Tony Hawk

The Story of Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk Profile

By Steve Cave, About.com Guide

Tony Hawk at X Games 2002

Tony Hawk Photographer: Shazamm/ESPN

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Tony Hawk Basic Bio Information:

• Name: Tony Hawk
• Gender: Male
• Hometown: San Diego, California
• Date of Birth: May 12, 1968
• Family: 3 children - Riley, Spencer & Keegan
• Occupation: Launcher of the Boom Boom Huck Jam, Tony Hawk Foundation, Hawk clothing, Birdhouse, and featured in Tony Hawk video game series
• Began Skating: 1977
• First Sponsored: 1980
• Turned Pro: 1982
• Favored Discipline: Vert
• Stance: Goofy
• Tony Hawk is retired from competing

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Style and Strengths:

Tony Hawk is harder on himself than anyone else ever could be. This drive is seen in Tony Hawk's skateboarding style - he is original and relentless. He has a monsterous list of skateboarding tricks invented, a huge stack of trophies and gold medals, and is easily the most recognisable name in skateboarding. Tony Hawk has never settled for anything but his best, and his best skateboarding has earned him the position at the top.

Tony Hawk Favorite / Signature Skateboarding Tricks:

Tony Hawk's favorite trick is the 540, with his favorite variation being the Mute.

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Tricks Invented (partial list):

• Backside Varial
• Shove-It Rock'n Roll
• Fakie-to-fronside rock
• Ollie-To-Indy
• Fingerflip Backside Air
• Varial Gay Twist
• Gymnast Plant
• Frontside 540-rodeo Flip
• Lipslide Revert
• Airwalk (vert)
• Airwalk-To-Fakie
• Madonna
• Saran Wrap
• Stale Fish
• 720
• Backside Ollie-to-Tail
• Indy 540
• Frontside Gay Twist
• Nose Grind
• Backside Pop Shove-it
• 360 Frontside Rock n' Roll
• Frontside Cab
• Stale Fish 540
• Eggplant-To-Fakie
• 1/2 Elguerial
• Frontside Hurricane
• Cab Shove-It
• 360 Varial-to-Fakie
• Backside Rewind Grind
• Ollie 540

Backside Ollie One-Foot

Varial 540

Frontside Blunt

Cab-To-Tail

360 Varial Disaster

Heelflip Varial Lien

Frontside Noseslide

Switch Indy Air

Switch Backside Ollie

540 Board Varial

Kickflip Mctwist

Cab Lipslide

Heelflip Varial Lien Revert

Heelflip Slob Air

Stale Fish 720

Varial 720

900

Frontside Stale Fish 540

Shove-it-to-Backside Smith

360 Varial Mctwist

Shove-it Fakie Feeble Grind

360 Shove-it Nose Grind

1/2 Cab Frontside Hurricane-to-Fakie

Shove-it-to-Fakie Frontside 5-0

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Career Highlights:

1982 - Joined the legendary Bones Brigade team
1989 - Featured in Gleaming the Cube movie starring Christian Slater
1999 - Activision releases Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the first in a long line of successful video games
1999 - X Games 4 - Tony Hawk lands the first 900
2003 - featured in the 300th episode of The Simpsons
2003 - wrote HAWK -- Occupation: skateboarder , a New York Times Best Seller
Life - Tony Hawk has entered about 103 skateboarding competitions. He has won 73, and taken second in 19

Tony Hawk Personal History:

Tony Hawk was a troubled kid. He would push himself to do well in everything - in fact, to do better than he possibly could do, and then get angry with himself for failing. His parents had him psychologically evaluated, and discovered that he was "gifted". His older brother Steve gave him a skateboard, and Tony found something that he could focus on, and get good at. He would still push himself relentlessly, which helped propel him to be the world's most recognizable skateboarder today.

Tony Hawk Interesting Fact:

Tony Hawk had his first film debut in the 1989 movie, Gleaming the Cube - the first feature film to use skateboarding as a major theme. The movie stars Christian Slater, with Tony playing Christian Slater's friend, Buddy. Mike McGill does all of Slater's skateboarding, Rodney Mullen is seen skateboarding during the opening credits, and Stacey Peralta did all of the film's skateboarding directing.

Tony Hawk Quote:

From the Tony Hawk Website - "I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. I mean, I never thought that I could make a career out of skateboarding."

