Speaker 1: 0:09

Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate destination for all skating enthusiasts. We cater to everyone, from beginners to pros. Whether you love inline and ice skating or prefer quads and skateboarding, we have it all covered, and we bring you exclusive interviews with professionals, talented amateurs and influencers in the industry.

Speaker 2: 0:39

So sit back, relax and get ready for an exciting journey into the world of skating. Welcome to how Do you Skate. I am your host, sean Egan, and my guest today is Ryan Larbarger. Did I say that right?

Speaker 3: 0:50

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Okay, cool, and he is a skateboarder and he has a website called scoachingcom. So when did your skateboarding career start?

Speaker 3: 1:04

When did your skateboarding career start? Oh, I've been skating since I was like nine or ten, probably. I think I got sponsored for the first time when I was like 16. And I'm 35 now, so I've been. I've been doing it for a while. I don't have any sponsors currently. I've been just kind of doing my own thing for like the last, maybe like 10 years.

Speaker 2: 1:27

Okay, so you were a pro then for a while.

Speaker 3: 1:31

I was like flow Colorado is kind of a weird spot to be for. At least when I was growing up, it was more just like free product from like local sales reps. You really had to be in California to get like in-house uh sponsorships. From my understanding I never. I I moved out to california in my 20s and kind of tried that for like a year or two and um, yeah, it just kind of didn't work out financially so when you started skateboarding, what did you start off with?

Speaker 3: 2:05

just like the basic ollie and kick flips and yeah, just pushing around the neighborhood, um, there was like some older guys in the neighborhood, I don't know. I just like I always was like I get kind of like hyper fixated on things like um, and I saw like older dudes pushing around and like my friends, older brothers had them. My dad never like wanted me to skate. It was like very like it took me a couple years, like working on him, to get him to give me a board, um, but I eventually like kind of bought used parts from like different kids in the neighborhood and like put together this like Frankenstein board.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Sometimes those are the best they get. They create the best memories too, because you actually had to build it, so you kind of cherish it a lot more. So so now, what was? Like you said, it wasn't as good back then in Colorado, which is now where I live. So what was it like back then as far as were there skate parks, or was it kind of?

Speaker 3: 3:09

They were all like prefab, built by like municipal workers without a skateboarding background. So I think Ulysses Skate Park it's now golden, like the golden skate park has been renovated. Ok, I think that was like one of the first ones in the state. It's just like sheet metal, um, like flat concrete slab and then sheet metal ramps, so like I mean decent, but like the only one in the state. So like, um, I guess I was fortunate when I was like 10 or 12 they built denver park, which is like unheard of. I mean the city put like two and a half million into that and it's like I don't even know how many square feet, but it's huge. So, like I was, we were kind of spoiled just even being within like half hour of that place because, like we figured out how to take the bus down there when we were like 12 or 13, so we just like lived at denver park nice because, someone told me that aurora has the best skate park for colorado, yeah.

Speaker 3: 4:12

So I was always really jealous of all the dudes up in aurora when I was younger because like we had to take the bus to denver to get to a good park. And then, uh, aurora put in trail skate park. Uh, it must have been too early 2000s, maybe 2004, 2005. And then it was several years later when we got like the westminster skate park where I grew up, and that was like pretty sweet because that was like right at 16, so like we were all just in cars and stuff and we could go, we could get to the local park super easy. Um, but yeah, for a while there it was like we didn't have a local park in town and now it's almost like every town has like a really nice local park, which is pretty dope yeah, where is the westminster one?

Speaker 3: 4:59

uh like 108th and sheridan okay I think it just behind that rec center.

Speaker 2: 5:06

Okay, yeah, cause I'm. I'm in North Glen and I think Thornton off of Colorado and 112th is the closest one to me.

Speaker 3: 5:15

Yeah, that North Glen skate park, um, it's a Memorial park or something. Yeah, dude, that one's new. That one's newer than Westminster. Um, that's probably like 2010s maybe, okay, um, yeah, that one's great. So, team pain got contracted. Team pain got contracted by I don't know, maybe the state or a bunch of different counties, and they put in all these like multi-million dollar skate parks all over the state. Um, the last like 10 or 15 years, which has been dope, like arvada park, is like insane. I don't know if you check that one out I have not yet um.

Speaker 2: 5:54

I'm gonna be working on a project in 2025, so I'll be hitting a lot of skate parks, a lot of rinks, a lot of ice rinks, so um I'll tell you a little. What's that Speed?

Speaker 3: 6:07

skating.

Speaker 2: 6:08

I'm getting into long track and short track. Ice now and I do inline 2025 is going to be a busy year. It's fun Coming from California, where I was at we had one rink, so to come out here and see how many roller rinks and how big roller skating is out here is surprising, and it's funny because earlier early couple of weeks ago I had a roller derby team on from my hometown and I didn't even know we had a roller derby team in my town. Oh, wow.

Speaker 2: 6:47

So, but now skating all through high school. It's like are you still skating now, or?

Speaker 3: 6:54

Yeah, like I'll get out maybe twice a week Um the winters. I'm in Connecticut right now and the winters are pretty wet, so it's been maybe a week or two since I got a session in um. But yeah, it's been cool because connecticut is starting to put some money into local parks out here, yeah. So yeah, really like post covid, it's like skateboarding's kind of blown up around the nation, it seems like which has been cool I think with with COVID all skating cause, people were buying roller skates.

