The Push Culture

When describing the New York style of longboarding, one word comes to mind- Push. NYC is the best place in the world to skate because it offers opportunities to skate in every discipline- downhill, slalom, dancing, traffic surfing, sliding- all on your commute to work every day. The landscape is as diverse as the people, and the longboarders here find their board is an essential extension of their legs, and we rarely leave home without it. Because of the size of the city, and the often frantic pace of traffic, pushing hard as fuck is at the core of the  Empire State of Mind.

I’ve heard strange tales of people walking up hills and then skating down them. I ask, why walk when you could skate? A big hill just means its time to push harder. What skates up must skate down. This is the mindset in which I understood to be the Way, and a uniquely urban phenomenon. NYC board companies like Bustin’ Boards and Earthwing have worked to create a community that embodies the Push Culture, one that doesn’t think twice about skating from Brooklyn to Jersey. I was stoked to see this interview with Canadian Push fiend Paul Kent of Rayne Longboards, who goes on extreme 24 hour Push odysseys. This interview clip below lets the world know that Canada is down with the Push. Hope to see Paul and others from all over the world at the 2010 Broadway Bomb (the most intense urban Push race in the world) next October. Until then, keep Pushing.

Loaded Boards Adds a New Weapon to Their Bamboo Arsenal

Its true Loaded Boards are some of the most expensive longboards on the market (excluding the limited line of diamond encrusted plutonium boards), but you definitely get what you pay for. Their bamboo boards are nearly indestructible, which is important if you skate in a city infested with ignorant taxi cab drivers like New York. A rider can select which level of flex is ideal for their style and weight, and be prepared to dominate whether downhilling, cruising or freestylin. Even the winner of the 2009 Broadway Bomb (the biggest, longest and most dangerous skateboard race in the world) rode a Loaded Dervish.

Their latest board called the Tan Tiem  looks slightly smaller than a Dervish but equally vicious. The tan tien is the center from which all martial artists move when they perform, and could also be considered the source of Zen to which all longboarders skate from.  The team riders in the video below are absurd, with footwork so fancy my toes began to cry.