Tony Hawk's Bio!

Tony Hawk Basic Bio Information:

• Name: Tony Hawk
• Gender: Male
• Hometown: San Diego, California
• Date of Birth: May 12, 1968
• Family: 3 children - Riley, Spencer & Keegan
• Occupation: Launcher of the Boom Boom Huck Jam, Tony Hawk Foundation, Hawk clothing, Birdhouse, and featured in Tony Hawk video game series
• Began Skating: 1977
• First Sponsored: 1980
• Turned Pro: 1982
• Favored Discipline: Vert
• Stance: Goofy
• Tony Hawk is retired from competing

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Style and Strengths: Tony Hawk is harder on himself than anyone else ever could be. This drive is seen in Tony Hawk's skateboarding style - he is original and relentless. He has a monsterous list of skateboarding tricks invented, a huge stack of trophies and gold medals, and is easily the most recognisable name in skateboarding. Tony Hawk has never settled for anything but his best, and his best skateboarding has earned him the position at the top.

Tony Hawk Favorite / Signature Skateboarding Tricks: Tony Hawk's favorite trick is the 540, with his favorite variation being the Mute.

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Tricks Invented (partial list):

• Backside Varial
• Shove-It Rock'n Roll
• Fakie-to-fronside rock
• Ollie-To-Indy
• Fingerflip Backside Air
• Varial Gay Twist
• Gymnast Plant
• Frontside 540-rodeo Flip
• Lipslide Revert
• Airwalk (vert)
• Airwalk-To-Fakie
• Madonna
• Saran Wrap
• Stale Fish
• 720
• Backside Ollie-to-Tail
• Indy 540
• Frontside Gay Twist
• Nose Grind
• Backside Pop Shove-it
• 360 Frontside Rock n' Roll
• Frontside Cab
• Stale Fish 540
• Eggplant-To-Fakie
• 1/2 Elguerial
• Frontside Hurricane
• Cab Shove-It
• 360 Varial-to-Fakie
• Backside Rewind Grind
• Ollie 540

Backside Ollie One-Foot

Varial 540

Frontside Blunt

Cab-To-Tail

360 Varial Disaster

Frontside Noseslide

Switch Indy Air

Switch Backside Ollie

540 Board Varial

Kickflip Mctwist

Cab Lipslide

Heelflip Varial Lien Revert

Heelflip Slob Air

Stale Fish 720

Varial 720

900

Frontside Stale Fish 540

Shove-it-to-Backside Smith

360 Varial Mctwist

Shove-it Fakie Feeble Grind

360 Shove-it Nose Grind

1/2 Cab Frontside Hurricane-to-Fakie

Shove-it-to-Fakie Frontside 5-0

Tony Hawk Skateboarding Career Highlights:
1982 - Joined the legendary Bones Brigade team
1989 - Featured in Gleaming the Cube movie starring Christian Slater
1999 - Activision releases Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the first in a long line of successful video games
1999 - X Games 4 - Tony Hawk lands the first 900
2003 - featured in the 300th episode of The Simpsons
2003 - wrote HAWK -- Occupation: skateboarder , a New York Times Best Seller
Life - Tony Hawk has entered about 103 skateboarding competitions. He has won 73, and taken second in 19

Tony Hawk Personal History: Tony Hawk was a troubled kid. He would push himself to do well in everything - in fact, to do better than he possibly could do, and then get angry with himself for failing. His parents had him psychologically evaluated, and discovered that he was "gifted". His older brother Steve gave him a skateboard, and Tony found something that he could focus on, and get good at. He would still push himself relentlessly, which helped propel him to be the world's most recognizable skateboarder today.

Tony Hawk Interesting Fact: Tony Hawk had his first film debut in the 1989 movie, Gleaming the Cube - the first feature film to use skateboarding as a major theme. The movie stars Christian Slater, with Tony playing Christian Slater's friend, Buddy. Mike McGill does all of Slater's skateboarding, Rodney Mullen is seen skateboarding during the opening credits, and Stacey Peralta did all of the film's skateboarding directing.

Tony Hawk Quote: From the Tony Hawk Website - "I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. I mean, I never thought that I could make a career out of skateboarding."

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Rodney Mullen "The Mutt" - THE KING OF FREESTYLE

For someone who has left (and is still in the process of leaving) an incredible legacy to the world of skateboarding, Rodney Mullen's start with the sport was fairly inauspicious. When the second skateboard boom hit in the 1970's, Rodney was eager to ride a board of his own. He had been watching the neighborhood kids, envious of their boards. Rodney had asked his father for a skateboard on numerous occasions, but everytime, had been told "NO". On New Years Eve, 1976, Rodney decided to ask his father for a board just one more time. In an article written for Thrasher (January 1996 issue), Rodney recalls his fathers response that evening: "He reluctantly made a deal: The first injury I got, or the first time he had caught me without my pads, I had to quit".

