The Art of Falling

“Flying is just falling … … with style.” – Buzz Lightyear

If we break down skateboarding into the list of skills we could possibly learn, there would be things such as determination, patience, dedication, creativity, and so on and so forth. But, the first skill every skater hones is the art of falling. Before you learn your first ollie, manual, or drop in, you learn from your first fall.

Falling – Your skateboarding guru

A good fall has all the makings of the skate session. Imagine yourself, walking up to your local spot, with your board in your hand. You do a couple of your go-to tricks to warm up the sesh. You skate a great line, which surprised you, as much as it did your homies, who were watching while sipping on their coffees and smoking.

With great confidence, you visualise your next trick, sure to be a banger. You fully commit to this trick, and the next thing you know, you are sitting on your ass, laughing with your buddies. Was it satisfying like landing the trick? No, but it was entertaining, which is half the reason to go skate.

The pain …. – Is it any good?

Take the best skater you know and be sure they are also the best at falling. You don’t get good without the pain, and with the pain comes wisdom. When to run out, when to slide down, when to roll over, when to go for the shoulder – These are split-second decisions to be made, which could alter the course of the next few days, weeks, or even months. It’s muscle memory at its finest, as you keep falling over and over again. Your nerves start reacting to your meat from the harm you seem to keep wanting to make it endure.

I hope that this skill will come in handy when I am older, and I know the finer intricacies of falling. Once I reach an age when my bones can no longer allow me to skate and walking becomes hard, should I trip or slip, maybe I will be able to fall in just the right way so as to kill myself and end the useless existence where I can’t skate. Join me again, next week for my classification of falls.

Written by

Abhishek Shakenbake