The role of rules and judgement in skateboarding.

[IpathCats]

would you just take it easy, man?

STFU DONG-y (Reference, not an attack).

[IpathCats]

the "rules" are for footage, not for fun and there are exceptions to almost everyone

If a tail scrapes on a manny, but a camera isn't on to catch it, did it really make a sound?

[IpathCats]

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There's always some nuance involved when talking about things like this. I don't expect kids to be skating fast and only doing "legal" tricks lol. I was a kid once too, doing stinkbug flyouts at my local, and I'm not gonna fault a kid for doing that. At a certain point though, if you just keep doing that forever, and you're the 30year old dude at the park doing flyouts all day, you're a kook right? Or am I totally missing the mark here? I guess this is where the whole is skateboarding art or a sport conversation stems from. And I guess I'd have to say both, and it's kind of a spectrum that ranges from fancy lad (art) to Shane o'neill/nyjah (sport).

[close]

I mean, "it is what it is" so people just skate how they do and fall somewhere within that range, regardless of what they're doing. Unless it's strictly for transportation, which always just means the same as a longboard - never had the discipline to pop/flip their board.

If he's having fun and not being a dickhead, what's so horrible about him skating the way he does (unless he's "sponsored" and has a huge ego?). I was watching a dude with grey hair do some flyouts. It was okay. If we're talking about judgement, there's way worse shit in skating - at least he's not Collin Provost putting out consecutive boring parts.

skunty and fs180 are right, despite there being a fundamental need for regulation, a lot skaters in general are vain bullies in that snarky way. Dudes are getting sweaty and doing athletic shit, even if they skate artfully. People don't like each other. Pointless pride on the line. Attachment to territory and its history through interaction and delusional entitlement at times. Add surf jock mentality to the mix from root and it does make sense. Things that make sense aren't always so nice I guess, skating being one of them. Or something like that. Sorry for ranting.

No apologies necessary, this whole thread is a rant, or at least a series of rants trying to be a discussion. It's not like the person would be "so horrible" for skating like that, they'd just be kinda kooking it. It's not like I think there's no place in the world for people like that, or they don't have a right to skate how they want, but there's definitely levels to this shit, and flyouts mcgee is on a pretty kooky level. And again, I'm not hating on anyone for being bad at skateboarding, I'm no pro. But when I learn a trick, I try to do it faster, cleaner, better the next time. Improving in that way is fun, but I also cruise around plenty and just pop ollie's. I don't want people to think "if you're not doing these specific tricks you're not skateboarding". But at the same time, when you see someone doing it right you know they're doing it right. Regardless of the difficulty or selection of tricks.

[fs180]

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there are rules in skateboarding. 70 percent of skateboarders are bullys. you need to watch what tricks you do or else they wont think you are good and wont say hi to you or even try to have a conversation.
id be lying if id say i would love to hang out with a guy that skate like jason park. hes an idiot.
but also i say hi to everyone except idiots. mostly assholes that are better than me but also cocky.

i also fucking hate when skateboarders say"we see the world diffrently" you ever thought about the architects building those things we skate you idiot?

[close]

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wow, this is the last time im using this site.

Blah blah blah

go fuck yourself everyone

[close]

That didn’t take long

im highly addicted to the internet. also i was suprised how many were bashing those creepy dudes talking about joslins child. seems like some of yall are pretty good people i gueess

[fs180]

if you take it literal you could use your skateboard and just smash it on your head or use it as a spoon for your soup or try to roll on it upside down or glue it on your chest or beat up a young baby with it or rub your body with oil and do a sexy photo shooting with it

skateboarding has no rules

[IpathCats]

if you take it literal you could use your skateboard and just smash it on your head or use it as a spoon for your soup or try to roll on it upside down or glue it on your chest

skateboarding has no rules

I'd watch that. But I wouldn't consider it proper skateboarding. If I shoved a baseball in my ass I wouldn't count on getting drafted by the Yankees.

[os89]

Skate or die! Hellride!

[TheFandangler]

I think the "no rules" part of skateboarding means that you can actually skate any way you want to. There are no rules like there are in organized sports. No referee, no rulebook. If you want to be the person at the park doing flyout stinkbugs, go for it. If you want to be the person doing a freestyle routine at my curb spot, go for it. Hell if you want to cruise your longboard down the street, go for it. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Nor does anyone else. I'm sure lots of people don't like my style or tricks or attitude or fuck knows what else.

Just because what seems like the majority of a group of people likely don't agree with a decision of yours does not make you unable to act on that decision. Rules are meant to prohibit actions.

No rules means do whatever the fuck you want on your skateboard. There is no one stopping you from doing that. Just don't expect people to necessarily like it.

[IpathCats]

I think the "no rules" part of skateboarding means that you can actually skate any way you want to. There are no rules like there are in organized sports. No referee, no rulebook. If you want to be the person at the park doing flyout stinkbugs, go for it. If you want to be the person doing a freestyle routine at my curb spot, go for it. Hell if you want to cruise your longboard down the street, go for it. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Nor does anyone else. I'm sure lots of people don't like my style or tricks or attitude or fuck knows what else.

