#RANDOM$ - Supporting the Local Skate Scene

Wow! It's been a long time since I've been able to write again. The last update I wrote was three months ago; that's a long time. It feels so amazing to be back on track with what's going on around this blog even though when I log in I disappointingly weep on how many page views I get. LOL

Despite my busy working schedule, I am still able to skate with my friends. Skateboarding is like getting away from the stresses that constrict me everyday. It is a way to relieve me of my stress and just focus on one thing and that is not to injure yourself while doing tricks and jumping on obstacles. It's like being free to do whatever you want without anybody criticizing you if it is right or wrong.

One thing that our local skate scene is proud about is making videos. Though we don't have high quality cameras or expensive equipment to film them, we are still happy to have produced a video.



#RANDOM$ from eric perez on Vimeo.

This is to support our local skateboarding scene to keep on pushing our boundaries and enjoy the ride. If you are reading this far, thank you so much for reading and watching.

By the way, I have a new blog. It's like a music blog and I post some music stuff in it. You can check out the Mad Scientist.

Thanks again and see you next post.

My Frustrations in Learning the Kickflip

Hi readers! I know I have not been posting that much. This is because of work and other engagements plus I skate most of my free time. As you all know, I just started skating almost a year and a half ago and I still consider myself a beginner.

The kickflip is probably one of the most frustrating tricks and one of the hardest to learn, for me that is. Learning how to kickflip can really challenge a beginner's motivation and skills in skateboarding. As mentioned on my previous post, the kickflip is a skateboarding trick in which you flick the board while in the air and you let it flip under you.

One of the biggest challenges that I currently face right now is that the board always keeps flying out of the way forward.. I tried not to flick it too hard but it is still not working. Though I can land my front foot, it lands on the back trucks. I also tried moving forward and keeping my shoulders straight to catch the board, it still winds up moving away.

One stroke of luck, I had recently landed it but I still fail to recreate how I flipped the board in order to land it properly trucks to trucks. I know I sound lame but it would really help if you can leave some tips that would really help on my situation.

There are some sort of emotional pressure that is also keeping me from learning to kickflip. I know it is a good motivation but I cannot seem to put it in place. All my girl skater friends are now able to land it more often than I do and its peer pressure.

I know that skateboarding is not supposed to be a competition but all about FUN. But I guess I just have to accept the fact that some people are just better than others at something. Even so, I still enjoy skating with my friends.

Even if I am confronted with this challenge, I am still going to continue skateboarding and learning new tricks. But if you have tips that you can help me, please do get in touch. I badly need some advice and all that.

Thank you so much and see you next post! :)

Four Basic Stances in Skateboarding

Photo credits to Gordon Gabrinez

One of the things that you have to know in skateboarding is the different stances for skateboarding tricks. These stances make a trick harder or easier but mostly, it depends upon you and your preferred tricks.

There are four basic stances in skateboarding: fakie, nollie, switch and normal. So for every normal trick, there are three other ways to do it. So if you learned a new trick, you can instantly try it on different stances to multiply your tricks. ;)

• Normal stance. This is your preferred stance with your front foot on the front trucks and your back foot on the tail going forward. There are two kind of skaters out there: regular and goofy. Goofy skaters skate with their right foot forward and regular skaters use their left.
• Fakie. A fakie is the exact opposite of nollie. This is where you place your front foot in the middle of the board and your back foot on the nose, going forward. For me, fakie is much easier compared to a nollie and are good for beginners like us.
• Nollie. Nollie is fakie on switch stance. What happens is that your back foot is on the nose and your front foot is in the middle of the board. The weird thing is most skaters that are comfortable with nollie, struggle with fakie.
• Switch. Switch is the exact opposite of either regular or goofy stance. For regular skaters, the switch stance would be goofy and vice versa. Switch is not for the faint hearted and is recommended that you be accustomed to riding a skateboard.

Get comfortable with each of these stances throughout your sessions. This will help you get accustomed with riding a skateboard. Start rolling slowly, especially for nollie and switch, then you can move up your speed and accomplish tricks.

For beginners, understanding these stances can be quite confusing. But I do hope this article helped you with any misunderstandings with the stances. If you have any suggestions, you can comment or contact us.

Skate safe and see you next post. :)

Know How to Kickflip the Easy Way

One of the basic skateboarding tricks is the kickflip. Though it might be basic, learning the kickflip is not as easy as it sounds. You have to gain control of your board and practice as much as you can to earn consistency and to perfect the trick.

But before learning how to kickflip, it is recommended that you learn how to ollie first. This is because you need to pop your board just enough to let it spin under you while you are in the air. Here are the steps on how to kickflip:

Local Skater Eric Perez with a kickflip down

1. Pop the board with footing similar to an ollie.
2. Extend and flick your brushing foot to flip the board.
3. Let the board spin by synchronizing your movements with it. If you have to, move your foot up closer to your body to let it spin under you.
4. Catch it and roll away.

