini", on inline skate is also called a 'Patini'. So again, we can reason that you can use skates or a skate (board) to perform the act of skating. That is just what it is, and there is no contesting it. So in the minimalistic sense we are all doing very much the same thing. What we can do with that thing given our chosen tool(s) are very different; form, style, technique. No one can deny the skill involved to perform either or without being labeled naive, or to drive the point home if you like,  a 'poser'.

So to anyone thinking of starting with a pair of Skates or a Skateboard to make their urban environment more stimulating, or to hit their local skate park consider what you would rather do:

Have one instrument with wheels beneath your feet rolling sideways and detached from your body?

or

Have two instruments with wheels beneath each of your feet, rolling forward/backwards and attached to your body?

Without the propaganda and the old hatred.

Written by :

Antihero