Just because what seems like the majority of a group of people likely don't agree with a decision of yours does not make you unable to act on that decision. Rules are meant to prohibit actions.

No rules means do whatever the fuck you want on your skateboard. There is no one stopping you from doing that. Just don't expect people to necessarily like it.

In a literal sense, yeah I get that. That's why I added the "and judgement" part to the title. Because it's more than that.

[chrisskates808]

just have fun

[Sandygoat]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[IpathCats]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

[friendly dave]

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if you take it literal you could use your skateboard and just smash it on your head or use it as a spoon for your soup or try to roll on it upside down or glue it on your chest

skateboarding has no rules

[close]

I'd watch that. But I wouldn't consider it proper skateboarding. If I shoved a baseball  softball in my ass I wouldn't count on getting drafted by the Yankees.

[Sandygoat]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[close]

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

It seems that there is not that many male rollerbladers. IDK maybe because the genders have changed skaters ( teenage males) have started to change their opinions on them.

[SatanicPanic]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

How do you know this?

Because I was a skater in the 90s and I paid attention to things that were happening

[mattdlx]

Props to the Safety Dance poster, but I’d like to change “check out your hands” to “check out these pants”

[IpathCats]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

How do you know this?

[close]

Because I was a skater in the 90s and I paid attention to things that were happening

So was I, and I had no idea that's why they went away. I just assumed most of them got wise to how lame it was.

[dooley]

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There's always some nuance involved when talking about things like this. I don't expect kids to be skating fast and only doing "legal" tricks lol. I was a kid once too, doing stinkbug flyouts at my local, and I'm not gonna fault a kid for doing that. At a certain point though, if you just keep doing that forever, and you're the 30year old dude at the park doing flyouts all day, you're a kook right? Or am I totally missing the mark here? I guess this is where the whole is skateboarding art or a sport conversation stems from. And I guess I'd have to say both, and it's kind of a spectrum that ranges from fancy lad (art) to Shane o'neill/nyjah (sport).

[close]

I mean, "it is what it is" so people just skate how they do and fall somewhere within that range, regardless of what they're doing. Unless it's strictly for transportation, which always just means the same as a longboard - never had the discipline to pop/flip their board.

If he's having fun and not being a dickhead, what's so horrible about him skating the way he does (unless he's "sponsored" and has a huge ego?). I was watching a dude with grey hair do some flyouts. It was okay. If we're talking about judgement, there's way worse shit in skating - at least he's not Collin Provost putting out consecutive boring parts.

skunty and fs180 are right, despite there being a fundamental need for regulation, a lot skaters in general are vain bullies in that snarky way. Dudes are getting sweaty and doing athletic shit, even if they skate artfully. People don't like each other. Pointless pride on the line. Attachment to territory and its history through interaction and delusional entitlement at times. Add surf jock mentality to the mix from root and it does make sense. Things that make sense aren't always so nice I guess, skating being one of them. Or something like that. Sorry for ranting.

[close]

No apologies necessary, this whole thread is a rant, or at least a series of rants trying to be a discussion. It's not like the person would be "so horrible" for skating like that, they'd just be kinda kooking it. It's not like I think there's no place in the world for people like that, or they don't have a right to skate how they want, but there's definitely levels to this shit, and flyouts mcgee is on a pretty kooky level. And again, I'm not hating on anyone for being bad at skateboarding, I'm no pro. But when I learn a trick, I try to do it faster, cleaner, better the next time. Improving in that way is fun, but I also cruise around plenty and just pop ollie's. I don't want people to think "if you're not doing these specific tricks you're not skateboarding". But at the same time, when you see someone doing it right you know they're doing it right. Regardless of the difficulty or selection of tricks.

Of course I agree with that. Seeing someone in a helmet pushing mongo with padded gloves is as much heartbreaking as it is comical, in the sense of instinctive, non-malicious ridicule out of care for skateboarding (if not them as well). I'm not spectacular or anything either, just probably won't be bothered unless it's intrusive. Falling tree manny joke got me good.

*But seriously, everyone judges everyone. If someone says they don't, they're full of shit. The whole "every skater is family" thing is a horrible fallacy and shared spaces can be frustrating.

[SatanicPanic]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

How do you know this?

[close]

Because I was a skater in the 90s and I paid attention to things that were happening

[close]

So was I, and I had no idea that's why they went away. I just assumed most of them got wise to how lame it was.

It was only lame because some jerks decided it was. In the end we’re all rolling around on wheels for fun. We just went way overboard calling them gay and it wasn’t cool. I haven’t interviewed them or done a poll but I can’t imagine why else it stopped being popular.

[chrisskates808]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[close]

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

Lots of rollerblades in my local skatepark lately

[IpathCats]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[close]

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

[close]

Lots of rollerblades in my local skatepark lately

Ask them about the great roller blader die off in the late 90's. Also ask them if there are any rules and judgement norms in rollerblading. Also ask them who they call gay and make fun of.