If you have landed one first time or first try, tap yourself in the back and congratulations. But the kickflip is one of the hardest skateboard tricks for beginners. So here are some tips to guide you.

• “Half baked” flips are usually because you are not flicking hard enough. Try putting on some force on your flips, not too much, just enough to make it spin.
• If the board is shooting outward with one foot on it, jump forward and follow the board.
• Landing it but you always slip? Try landing it with your foot on your trucks and gain balance as you practice.
• Practice your kickflip while rolling rather than being stationary. This will help you learn the trick faster.
• If you always land it on one foot without the board shooting out, don’t be afraid to step on it your next try. Be confident about your footing and if there is something you are not doing right, change that and try again.

Practicing a skateboard trick takes time and patience. Just have fun and feel the moment. Remember, all good skaters know what it feels like to practice, fall down and try again. That is why they are good at it, because they try and try until they have perfected a certain trick.

By the way, if you have any suggestions or helpful tips, you can contact me or comment on this page. Sorry for the late post, been really busy with work and other stuff that needed to be done. I’ll be posting videos soon enough so watch out for it.

See ya on the next post and skate safe!

:)

5 Basic Tricks on a Skateboard

Sorry for the sketch. :D

Skateboarding involves many different tricks depending on how “gnarly” you are on it. Basically, the gnarlier the better. For us beginners, let us reserve those gnarly tricks in the future and focus on basic yet essential ones that you would later find important in complex skateboarding tricks.

Learning basic tricks on a skateboard can come a long way than having to master a single one without going through the “trick ladder” as I’d like to call it. These tricks are easy and achievable for beginners if he/she has the perseverance to do so. Even though these are basic, safety always needs to come first since we are not yet accustomed to riding a skateboard.

Here are some of the basics in skateboarding that you can learn easily and is fit for beginners:

1. Ollie. The ollie is one of the most basic yet important skateboard tricks. Flips and some shoves or perhaps the combination of both depend on how much you have mastered this trick.
2. Shove it or shuvit. Though not as essential as ollies, shuvits are important if you want to master big spins, shoves and varial flips whether frontside or backside.
3. 180. 180 refers to the angle in which your skateboard turns. If you have mastered this trick, you can head over to 360. Just like shuvits, this trick also has a frontside and backside.
4. Nollie and fakie. Though not really a trick nollie and fakey refers to the  stance in which you are going to perform a certain trick. This increases the number of tricks that you have running in either regular, nollie or fakie.
5. Manuals. Still considered as a trick, manuals are easy for beginners. All you need to do is run in 2 wheels whether lifting your nose or your tail. When you have mastered this trick, you can incorporate all sorts of tricks with it.

Tricks on a skateboard are constantly evolving because of many talented individuals that are contributing to the sport. If you are hoping to improve your skills in skateboarding, you would really need to work hard to master all the tricks that are mentioned above.

If you think that I have missed one or a couple of basic tricks, don’t hesitate to comment or get in touch with me. Everyone is welcome to share their feedback.

Thank you and see you next post!

5 Easy Steps on How to Ollie

Knowing how to ollie on a is one of the most basic tricks in skateboarding and by basic it meaning essential and important. Many tricks would require you to know how to ollie before proceeding to more complex ones such as kickflips, heelflips, etc.

Beginners like myself need to practice and eventually master this trick without flaws. Ollie is easy to practice but difficult to master. With the two years I spent skateboarding, I am able to ollie but haven’t mastered it to my advantage, heck I am still not able to make it 2 stairs down!

Even then, I am still willing to skate and accomplish such a feat and to help others like me, I made this post for people that are hoping to do the ollie for their first trick (well, it is encouraged that you start with it.).

Listed below are the steps on how to ollie on a skateboard:

1. Stand on your skateboard depending on your stance.
2. Place your popping foot just right within the tail and the brushing foot near the middle of the board.
3. Pop the board and brush your foot to assist the pop. Synchronize this movement until you grow accustomed to it.
4. Apply it on flat ground with the wheels rolling and ollie your way through little obstacles like lines, cracks and leaves. Then if you are more comfortable, make obstacles a bit challenging like gaps, rocks and small gutters.
5. Keep on practicing until you have the balls to go down a couple of stairs and gaps.

These instructions are not the “actual” rule when it comes to knowing how to ollie. You have the prerogative to switch to other positions depending on what makes you comfortable. As long as the skate jumps along with you, it’s an ollie.

It is all about getting used to riding a skateboard. As a beginner, you are not expected to go down huge stairs or gaps, just have fun with what you are doing and persevere. Eventually, you will get to do all those things that you are dreaming about in skateboarding.

Have fun and skate safe!


PS: My Press Release got approved for Davao Skateboarding. You can check it out here.

