The man. The Legend. This magazines namesake is because of him. Rodney Mullen.
Have you ever done an Ollie? Kick flip? Do you remember being amazed when you saw a dark slide for the first time? All of those tricks were because of Rodney Mullen. He essentially wrote the blueprint for skating as it is today.
When it comes to skateboarding legends, most immediately think about Tony Hawk. Rightfully so. However, When you think about Hawks’ achievements (for example, The 900), he is predominately a vert skater. Someone who is at their best inside of a halfpipe and in the air.
Rodney Mullen is in an entirely different category of skating. He a legend of street skating and freestyle.
Caption: A young Rodney Mullen (1988) showing his skills to a stunned crowd. CREDIT: Don Walheim
So, for the un-initiated, what is freestyle skating?
Freestyle skating is a form of skateboarding in which the skater does tricks on the board in a stationary or flat position. This means they aren’t necessarily moving at fast speeds like vert or street skaters. You have likely seen freestyle skating before in town centres with street performances using a skateboard in a dance routine or in Youtube videos where no ramps, grinds or halfpipes are around. It has been one of the most popular forms of skateboarding since the 60’s.
So, how does Mullen fit into this?
Rodney Mullen pioneered many of the tricks in street skating and freestyle skating. In fact, free skating was how Mullen differentiated himself amongst all the legendary talent when he was a part of skateboarding group Bones Brigade. His shy, soft spoken demeanour often didn’t translate to his wild and innovative skateboarding skills which he would pioneer.
During his days of being a part of legendary skateboarding group Bones Brigade (who also involved Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain and so on), Rodney Mullen faced many challenges to even stay as part of the group. His father was often disapproving, believing that skateboarding is another trend amongst many that have eventually disappeared over the years and that there was no money in it. To please his son, he let Mullen compete. Always warning him that “this is the last time.”
Fast forward to now, Mullen is one of the most accomplished skateboarders in history. He has frequently been ranked as one of the most influential skaters alive today and often appears in many Top Ten lists such as the Transworld Skateboarding list in 2011 (coming in third place just behind Tony Hawk). His accolades and achievements are plentiful.
From a young, shy man unsure of where his place will be in the world to a famous, rich skateboarding superstar who frequently does public speaking such as his “The Beauty Of Skateboarding” shows.
Once Rodney Mullen invented the Ollie, It changed skateboarding forever. He quite literally elevated the sport. The Ollie unlocked a whole other way to skate, Mullen revealed to the world a whole other language on the board. Every skater who wanted to stay the best or who wanted to improve followed suit. Members of the bones brigade such as Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero and even Tony Hawk adopted the tricks Mullen created.
To this day, no other skateboarding trick has been as necessary and as vital to skating’s success as the Ollie has.
Looking back on all his successes, we can safely say Rodney Mullen changed the skating world for the better.
Here are a collection of Mullens invented tricks:
• Heel flip (1982)
• Helipop (1980)
• Helipop heel flip (1990)
• Impossible (1982)
• Kick flip (1982)
• Kickflip underflip (1992)
• No-handed 50/50 (1981)
• No-handed 50/50 kickflip
• Godzilla rail flip (1979)
• Ollie Airwalk (1986)
• Ollie finger flip (1986)
• Ollie Nosebone (1986)
• One-footed ollie (1984)
• Sidewinder (1983)
• Switch 360 flip
• Switchstance 360 flip (1990)
• 360 flip (1983)
• 360 pressure flip (1983)
• 50/50 Casper (1980)
• 50/50 Saran wrap (1979)
• 50/50 sidewinder (1983)
• 540 shove-it (1979)
• Backside flip (Backside 180 Kickflip) (1984)
• Casper 360 flip (1983)
• Casper slide (1992)
• Double heelflip
• Frontside heel flip shove-it (1988)
• Gazelle flip (1981)
• Half flip darkslide
• Half-cab kickflip (1983)
• Half-cab kickflip underflip(1992)
• Handstand flips
FEATURE IMAGE CREDIT: POP-TECH
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