Aggressive inline skating
Aggressive inline skating (referred to by participants as rollerblading, blading, skating, street skating, rolling, or freestyle rolling) is a sub discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon, which emphasizes the execution of tricks. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate parks. Since 1994, the sport has been chronicled in various skating films and "edits."
In 1980, a group of ice hockey players in Minnesota were looking for a way to practice during the summer.[1] Scott and Brennan Olson formed the company Rollerblade, Inc., to sell skates with four polyurethane wheels arranged in a straight line on the bottom of a padded boot.[1] In 1988, Rollerblade introduced the first aggressive inline skate, the Rollerblade Lightning TRS. Aggressive inline skating finally developed as an organized sport in the early 1990s.[2] In 1994, the first ever competition series was launched on the beaches of Southern California by two childhood friends turned promoters Rick Stark and Mark Billik. The event was called the National Inline Skate Series, better known as NISS, to aggressive skaters around the world. Their company, Anywhere Sports Productions, sold Taco Bell on sponsoring the series for $150,000 and a six stop series was born. Chris Edwards and Arlo Eisenberg were the eventual champions of the 1994 series. NISS, went strong for 5 years holding contests in Los Angeles, New York, Rome and Brazil. NISS was the first series to put aggressive inline on television with an ESPN deal for the 1994 series and later moving the competition series to PRIME TICKET-Fox Sports. The Aggressive Skaters Association (ASA) was formed by a number of aggressive inline skaters in 1995 as a forum to develop rules governing competitions and equipment.[2] The sport was included in the first ESPN X-Games in 1995 and included vertical ramp and street event competitions.[3] It reached its height in popularity in the late 90s, with mainstream movies like Disney's Brink! and other films. The "Senate" brand, run by Arlo Eisenberg and several other prominent skaters, was very popular during the 1990s. Founded by company owners/skating legends Brian Shima, Jon Julio, and Kato Mateu and supported by all major skate companies, the World Rolling Series (WRS) links together the best skaters, event organizers, retailers and skate parks and aims to "create a tighter knit community, increase overall awareness and set a higher standard for aggressive rollerblading." The WRS circuit started in 2009 with 10 established professional contests in France, Netherlands, England, Spain, Argentina, Australia and the United States. In 2012, WRS included 100+ amateurs and professional events in over 20 countries.[4] Aggressive inline skating was removed from the ESPN X-Games in 2005 although it is still included in the Asian X Games, LG Action Sports Competitions, Montpellier Fise, and many other large competitions, some associated with WRS, some not.[5] Current aggressive inline skate manufacturers include Them Skates, USD, Razors, Remz, Rollerblade, K2, Roces, Seba, Trigger, Gawds, Kaltik, & Adapt.
Aggressive skates are identifiable from recreational or speed skates by a prominent gap in between the second and third wheels (The H-Block) which allows for grinds perpendicular to the direction of the wheels. A hard plastic surface on the sole of the boot known as a "Sole plate" or "Soul Plate" allows grinds parallel to the direction of the wheels. From these grind surfaces comes a lexicon of well known grind stances, though sliding can occur on any surface of the boot or wheels. Aggressive skates typically have much smaller wheels than a traditional inline skates. The small size allows for more freedom when grinding as there is less risk of catching on obstacles. Additionally these small wheels feature a flat profile to accommodate the impact from jumping tall heights. In recent years aggressive skates have begun to adopt larger frames and wheels, in what is seen as a bridging of the various inline disciplines. [8] A pair of Chris Edwards Chocolate aggressive inline skates. This is an older model, which uses grind plates instead of an H-block. In general, aggressive inline skates are specially to be tougher and stronger than normal inline skates, due to the high levels of stress placed on the skate by the stunts and tricks a skater performs. A typical skate consists of a number of different parts.