Where is kneeboarding going?

maxb · Post by **maxb** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:01 pm

now that is a contest format, basically a freesurf, very nice

not necessarily the best contest rider,but the one people enjoy watching the most, i wouldn't mind seeing that at a gathering around here

mal · Post by **mal** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:03 pm

hey hey im from the bottom of nz and have been kneeloing for 12 years.
when i started there were 2 exelent competative locals out every day.
now im almost the only local kneelo, well the only one who surfs every day, i see the other two maby twice a year in the water.
but i love being the only one in town because every one knows who i am,
'hey your that kneelo dude aye' i hear in town on the piss with mates.
but still no one is starting up kneeboarding here, we have heaps of learners standing and longboarding(which has a pro circuit in nz now).

up north tho its a different storey the have heaps of youngsters (under 20) starting up and winning in aussie.

and the uk seems to have a healthy population of kneelos.

we need more to push the boundaries tho, how many are doing manouvers that are fresh different from 15, 20 years ago?
just look at where stan ups are going .. kickflips backflips...

we do need major sponsors to come on board so that we can quit our jobs and surf all day all over the world. but in order for that to happen we need to make our sport look more spectacular.

if more people could make videos of comps that would help

maby if we had a best trick of the year comp on this site too!
video proof needed, kind of like the kustom 50,000 best trick comp on right now.

CONTIKI · Post by **CONTIKI** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:05 am

DOWN THE TUBE!

CONTIKI · Post by **CONTIKI** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:06 am

I THOUGHT I WAS VOTING IN A POLL...

CONTIKI · Post by **CONTIKI** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:08 am

Doc Turbo wrote:Agreed, mostly likely will be gone in 30 years

DITTO!

I'LL BE GONE...

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:42 pm

Its dead!, no it isnt!, yes it is! no! yes! no!...my head hurts..

Tom Linn · Post by **Tom Linn** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 4:37 pm

"I think there for I am." We have a kneelo website therefore we are!

If this sport is dead why are so many people on this site spending hours talking aobut kneeboarding, buying kneeboards and surfing kneeboards. We can't be dead because we exist as kneelos!

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:32 pm

If knee boarding is dead how come I just want to bury my rail

mal · Post by **mal** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:48 pm

yes this sit has and will do so much for knee boarding, we can have our opinions and argue the point and maby come up with answers

Sparrow · Post by **Sparrow** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:50 pm

What is the answer you are wanting with this post?

Ask yourself this question. Why do you do what you do

How about everyone one just go out & be the happiest people in the water having the best time, surfing the best you can. If you want things to change then do something

If you want to show kneeboarding as an exciting sport then get off your arse & charge it

Take it on & test yourself.

Its happening everyday by kneelo`s around the world & we are being noticed but if you need to venture into your own minds on the reasons why kneeboarding has not flurished or where will it be in the future, good luck. Some questions just dont have answers or maybe answers we just dont like

Just dont winge about the sport dying or declining. We need the youg guns like you Nov to get out and charge perfect waves. Just winning comps wont bring the interest into the sport. Kneeboarding is so much more.

Trying to be like the mass production line is not such a good thing & why is it that we would want that

is it the riches, the fame, the self glory that mainstream surfing rolls in that would fix things or help kneeboarding

Kneeboarding just is not mainstream & people just will not look unless you can show someone who is maybe iconic. An idol.
Get out there & do what you do

not someone elses way & inspire, maybe someone may look & say sh-t that was cool

kidrock · Post by **kidrock** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 10:48 pm

Amen...well said, Sparrow.

I think this thread needed some closure, and Simon did the deed.

RMcKnee · Post by **RMcKnee** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 10:57 pm

Well said Sparrow, most sense yet on this topic. What I was trying to point out earlier is that

Trying to be like the mass production line is not such a good thing & why is it that we would want that is it the riches, the fame, the self glory that mainstream surfing rolls in that would fix things or help kneeboarding

As with most success, the only true kind stems from doing something for its own sake, not for the sake of some perceived benefit that follows on from being successful.

