Disclaimer if you found this post through skateboarding you will enjoy the beginning and maybe the last part of the post. If you found this through philosophy you will enjoy the last part of the post and maybe the beginning. The choice is yours , however I am happy you are reading this

Image my own, me doing an ollie in New Zealand

In my pursuit to focus on some positive actions while I sort out an emotional quagmire that I fell into. I have taken a keen interest in getting better at skateboarding before I become old and decrepit. I have been skateboarding for about 28 years so I have a good skill set but it can always get better. With better skateboarding as your goal you can then begin to focus on healthier eating and exercise to make your skate sessions more rewarding. This in turn helps both body and mind. Don't get me wrong I am still no saint and the weekends are pretty much reserved for the antithesis of healthy body and mind however 5 out of 7 days isn't too bad.

In addition to this as time has progressed the people I grew up skating with now either live in other countries or are just too busy (myself included). This means that I will sometimes have to make a mission to my local park and work on some tricks. With that being said I now bring you to the trick list. For people who have no idea about skateboarding I have also included some footage of what the trick is and how it is done.

Frontside Boneless

Image by https://68.media.tumblr.com shot by Grant Brittian

This is a classic trick from 80’s . Pictured here is Mark Gonzales and absolute legend in the skateboarding world. I hope to learn this trick on transition (a ramp) and style it out just like "The Gonz". Here is a video where Ben Raemers (a UK pro skater) is explaining the trick.

Video by The Ride channel

360 Flip (tre flip)

Image by http://www.sickchirpse.com

The 360 flip is a trick that came out of modern street skating and has been around for while. It was called a 360 flip in my day but it is now called a tre flip. Back in the day I could bust a few of these but in contemporary skateboarding it is now a staple. I want to get a few back under my belt. I have the flip motion but don't have the balls to land one.

Here is some footage of people landing this trick for the first time and getting stoked. This feeling of elation is what us skaters are striving for. Like in life you gotta keep trying and eventually you will be rewarded. With reward comes a sense of accomplishment and boost of endorphins.

Video by Strictly Skateboarding

Backside Tailslide (on transition)

Image by http://manualmagazine.com

Me and my brother have a competition going on this trick. In terms of who will land it first . Judging by the picture you can see the reason for our competition. It looks so damn stylish when done on transition, all those people watching in the pic above are like "I wish I could do that". However like most tricks it involves commitment and balls. To lean into a position where you will be sliding backwards seems completely counter intuitive. It is this battle, balancing balls and brains which goes into landing a trick and more importantly making it look good.

Here is a video explaining how it works (insterestingly enough in one of the lines he does a frontside boneless and then a backside tailslide.

Video by the ride channel

This is a post where I am putting it out there and the trick list will be shared with my skate buddies on those other social media sites. This is more a statement of intention and it will be cool when it all comes together as I cross them off the list.

Finally a bit of philosophy

Image by https://i.pinimg.com

I have chosen to slot this in here as it is an attempt to explain my passion for skateboarding. I recently came across the concept Neitzsche wrote about concerning Apollo and Dionysus. In a nutshell Nietzsche believed we become better human beings when we attempt to balance our logical reasoning side (Apollo) with our wild passionate side (Dionysus). This video explains this concept in more depth.

Video by the School of Life

I believe that skateboarding is my attempt to do this . On the one hand my life is full of football stats and crypto trading which is the more logical and reasoning side where on the other hand I have skateboarding and music which is more the wild passionate side. On closer inspection the act of skateboarding itself requires a balance between Apollo and Dionysus. You need the passion and raw courage to commit to the trick however you also need to logically work out elements of physics such as speed ,torque and resistance.

Finally this concept is fully encapsulated in the fact that this trick list has been logically captured on my whiteboard , which I think further rams home this concept.

Thanks for reading