Speaker 2: 7:25

That's when I got new skates, and so it was. I think the only good thing that came out of the pandemic was the skating. Everything else sucked.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Yeah, cause, yeah, bridgeport, bridgeport, connecticut, has a big roller skating scene. I've seen that they do like these meetups look like hundreds of people. I've never been. They do like these meetups look like hundreds of people. I've never been personally but like, yeah, it's kind of wild, like everyone's kind of getting out and I like to see people out and moving because it's like a just like a health kind of nerd. So it's like, yeah, it's great Nice.

Speaker 2: 7:58

So now you have a website called scoachingcom, so do you want to explain what that is? Or like what you do, cause to me it sounds like you're a skate coach.

Speaker 3: 8:09

Yeah, yeah, that's kind of the goal, I guess. Yeah, kind of. So I I always wanted to skate professionally since I was little and in my twenties I tore my ACL and had knee surgery and then I recovered pretty well and like I kind of pushed myself pretty good after that but like burned out and that's how I kind of found alternative medicine. Originally I was interested in like physical therapy and kind of on my journey of studying I got introduced to Chinese medicine and my friend kind of started teaching me traditional Kung Fu and like I was like studying in his clinic and stuff and so just after a couple of years I went to school for my acupuncture licensure and my master's degree in traditional chinese medicine and herbal medicine and so, um, the old kung fu guys had like really good sports medicine and so kind of.

Speaker 3: 9:15

My vision for scoaching is to kind of make like a bridge the gap as far as like traditional medicine and like modern, like sports performance and like health and wellness. Um, so like kind of all athletes or anyone interested in health and wellness is like my ideal audience. But like my background, scoaching or my background is skateboarding, so I feel like I can like speak to a skateboarder. More specifically, um, but generally like any, anyone really I am interested in talking to, about, like health and wellness.

Speaker 2: 9:49

Nice. Now what are some recommendations, not just for skateboarders, but for skaters in general? Since you've got the background and that's your goal, it's like what's some advice you can give us as far as our health goes?

Speaker 3: 10:03

so I think a lot of people I don't know so much about, I mean, I feel like ice skating and roller skating and most forms of skating are like not institutionalized, so it's not like you don't have the same like community support as you do if you're like a basketball, baseball, football type, um.

Speaker 3: 10:23

So I feel like it tends to draw like a different audience and and so there's like this like self-expression piece that's like super important for people and then also like the community piece, um, and kind of being connected is like kind of a really big thing. I feel like in skateboarding communities like it's not about like how good you are, what you bring to the table, necessarily. It's just about like kind of being there and like supporting each other. And so I think, uh, when people tend to get injured or have difficulties that take them like away from their activity, which is also their community, you see a lot of just like I don't know mental health struggles, like physical pain struggles. So it's like I think tools for like recovery and tools for like just kind of maintaining your mind and your body to a certain degree so that you can have fun doing like your sport, um is kind of what I, what I would have to, what I want to offer people. Um, yeah, yeah, is that?

Speaker 2: 11:37

yeah, so now I'm I'm familiar with acupuncture because I've had it done. Now, um, probably a lot of people like you hear something but you don't really know a lot about it. And. I have no fear of needles. Because of my health issues that I've been through, I probably had more shots than being shot within AK 47. So, um, what is, what is acupuncture, and how would it benefit not just skateboarders or skaters, but just people in general?

Speaker 3: 12:59

Yeah, so, um, acupuncture is, so it's really just a needle, um, and the needle is kind of an extension of like the practitioner's hands, if that makes sense. So of an extension of like the practitioner's hands, if that makes sense. So, um, acupuncture is based on chinese medicine, which is like our oldest um documented system of medical science, um so it. It predates like the modern scientific method, um like the modern research method that like kind of dominates our colleges right now, but essentially it's just medicine. And so in California, when you have training as an acupuncturist, you're actually considered like a primary care physician, based on the way that they've set it up in their state. I believe there's other states that are like that too, but um kind of outside of their state to state varies. So, uh, the only thing I really work under is the acupuncture licensure, but technically it's like full scope of medicine. So, um, we're I'm trained, trained in uh like lifestyle, so like talking about like diet, exercise, uh, sleep, um like kind of energy levels, those types of things, uh, reproductive health, um, and then also like palpation and massage therapy. So we'll do like physical medicine, um, um similar to what you do in like a physical therapy office. Um, I have a massage therapy background, which we also study massage therapy in chinese medicine school, um, but so really it's acupuncture is really like one facet of it, um, one tool that we would use, but the real like meat and potatoes of it is just like the chinese medical theory, with, um, the way to look at the body and the mind and kind of the world around us as like one whole system is. It's really like what separates Chinese medicine from like modern, um like treatment approaches and in modern even like modern like training, like, uh, like weightlifting and modern sports performance Um, it's like very, very segmented and fragmented just because of like our reduction, our reductionist science, yeah and so, yeah, so, uh, my big thing really is like I really love like the movement arts um, so like tai chi and like traditional kung fu stuff and like yoga and meditation um, and they all really, when you really get into them, they're all like kind of traditional systems of like bodybuilding but like mentally and physical, mental and physical bodybuilding um, so it's kind of wild because, like, as you get older, if you train like a meditative practice, you get older and you kind of get better at your art or your sport or whatever, instead of, like in western culture, we think like, oh, I get old and like I can't do it anymore, like I get old and I gotta like move on.

Speaker 3: 16:25

But it's like I find with skateboarders and like skaters and artsy creative types, it's like like, like they will most people will like die before they're going to give up on what they love to do. So it's like if you I think it's cool, like if you can do something that will make you be able to do the thing you love longer.