Kneeboarding just is not mainstream & people just will not look unless you can show someone who is maybe iconic."

And the iconic people in the kneelo world have always been there, doing what they do because they want to; Greenough, Lis, Crawford, Parkes, Farrer. Who's next...that's up to you younger crew, as it has always been.

Being "not mainstream" has nothing to do with being "underground". Pot-holing is really about the only "underground sport" I can think of. "Underground" is a term that's loaded with all sorts of meanings to all sorts of people.And for people, money remains an almost irresistible temptation, like it or not. Those of us who remember when hip-hop was "underground" can also remember the unseemly scramble that began in that "movement" when the money arrived, and which continues to this day. DJ Shadow's first album, "Endtroducing", has a tune ("What's Wrong with Hip-hop in '96") that says it all very succinctly.
Tom Waits, (not a mainstream artist, but recognised by many in the music business as an undisputed genius), said in 1988

"You hope that you'll be on radio, but radio is so changed now. It's like mainstream network stuff, the demographics of it. Except for a few struggling stations with a limited range and format. I mean, you can glue decals all over your head that say "Coca-Cola" and "Pepsi" and advertise cigarettes and underwear. That's one way to get across. You know, like race drivers that have every product known to man tattooed across the side of their car. And a lot of groups choose to align themselves with big companies to underwrite their tours. I hate that sh*t."

He don't get played on the radio that much. See, for him too, it ain't easy being "not mainstream".
In 2002 Waits wrote

Songs carry emotional information and some transport us back to a poignant time, place or event in our lives. It's no wonder a corporation would want to hitch a ride on the spell these songs cast and encourage you to buy soft drinks, underwear or automobiles while you're in the trance. Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle, a word that describes the sound of change in your pocket, which is what your songs become. Remember, when you sell your songs for commercials, you are selling your audience as well.When I was a kid, if I saw an artist I admired doing a commercial, I'd think, "Too bad, he must really need the money." But now it's so pervasive. It's a virus. Artists are lining up to do ads. The money and exposure are too tantalizing for most artists to decline. Corporations are hoping to hijack a culture's memories for their product. They want an artist's audience, credibility, good will and all the energy the songs have gathered as well as given over the years. They suck the life and meaning from the songs and impregnate them with promises of a better life with their product.

Eventually, artists will be going onstage like race-car drivers covered in hundreds of logos. John, stay pure. Your credibility, your integrity and your honor are things no company should be able to buy.

Any of that last para sound familiar?

No matter how you feel about the man's music, you can't fault Waits's logic. You can re-read the above, substituting the words "waves" or "surfing" for songs, and his statement suddenly becomes very relevant to where surfing/kneeboarding is going/has gone.The very fact that kneeboarding has not gone mainstream may well have been its saving grace. It's the independence of kneeboarding that allows it to be what it is today, something that's truly close to the hearts of those few freaks who continue doing it.
The future of kneeboarding should and will grow organically, from each individual according to his ability, and to each according to his need.

Kidrock and others...Sorry,

I'll get off my soapbox now.

kidrock · Post by **kidrock** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:05 pm

No apologies necessary Mate

You and Sparrow have made the most sense out of 6 pages of muck.

szrbloke · Post by **szrbloke** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 2:11 am

Well Simon summarised my feelings pretty much 100% on the subject!.

Go out have a good time, always look to improve, and be positive in dealings people outside our community. Thats it.

halbs · Post by **halbs** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:47 am

[quote="RMcKnee"]
Being "not mainstream" has nothing to do with being "underground". Pot-holing is really about the only "underground sport" I can think of. "Underground" is a term that's loaded with all sorts of meanings to all sorts of people.[quote]

So for you "being not mainstream" has nothing to do with being"underground" but that terms loaded with all sorts of meanings to all sorts of people!!