I lived it. It was ok but not all that. Only seems like it to those of you who were born later. I think the 60's & 70's were ass kicking times..my parents generation..me just a baby. Its just cuz you were around yet.
The dislikers don't realize how influental Rodeny is to modern day skateboarding. It basically came from him. You know that ollie? The first trick you learn on a skateboard? The trick that almost every flatground trick came from? Yeah, he invented that at 15 I love Rodney. He will always be the godfather of skateboarding
petestrat07 Hendrix had his own style of playing, so does every guitar player. What he did on guitar is miniscule compared to what Rodney has done. No Rodney and we don't have what skateboarding is today period. No Hendrix and we'd most definitely have guitarist.
Rock, metal music and everything that's in between would be nothing like it is today if it weren't for Jimi. It's very similar as to Mullen's influence with skateboarding. Both are forces that we are unlikely to witness ever again but their influence will ripple for a long time to come..
Im also 42. 43 in december. Grew up in the middle of nowhere in brazil and was a mission to get the vhs tapes of the powell videos. I still skate to this day and will skate till i die. This are the real heros of my childhood. 42 still skate rails, land pressure flips...360 flips...and have a lot of fun every single time im on my board!!!!
Same here. 40yrs old 41 in may. I have been skating for 35 yrs and the bones brigade was always the elite group to me when I was a kid. Its a shame the kids today won't ever get off their devices and go outside to experience all the awesomeness that skateboarding is.
I don't think we'll ever see another skateboarder like Rodney Mullen. The guy is stratospheres above everyone else. He made skateboarding what it is today, and is still better than basically all the skateboarders who followed in his footsteps. Not only did he create the moves, he did them better than everyone else.
I know the big thing with Rodney is how innovative he was, and nearly spartan in his dedication to skating, but I just adore his personality, at just about all times.
@@nobodysreview6137 No, freestyle died out and he was left with no option but to start skating stairs, rails and ledges because his sponsors were no longer sponsoring him to ride freestyle. They pulled his pro model skateboards and shoes off the shelves before he ever began street skating.
there is. this is a short clip from a documentary. and there is a whole documentary just on rodney. i can't remember what it's called. i watched it though. one of the best documentaries i've ever seen. of any category.
This guy inspires me so much, to do everything. He practiced so hard, put his LIFE into skateboarding and revolutionized the sport. Incredible. If we could harness even 5% of that passion and dedication we would all be so much better. Thank you so much, Rodney.
Rodney is a strange dude. His TED talk is hilarious. Rodney has been one of my favourite skaters since I was a kid. His portfolio of tricks in insane. Love him and am SO grateful for how he revolutionized skating.
I love that not only he is one of, if not, THEE greatest skateboarder to grace concrete with his presence... He's also a f**kin weirdo guy 😂 that story at the end where he just LEFT and came back a while later like nothing happened.
The jovial silly music really takes the edge off of something that must have, at the time, been seriously distressing for him. He's quite literally a genius in what he does, but it clearly doesn't come without a price, and I don't envy those moments in his life. Such an exceptional human being.
RM was always my favorite skater growing up, and is still one of my all time favorites. The biggest thing that has changed is my reasoning for why he was and still is. Growing up it was his technical abilities and creativity that got me hooked on his skating. As I get older I appreciate his commitment and humble attitude.
I’m glad you were a great example for many people. Thank you for being a positive example in our lives just by being inspired somehow. Thank you so much.
I say more like Pele than Ronaldinho, as both Mullen and Pele were the early originators of a style in their sport that made incredible difficult things look fluid and effortless. Ronaldhino would be more like Daewon, clearly very skilled and unpredictable. Rodney is the GOAT in my mind.
@@ottosflyfishingchannel5859 Pele played long ago and never really played club european football which has always been the highest level of play. Ronaldhinio is a perfect comparison because at his peak no one could do what he did his control was unbelievable and his style was unorthodox (even his dribbling), more importantly he birthed a generation of people who copied him.