Speaker 2: 16:45

Yeah, exactly. So I'm going to drop some, I guess, knowledge, because I know this, because I also went to massage school and spent time as a massage therapist. So with acupuncture you work with meridians, right yeah, in the body. So I'm familiar with them. But what are meridians and why do you work along meridians?

Speaker 3: 17:17

meridians okay. So, um, every a lot of like traditional, like the traditional healing sciences are a lot of like a lot of crossover between agriculture and like the human body. So we look at, we look at the way that the structure of the body as a whole works, and so the meridians are kind of like rivers or like streams or like waterways that flow like from our head to our toes and like out to like our tips of our fingers, down our arms and stuff, and so, um, in like modern science, the, the fascial network is, is kind of like a big hype word right now, like everybody's really interested in, like fascia and the myofascial network, because it's like a web that connects the whole system, like inside and out, head to toe, out to all the fingertips and everything. And so the meridians are like. The meridians are like the, the map of where the energy flows in the body, and not just like woo, woo energy, but like like the blood, where the blood flows, where the lymph flows, like if you were to extend your arm out, like that's a whole chain of muscles from your spine out to your fingers that does all the basic movements.

Speaker 3: 18:42

So the meridians, that was basically their, the ancients method of mapping out the body, so like they're, it's their anatomy and physiology essentially, and now we've just kind of all our modern stuff is based on like latin and greek, so it's like we were looking at individual muscles and individual tendons and stuff. But like now that we really look into it and now that health care and technology has gotten to where it has, we're really noticing that like it takes multiple disciplines to really get out a lot of these chronic health care problems that we see. So like yeah, like in my family we have like a lot of diabetes and heart disease and dementia, we have like a lot of diabetes and heart disease and dementia, and so like a lot of those health problems can be traced back to like Western lifestyle and like kind of the day-to-day habits that we do that add up and create like a health problem later on. Um, I kind of feel like I got off on a tangent, but that's okay.

Speaker 3: 19:55

Okay, but essentially like to, to like for all three of those like the, the best thing to do is like daily self-care hey, sorry, cats over here. So like stress reduction, a healthy movement, like a meditative practice, uh, clean eating, like right, like the basic, just covering getting really good at just like your basic day to day self care will prevent like 75 80% of like the chronic problems that we face. So it's like we're our modern science and modern medicine is coming back around full circle and being like, oh wait, like holism and these kind of ancient philosophies. They're actually like a lot more sophisticated and advanced than I think we thought they were originally, which is weird. But it's almost like a lost art or like a lost science that we're kind of seeing like a revival in over the last like 50 years or 100 years, nice.

Speaker 2: 21:02

Now have you had acupuncture done. Do you do that on a regular basis for yourself?

Speaker 3: 21:07

Yeah, yeah. So I had a in school. We did it all the time. We were always working on each other. I didn't have health insurance for maybe a year or two, um, so I hadn't gotten it done, but I just kind of got all my ducks in a row out here and our health insurance covers it for right now. So, yeah, I'm going like weekly, which has been really nice, just to like kind of de-stress and chill nice.

Speaker 2: 21:32

Now you said you're like out skateboarding a couple of times a week. So um well, especially now where you're at, winter does play a part, like here. It's like so weird, because you lived here for a long time so you know it's pretty much bipolar weather like you can have warm shorts in the morning, have to put on pants and a raincoat in the afternoon and and then by the evening you have to put on your snow gear. So it's all in one day. We got like all the seasons in one day.

Speaker 3: 22:01

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:03

But do you guys have like indoor skate parks out where you're at now or yeah, so there's one.

Speaker 3: 22:09

There's one in Connecticut called Hive, that's going good. They just renewed their lease for, like, I think, the next five years. And then there's one, uh, in upstate new york, just kind of across the border, called second nature. Uh, that is also.

Speaker 3: 22:27

I think they just open 24 7, so oh nice they just kind of have like a kind of honor system, dropbox payment, um, but yeah, it'd be nice. We want more indoor local stuff, like at least like the dudes that I hang out with, like we're kind of looking for that. Closer in town it's pretty sparse, like skating. Skating is sparse out here, like we got to. You got to put it more like I don't know, east coast skating is a different breed, for sure, but like, if you gotta put it more like I don't, east coast skating is a different breed for sure, but like if you can get into, like new york city, it's insane.

Speaker 2: 23:00

Like I don't even know, it's like that's like a whole new world, nice now, since you're in like the health and you do everything you do for like mental health and everything as you were growing up skateboarding, was there ever a time where you just had those low points where you wanted to just say screw it and quit, and and especially not knowing what you know now? So how, what was that time like?

Speaker 3: 23:28

yeah.

Speaker 3: 23:29

So I think, yeah, skating has always been like my. I think it was kind of my first meditation, really like my first, like the first way that like I kind of got to like express myself and move and like just kind of be free and like doing whatever I wanted to do. Um, and so it like it's always ebbed and flowed, like I've always had like I don't know like a handful of years where I'm really into it, really pushing it, and then I kind of step away for a little bit and explore other interests and then come back and really get into it. And that's really been the theme since I was nine or ten. It's just kind of a wave right like, um, I think a lot of it has to do with like inspiration and like creativity and then like just kind of basic needs.

