I had been trying for years to put into words, what it was that made me love riding longboard so much, and why it seems to create a bond between people unlike anything else I know. At first I thought it was just that longboarding attracted the coolest people because it was one of the last of the outlaw sports, it seems to attract all the outcasts from more traditional sports, plus having to risk fines just to ride a hill, and created this unique culture that bonded us. We even would refer to our fellow riders as our skate family, and every event we went to was a giant family reunion. But then I realized it wasn鈥檛 just longboards, it was any form of free rolling that seemed to create this joy in people, which then creates this unspoken bond between those that ride together.
When I first saw the short documentary Slo Mo, it was like a light went on in my head! I suddenly had the words to explain why nothing in the world beats the feeling of just rolling on your own power, or by gravity pulling you down a hill, and nothing but your balance to steer you. I knew at that moment that I needed to spread community through rolling, thus why I had first picked the name How We Roll when I first created my local longboarding community.
This concept is actually been around for a long time, and the most prominent example I know of is the Whirling Dervishes started by the Sufi in the 12th century. I became aware of it thanks to the longboard Company Loaded, who named some of their boards using the religion's words. One of the one's I owned was called the Sama, which I understood to mean meditation through motion. Which when I heard made so much sense, because I had begun to notice how skating would clear my mind, and make me more focused.
I cannot count how many times I've heard my fellow skaters say they were having a bad day, or they were depressed, and when they went for a skate it all was left behind! I have used this as a tool to deal with stress countless times, and sometimes all I need is just 10 min on my board during a break at work, for it to turn my whole day around.
There are two main components to this in my mind, one being the neurological effect talked about in the film, and the other is the natural effect of danger keeping for in the moment. In skating they say you have to pay to play, so either you pay attention, or you pay with blood.
Skating also trains your mind to stay focused, because you learn quickly that if you let yourself be distracted, that is when most injuries happen from the simplest things. My worst injury came from just goofing off at slow speed, sliding my board on ice. I purposely fell off, but my foot caught on my board and I ended up subluxating a tendon in my ankle. I then proceeded to treat it like just a sprain, and it never fully healed right. Now I use this as a reminder to keep myself focused at all times, because the simplest mistake could mean the end of my enjoyment of this sport.
Like the documentary says, it doesn't matter what form it comes in, anything that gives you that lateral acceleration can put you in the moment, and clear your mind. I'm thinking I might do a giveaway for videos of Hive members going for a roll, but I'll make another post for that. As for now, get out there and roll!
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