[chrisskates808]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[close]

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

[close]

Lots of rollerblades in my local skatepark lately

[close]

Ask them about the great roller blader die off in the late 90's. Also ask them if there are any rules and judgement norms in rollerblading. Also ask them who they call gay and make fun of.

haha just about couple weeks ago, there were 20 rollerblades in the park taking up the whole park

[Hoeboi]

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I feel that any rules tied to the actual act of skateboarding are mostly arbitrary and could be subject to debate such as what tricks are respected as “real tricks” and what tricks may be considered “illegal”.

As far as having park/spot etiquette, I think that has less to do with the “rules of skateboarding” and more to do with not being an unaware dumbass in general. Unfortunately skateboarding does seem to be overrun with these unaware dumbasses lately. Sometimes going to a skatepark in 2020 brings out the absolute worst in me.

[close]

Lol @ "illegal" tricks. Personally I'm not that black and white about it, you can do whatever trick you want. Just don't expect me to be as stoked on your flatground bonelesses as I am a properly executed fs flip. Some of the not being a dumbass stuff is unique to skateboarding, that's why I mentioned it. You're definitely right about the feelings one can have while going to a skatepark in 2020. I was a kook at first too, but damn at least I listened to the older dudes when they yelled at me.
Edit: grammar

dude you're still a fuckin kook

[Featherdale wildlife park]

IMO skateboarding is a lot like music or art when it comes to application of the rules. You first need to learn the rules, only then can you learn how to break them properly.

As far as judgement goes that’s more a matter of preference/perspective.

[IpathCats]

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I feel that any rules tied to the actual act of skateboarding are mostly arbitrary and could be subject to debate such as what tricks are respected as “real tricks” and what tricks may be considered “illegal”.

As far as having park/spot etiquette, I think that has less to do with the “rules of skateboarding” and more to do with not being an unaware dumbass in general. Unfortunately skateboarding does seem to be overrun with these unaware dumbasses lately. Sometimes going to a skatepark in 2020 brings out the absolute worst in me.

[close]

Lol @ "illegal" tricks. Personally I'm not that black and white about it, you can do whatever trick you want. Just don't expect me to be as stoked on your flatground bonelesses as I am a properly executed fs flip. Some of the not being a dumbass stuff is unique to skateboarding, that's why I mentioned it. You're definitely right about the feelings one can have while going to a skatepark in 2020. I was a kook at first too, but damn at least I listened to the older dudes when they yelled at me.
Edit: grammar

[close]

dude you're still a fuckin kook

Me? I'm tight as fuck

[HombreezysShittyPasta]

Should I sell pasta out of a bag attached to my bike at my local, or is that considered kooky? I'm thinking turtleloni alfredo and gummi bears

[Double Thick Filbert]

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The judgement is an essential part of advancing and sustaining the culture.

With out it, people like jeffwonsong would be on the Thrasher cover and the culture would slowly die, much like blading did.

[close]

Blading died because people were gatekeeping dicks.

[close]

honest question where do people go to like learn how to rollerblade?

Every single rollerblader I see that shows up to the skatepark fucking rips. I don't know if anything they do is like actually super difficult in terms of rollerblading but they always skate fast as fuck grind so far and do like crazy spins and shit in the air without falling. I've never seen like a clearly learning/beginner rollerblader at a park.

[close]

Went to a park this weekend it was first time and there was a group of rollerbladers. It seemed like a acrobatics course skating tranny. I think the beginners stay at the roller rinks and stick there till they think they good enough to hit the parks. Not to mention a roller skating only needs pavement to learn alot of the stuff ( except tranny) unlike skating ( grinds, tranny). Also skateparks are seen as places to learn because there are other skateboarders so I guess the roller rinks are like that but for rollerbladers.

[close]

Back in the day, I would definitely hate on a rollerblader. They're still lame as hell, but when I see one now, I'm intrigued more than anything.

[close]

Lots of rollerblades in my local skatepark lately

[close]

Ask them about the great roller blader die off in the late 90's. Also ask them if there are any rules and judgement norms in rollerblading. Also ask them who they call gay and make fun of.

The judgement and cultural gatekeeping does limit individuality but it is essential for quality control. See Thrasher

Blading died because it was deemed as lame thing to do culturally because of the lack of judgement and cultural gatekeeping within the culture. Such as, allowing it to be named and marketed as "aggressive inline" and having one of the main tricks be called a "soul grind". The culture was full of jeffwonsongs doing soul grinds, that's what killed it.

[chrisskates808]

Haha illegal trick

[IpathCats]

[quote author=Double Thick Filbert

The judgement and cultural gatekeeping does limit individuality but it is essential for quality control. See Thrasher

Blading died because it was deemed as lame thing to do culturally because of the lack of judgement and cultural gatekeeping within the culture. Such as, allowing it to be named and marketed as "aggressive inline" and having one of the main tricks be called a "soul grind". The culture was full of jeffwonsongs doing soul grinds, that's what killed it.
[/quote]

You think there's an "aggressive inline" version of Todd falcon? That would be sick.

[Tear Up a Trick]

There used to be a lot more rules than there are now.