Okay, here you go. Sometimes you come across someone who is just like you…
This guy is insane, creative, talented, and half fucking retarded all in one. His mentality is completely about inventing new tricks, risking his life, and trying to ride obstacles that would not be considered obstacles by most skaters. My kind of guy. I think I would love to hang out with this dude.
William Spencer is insane.
Here’s 2 videos of him that should totally blow your mind.
Ryan Decenzo was always a good skater, and always solid. And it’s special to see him be known as one of the best Street Skaters in the world right now. The first real moment I remember of knowing Ryan was way back when him and Scott Decenzo were just young kids around 13 and 14 years old. They knew me and were stoked that I had shown up to their local skate spot Cougar Canyon School with Cisco Gooding and Jon Irvine and they followed us around that afternoon watching what we were trying. I still remember how stoked they were when Jon boardslid this super high hubba ledge behind the high school and that was what made me respect them, and I loved Ryan’s hardflips. Then I started seeing them around here and there and eventually when I started running Skateboard Competitions all the time, they would be there, and then of course North Delta Skate Park was built and that became not only home to these 2 brothers, but Training Grounds for where they have made it in the skateboard world today.
Ryan Decenzo has proven himself a master of the board many times in many ways, from being the first to do something, to the guy that did it the biggest, and definitely for being one of the most consistent at all times. He won the Dew Tour Street last year, and here’s what he has to say about this upcoming event. Make sure you tune in to NBC October 18-21 and see how he does.
I’ve been watching all of Hippie Mike’s video’s on YouTube seeing what he’s up to. I’ve been so stoked on how he get’s people pumped to skate by having different kinds of sessions and filming projects. One of the video’s that really caught my eye were of the latest ramp sessions, the ramp contest was insane. I realized that Hippie has had ramps for years and I’ve never skated any of them! So I shot him a quick text about how fun the newest version of his ramp looked, he got back to me right away inviting me to shred and even film the next episode of Cap’n Old Ballz….
My thoughts exactly – so we hooked up for an hour the other day – the rest is history.
Ohhhhh, the Skateboard Industry… so huge now.
When I was young and started skateboarding in the mid-80’s, skateboarding was crazy – pools, vert and launchers, hair in your eyes and rails on your boards. It was huge at that time and all the skaters wanted to be at the top of their game. There was only a select few number of Pro Skaters that everybody knew and they were always competing to be better than the others. I watched as skateboarding suddenly fell off the Popularity Meter and all of a sudden there was no publicity for it any more. It was tough times for the Pro’s, and even tougher for the Skate Shops. But skateboarding made a major comeback in the mid-90’s and it looks like it’s here for good.
There are soooooooooooo many amazing skateboarders in the world that we will never know 25% of their names. You only get your chance if you get your name out there in the first place and now a days the only way to do that is to have a solid filmer behind you.
It’s crazy how huge skateboarding is world wide and I would have to say that the abundance of people filming is the reason for it. Some people just have video camera and enjoy getting footage of them and their friends, where others save up for a year and buy the sickest camera on the market and start getting in with the crew’s of sick skaters and always filming. Trust me, people love it when someone wants to film, I know I do. Filming and watching yourself later is also the best way to improve and another serious reason as to how sick the talent is out there. The more they film the better they get, and the more they film us, the better we get. So together, we make an amazing team that showcases talents, and creates entertainment for everyone to enjoy. So big thanks and props to all you Die Hard Skateboard Filmers out there – thanks for helping to create so many memories…
Ty Williamson has been sending me video links to lots of his edits, most of it being park footage but it really lets us get to know some local skaters. The filming is perfect, the editing is good and the skating is always impressive. Here’s another quick edit from “Tyler the Creator” called On Top.
Some old and unused footage from Pitt Meadows and Thomas Haney Parks featuring Blair Higginson, Lanny DeBoer, Keenan Hargrove, Calum Wood, James Benson, Dylan Ackimenko, Tom Korop, Adrian Wnorowski, Braiden Huish, and Dave Jonsson
Remember what it was like to be a young kid skateboarder learning lots of tricks and getting out there filming with your buddies, before being sponsored and so well known; before having a bag of tricks so huge that you need a full size pick up truck to cart it around with you, and before having everyone always expecting you to kill it wherever you are… you know, when skateboarding was just for fun.
I found this video on Facebook through Kory Laan and I liked it a lot. It reminded me of being about 15-16 years old and just going out and having a blast with my friends and our skateboards. Filmed by Max Macievich, it features a bunch of the young Chuck Bailey Loc’s like Tanner and Jackson Hawthorne, Kory Laan, JR Barron, Francois LeBlanc, Majed Salem and Dominic Devries, with some super power from a couple of the older dudes like Calvin Dignard and Ryan Prasad. All in all, a good little video for us older guys who have been around the block a few times to sit back and remember what it was like when we were at that stage….
