Our Snowboard Shop in Manchester is Here to Shine a Light on Rodney Mullen – the King of Street Skating
In the world of skateboarding, there is a name that casts an awe-inspiring shadow over the shoulders of every professional skateboarder today – Rodney Mullen. Even today’s top skaters must quake at the thought of having to go trick to trick with the man. The things he’s been able to do with a skateboard over the last few decades make even the most accomplished street skaters pale in comparison. And, if you’re not familiar with Rodney Mullen, our snowboard shop in Manchester is here to introduce you to the man who made the impossible possible and the unimaginable a reality.
Reading can be boring so, before we get to deep into this thing, everyone at our snowboard shop in Manchester urges you to check out this video to see the top ten tricks Rodney Mullen invented in an unprecedented way that drastically shook the spine of professional skateboarding all together.
Mullen started out his skating career way back in the 80s, specializing in what was referred to as “freestyle” skating. This was at the same time that Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, and Steve Caballero were focusing on ramp skating with those big old fat decks. Freestyle skaters used boards that were considerably smaller and thinner and were used to do somewhat gimmicky, but complicated, tricks that, for the most part, were done from a somewhat stationary position. Anyone remember the movie “Gleaming the Cube?” That part when an angst-riddled Christian Slater was hopping up and down on his board in an abandoned warehouse to blow off steam –that was freestyle skating. The movie may be a bit dated but is a classic nonetheless.
The Road to the Throne
During the mid to late 80s, half-pipes were where it was at and catching the biggest air was every skater’s goal while freestyle skating seemed a bit awkward and uninteresting. As skateboarding became more popular, however, a new generation of skaters, without access to big ramps or skate parks, literally began skating on the streets. And, suddenly, “street” skating was born and eventually ousted vert skating as the new thing. Boards got smaller, wheels got smaller, and urban environments became unofficial skate parks.
So skaters started hoping on the bandwagon – some failed but some succeeded. But, again, lurking in the shadows, a skater with uncanny technical abilities soon found that his unique style of skating easily and shockingly lent itself to the new craze. Rodney Mullen hit the streets – hard. He entered the street skating arena with the subtlety of King Kong running down Times Square and with the innovative spirit of a fevered Thomas Edison. What did he bring to the table? The flatground Ollie, the Godzilla rail flip, the 540 shove-it, the 50-50 saran wrap, dark slides, 360 nollies, gazelles, the no handed 50-50 kickflip, the heelflip, double heelflips, the Ollie impossible, the 360 flip, the 360 pressure flip, the casper 360 flip, 50-50 sidewinders, the one footed Ollie, the backside 180 flip, Ollie nosebones, the Ollie fingerflip, airwalks, just to name a few.
Rodney Mullen didn’t need professional skateboarding, professional skateboarding needed him. Not following any trends or copying any styles, his individuality rose him to Olympian heights. He’s the pro skater’s skater; your favorite skater’s favorite skater. And how does he explain his explosive impact on skating?
From skateboard.com, Mullen says “Do what you love and try not to look at what other people occupy themselves with. Most people seem restless and bounce around too much to focus or even pay attention enough to themselves to figure out exactly what they really do love, as opposed to what the people that surround them are doing.”
Wise words from the Einstein of skateboarding.
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