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Skateboarding

Best Cheap Skateboarder Gifts

Skateboarder Gift Guide

By Steve Cave, About.com Guide

Cheap Skateboarding Gifts Under $10 Top 10 Buyers Guide - for stocking stuffers or extra Christmas gifts to add to the pile, or even for birthday presents that won't break your bank, this list of the top 10 skateboarding gifts under $10 should give you some great ideas. Links are provided to online skateboarding shops where you can buy these, but I recommend asking at your own local skate shop - you will save money in shipping, and be able to see what you are getting!

If you are looking for even CHEAPER gift ideas, check out Gifts for Under $1!

1. Tech Deck Fingerboards and Toys

Tech Deck

Tech Deck fingerboards are little toy skateboards that have real skate company brands and graphics on them. When people are really good at Tech Deck, they can do all kinds of finger tricks with their Teck Deck skateboards. You can also take your board apart, swap parts, and even tighten or loosen the trucks. For the toy side of it, you can get all kinds of Teck Deck related stuff like figures to put on the boards, small plastic skateparks, and all kinds of other stuff. So if your skater is a kid, some of these toys might make great gifts. And if you skater is a big kid (say, 13 to 35), getting him or her a Tech Deck board from a brand that they like is a great, small, simple gift. They are available in most toy sections and stores.

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2. Skateboarding Stickers - a dollar or two each

Skateboarding stickers are always a good idea - the trick is to get stickers that your skateboarder will like! Take a look at the clothing he or she wears, their skateboard, and take note of whatever brand names you see - and get stickers for those brands! Also, you can ask if your skateboarder has a favorite pro skater, and get stickers with the pro's name on them. Stopping by your local skateboarding shop is a great idea for these, so you can pick out the right stickers. They usually run a few dollars a piece. You can also buy sticker packs online.

3. Skateboarding Wax - usually about $4

Shortys Wax

This might not sound too exciting, but skateboarding wax is always useful, and gets used up quick. Skateboarding wax is used on rails, ledges and curbs to help skateboarders grind and slide easier and more safely. Wax comes in all kinds of shapes and colors - just like with the stickers, find out what brands your skateboarder likes and pick up some wax that matches. Or, ask at your local shop what they have that they would recommend. Or just buy Zero or Element wax - most skaters like those brands well enough!!

4. Skate Tool - about $10

Skate Tool

If your skater is using tools from the garage to work on his or her skateboard, then a skate tool is a perfect gift! There are loads of skate tools out there, and most will work just fine - but first, check the trucks (axle) on your skater's board. If the trucks are Grind King brand (the logo says GK), then you will need a Grind King brand tool. Otherwise, any old skateboarding tool will work - in my opinion, the best are the ones that fold up to fit in your pocket (but they can be closer to $15).

5. Skateboard Brand Wallet - from $10

DC Shoe Co USA

Skateboard brand wallets are often a good idea - especially since wallets get worn out so quick. You can find some skater brand wallets for around $10 US, but often they run closer to $15 or even $20. Your local skateboarding shop should have a good selection of skater brand wallets to choose from, but if you want to shop online, a good place is CCS. Like usual, you should try and make sure you get a brand that your skater thinks is cool!

6. Skateboard Hangar - $8

Skateboard Hangar

While not the most exciting gift, it's a cool idea and gets that board off the ground and out of the way! Skateboard Hangars are metal racks that let you hang up a skateboard on the wall, in a closet, or anywhere you'd like - only $5.99.

7. Wrist Bands - from $7

Zero Skateboards

Punk style skateboarding brand wrist brands can be a great cheap gift idea. Like usual, the trick is to know what brands to buy. Zero's skull bands are often a good choice, but there are plenty others out there.

8. Rob Dyrdek's Wild Grinders Toys - $8

Rob Dyrdek's Wild Grinders

Rob Dyrdek's Wild Grinders are a toy line featuring a cartoon-style Rob Dyrdek ("Lil Rob"), his dog Meaty, Jay Jay, Spitball, Emo Crys and several other skaters. The figures look great and fun, are poseable and great for kids (or older fans of Rob Dryrdek and his dog!). The toys are basically fingerboards that come with a figures, plus there are skate ramp playsets.

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9. Tail Devil Spark Plate - $8 or $9

Tail Devil

This is a plate that attaches to the tail of the skateboard. When the tail drags, it creates sparks. It can look cool, is fun, and not too expensive. The Tail Devil Spark Plate doesn't actually help with skateboarding - in fact, it makes it harder to do a lot of stuff! But for goofing around and showing off, it's a great gift idea.