Well we sponsored the Surrey Pride Festival went as a vendor. There were tons of people there having a great time, it was super sunny and hot. The music was pretty good, I liked the first band – Goatface Killaz. They were pretty funny, and they were totally stoked when Ryan Brynelson walked up and threw down his board in front of the stage and started ripping it up Freestyle. Handstand kickflips, Pogos and Spins, and just Walking the Dog across the entire park, the crowd’s attention was suddenly turned to him and the band recognized it right away, calling him “Skater Guy” and giving him props over the microphone while singing their songs.
Ryan attracted many people over to watch him skate as he put on short demos throughout the day and lots of people were taking photos of him. I heard a lot of people talking about how amazing he was.
We showed up, me and Jaden sold some gear, and Ryan Brynelson ripped it. It was a good day.
Protest.
K – I – L – I – A – N…
Kilian Martin is a maniac. This guy just might be the next Rodney Mullen. A freestyle wizard, with some serious street skills, and combining the 2 together to create tricks out of some other dimension.
This video has been anticipated for quite a while, and after watching it you will understand why. Kilian has passed Tony Hawk’s record for the most hits on Youtube with over 5 million, and just to prove how, this video was released yesterday on May 29th, and at this moment has been viewed 42,824 times. That’s insane!!
Filmed, edited and directed by Brett Novak, in association with Mercedes, there is some serious production value behind it. It looks like they were at an old abandoned amusement park somewhere in California. Kilian makes good use of any obstacles that are still existing, and straight up kills it.
Watch the video, screw your head back on, and go learn this stuff…
I went and met up with Team Riders, Andy Anderson and Stu Benoit on Sunday to do a little filming. Andy got tied up on the skytrain for a while and it took him an hour and a half longer than us to get to the first stop – Kensington Skate Park. Stu and I had already played a little game of “Skate” and were both pretty much done with that park by the time Andy showed up, so it was all him. He started to annihilate the pool right away with grinds and airs over the deathbox in the deep end. So I started filming. Andy killed the pool, the mini ramp and the launcher in about half an hour but he blew out a bearing and we had to go get another one. Stu finished off his game of Bocce with the boys and we took off, grabbed a bearing at Stu’s and went to Hastings Park.
Both of them start shredding the bowl instantly. Man I wish I could skate a bowl like these guys, effortless tricks on every section, but nothing easy. Stu threw down his usual blunts, tailslides and lipslides wherever he felt like it, and Andy ripped through the bowl super fast hitting every obstacle possible. I told him to clear this gap from the 6 foot hip over the landing to the other quarterpipe coming back the other direction – it’s about 10 feet. Andy told me there was no way.
He landed it within 4 tries.
Then he did it about 5 times in a row – solid.
We filmed for about half an hour at each park, check out the footage.
Not bad for a quick Session on a Sunday…
Man, I got so much footage at the Finals on Monday. I’m still uploading it into my editing program. The final article along with a compilation video will be posted by Friday or Saturday. I know you’re all waiting to see some wicked performances, so here’s a little bit to get you going.
These were the demos that some of the Pros put on during their introductions prior to the actual Finals, along with Shaun Gladwell’s final run in the Amateur Division – 1st place finish – and a solid example from the master, Kilian Martin showing off why he is considered to be the next biggest name of Freestyle Skateboarding. Mind Blowing.
Just to give you a dose of what you’re going to see in the upcoming video,
Enjoy.
Kilian Martin – Demo
Stephan Albert – Demo
Guenter Mokulys – Demo
Mike Osterman – Demo
Per Canguru – Demo
Rene Shigueto – Demo
Shaun Gladwell – Final Run in Amateur – 1st Place finish
Stefan “Lillis” Akesson – Demo
The Protest Team just keeps getting bigger, but also more and more diverse.
We got bowl rippers, flip trick masters, old-schoolers, new-schoolers and of course myself – who will skate anything and everything. But there was one thing missing, a Freestyle Skateboarder.
Over the evolution of the skateboard era, board shapes have changed dramatically, and the style of obstacles and the scenes of which we skate have changed with it. But there’s one thing that still exists, and that is the freedom of expression. Freestyle Skateboarding is a way of life. It’s you and your board making magic happen together. You don’t need a skate park, you don’t need an audience, you just need passion. I’ve been watching this kid grow for about 4 or 5 years now, and the one thing I always recognized in his skating was passion. He loves to learn and loves to try new things. And with a lot of mentorship from the legendary Kevin Harris, I knew he was only going to get better.
I talked to Ryan on the phone the night before the World Round-Up Freestyle Championships and laid down an offer of having him join the team. I was not surprised at how stoked he was about it. This kid is an amazing person, who loves to skateboard and be good at it, but is also one of the most humble people you’ll ever meet. Reminds me a lot of Rodney Mullen.
In this lifetime, and with the right support behind him, I believe that he will make a memorable mark on the skateboard community world-wide. And I am stoked to help him with that.
Ryan Brynelson… Welcome to PROTEST!