When Females Dominate Skateboarding

Skateboarding is mostly dominated by men but behind their shadows are female pro skaters eager to be as good as men. Female skaters are rare and are often criticized for being surrounded by males in a male dominated sport. But still females still strive to keep up in the world of skateboarding.

I am a woman and I have been skating for more than 2 years now and still I am scared to do complex tricks! The good thing is, for me skateboarding is not a competition but more of fun and having fun with the people around you. So I do not pressure myself to compete with males, I just go with the flow and learn tricks at an easy pace.

But even if pro skater girls are behind men when it comes to tricks, hats off to them. Why? Because they have bigger balls than some skaters I know. Yes, these girls are not pros for nothing. They have the skill to land such a reputation in the skateboarding world and being able to dominate it is a feat itself.

Here are some of the best current female skaters I know and If you think I missed out on someone, do not hesitate to comment.

• Leticia Bufoni. Leticia Bufoni is a 19 year old pro skater and is one of the youngest female pro skaters out there. Riding goofy, she had rubbed elbows with pros from Volcom, Osiris, Foundation, Rock Star Bearings, Bones wheels and Crail.
• Lacey Baker. A 20 year old goofy skater from California. Lacey is sponsored by Billabong, Element Skateboards, Indy, Bones (flow), Pawn Shop Skate and Vans (flow). She had long hair before, I just learned that she cut it short.
• Elissa Steamer. Elissa is one of the most amazing female skaters around the world. She had won lots of competitions including Slam City Jam in 1998 in which after she was named as a “pro”. Elissa is sponsored by Zero, Nike SB, Thunder and Tampa Skatepark.
• Marisa del Santo. Marisa is a boyish skater from Illinois and is as gnarly as Leticia or Lacey. She is currently sponsored by Nor Ill Skate Shop, Zero and Emerica (flow).
• Evelien Bouilliart. A very competitive woman “Evie” had participated in the female X games since 2000 and is a top competitor. Her sponsors are  Hoopla Skateboards, Etnies, Nixon, Von Zipper, Bones, Zumiez, Rockstar Bearings and Girls from Omsk.
• Vanessa Torres. Ms. Torres is a regular skater that attained dozens of awards and have participated in the X games side by side with all the female skaters in the event. She rides with Element and Rockstar Bearings.
• Amy Caron. A regular peo skater from California, Amy Caron had been competing in the X games 1996 and have been a major competitor since 2005. She is with Element, Circa, Rockstar Bearings and Bones Wheels.

In skateboarding, sexism does not exist but we have to admit that it is a male dominated world. But men have to bow down to these women that dominated the sport and are still continuing to WOW the crowd.

Streetleague Skateboarding: What it means for its Audiences

When we talk about Skateboarding, we always think about pros and their sick tricks. No doubt about it, sick tricks are indeed featured in this annual skateboarding event: Streetleague Skateboarding. Rob Dyrdrek and DC came up with the great idea to bring together the best of the best skaters all over the United States for supremacy.

There are three events of the season, this time the event is held in Kansas and recently in Ontario, California. Each skater has to outscore each other with their tricks and hope to impress the judges with it. They have to have the balls, creativity and technical skills to overcome sections around the course.

Watching streetleague online

For us in the Philippines and the rest of Asia, we have to wake up early in order to do so. Some of us really stay awake during the night time just to witness and support their favorite pros battle it out. Good thing is that we do not have to painstakingly look for online streaming because it is generously provided by Streatleague.com.

Like all events, skaters within the city bet on their favorites just to spice up their viewing experience and make it more exciting. They bet on any kinds of things from small skateboard parts to petty cash, even food!

Many skaters watch it together with food and drinks provided by the hosts. They cheer to their favorite skaters as if they could hear them shout in front of the computer. It seems that the audiences themselves are more nervous than the pros that are playing!

The good thing about it is that, like the annual go skate day, it brings together people that share a common hobby: Skateboarding.

Let’s Rock the Streets for GO SKATEBOARDING DAY!

Skateboarding is now the urban sport of the city streets, anywhere in the world. Many young and young at heart gather around to sprain their ankles or cut their skin all for the sake of reputation. Reputation that can be counted with how many tricks you have whether on the ledge, rail or flat ground.

Many people have considered this sport not only as a hobby but a passion and with it, comes in Go Skateboarding Day or GSD. It is a worldwide event that gathers many skaters within their local groups to participate in activities that culminate their sport. Small events such as skate competitions and games.

This Thursday, June 21, 2012, skaters from all over the world will once again head to the streets and thrash their boards under the heated sun to celebrate this said event. Depending on where you are at right now, hundreds of skaters flock to skate parks and other spots to participate.

Booze, free perts and more booze are pouring in to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day and it will continue on in the following years, that’s if the world will not end in December this year (Who knows?).