10. Skateboarding Gift Card

The easiest gift in the world to give! Walk down to your local skateboarding shop, and get a $10 gift card! There are plenty of things that your skater will need to buy over the next year, and it's hard to know what those things will be. But with an extra $10 toward new wheels, griptape, a new deck, bearings - whatever - your favorite skater will be happy to get the help! Or, he or she can blow the $10 on stickers, a wallet, or anything else in this list! Most skateboarding shops will give you a gift certificate - they would be foolish not to! You can also get gift cards for online stores.

11. Skateboard Clothing

Schtank Skateboard T-shirts and beanies! Very cool gifts for the cool hip skateboarder in your family. Only $20 each!

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History of Skateboarding

The History of Skateboarding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1940s–1960s

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in California wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board; it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood – similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as "Sidewalk Surfing".

A skateboarder in Tallahassee, Florida

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were borne of a similar concept, with the exception of having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars.^[4]

A number of surfing manufacturers such as Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by 1966 the sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s.^[4][5]

The 1970s

In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane, calling his company Cadillac Wheels.^[4] Prior to this new material, skateboards wheels were metal or "clay" wheels. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel's release in 1972 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Nasworthy commissioned artist Jim Evans to do a series of paintings promoting Cadillac Wheels, they were featured as ads and posters in the resurrected Skateborder magazine, and proved immensely popular in promoting the new style of skateboarding. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) specially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by Tracker Trucks. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches (250 mm) and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. Banana board is a term used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like fiberglass and aluminium, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the Z-Boys (so-called because of their local Zephyr surf shop) started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by Norcon,then more successfully by Rector) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks.

As a result of the "vert" skating movement, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again declined in popularity.^[5]

The 1980s

This period was fueled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in Florida in 1976^[6] and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people could not afford to build vert ramps or did not have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity.

Theatrical One Sheet courtesy of director

Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as Rodney Mullen inventing many of the basic tricks of modern street skating such as the Impossible and the kickflip. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centers and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property.^{[citation needed]} By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

The 1990s–present

The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness (durometer) approximately 99A. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheel's inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s.

Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by a group of skateboarding companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21.

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Street League Skateboarding Kansas City finals

Nyjah Huston Edges Out Chris Cole on Final Trick inKC!

June 12, 2011

NYJAH HUSTON MAKES HISTORY BY WINNING STREET LEAGUE
DC PRO TOUR FUELED BY MONSTER ENERGY STOP TWO FINALS.

Nyjah Huston Edges Out Four-Way Shootout in the Big Section on Final Attempt

Kansas City, MO. (June 12, 2011) – This weekend a crowd of over 15,000 filled Kansas City’s Sprint Center for the second stop of the 2011 Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy (SLS). Fans witnessed the world’s best skateboarders who battled it out for the top prize worth $150,000. Winner of the first SLS stop in Seattle, Nyjah Huston, came from behind to make Street League history by winning his second consecutive SLS contest and walking away with now two first place purses totaling $300,000.

Fans were on the edge of their seats during the last section of the finals as Huston, Chris Cole, Chaz Ortiz and Kansas City’s own, Sean Malto, were neck to neck for the top spot. In the end Nyjah Huston landed a huge Nollie Inward Heel Flip off the top of the Big Section on his last try to take the top spot. Huston ended up with an overall Finals score of 72.6. While Cole came in second with an overall finals score of 67.1 followed by Ortiz rounded out the top three with a 63.8. Home town hero, Malto, took home forth place overall with 63.4 points and some of the most consistent skating of anyone in the contest.

Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy Final Results – Stop 2

RANK NAME SCORE
1 Nyjah Huston 72.6
2 Chris Cole 67.1
3 Chaz Ortiz 63.8
4 Sean Malto 63.4
5 Ryan Sheckler 61.8
6 Torey Pudwill 57.2
7 Mikey Taylor 21.9
8 Billy Marks 20.1
9 Paul Rodriguez 7.4
10 Shane O’Neill 6.8

“I’m just super happy I was able to win two stops in a row!” said Huston. “Street League is by far the best skating contest ever and looking forward to the next stop in Glendale.”

“The excitement in Kansas City was incredible today” said Rob Dyrdek, Street League Founder. “Hometown hero, Sean Malto had an unbelievable comeback after his injury and Chris Cole was only a trick away, but ultimately Nyjah Huston refused to lose!”

