Reasons Why Skateboarding is Good For Body and Soul
The Board of life, that one single most important thing of a skate rat. Things will change, but the skateboard remains. Most civilians, regular folk, just don’t understand what that simple wooden plank with a turning system means to us. One would be brought to think that we are wasting time, energy, life, and at the end, money on doing what we love in vain. But we strongly disagree, and here are some things that make skateboarding that much better for your body, and for the mind and soul, as well.
So, it’s Good for the Body
Besides injuries, which are an integral part of the craft and are not good for the body (obviously), there are tons of benefits you can get from skateboarding, not only by doing tricks, but just as well when pushing down the street, and covering distances from point A to point B. For instance, flexibility, your body must be nimble and relaxed during skateboarding, hence, bigger and stiffer people will suffer if they don’t develop some flexibility. Again, skateboarding offers a full body workout, where your whole body is required to move and flex, making it a fast paced, tiring activity where if that effort is prolonged, it will most definitely lead to improving stamina, getting your heartrate up and weight loss, since it burns a lot of calories per hour. One of the biggest upsides of skateboarding is that it boosts coordination. You are asking of your legs and arms to move in a precise way in order to get the desired result, where every wrong move has its consequences. In the end, this sport helps you boost the coordination of the body.
It Strengthens Spirit
Skateboarding is a skill of trial and error, it requires endless hours of practice, only with ourselves, without a coach or anyone to slap you on the wrist if you do something wrong, and with the cold, hard, very hard pavement. And trust me, you will make more mistakes than you think, which means a lot of falling down, maybe getting injured. So, it teaches us to suffer the consequences for our actions and gives persistence to keep trying until we get it right. It teaches us dedication, tenacity and gives us will to try until we can’t go wrong anymore, and those are big life virtues to have, and to possess throughout your life and career. Thanks to its ability to smash you to the ground, it teaches us one important important thing — how to fall, how to break the fall (and not the bones), and prepares you mentally to suffer through the pain of learning and the pain of being injured, and in the end, patience — to recuperate after a major spill.
Subculture
Skateboarders are a big family, that is no secret, and I always approached a new guy I see when I’m out skating, and even abroad, skateboarding serves as a common language for people who can’t understand each other. There are many social connections skaters develop over time, be it through contests, skate camps, traveling or just plain skating around. Not to mention the presence of skateboarding as a subculture in mass media and general life.
Skateboarding and creativity
This should be self-explanatory, since skateboarding demands of you to be creative with what you have, use spots that you have in your town, or even build a DYI spot. Skateboarding is interconnected to various mediums, video and photography being the primary one. However, if you would ask around, every skateboarder has some side project, and most likely, it will be connected with art, be it music, painting, sculpting and so on. Not to mention tattoos, they are like a badge for a skaters uniform, showing things, tricks, places and adventures the wearer has fared.
Skateboarding is thriving nowadays, even if we put aside the ever growing corporate side of it, bringing more and more people in, contributing to the overall size and magnitude of this subculture. It has evolved so much in the last 10 or 20 years that today, it represents an unavoidable part of today’s society.