Speaker 3: 24:21

But, um, I think my knee surgery was like my biggest like oh shit, moment. Like um, just kind of having to like get surgery to continue skating was kind of a big deal. Like I've kind of injured myself my whole life. But my mom was a nurse, so it was always just like super normal going to the hospital for things and like I never really like broke things or needed surgery. So like knee surgery was definitely like a dark time for sure.

Speaker 3: 24:51

Like as far as just like depression and shit Cause I kind of like lost skateboarding for a while and like it wasn't very common at the time, like skateboarders still didn't really like work out, like it wasn't like I don't know, we didn't really take care of ourselves, like everyone was like drinking and smoking on the sessions and, like you know, we were just kind of like partying and blowing off steam after work and on the weekends and, like you know, we were just kind of like partying and blowing off steam after work and on the weekends.

Speaker 3: 25:18

So it wasn't like it's like health conscious culture. So like knee surgery and then trying to come back from knee surgery was really hard for me. Um. So I think that kind of inspired a lot of like the health care stuff and then also just like inspired a lot of like the healthcare stuff and then also just like my mom and dad are very like healthcare oriented, like my dad has like a background in psychology and my mom's a nurse, so I it was also just kind of like family stuff to like I just kind of, you know, did what we all kind of do at the house, I guess, I don't know yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:57

That's funny Cause. Did you ever watch the show Big bang theory?

Speaker 3: 26:02

I saw spurts of it, but I couldn't, I couldn't follow yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:06

Leonard's mom was a psychiatrist and she always like analyzed him, and so he like grew up with all these issues. Because of that. So, you didn't have any of that in your house oh no, we totally did.

Speaker 3: 26:16

Yeah, we're all like everyone's, everyone's kind of like on each other about being healthy and taking care of themselves, I guess, which is like, as in a, it's kind of funny, I don't know. Yeah, we're, we're an interesting bunch to be around for sure, and then we all have like our own health problems and struggles too and shit. So it's like I don't know, yeah, it's funny, but no, it's funny to be an adult and like be outside of it, but like, yeah, looking back, like I think skateboarding kept me sane for sure, like that was yeah, and my parents.

Speaker 3: 26:49

Like once, uh, I don't know, my parents kind of came around like they saw that skateboarding kind of kept me out of trouble because like they my dad figured out a good system where it was like, as long as I did well in school, like they were supportive of me. Skateboarding got sponsored by the skate shop when I was in high school and uh, and so it was like I always did fairly well in school and so skateboarding was like they were cool with it. Um, but yeah, I don't, I don't know it was uh, it was always like my savior whenever like things were hard for sure, like um, I don't know, my sister struggled, like when we were younger, it was like just hard watching her go through stuff.

Speaker 3: 27:40

So like skateboarding was always like my outlet and like kept me kind of like grounded and then like yeah, helped me balance just like my life responsibilities, I guess, which is funny Cause like everybody always growing up it was like skateboarders were kind of like you were kind of like a delinquent, like everybody kind of always told me like you're going to be like dead or in jail if you want to be a skateboarder. Growing up that was like kind of the norm, so that that and like just not wanting to be like a stereotype and like my family's kind of expectations, I think.

Speaker 2: 28:19

Yeah well skateboarding was so tied into the punk scene back then and punk rockers were anarchists, so a lot of skateboarders had the Mohawks. And it's funny because I don't know if you ever saw the movie Thrashing.

Speaker 3: 28:34

What's that?

Speaker 2: 28:35

Josh Brolin was in it.

Speaker 3: 28:36

That's 80s. Yeah, I think it was 85.

Speaker 2: 28:40

It came out like the year before goonies, so I'm a 90s baby. I've seen highlights and I've heard lots of references, but I I need to watch the original for sure but you have like one skate group is like the punks, like the leather and the spikes and all that kind of stuff. And then the other skate group was kind of like not preppy, but more like I would say back then we called it normal looking because they didn't have all the leather, but it was like two skate groups.

Speaker 2: 29:09

And now it's funny because skateboarding has come so far, since even that movie and, um, you know, a lot of it has to do with Tony Hawk. So just everything he's done and it was interesting, wasn't he?

Speaker 3: 29:26

Uh, I don't know, maybe I don't know Bomb scene or something.

Speaker 2: 29:30

Uh, the downhill, the LA massacre. So he might've been, but I know they had a bunch of other professional skateboarders from the time too. It's one of my favorite skate movies Skateboarding movies, but it's just to see where it was from me, growing up, from ramps built in people's chicken farms all the way to having skate parks now and tv x games being in the olympics.

Speaker 2: 30:00

It's come a long way so this was like mind-blowing and so what you're doing now it's kind of like, since skateboarding has become so competitive, you've got like a huge market to tap into, and it's not just for skateboarding, it's for, like the entire skate community, to just inline skaters, quad skaters, hockey players. So there's so much more there.

Speaker 3: 30:25

So yeah, just I feel like it'd be cool to like get people together and do events. Or my wife and I's kind of dream is to have like some acreage and do like a retreat space and like, okay, come to us, um. But yeah, it'd be cool to like travel and do seminars and stuff, or even like virtual, like online coaching or um, yeah, I'm kind of at the point of like just trying to kind of get get it off the ground. I've just been kind of thinking and trying to plan it for years. That like the website was kind of my first attempt of like putting it out there, I guess. So, yeah, kind of I feel like, yeah, I'm excited to see like where it can go. But no, that's really cool to hear. I'm stoked that you're interested.

Speaker 2: 31:14

Yeah, with your practice and everything, have you gotten into herbology too, with like using herbs with people and stuff too?