With his fathers reserved blessing, Rodney wasted no time and marched down to the local shopping mall on January 1st, 1977. He picked up a black Bonsai aluminum board with precision wheels and ACS trucks. Prior to this purchase, his father had been concerned that skateboarding was not a very safe sport. In hindsight, he needn't have worried. Quickly, Rodney began practicing and learning freestyle tricks - in full pads. About nine months from the time he received his skateboard, Rodney picked up his first sponsor: The Inland Surf Shop.

He started winning contests in his home state of Florida. In 1978, Rodney blew a lot of the California pros away when he reached 4th place at the Kona contest. In 1979, Rodney took top spot at the Oceanside contest in California and was immediately sponsored by Walker. With all this success, Rodney's father realized that his son had mastered skateboarding. The only problem was, now his father wanted him to try to master something else. What was the sport Rodney's father had suggested he pick up?: "Golf," say Rodney, with a tinge of disbelief. But Rodney didn't pick up the clubs and he kept training.

In August of 1980, he received a call from Stacy Peralta inviting him out to a contest in San Diego. Rodney remembers the time vividly. "This was to be my last fling." He was 13 years old and would be competing with top Sims Freestyler Steve Rocco. The contest was extremely close and the judges kept on awarding the same number of points to both Steve and Rodney. Eventually, on the last runoff, Rodney won the contest. It was then that he officially started riding for Powell Peralta. "After this success", recalls Rodney, "my father was motivated to keep me involved in skateboarding."

In the early 80's, skateboarding was very much underground. The sport had peaked, just like in the 60's and now there was only a group of hardcore skaters who kept up with the sport. Rodney wrote articles for Thrasher magazine that explained, step-by-step, complex freestyle moves. He wound up in 1st place in almost every contest. In the mid 80's, the sport picked up again, primarily due to the proliferation of skateboard videos. The Powell Peralta and Vision Psycho skate videos showcased Rodney's amazing abilities better than any sequential photo spread found in a magazine. Viewers were in awe of his command of the board. As Peter Weldrake, owner of Toronto's famous Hogtown Skateboard Shop, recalled, "In the mid 1980's, I had a little black and white television hooked up to a VCR and crowds of people would jam the store in awe of what Rodney was doing. They had never seen skateboarding like this before!"

As the 80's progressed, Rodney became increasingly famous. He has some positive memories of the time: "There was so much opportunity. My friends were doing well." Rodney wrote in Thrasher "Skating blew up from around 86 to 91. I felt like a rock star. I flew on the Concorde." Despite all his success, however, Rodney recalled some painful truths about fame: "Each time I thought I got somewhere else, I realized I hadn't gone anywhere."

Slowly, Rodney entered into the world of new school skating. He put away the traditional freestyle board and with encouragement from Plan B's Mike Ternasky and World Industries had Steve Rocco, Rodney started moving into street skating. His practice paid off and he can be seen in the 1992 Questionable Video. His blending of new street style skating with his amazingly technical freestyle tricks set a new standard and blew many people away.

There is no question that Rodney Mullen dominated freestyle skateboarding for over a decade. In today's world of street skating, Rodney is still a major force. Many of the tricks he invented in the 1980's are now the foundation of new school skateboarding. He is, however, extremely humble when asked about the tremendous influence he has had on skateboarding. "I was just doing my thing. I didn't think of myself as a pioneer."

Rodney continues to work full time in the skateboard industry, and nowadays, heads up Tensor, Dwindle Distribution, travels with the Globe team and manages to keep innovating new skateboarding and shoe products to push skateboarding technology to new levels. He also still manages to invent new tricks that most skaters never imagined. Many of Rodney's latest skating accomplishments can be found in various videos and skateboarding magazines...

Sheckler's Life!

We Wanna Know: Ryan Sheckler

Nov 29 2006 / Los Angeles, CA

Ryan Sheckler is easily one of the most popular skateboarders of the moment. Not only is he young (16 years old) and talented, he is also a fan favorite. Lat34 goes inside the mind of skate phenomenon Ryan Sheckler to find out what makes him tick.

Ryan Sheckler prides himself on staying out of trouble on and off the Dew Action Sports Tour. That’s why he was slightly chagrined about his recent injury.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Sheckler burned his left foot at a beach barbecue near his home in San Clemente, Calif. Most 16-year-olds, especially ones that sell sneakers with their names emblazoned on them, would have kicked back and taken a few weeks off. But Sheckler was determined to return ASAP, perhaps in time for the next tour stop in Denver.

“I’ve won every contest I’ve entered this year,” he said. “I’d like to keep that going if I can.”

Since earning his first sponsor six years ago, Sheckler has been a young man in a hurry. At the age of 13, Sheckler was the youngest entrant in the X Games to capture a gold medal, finishing first in the “SBX Park” event. He followed with a first place at the Gravity Games and third place in the U.S. Skateboarding Championships.

His trademark move, the “Shecklair,” is a combination of a kick flip, stiffy and Indy air with legs full extended. Sheckler’s friends include Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk. After touring with Hawk in 2004, Sheckler appeared in his buddy’s video games, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland.

