Rodney Mullen: Difference between revisions
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==Early life== |
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Rodney Mullen was born in Gainesville, Florida, United States.<ref name="Rodney Mullen Biography">http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4077-rodney-mullen-biography</ref> At age six, Mullen was diagnosed with [[pigeon toe]] and had to wear leg braces to fix the condition.<ref>http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mutt/Rodney-Mullen/e/9780060556181</ref> He began skateboarding on January 1, 1977 at age 10, when his father (who had opposed his son's wishes to practice the sport) finally agreed to give Rodney a skateboard on condition that he would always wear pads, and with the understanding that if he were to ever get hurt, he would have to quit.<ref name="rodneymullen.net"/> He describes his interest in skateboarding: "I fell in love with skateboarding because it was individual. There were no teams, there were no captains ... it was completely opposite of what I saw in so many sports: It was creative. I could walk around with my skateboard at the skate park. I love skateboarding."<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite web|title =Rodney Mullen Interview, Slamtrick 2003| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekzjzFFE_pY&feature=related|accessdate = 2009-08-16}}</ref> |
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Rodney began practicing in full pads, and spent time with his sister's surfer friends who would skateboard on the week days.<ref name="ReferenceA">Rodney Mullen - From the Ground Up. ON Video Magazine. Winter, 2002</ref> In 1978, having owned a skateboard for less than a year, Rodney placed 4th out of a group of older and more experienced professional skateboarders. |
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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Revision as of 17:23, 13 January 2011
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Rodney Mullen |
| Born | August 17, 1966 Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | Biomedical engineering, Mathematics |
| Occupation(s) | Professional skateboarder, entrepreneur and author. |
| Spouse | Traci Mullen |
Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966 in Gainesville, Florida), is a professional freestyle and street skateboarder. He is considered by many to be the best skater in the history of skateboarding.[1] Mullen is credited with inventing the flatground ollie, the kickflip (originally called the "magic flip") in 1983, the heelflip, the impossible, and a long list of other original tricks.[2] Mullen is credited in numerous skateboarding videos, and has authored an autobiography entitled The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself.[3]
Career
Rodney Mullen is widely considered the most influential skateboarder in the history of skateboarding. The majority of ollie and flip tricks he invented throughout the 1980s, including the flatground ollie, the Kickflip, the Heelflip, and the 360 flip are regularly done in modern vertical and street skateboarding.
Despite Alan Gelfand's justifiable fame for inventing the ollie air (Gelfand's maneuver being primarily a vert or pool oriented trick) Mullen is responsible for the invention and development of the street ollie. The ability to pop the board off of the ground and land back on the board while moving has quite likely been the most significant development in modern skateboarding. This invention alone would rank Mullen the most important skateboarder of all time.
As the popularity of freestyle skateboarding declined, Mullen was often urged to move his style toward street skating.[4] This is hinted at in the World Industries video Rubbish Heap, where Mullen's sequence ends with team member Jeremy Klein breaking Rodney's freestyle skateboard, and handing him a note from Steve Rocco, symbolizing the end of freestyle.[5]
In 1991 Mullen joined the high-profile skateboarding team Plan B. Mike Ternasky, the owner of Plan B, influenced Rodney to transition from freestyle to street skating, and showcased the results in the 1992 Plan B video Questionable. Mullen's segment begins with traditional freestyle tricks done on flat ground, but quickly accelerates across public terrain to shift into standard street skating. In relation to obstacles, he sequences tricks, mixes flip tricks with grinds and board slides. In the video, Mullen introduced two newly invented tricks, the Kickflip Underflip and the Casper slide.
Mullen's Questionable performance may have marked the beginning of a new era in street skateboarding. His reluctant departure from freestyle to become a street skater was a symbol that legitimized the technical direction street skating had taken over the previous few years. Mullen specialized at this progression in subsequent Plan B videos; noteworthy is 1993's Virtual Reality where Mullen showcases the newly-mastered darkslide.
I can't wait to wake up in the morning... A lot of times I can't sleep because I can't wait to try something new. How many people ever really experience that feeling? Rodney Mullen, 2003[6]
Mullen's participation in Plan B dissolved after Mike Ternasky died unexpectedly in 1994. In 1997, Mullen started another company, A-Team, with the intent of forming a super team with the defection of Plan B from the World Industries empire.[7] Rodney talked to friend and fellow pro Daewon Song to plan the video Rodney vs. Daewon, which featured each skater competing in segments from trick to trick.
