The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
If there is one thing I found that NUIST was good for - it was activities; Fresher's fair - 2009, I was walking round the countless stalls; there were singing groups, dance groups, English clubs and all kinds of activities!
The one activity I thought I'd like to have a go at was Roller-blading. Having bought myself a new set of Rolllerblades in 2007 while working at nearby city called Changzhou, it seemed tailor made for me. I put my name down, and before long was being called very keenly by a group leader called Trevor.
From Zero....
Here we have a none too clever skater performing that most trickiest of moves for the beginer. Experts in the know call it - going forwards!
"I had no goals; aside from breaking anything that is.... I was also pretty dubious that my body could actually bend in those seemingly impossible directions!"
There we have it - after one lesson! Performing tricks with a small child....
I guess whatever you do - there are always worse out there than you are....
"Looking like a prize idiot, I moved my overweight carcass over to where all the fun was happening. I had my elbow pads, knee pads and wrist guards (on the wrong way) and my super skates - YEAH! LETS ROLL!!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjEyMTYyMjc2.html
My goal after skating around aimlessly not particularly achieving anything was to learn how to do basic tricks and go backwards. My "trick" was chosen for me, by what could only be called my instructor.
The trick described basically was to move between the cones with my feet together. The task involves changing directions using both of your feet at the same time. After a few goes I found myself perfectly able to go up and down the cones at a steadily increasing speed. The two things you learn about these tricks is that it is possible to pick them up very quickly, and at the end of the cones when not used to it, your muscles tire - so you do need to practice and concentrate if you are to get to the ends of the cones.
The next task I found for myself is the art of going backwards. Since 1982, I had always wondered how it was that some people could go backwards whereas I could only go along forwards and quickly switch to going backwards - momentum taking me a short way. I found this much easier on the "in-lines" as opposed to the "quad-wheeled skates."
"When I was learning to skate as a child we used to hire skates at the local sports centre - if we were really lucky we went to Rollerbury, the roller-disco at Bury St Edmunds (a 45 min car journey away). Anyone who had their own Roller-Boots was just king (or queen) of cool!"
When my problem was described to me, everything changed in one session. The problem was weight disribution. In actual fact, if you lean forward and bend the knees is surprising how suddenly you can go backwards! There is a special way of doing it, by the position of your arms ine in front and one behind and aiming your head over your shoulder. I was even told which shoulder it should be!
Great report. But what's the deal about the tiny cones? Besides, what is cone anyway? I mean, those tiny cones? What's up with that?
When I was growing up the fashionabls sport was call bedspringing. We got some old shoes, prefereably army boots and nailed some old besdsprings to the bottom of them. We then attempted to bounce up and down on them. Sometimes scavaging the local river we found a real good mattress and we used the springs for our shoes. Usually the idea never worked but it was fun to do.
I doubt if the people in the photograph would stoop to anything like my childhood bedspring activity. Noteably, while they all may know how to do fancy tricks with rollerblades, few, if any, would be able to look me in the face and deny that they ride their electric bikes on the sidewalk. This is the most irritating of all acitivities in China for me.
Their first instruction in rollerblading is to whip their behinds and instructed never to drive on the sidewalk. When this lesson is learned, then instruction on learning a new mode of transportation could legitimately commence.
But it really is all about those cones. Any smaller and they might as well be imaginary. Imaginary tiny green cones may actually be cheaper; Meiniong would somewhat agree with me. But he would question whether small imaginary green cones are better than larger ones.
Posted by: Sally | 09/26/2010 at 12:31 AM
One hopes that Stuart's career as a skater will not involve too many broken bones in the long run.
Posted by: craig | 09/27/2010 at 07:39 PM
Welcome back and skate with us!
Posted by: Trevor | 09/28/2010 at 11:04 AM