Last week I was invited by Moichi Suzuki, a top professional skater in Japan, to do a demo in Odaiba Japan. I was absolutely stoked as this would be my first demo in Japan, something I really wanted to do. As I was walking to the where the demo would be held, I was taking in the amazing views and site of this incredible country. Everybody is nice, the food is amazing (I’m on the most incredible food journey of my life right now), and of course I finally get to use the Japanese I was studying since I was 13. As hard as it is, I’m incredibly happy I stuck with studying the language. Studying another language has opened up so many doors for me and allowed me to meet amazing people I would have not been able to have otherwise and really get to know people that we might see as quiet foreigners back in Canada on a whole different level.
When I got to the site of the demo, I was greeted by Masahiro Fujii and Moichi Suzuki. I know, these might look like a bunch of random Japanese names to you, but you should really get to know these guys, they are seriously some of the best skaters ever and definitely worth watching.
When we did the first demo, the ground area was quite full and I was ready to do demo’s today, which I thought would be no problem as I have done over 80 demo’s back home in Canada. I was wrong. For the first time in years I actually started getting nervous. Maybe it was the fact that this was my first one in Japan or maybe it was the fact that I stood out as the only foreigner doing this show and the crowd had some kind of weird expectation, I don’t know, but man was I ever nervous. After the first set, the other one went by more smoothly for me for sure, but I was quite surprised with myself. Moichi, Masahiro, Tomo and the 2 street skaters that showed up did great though and we all had a fantastic time. Definitely a fun memory and a good start to my life in Japan. Looking forward to the other adventures and more awesome skaters I meet here. I’ll keep you posted, so please stay tuned.
Check out the video from the demo. From handstands and 360’s to crazy ledge combos and a few ollies over people from the audience, this one was very insane
So awesome dood. Glad to see that you’re able to live out your dream! That connection you made from your previous post is too cool 😛
Keep the posts coming! Or I’ll message you myself haha