Sidewalk Surfing

There has been an activity/sport that has swept this nation's youth..mainly the hipsters..
That sport is none other than: long-boarding.

I'm not sure if many people know how the long board originated. Most people probably just know it sprung forth from the skateboard.
The long board began in Oahu, Hawaii around 1959. Surfers would typically go skateboarding if the waves were rather dull any given day. They would actually imitate the moves of surfing on the sidewalk.
But how exactly did they get..

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Answer: cheap teens.

Longboards were mainly first made from backyards and garages by teenagers who 1) did not want to buy a skateboard and 2) the skateboard was too short to mimic surf moves on land.
A plank of wood would be shaped into basically a mini-surfboard. Then, old roller skates would be put on. Voila! The long-board was born. They were actually referred to as Sidewalk Surfboards at first.

Over the years since its first existence, popularity has fluctuated. Mainly due to safety issues. For awhile after it first came out, it was actually shown to be unsafe, so the sport died out for a few years. Then, in the 1970s, a resurgence and basically modern skateboarding and longboarding came along. Due to a safer and longer lasting wheel - urethane.



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So what I decided to learn how to do (and conquer my fear of) is longboarding. (I had a bad experience when I was young with a skateboard so I'd sworn myself off boards with wheels..until now)

Thanks to my kind, patient, and helpful teacher, Christian,                                  (that's him -->)
I was actually able to enjoy the time I spent on the board.


Although I did not learn any nifty or awesome tricks like in the above video, I learned the basics and actually was able to go around multiple times without completely embarrassing or hurting myself.





1st Stage: I was actually really scared when we were first starting. I'm pretty sure I held onto him like a kindergartener to his mother on the first day of school.  Christian had me first just get on the board and he pushed me along and taught me how to turn left and right by leaning on my toes and then back on my heels. He also taught me how to hold myself on the board with my knees bent and hips tucked in (I had a bit of trouble with that..my hips just move naturally they don't like staying still..).

It got a little frustrating..

2nd Stage: I next learned how get myself onto the board without having him holding both me and the board. It took me awhile to get my balance just right to be able to move forward and step on the board at the same time. But once I got that down, it was actually a lot of fun getting moving and being able to steer and sway left and right.

I kinda gave him a bit of attitude here & there

3rd Stage: He then showed me how to stop as well as keep pushing forward for my speed. Stopping, he basically said I had to move with the ground and basically stop by stepping off the board while going with the board. It took me awhile to actually stop without having him catch me from falling. For pushing forward, I didn't seem to be able to balance on the board and push at the same time. My feet just weren't able to shift into different positions on the board to allow me to push, so I usually ended up staying in the same position and use my hips to do short bursts forward. To which I was swiftly scolded for doing. But I eventually became somewhat proficient in pushing forward while rolling on the board.

I got to an acceptable skill level after a lot of practicing.

Soon, he and I were both just rolling around the parking lot, just trying to see how well I could navigate turns.
It was actually really fun and not as disastrous as I originally thought it would be.


This was definitely a skill that I not be able to ever learn from reading a textbook or someone just telling me what to do. I was only able to learn by Christian showing me as well as being there for me every step of the way as I attempted to learn the basics. In the end, it was an exciting and terrifying experience.

Luckily, I had a wonderfully patient and instructive teacher