The Affect of Rollerblading in My Life
The following is an essay I wrote for english, called The Affect of Rollerblading in My Life:
A huge part of my life has been graced with rollerblading. It has, for the most part, dictated my friends and other activities in which I have participated. Almost every good memory I have has a relation to rollerblading in some way. It has been over a decade since I first started rollerblading. From these many years rollerblading I have learned persistence, tolerance and happiness.
Persistence comes from reattempting tricks after failure in a certain aspect of rollerblading. In 1994, when I first started to rollerblade there was no such thing as an “aggressive” skate. After two years of different make shift hockey skates I received my first pair of aggressive skates, called the Rollerblade Lightnings. It was during this time I was able to learn many more types of grinds. Of course, failure was guaranteed for the first few attempts. However, being persistent paid off and landing the trick was the ultimate satisfaction. Five years after I had started rollerblading, I was among the best in Memphis. The twelve of us put together a 25minute long video. It was only sold locally and never sent to a distribution company. It was also during this time that another video called “For the Love” was released. I, along with two other Memphis rollerbladers had a few tricks in this video. Since that time many have quit rollerblading, as did I for a while. I now try to rollerblade in what free time I find. Keeping persistent with my rollerblading I am still extending my abilities and knowledge in the sport.
Injury is a huge part of rollerblading and building a tolerance to pain is essential. Rollerblading for as long as I have, many injuries have come about. During the first few years every fall was painful. For an example, I attended a session at Wooddale High School. This location has some covered painted white ledges that are skated when it rains and on this day it was poring. Just messing around not paying any attention, I skated up toward the ledge to do a “rough grind”. One of my feet slipped in the water and I nailed my shin on the corner of the next ledge. Looking down at my shin, all I see is this white stuff. No skin, no blood, just white stuff. To this day, I do not know what the white stuff was and the scar remains a constant along with the painful memory. As the years passed my tolerance to pain increased. This was a good thing because at this time I started to skate handrails more often. Now, with the higher pain tolerance, the normal fall associated with skating a ledge or small gap did not compare to falling from a handrail. A rail I skated often is located just off Summer Avenue, behind KFC. This was a favorite but painful location if you came off on the wrong side of the rail. Having a large tree two feet from the rail is still a scary thought and many people have come off the rail too soon and smacked right into the tree. Though this was a favorite between me and the other rollerbladers, a rail we loved to conquer is located at a school in Frayser. This rail is a very long and pretty steep 17 stair. When skating this rail my pain tolerance skyrocketed. Falling off the rail back onto the stairs is something I never wanted to happen. Landing on the stair side of the rail was not a pretty sight with busted beer bottles and other painful items. However, all these painful injuries come with rollerblading and will be tolerated.
Over the past decade I have had much happiness, as a result of rollerblading. I have met many friends from all over the United States. My best friends keep me rollerblading when I am in a down mood because they know it will cheer me up. When I am rollerblading all problems are put aside. The only thing that fills my mind is what I am doing at that point in time. Whether it be skating a handrail, gap or new ledge I will be fully focused on the task ahead. It keeps the mind clear and puts me into a wonderful mood when landing a new trick or hitting a new handrail. Because of the great memories rollerblading has given me it will always be a part of my life, no matter my age.
Rollerblading has been a very large part of my life teaching me happiness comes with a price. For the happiness I received from rollerblading, I paid the price as a high school drop out with a back, neck, wrist and shin always in pain. If asked, would I do it again? My answer would be yes. Those were some of the best years of my life and I can tolerate the pain accompanied with them.
A huge part of my life has been graced with rollerblading. It has, for the most part, dictated my friends and other activities in which I have participated. Almost every good memory I have has a relation to rollerblading in some way. It has been over a decade since I first started rollerblading. From these many years rollerblading I have learned persistence, tolerance and happiness.
Persistence comes from reattempting tricks after failure in a certain aspect of rollerblading. In 1994, when I first started to rollerblade there was no such thing as an “aggressive” skate. After two years of different make shift hockey skates I received my first pair of aggressive skates, called the Rollerblade Lightnings. It was during this time I was able to learn many more types of grinds. Of course, failure was guaranteed for the first few attempts. However, being persistent paid off and landing the trick was the ultimate satisfaction. Five years after I had started rollerblading, I was among the best in Memphis. The twelve of us put together a 25minute long video. It was only sold locally and never sent to a distribution company. It was also during this time that another video called “For the Love” was released. I, along with two other Memphis rollerbladers had a few tricks in this video. Since that time many have quit rollerblading, as did I for a while. I now try to rollerblade in what free time I find. Keeping persistent with my rollerblading I am still extending my abilities and knowledge in the sport.
Injury is a huge part of rollerblading and building a tolerance to pain is essential. Rollerblading for as long as I have, many injuries have come about. During the first few years every fall was painful. For an example, I attended a session at Wooddale High School. This location has some covered painted white ledges that are skated when it rains and on this day it was poring. Just messing around not paying any attention, I skated up toward the ledge to do a “rough grind”. One of my feet slipped in the water and I nailed my shin on the corner of the next ledge. Looking down at my shin, all I see is this white stuff. No skin, no blood, just white stuff. To this day, I do not know what the white stuff was and the scar remains a constant along with the painful memory. As the years passed my tolerance to pain increased. This was a good thing because at this time I started to skate handrails more often. Now, with the higher pain tolerance, the normal fall associated with skating a ledge or small gap did not compare to falling from a handrail. A rail I skated often is located just off Summer Avenue, behind KFC. This was a favorite but painful location if you came off on the wrong side of the rail. Having a large tree two feet from the rail is still a scary thought and many people have come off the rail too soon and smacked right into the tree. Though this was a favorite between me and the other rollerbladers, a rail we loved to conquer is located at a school in Frayser. This rail is a very long and pretty steep 17 stair. When skating this rail my pain tolerance skyrocketed. Falling off the rail back onto the stairs is something I never wanted to happen. Landing on the stair side of the rail was not a pretty sight with busted beer bottles and other painful items. However, all these painful injuries come with rollerblading and will be tolerated.
Over the past decade I have had much happiness, as a result of rollerblading. I have met many friends from all over the United States. My best friends keep me rollerblading when I am in a down mood because they know it will cheer me up. When I am rollerblading all problems are put aside. The only thing that fills my mind is what I am doing at that point in time. Whether it be skating a handrail, gap or new ledge I will be fully focused on the task ahead. It keeps the mind clear and puts me into a wonderful mood when landing a new trick or hitting a new handrail. Because of the great memories rollerblading has given me it will always be a part of my life, no matter my age.
Rollerblading has been a very large part of my life teaching me happiness comes with a price. For the happiness I received from rollerblading, I paid the price as a high school drop out with a back, neck, wrist and shin always in pain. If asked, would I do it again? My answer would be yes. Those were some of the best years of my life and I can tolerate the pain accompanied with them.