Speaker 3: 31:22

Yeah, yeah, so that was I did like two years of herb training and then two years of like acupuncture, okay, chinese medicine training. So, yeah, I just started my acupuncture practice. I just started last month. Um, I'm working at uh, it's called it's in Hamden, connecticut. Um, it's called Soleil acupuncture and naturopathics. Um, so it's it's run by a naturopathic doctor and then an advanced practicing registered nurse, um, so kind of like an integrative healthcare clinic. And yeah, yeah, so I just started taking patients last month, which has been exciting. So, yeah, everything's kind of like starting to get rolling now, which has been wild. So I've been super busy.

Speaker 2: 32:12

And then, of course, I reach out to you to come on the podcast.

Speaker 3: 32:15

Yeah, which is cool, because I was like I've been trying to, uh, the last like maybe eight weeks I've been trying to just do more consistent social media. Um, because basically, like, everything I've been researching is like I need a solid like audience, and then it would make sense to try and figure out like I don't know t-shirts or like courses or something to like get some money coming in to like grow it. Um. So, yeah, I was stoked cause, like one of my videos, kind of the algorithm started pumping out and you reached out, um, within just like a couple of weeks. So, um, yeah, yeah, I was trying to get on a podcast this time last year and everybody was really booked through like the end of the year. Um, so I got, I got a couple people just kind of said no and I kind of gave up, and so it was like I was pretty excited to have someone reach out yeah, most of mine's like on a weekly basis.

Speaker 2: 33:09

Like the week of thanksgiving I just put one out on skate maintenance just because one guest ghosted me so I couldn't get it, and then one had, you know, had to take her son to the hospital, so that one was completely and we're trying to get something rescheduled and with the holidays it's hard. But yeah um, like the last two weeks, uh, I had I don't know if you've seen the show roller jam on max is it the roller derby?

Speaker 2: 33:35

no, it's roller jam, so it's like, uh jam, skating, dance skating, that kind of stuff, and they have like skate crews.

Speaker 2: 33:41

Yeah, so you just had an episode with the jam dudes yeah, that won the show and then the week before was one of the judges, so it's oh nice. So it's kind of cool that and most of the time I'm just reaching out and, like I said, it's kind of cool that and most of the time I'm just reaching out and, like I said, it's a week by week basis. But I've been very fortunate to have a lot of the guests that I have had. So it's been a fun journey and I look forward to seeing how far I can take it. And that's why it's kind of like get you on, because I cover all forms of skating. I'm not just skateboarding or just just uh, what's the word? I'm looking for just inline skating or so I kind of bring everybody from all forms of skating to make it more of a cohesive community as opposed to all being in our separate disciplines. And I mean the feedback I'm getting is good, so that's a good thing yeah, I think it's cool because it's like we're all I don't know.

Speaker 3: 34:40

We got like a lot more if we work together yeah it's like we don't yeah, we're not, I don't know just skate, skate sports in general or we don't get a lot of resources or like a lot of support generally. I mean mean like Colorado, like Colorado is a really good place to be for as like. As far as like the cities supporting like public skate parks, I don't know like roller rinks and stuff. I feel like they used to be more common. But I mean, yeah, like if you get everyone together, it's like everybody can work for like more resources.

Speaker 2: 35:14

Yeah, colorado's got like six skate cities. We got um, I'm sure you remember it, but the wagon wheel okay, yeah it's like. It's like the wood skate floor and it's like it was like built in somebody's barn so that's how that all started, so it's. It's as far as indoor we were really good for rinks, and then there's actually a group that gets together and skates downtown denver during spring and summer, so inline quad they even have skateboarders show up.

Speaker 2: 35:42

So yeah, yeah it's kind of nice to see how far skating has come, not just like as far as like the olympics and x games and all that, but just since the pandemic and yeah, didn't everyone outside and?

Speaker 2: 35:56

and it's funny because I was thinking about it, like because your dad was a site as a psychologist that with all the research that's coming out lately, mental health and physical activity go hand in hand, and when I was growing up we were always outside playing and you didn't see as many kids suffer from depression like you do now, and I think a lot of it has to do with always being on video games and always being inside and stuff, because we got in trouble for not coming home on time, like if the streetlights were on and we weren't home, we got yelled at and I came from a neighborhood where every parent was allowed to spank whosever child got out of hand.

Speaker 2: 36:33

Yeah, I came from a neighborhood where every parent was allowed to spank whosever child got out of hand, yeah. So now has your dad actually tied that in together, now that mental health and physical activity go hand in hand? Because I would think, with you skateboarding and actually being physical all the time, because you're at the age where let's see, pretty much like Nintendo and all that stuff was coming out when you were a kid, right, yeah, nintendo 64 was like the big one when I was younger yeah.

Speaker 2: 37:02

So you could have been a total gamer and never stepped outside and had a totally different come up, totally different yeah, some of my friends were, yeah, some of my friends were like video game.

Speaker 3: 37:13

One of my friends went to school for like game design, um, and like, yeah, he used to skate with us a little bit, but like he was never that he was never as into it, I guess, as some of us. Um, yeah, it's funny dude. Um, my, yeah, my dad came around in high school, I think, when I started taking school seriously, um, and then he started seeing as like a good outlet, uh, but like, yeah, college, like school, was always priority, so like he always expected me to go to school. Um, so like, I dropped out of college to move to california and try and skate, like I was trying to just like get like an amateur sponsorship because I was had like a couple flow sponsors in in Colorado, um, and that was hard. That was really hard for my dad, cause like that was hard. It was hard for me too, cause I knew I just disappointed him. So it was like there was just a lot of pressure, um, but yeah, like, uh, I don't, I don't know. It is like it's wild to see like the iPhone, the tablet culture Like I'm skating with like some younger kids in Connecticut and we've got my friend and I are kind of doing like a little.

