Freestyle walking
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[edit] History
Freestyle Walking in its purest form was first invented by Christopher Mitchell in 1995.[1] Today the general Wheaton/Warrenville/Elmhurst part of Chicagoland is widely regarded as the cradle of Freestyle Walking. The sport was first and most notably introduced to the world in April 1996 via MTV's The Week in Rock where the Freestyle Walking segment was introduced and then commented on by Kurt Loder and later as a segment in the MTV News show: "MTV News Un-Filtered." It was featured as part of an "Authority Sucks Week" MTV promotion. The 3 minute segment literally spread across the globe and planted the seeds of Freestyle Walking in every hemisphere, culture and demographic imaginable.
In the early 21st century, the sport continued its global recognition through the exploits of Australian freestyle snowboarder, Matt Szwedzicki. What was initially a quiet gathering of locals in the snow village of Wanaka, New Zealand, quickly evolved into the first known freestyle walk-off in the southern hemisphere. During this event, several of the competitors pioneered moves such as the Stair-service and Bored-walk. Unfortunately Szwedzicki suffered a career ending injury shortly after which some say was to be the death of the sport in the region. In recent times, a small sample of enthusiasts still gather annually to enjoy the sport in a social context.
It has often been speculated upon that Brian White, Brandon Kennedy, Thomas Mottier and Mike Rempert were directly responsible for the invention of the now infamous Soaps shoes. It is factual that they did build a prototype in 1996 when he was contacted by MTV producer Nicole Maxwell and were informed of the fact that a shoe company had taken interest in developing a specialized Freestyle Walking shoe. Brandon Kennedy was contacted by a representitive for the shoe company, after which time he designed and built the first ever Soap-style shoe using an old pair of Air Walks and a PVC pipe. The fact that this was 1996 and the soap patent is 1997 support the claim that the inventors of Freestyle Walking are also the inventors of Soaps shoes.
The art of freestyle walking (loosely related to free running) is a means of self-expression and creative interaction with one's environment. Many of the practitioners of this art form excelled at the sport by freestyle walking to find more full involvement with their otherwise routine surroundings. Freestyle walkers use leaps and air moves, clever footwork, dance or any non-traditional walking movement.
Today, many practitioners view it as the act of rollerblading or skateboarding without the skates or board. Some participants use soap shoes with grind plates that allow the freestyle walker to grind or slide easily along surfaces such as curbs, ledges and bars. With the increase in popularity of soap shoes during the mid- to late-1990s, many newcomers to freestyle walking mistakenly began to refer to the act of grinding using soap shoes as freestyle walking.
[edit] Moves
Some basic examples of freestyle walking moves include:
- Heelclicks
- Stalls
- Slides
- Rail slides (often sitting on a rail, or using shoes with grind plates)
- Swings
- Brian Toshin' AKA Da Cockpit
- Hangings
- Flips
- Injun (airbound, crossing the legs and making a two-fingered "war feather" gesture behind the head)
- Spins
- Late Spins
- Vaults
- Jangles
- Taps
- Hops
- Grabs (airbound, often grabbing a part of the body such as the ankle or foot)
- Rolls
- Jams
- Jukes
- Sweetfalls
- Broadsides
- Freakflips
- Jefferies
- EthanFromes
- Winter Chills
- Sick Spins
- Slim Spins
- Fallbacks
- The Mikey Likey
- The Bobby Curiel
- Tree-hugger (variation: Koala is a tree-hugger with one hand on a branch)[2]
[edit] Related arts
Related art forms are extreme walking (also known as tricking) and trail rushing, similar in motivation but including additional elements. Extreme walking normally involves any element of danger, whereas the related art of trail rushing is essentially freestyle walking on a trail. Both of these (as well as soaping) are considered to be subsections of the larger concept of freestyle walking.
Some see a correlation between parkour and freestyle walking. Although the two contain seemingly similar movements, the art forms are driven by different motives. Parkour focuses on efficiency in movement; freestyle walking focuses on spontaneity and glory in movement. There is also a correlation between freestyle walking and free running: both focus on aesthetics over efficiency. However, free running is oriented towards a specific destination, and moving through an environment quickly. Freestyle walking has no intended path.
Another derivative of freestyle walking is freestyle coning, in which participants confine their "freestyling" to the area around a small traffic cone, often using the cone in the freestyle.
[edit] Equipment
The equipment needed for freestyle walking is nothing but an urban to sub-urban landscape and a person wanting to express themselves. To help with some of the more difficult moves, such as wall rides, a shoe may be made to give more grip while getting rid of some of the excess weight.
For grinding without inline skates or a skateboard, shoes with grind plates are frequently used.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Freestylewalking.org
- This Is Footing Crew
- How to Freestyle Walk (blog)
- Quarantined Crew Freestyle Walking
- Photos
- Inverse Air
- The Ministry of Silly Walks
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyOeg5Kyllk
- ^ Koala, as differentiated from a tree-hugger, can be seen at: How To Freestyle Walk
1. Koala, as differentiated from a tree-hugger, can be seen at: How To Freestyle Walk