Street League pros pulled no punches throughout the Stop Two Finals, landing innovative and technical tricks to avoid elimination. In the Technical Section, Mikey Taylor rolled away from an amazing Switch Frontside 180 to Frontside Feeble Grind down the handrail on his last attempt to jump ahead of Paul Rodriguez and Shane O’Neill. In the Line Section, Billy Marks put together one of the best lines of the contest with a Double Kick Flip down the stairs followed by an incredible Triple Kick Flip over the flat gap. Although Marks’ line just wasn’t quite enough to get him to the Big Section as he and Taylor were eliminated.

Another crowd pleaser was Ryan Sheckler, who won the last remaining spot in the Stop Two Finals during the Make Your Own Luck Last Chance Qualifier that was held immediately prior to Sunday’s Finals. Sheckler landed a Caballerial Kick Flip in the Big Section for 9.4 points. He went on to place fifth overall with 61.8 points and took home the Monster Energy Best Trick Award worth $15,000 for landing highest scoring trick of the day.

Huston was not the only pro with consecutive wins as collectively the 24 SLS pros voted a second time for Billy Marks to win the Zumiez 24-7 Award worth $7,000. After the finals, all the skaters had one more chance to skate in the Wonka Free Ride for a chance at $10,000. Tommy Sandoval, Torey Pudwill, Nyjah Huston & Billy Marks all skated solid, but it was Chris Cole who ended up with the prize, doing amazing tricks all over the course including a Backside 360 to Backside Nose Slide on the bump to hubba ledge.

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Street League Skateboarding Kansas City finals today

Street league Kansas City Finals - today on Espn2!

RANK	NAME	SCORE
1	Nyjah Huston	101.3
2	Chris Cole	89.1
3	Sean Malto	80.5
4	Torey Pudwill	75.5
5	Shane O’Neill	73.6
6	Chaz Ortiz	73.3
7	Paul Rodriguez	71.8
8	Mikey Taylor	56.0
9	Billy Marks	54.2

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Skateboarding

Skateboarding in The USA!!

Definition

Skateboarding is when one rides and performs tricks with the aid of skateboard. It is an activity which is very popular to youth nowadays. It could be used as an art, job, entertainment and even means of transportation. The one who rides, uses and performs with skateboard is called skateboarder or skater. Skateboarding has made some changes and adapted influenced caused by many skateboarders or skaters through the years. Over millions of people have been into skateboarding nowadays and most of these skateboarders are male. As mentioned, there have been changes made in skateboarding. Alan Ollie Gelfand who is also skateboarder or skater has developed the key skateboarding maneuver. Rodney Mullen was the very first skateboarder to take skateboarding into flat ground and invented the kickflip.

Skateboarding

History

Most probably skateboarding was born between 1940 or 1950. It was created when those surfers in California desire to surf on flat ground. However, no one knows exactly who invented the first skateboard. The first skateboard begins with wooden board with roller wheels at the bottom of it. These boxes then turned into planks and finally were produced from pressed layers of wood. Skateboarding is more likely referred to as sidewalk surfing. The popularity of skateboarding soar on 1950’s until the first years of 1960’s and almost million of skateboards were sold worldwide. However on the 1966, the popularity has drastically dropped causing skateboard magazine to close and other skateboard factories being bankrupt.

Development of Skateboarding

The skateboard began to change from skateparks and ramp skating. With the development of skateparks and ramp skating, the skateboard started to change. Skate tricks ranges from simple to complicated ones and only those professionals on this field can perform those complicated ones hence experience really matters. Some of the skate tricks include riding on only two wheels, spinning only on the back wheels, high jumping and landing on the board again, long jumping from one board to another and a lot more. In early 1970’s, skateboarding were influenced and changed due to the invention of the ollie. In 1982, Ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen. He invented the Magic Flip which was later renamed the kickflip. The flat ground Ollie invented by Mullen allowed skateboarders to do tricks in mid-air without any need for additional equipment hence only skateboard is needed. These were later adapted on street skating.

Other uses of Skateboarding

Aside from entertainment, skateboarding is also used as form of transportation which was later associated to longboard. However, other countries may not allow skateboarding as form of transportation hence this greatly depend on local laws. These countries allowing skateboarding transportation uses skateboard as other means or alternative to vehicles and with it they can prevent air pollution which is produced by vehicles. Indeed, skateboarding as means of transportation can help in preserving the cleanliness and freshness of the air since it is environment friendly. Moreover, it promotes healthy body since riding such would let riders exercise. Hence, skater would have fun at the same time be fit.

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