Speaker 3: 38:23

My friend's doing like a board company called Swimming Skateboards. Okay, so I'll go skate with them and like we've got like kind of doing a little video project and stuff. But we've got some like younger kids on the team and, uh, one of them started. She started skating right over the pandemic and she's like, if it wasn't for skateboarding, she's like I was like an ipad kid, like before I started skateboarding, like I just played on my ipad and now I, now I'm a skateboarder and it's like I don't know she loves it. She's like been doing it for a couple years. She's like going to college in the city and skating in the city and like it's just so wild. It's like skateboarding just like totally like changed the course of her life and she's just like absolutely loves it and it's like it's so cool to see because it's like that's how it was for us too. But like we for like me and my friends, I guess, but we were just like we were in it. So we didn't really. You don't see it when?

Speaker 3: 39:22

you're in it the same as like seeing the younger kids. But yeah, it's wild, man, like I don't know, there's so much. It's such a different world now and all the AI and like virtual reality and stuff. Such a different world now and all the ai and like virtual reality and stuff. It's like to get kids like to even try to like go learn something outside.

Speaker 2: 39:42

It's like it's wild, it's cool when they want to do it yeah, my youngest wants to be a youtuber and start streaming and all that kind of stuff and I'm like, all right, cool, I think yeah, yeah I mean content, yeah, and it's like, as long as you can, you can still stay active and stuff, and he's like all over the board, but he wants to get into special effects, makeup and horror and I'm like that's what you need to do.

Speaker 2: 40:11

Your youtube channel and I take him to all the horror conventions that come through and we go and talk to the actors and the makeup artists. So it's one of those things where it's like, if you're going to do that, do it as that, so you have a niche, so you get your followers based on that, and then that's where you start to get people, because there was one kid that just reviewed toys and toy companies just started sending them all the toys.

Speaker 3: 40:42

I reviewed toys and toy companies just started sending them all the toys. I'm like that's how you do it. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Just kind of dial it in and then I think that's what I found with like making content. I've just been trying to like film, like my basic stuff that I do in a skate session, and then make skateboarding content around that. Um, instead of putting like a bunch of pressure on it to make it like this big thing, instead of putting like a bunch of pressure on it to make it like this big thing, just like trying to just kind of document like the, the day-to-day and then, yeah, the content just kind of comes easier. But, um, yeah, I've been kind of hitting a little with content, but no, I think that's smart, especially for like young.

Speaker 2: 41:13

It's like just get him to like learn what he likes about it and what he doesn't like and then figure out what he really wants to like focus on yeah, exactly, I mean, and today it's kind of funny because, with how many podcasts and things are out there, the fact that I started this podcast interviewing different types of skaters and that nobody's done it before, with how long podcasting has been around, actually, I'm still in shock that I'm the first one to do it this way.

Speaker 3: 41:46

Yeah, I never would have thought of like trying to bring people to. Yeah, it's like it seems, it seems so simple. But yeah, I've never heard of it.

Speaker 2: 41:55

It's one of those things where I was at work and I was trying to find a good skating podcast and there just wasn't one, and a lot of people, um, especially that combines everything, and a lot of people would just get on and talk about rollerblades, got this new blade coming out and it's got this, these kind of wheels and these kind of bearings. And if you speak monotone, I can't I'll fall asleep, especially on a roof. I just it, just it's. You need to bring something to the table and I think a lot of people don't realize that that, um, that it's important to actually have to bring like education, and I'm thinking the further I get into this, the more of an expert I'm going to be at skating, not as far as on my wheels, but as far as the knowledge that goes to knowing a lot of different things just because I'm learning so much as I'm going through. But the like thing I like the best about it is the stories that people have. It seems like the stories are more interesting than just all this technical skating stuff.

Speaker 3: 43:00

Yeah, everyone's got a cool, everyone's got a story too, which is like yeah, I think it was my third episode.

Speaker 2: 43:09

I had Melissa Skeet on and she was skating from Washington to Washington DC to raise awareness for murdered and missing indigenous people, so that's one of my favorite episodes. I love that episode just because I've learned so much about what's going on that I didn't know and now I'm seeing it all over the place on my social media and I had to repost that episode on my social media just because I think it's an important episode and it's something that if I wasn't doing this, I would have never learned about yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 43:44

No, that's so cool because yeah and um and that was on inline skates or on roller skates she did it on quads, on quads, okay, so that's awesome. No, it's such a good way to raise an awareness and like there's like skateboarders have been doing that for like different, um, like mental health events and, yeah, one of my friends is doing, um, it's called the shred road, so he's getting boards and resources for, uh, indigenous communities.

Speaker 3: 44:13

so he's going going to like different reservations and kind of introducing and like facilitating skateboarding. Okay, because he's got Native American heritage.

Speaker 2: 44:23

Okay, Well you're going to have to connect me with him and I can connect him with Melissa. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so we can get like the whole entire thing and kind of grow it more as a community, also because she's she's doing it for um, for uh, to raise awareness, and she's doing it on quads, but to kind of start bringing in the other forms of skating would be awesome too yeah, because I think there's an interest, I think, like across the board, for, yeah, everyone really um yeah no, I got a couple people I'll send you.