The A-Team folded in 2000 and Mullen went from company founder to company rider under former Maple rider Marc Johnson, who started Enjoi Skateboards. Mullen left Enjoi to head Almost Skateboards with Daewon Song, the company which he still helms and skates for. Mullen's role at Almost includes research and development on new designs and technologies, including Tensor truck in 2000[8] and experimental and composite deck constructions for Dwindle brands.[9]
In 2002 the World Industries companies, under the holding name Kubic Marketing, were bought out by Globe International for $46 million. Kubic's management remained intact and Mullen began working for Globe International under the Dwindle Distribution brand.[10]
In 2003, Mullen wrote and released his autobiography, entitled The Mutt: How to skateboard and not kill yourself. In late 2003 he was voted as the all-time greatest action sports athlete on the Extreme Sports Channel's Legends of the Extreme countdown.[citation needed][11][12]
From 2007 to 2009, Mullen worked to erase his riding stance, allowing him to move from Regular stance to Goofy Stance. In an interview with Tony Hawk, Mullen explained that he had developed problems in his right hip joint and that his transition between stances came out of an effort to favor his leg. He goes on to describe that scar tissue had built up in his joint as a result of habitually hyper-extending his leg while skating. Thirteen out of fourteen nights every two weeks for two years, Mullen would brace his leg in the tire-well of his car and apply pressure to his femur, tearing the scar tissue in the joint; eventually the scar tissue stopped growing back. [13]
In December 2010 Mullen stated in an interview that he is preparing to film a part for the upcoming Almost video. [14]
Personal life
He is married to Traci Mullen.[15]
Videography
Rodney Mullen has been featured in a number of videos. Here is a list of them:
- Powell Peralta: Skateboarding in the '80's (1982)
- Powell Peralta: The Bones Brigade Video Show (1984)
- Powell Peralta: Future Primitive (1985)
- Powell Peralta: Public Domain (1988)
- Gleaming the Cube (1989)
- World Industries: Rubbish Heap (1989)
- Plan B: Questionable (1992)
- Plan B: Virtual Reality (1993)
- Plan B: Second Hand Smoke (1995)
- Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song (1997)
- Rodney Mullen Vs. Daewon Song Round 2 (1999)
- Globe: Opinion
- Almost: Round Three (2004)
- Transworld: Show Me the Way (Darkslide)
- Tony Hawk's Secret Skatepark Tour (2005)
- United by Fate (2008)
Mullen is the main "skate double" for Christian Slater in the 1989 movie Gleaming the Cube.
Mullen is also featured in Globe's United By Fate episodic skate video series.
He also made a brief appearance in Episode 10 of the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati. He appears in a few cut scenes towards the end, wearing a red shirt and freestyle skateboarding in the background.
Video games
Rodney Mullen has appeared in all the console games of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Tony Hawk Underground, Tony Hawk Underground 2 ,and Tony Hawk American Wasteland, the last game he was in was Tony Hawk: Ride [16]
References
- ^ Weyland, J (2002) The Answer is Never: A Skateboarder's History of the World Arrow, London. p276. ISBN 0-09-943186-6
- ^ http://www.rodneymullen.net/bio/
- ^ "Rodney Mullen Bio". Rodney Mullen Fan Page. Retrieved 2009-08-16. [dead link]
- ^ Mullen 2004
- ^ Rubbish Heap. World Industries. 1989.
- ^ "Rodney Mullen Interview, Slamtrick 2003". Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ReferenceAwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Turning On a Dick". Transworld Business. 2000-07-11.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ [1]
- ^ "Globe Buys Kubic". Transworld Business. 2002-07-05. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
- ^ Sean Mortimer (2009-02-05). "Hometown: Rodney Mullen". Transworld Skateboarding. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
- ^ "Rodney Mullen - "United By Fate" segment". Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZQKEi_9TdE
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzvqpS5kGGk&feature=related
- ^ http://skateboard about.com/od/proskaterbios/p/ProRodneyMullen.htm
- ^ "Tony Hawk's Proving Ground Featured Skaters". Activision. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- Brooke, M (1999). Concrete Wave: The History Of Skateboarding. ISBN 1-894020-54-5.
- Mullen, Rodney (2004). The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself. Regan Books.