Skateboarding is everywhere – the style and the sport. It has become a part of our everyday lives, but the questions I have are these: where did it come from, and where is the fun in it? “When I skateboard with friends or with other people, it feels good,” said senior Daichi Sudoh.

Most of the skateboarders mentioned are freestyle boarders, as in “street skaters” or skaters who do not participate in competitions. They perform tricks such as “grinding” on benches, rails, sidewalks and things that are a bit less obstacle-like. When you look at the similarities between street skating and competition skating, you can see that the tricks performed on the streets are almost the same as what skaters would perform in competitions.

When it comes to being sponsored, it’s a big deal because it gives you the opportunity to be with other pro-skaters and your name goes around the table, helping you to get the publicity you need.

Brand name board companies like Hurley, Element, Birdhouse, Zoo Park, Real, and others often give you the opportunity to skate in competitions.

How did skateboarding become so popular, though? Riding on a plank of wood doesn’t seem so appealing to me. Here’s how the trend got out.

The first skateboard originated sometime in the 1950s and blended with Calif. surfing, which was still becoming a trend at the time. It was only in the mid 1960s when skateboarding became mainstream and popular. The popularity of skateboarding at this time jumpstarted a national magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, and in 1965, international championships were broadcast on national television.

Skateboarding’s popularity slowly dropped and stayed down until the early 1970s, when Frank Nasworthy developed a skateboard wheel made out of polyurethane, calling it the ‘Cadillac,’ as he hoped that this would justify how smooth the ride was. It was because of Nasworthy that the popularity of skateboarding started to rapidly gain again, and companies wanted to invest more in product development.

Many companies started to make trucks (axles) designed for skateboarding, and Tracker Trucks reached the modern design in 1976. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started getting wider, giving skateboarders more control.

Banana boards were very popular during the 1970s and are used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that are skinny and flexible with “ribs” on the underside for structural support. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the “Z-Boys,” began skating the vertical walls of empty swimming pools during the 1976 Calif. drought. This started the “vert” trend. With more control from their new skateboards, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks.

The third skateboard generation was from the early to mid-eighties to early nineties and was fueled by skateboard companies run by actual skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding, but in 1976, the invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand, as well as the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva made it possible for skaters to perform high-air tricks on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was centered around vert skating, a good amount of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps.

We are currently in the fourth generation of skateboarding, and our time is dominated by street skating. Skateboards average to about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are now made of an extremely hard polyurethane, making them safer than before. As Steve Caballero had shown in vert-skating in the mid-80s, very hard wheels offer the benefit of reduced drag on hard surfaces like cement, which result in an overall faster ride, as long as one avoids rougher terrain. The wheel sizes are relatively smaller so that the boards are in turn, lighter, and thus tricks become more manageable.

Over time, technology becomes more advanced, and with new technology comes better skateboards. Most decks are still constructed out of Canadian Maple, with seven plies being the industry standard for strength and durability. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained similar since the mid-90s.

Skateboarding—often portrayed in the media as an extreme sport—can be a form of art, a hobby, or a simple way of getting from point A to point B.

Skateboarding is now a universal sport that is enjoyed by people all around the world. Skate for competitions, for recreation, or for whatever reason you want. Try it out for yourself and enjoy the creation of many years’ work.