Rodney came to my neighborhood in Gainesville fla. Slalom cones. Gainesville golf and country Club. Later at sensation basin was his genesis also in Gainesville. Just a real nice guy with a passion to skate and create. And boy did he! Even then some called him mutt. Shout out to Rodney from the Evans brothers!
Damn right no one said a word. Too much respect, even back then. Can all y'all please stop trying to label the dude, this aint even one of those PC comments, it's about how back in the day no one gave a fuck about trying to figure out what was "wrong" with him, there's too much right with him. He's just the coolest weird dude you know. It's Rodney Fucking Mullen. You don't need to bring out the DSM-V to figure out what he's about. Just watch his clips. Sheesh.
Come on it's great that it played out like that for him and those few individuals, but you're making a statement about a whole generation. Are you really trying to say that people in the past were more tolerant of abnormalities? Maybe they tolerated it in geniuses more, but isn't that true today as well? You're saying one great thing and then lumping in a whole nother statement.
Met the guy a few years back, the nicest person one could meet. Signed something for me, and as a skater I've never thought anything other than this dude is a genius on the board.. The globe video had just dropped, always mind blowing footage.
There never has been, and likely never will be again, anyone like Rodney Mullen. He did more for street skating than anyone in history. I never realized that back in the 80's when I was a little grom... but looking back now, it's so amazing to realize the fullness of what he brought to skateboarding.
Feeling sick, Freaking out and then just disappearing like that is all signs of a junkie going through withdrawals! The man was/is addicted to skating! He left to go get his fix so to speak! lmao!... Rodney Mullen the best in the world!
its that obsessiveness. that '9 hours a day' not because he was told to, or wanted to prove something, but just for the joy and art of it. skating was where he felt truly free, and authentic. his most self actualised, and he engaged with it, bravely and truly
This part, and the part where Rodney and Tony both discuss quitting competition and coming back in with a different approach were my two favorite parts of the movie. Rodney hands down stole the show in this documentary.
Rodney is just an absolute unit. Perfection to this style of skateboarding. Always my favorite personally, and humble and articulate as well. A joy to watch.
Rodney Mullen is a genius. He may talk like that his great analysis over the technicalities of the tricks and his want to share it to the community is so damn inspiring
What is shocking in Rodney carrier is that after freestyle everyone though it is over. It's done. He will never skate anymore, he is a dinosaur, no one skate freestyle anymore. But that was just the begining...
I grew up with Animal Chin, Ban This, Public Domain and Future Primitive. To say Rodney was influential and impressive is a gross understatement. He was doing "flippy-dippy" stuff but the reality, was nobody really knew what the hell he was doing or understood the context of it until much later. I became a sponsored AM riding for Hosoi's Milk Skateboards in the 90s, living in Santa Barbara and skating the Goleta Powell Park all the time. Rodney came in for the pro contest in spring of 92, and I was able to say 2-3 words to him, and he couldn't have been nicer. Later, I was invited to the first Plan B video premiere in a rented theater near San Diego in April or so of 92, and we could not BELIEVE what we saw in Rodney's part. I mean, the entire theater, with the likes of Danny Way, all the important San Diego and Santa Barbara folks and many pros, like Sean Sheffy, Frankie Hill, the Plan B guys, Powell guys, you name it, we were literally shitting ourselves trying to figure out what the fuck he was even doing. What an inspiration.
In 1991 I was at the Münster Mastership in Germany, and had Backstage Cards. The "Freestyle" Event was poorly visited (while the Street and HalfPipe Event was louder than a Motörhead Concert!), but I was backstage alone in a huge room with Rodney while he trained. I was 17 back then, gathered all my courage and walked up to him, disrupting him in his training. I told him I´ll take part in a contest in Vienna soon, if maybe he can show me a new trick. He seemed annoyed, but heres the thing: he seemed annoyed not by me talking to him, but by himself not beeing able to communicate like others - he was actually very polite and took his time explaining tricks to me. He lives in his own world, he seems like a weird person, but thats just him being almost inhumane, and simply a genius! Oh, he showed me a (back than) complicated kickflip which I mastered and made me second place on that contest later on. Thanks Rodney!