Sounds like a hotshot kid still traveling in fast company. But talk with Sheckler and one soon realizes how down to earth he is. Mullen and Hawk have emphasized the importance of balancing life and a career. From them Sheckler learned the mantra, “Live a clean life and you will live a prosperous one.”

Sheckler explains that he tries “to look at everything and decide what would be good in the eyes of others. If you do that, if you approach every day like God wants you do, you’ll definitely enjoy a good life.”

Sheckler said he doesn’t drink or smoke and refuses to get caught up in the tour’s party atmosphere. He said he has “too much to lose.”

If all of that adds up to being a role model, Sheckler says he’s fine with the extra responsibility. “I like it when kids and their parents come up to me after a competition,” he says. “When they say, ‘Good job,’ it makes all the work and practice worth it.’”

Growing up Sheckler was swimming by nine months and riding belly-first on his father’s skateboard by 18 months. As a toddler, he survived a potentially tragic accident when he stuck a screw driver into an electrical socket. (He came out of it unscathed.) Before his sixth birthday, Sheckler found Hawk’s fax number and sent off a party invitation. The legend attended after being assured that chocolate cake would be served.

Through it all Sheckler tried other sports –TBall as a youngster, wrestling in ninth grade – but he was most comfortable on a board and on his own.

Mullen and Hawk also turned pro at a young age, so Sheckler listens to any advice they offer. “Guys like Rodney and Tony know the kind of work you need to put in to go somewhere,” Sheckler says. “I don’t mind putting in the work and practice because I hate going back and having to redo things. I just hate that. Everything has to be done right the first time for me.”

Sheckler

Ryan Sheckler is featured as one of the members of the cast in the MTV reality television series Life of Ryan. He was born on December 30, 1989 in San Clemente, California, and is famous for being one of the world’s youngest professional skateboarders. When he was only 18 months old he found his father’s old skateboard, and it became his constant companion over the next few years. Since he was six years old, he has practiced various skating tricks in his for more than 20 hours each week in his backyard, which has been set up with a half pipe, a number of grind rails and tabletops.

When he was seven years old, no less than household name and extreme sports legend Tony Hawk attended his birthday party and helped him practice. He has also been a member of the CASL, the California Amateur Skating League, when he was younger. Sheckler has even developed his own trick called the Sheck-lair, which is an indy kickflip flyout. He became professional in 2003 after joining and winning in a number of competitions, such as the X Games, the Gravity Games, the Slam City Jam, and Vans Triple Crown. Aside from his skating career, he has been educated via home schooling.

Etnies Shoes Ryan Sheckler

The Ryan Sheckler 2 skateboarding shoes from Etnies. Designed and tested by Ryan Sheckler. Features Lower hidden lace loops, Triple-stitched toe cap, Elastic tongue-centering straps, Padded tongue and collar,System G2 heel, STI foam level 2 cushioning footbed with heel support, 400 NBS rubber outsole with internal EVA midsole. Overall a great skateboarding shoe.

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Ryan Sheckler

Ryan Sheckler Biography

Ryan Sheckler

Birthdate: December 30, 1989
Birthplace: San Clemente, California

Before he was a reality TV star, he was just your regular superstar skateboarder. We have the lowdown on Ryan Sheckler!

Ryan Sheckler has been skateboarding since before he learned to read. Under the encouragement of his dad, he first jumped on a board when he was just four years old and has been kick-flipping and rail-sliding his way to the top of the skateboard world ever since. He became a sponsored skateboarder when he was just 10 years old. Back then, Ryan spent up to 22 hours a week practicing tricks in his backyard - where he had his very own skatepark!

Career

Shortly after he turned pro, Ryan Sheckler won the gold at the street competition at the 2003 X Games and also took top place in the street event at the 2003 Slam City Jam. Ryan Sheckler has toured with Tony Hawk and Shaun White on Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour and also had a role in the skateboard movie Grind. In 2004, Ryan became the youngest pro skateboarder to win gold in the X Games. On top his 2005 Dew Action Sports Tour Athlete of the Year, Ryan is also a two-time World Cup of Skateboarding’s National Street Champion. He took home the Global Assault title in Australia in 2006 and his career hit the mainstream in 2007 when MTV debuted his reality show, The Life of Ryan. You can check out the show on Mondays at 10:30PM on MTV!

Did U Know?

Ryan Sheckler enjoys snowboarding and surfing.

Ryan Sheckler's favorite musical artists are Guns and Roses and The Cure.

Ryan Sheckler enjoys riding on his Yamaha YZ85 dirt bike.

Ryan Sheckler is sponsored by Etnies, Volcom, Oakley, Red Bull, Plan B and Panasonic.

Ryan Sheckler's nickname is "Shecks".

Ryan Sheckler is 5'8".

Ryan Sheckler's favorite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Ryan Sheckler has two brothers, Shane and Kane.

Ryan Sheckler's favorite subject in school is science.

Ryan Sheckler Says...

"I want to thank my family for always being there for me, my sponsors, but most of all my fans. I realize now, more than ever that I wouldn't be where I am today with out them. Thank you to all!"