Speaker 3: 44:57

Um, yeah, I'll send you him. And then, uh, this dude, this old, uh, old, not old, but this dude who's an element, an old pro for element skateboarders also started called uh the push movement, which is kind of like, uh, I think more about like promoting like sobriety and like, uh, you know, getting away from like alcohol and skateboarding, okay, like a lot of stuff like that that people are doing, um, I don't know, just like personally, I've lost like a lot of friends to like gun violence and drugs and alcohol and um, like gang shit. So it's like uh, just like. I think anything that's like promoting, like health and like community and non-violent behavior is good.

Speaker 2: 45:44

Yeah yeah yeah because I was at the rink last night talking to some of my friends from the rink and they were kind of briefly, I know a little bit about their story and their backgrounds and stuff and just, and even some of my guests. It's amazing how skating has saved people's lives and changed people's lives at the same time. It's just and it's such a inexpensive unless you're like me and you like buy the really expensive skates. It's usually such an inexpensive outlet too. It's it's you don't need a gym in your room or or your house or anything, so you're not spending thousands of dollars on equipment yeah for the most part yeah, you just need wheels.

Speaker 3: 46:27

You just need wheels and the space to go and yeah, yeah, and even if, yeah, and you can kind of keep it going until the wheels fall off here, if you want.

Speaker 2: 46:36

You know, it's like the nice thing about it yeah, so what is your regimen then for for staying in shape, for skating and staying?

Speaker 3: 46:45

I know you briefly touched on it, but like yeah, so I'll give you kind of the medium, not the long version, but like the short version. So I got really into like traditional Chinese Kung Fu and I hit a lull pretty quick because I had, like I had my old knee injury, my knee surgery, so my knee injury, and then I was having some like low back problems. So I got introduced to Kung Fu and then I kind of stepped away and got really into traditional yoga for a couple of years and then, maybe three years ago, I've been getting more back into the traditional Kung Fu. So my focus for the last three years has been on a style of Kung Fu called Xing Yi, which is based on spear fighting, which is based on spear fighting, so it's a, it's a boxing, it's like an empty-handed boxing method based on fighting with a spear, like on a battlefield. Um, and kind of within within Xingyi there's like a niche group of people that are really into like the medicine, like Chinese medicine, and healing and also the martial arts. So that's really where I'm at as far as like, uh, like my interests go, um, uh, kind of. I've always been really interested in like the kind of like the healing, healer, doctor, warrior type. Yeah, so, um.

Speaker 3: 48:22

So my practice is like I have like a daily practice, um, based on traditional shingy training, which is like a traditional style of kung fu um.

Speaker 3: 48:33

So like the like the meat and potatoes of my practice is just a standing meditation, um.

Speaker 3: 48:40

And then I do like body weight workout and form work and then, I don't know, when the weather was warmer, I would get together with people more frequently, like maybe once a week, uh, and work on like two-person drills and uh, we don't really spar uh, but we do a lot of like drills and cooperative two-person work for like self-defense and stuff um. And now that it's getting colder we only really meet like once a month, um, and then I just train. I train every day on my own, uh, anywhere from like 10 minutes a day to like a couple hours, if I have the time, yeah, and then skateboarding, so then, and that just that keeps me, that keeps me like good, so then I can just kind of step on my board and do whatever I want, and then I don't have to worry about it so much from the day to day. I just stay on my like my kung fu training and then skateboarding has been happening well for me for the last few years, so I'm just sticking with that.

Speaker 2: 49:43

So now with your balance from skateboarding, because you need balance for pretty much any type of skating yeah yeah, has that helped with your kung fu yeah.

Speaker 3: 49:52

So I think it. I think it both helped. Yeah, it played. It played into it well because, like it, immediately, like the first time I did a kung fu class I was like holy shit, like this is what I've been like looking for, like, um, I don't know ever since. I saw like Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies when I was little. I was like I was like I want to learn that that stuff, like I want to learn what they know, or whatever, and like that was my.

Speaker 3: 50:17

I had this moment when my friend showed me Kung Fu where I was like oh my God, like this, god, like this is this is what I wanted to learn like I gotta learn this now and, um, it helped me out a lot in the beginning, but skateboarding is very asymmetrical, yeah, um, until you get pretty good and get comfortable in your non-dominant stance, then you can start to even things out. Uh, so it's both showed me how skateboarding can kind of build your body in an unbalanced way, and then it also has helped me like I don't know correct, like old injuries, and then like strengthen and structure my body to like continue to skate as I get older, which has been um nice. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 51:01

Yeah, so now, what is your setup as far as like, what is your preference for board? I know you have a friend that's starting a board company, so I don't know if you use him and then, wheels, and trucks and bearings sure, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 51:15

So we just started getting uh, there's a board distributor out of oceanside california called Generator Skateboards and we just started ordering decks from them that were printing like our swimming graphic, the swimming skate code graphics on. So that's like that's my board that I that I ride, just like their stock 825 shape. And then wheels I just got I just set up a new pair of spitfire wheels, uh, the formula four. Um, what are they? They're like the squared ones, so they lock into rails. Good, because I like to skate rails, uh, and then I skate independent trucks and I like the reds bearings. Um, I was listening to the official military skate dude talking on one of your episodes. Uh, I like the reds bearings and I also pop my shields off because it just makes them work better. I don't care about what everyone else says. That's happening. Um, well, yeah, I support that and uh, yeah, that's about it, I think yeah, and so now do you clean your bearings regularly?

Speaker 2: 52:21

because I know I recommended monkey lube to him. It comes and you take your bearings off and it's got spacers and you just let your bearings sit for like 20 minutes, so it actually lubes and cleans your bearings at the same time.

Speaker 3: 52:35

Oh nice. Yeah, I used to clean them a lot when I was younger, just because, yeah, I wanted them to go fast. Usually, I'm kind of lazy. Now I tend to like wait until they don't work and I'll just replace them but I'll check.

Speaker 2: 52:51

It's so expensive like I need to be on a budget. Yeah, I use ceramic bearings and the pair that I have in my rink skates you know they're 150 for a set of those and the, the ones I'm getting from my uh inlines are two or my speed skates are 250. So it's kind of like yeah, you kind of have a tendency to maintain them a lot better when you spend that kind of money, and that's what I was talking about earlier.

Speaker 2: 53:15

It's kind of like it's an in, it's a cheap form of exercise, but then I mean between my two skate setups that I have now that's not including the short track and long track ice speed skates that's like 1200 right there and the indoor speed skates that I'm building. Just alone that setup is going to be 1200.

Speaker 2: 53:36

So yeah, yeah, it depends upon how far you want to take it so and what your goals are now. I know your dad wasn't very influential at first, or supportive, so who would you consider to be your biggest influence for skating?

Speaker 3: 53:54

oh, my mom was always super supportive of it because she just thought it was cool and like I think she saw that it made me happy like right away. So she was always like had my back um, and then, just like the local kids growing up, there was like, um, this one dude, there was one dude from denver that was professional. He was kind of like I mean, from my generation he was like the dude from denver that was pro um, angel ramirez, and so he skated for he still skates um in denver, um, but like at the time he was like going on trips to china, like had a pro board, like had sponsors, um, like he was the dude from denver that like, if you wanted to skate, like he was kind of the standard of like what professional skateboarding was at the time, um, and so like him and all the dudes at like 303 boards, um and uh brothers boards, like the denver shop, uh. And then I think there was others there's like boardroom and a couple other local shops that had just like really good, like local teams, and so like I would see, I would just see those guys like out at denver park and it was like I mean it was like watching the pros skate. Like you would just kind of sit down and watch all those guys like skate and have a good time and then you and your friends would like watch their videos later, like the local videos, to try and find like their spots and stuff.

Speaker 3: 55:26

Yeah, so it was really like I was just really fortunate that like we had such like a big scene in Colorado that like made videos and like it was very like DIY, like kind of shops and like local companies that supported the videos. Um, but like in my little kid mind, like they were all like pros, like you know, like well-paid pros, like they made it. Yeah, it was, uh, I don't know it was interesting like kind of growing up and like learning. Like now these are all pretty like independent projects and like everyone's working you know, multiple jobs and skating in their free time type of stuff. It just we all kind of look like rock stars yeah, yeah, that's.

Speaker 2: 56:12

The one thing is is being a pro skater does not pay like the nfl or the nba or the nhl, so we still have to make it so now, what advice would you have to upcoming skaters, especially since your whole outlook on skating has changed and, like the whole form of the sport, has changed? What would be your advice?

Speaker 3: 56:34

Yeah, I think so. I think it's just really important to be clear about your goals. You know if you want to be a professional skateboarder, like does that look like? You know skating competitions? Or you know, when I was younger, like video parts was like a viable way to make a living in skateboarding, but with you know media and stuff now that's changed a lot. So I think ultimately, it's important to have ownership over something that you do, that you have control of, for like your bottom line, like um, I try and encourage like the younger kids that I'm around to like think of like a company or a brand or a business or something that they would want to start and kind of invest in. So like, whether it's like clothes or boards or hard goods, um any anything. Just like like how you were telling your son to start making a channel on um horror makeup. Right, it's like um, I think it's important to kind of find your creative outlet and find like what it is that fulfills for you and like build something for yourself around that. But it's also important to be a part of like the bigger community and be involved in like community projects.

Speaker 3: 57:53

I just think what was hardest for me was like all I ever focused on was like the community projects and I never put a lot of effort into my own thing, and so when I lost my community, I didn't feel like I had a lot to like show for, like I don't know, almost like a decade of like work that I kind of did. So that's what really encouraged me to try and start scoaching, and so I guess, like hindsight being 2020, I would encourage someone to do that when they're younger, just getting started, because I never. I tried to start my own board company in high school, but at the time it was really frowned upon to like start your own thing if you weren't, like I don't know known, which is so stupid. I don't know known, which is so stupid. So, yeah, I think, just kind of getting away like getting away from like the idea that you have to like be somebody to do something, like anyone can do something. You just have to stick with it and keep doing it and like, hopefully, you like it, so other people are attracted to it, you know.

Speaker 2: 59:00

Yeah, I'm proof of that with the podcast.

Speaker 3: 59:02

So yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I feel like what you put out like you, you attract back in too.

Speaker 2: 59:08

So it's like oh well then, I better start giving out money. So yeah, me too so now, how can my listeners follow you?

Speaker 3: 59:19

yeah, so check me out on scoaching um on instagram, and then I'm also'm also on TikTok and I'm trying to post pretty regularly. And then there's links. My blog is wwwscoachingcom. I think I only have two or three articles on there, so I'm working on getting more content going. But, yeah, those three platforms right now would be a good place to connect.

Speaker 2: 59:45

Okay, well, I want to thank you for coming on the show today.

Speaker 3: 59:48

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2: 59:50

You're welcome, thank you, you, thank you, thank you.