Skating the Unskateable #2: Daewon Song

Trying to describe how Daewon Song has manipulated skateboarding's view of spots and what is skateable can go two different ways: an extremely long analysis of his video part history with regards to branching off into new spots over time, or a brief overview of the same material. I am choosing the latter to keep things simple. As Quartersnacks put perfectly after the spot-on Calvin and Hobbes meme, "he's just talented to the point that he couldn't be bothered by any normal conceptions of spots." Once you reach that skill level of almost literally being able to do anything on a skateboard, you need to branch out some more (pun somewhat intended considering he skates tree branches...) For example, Daewon recently reached out to his Instagram followers to suggest tricks for him because he's done just about everything else possible! Peep the trouble flip nose manny (tre + double flip = trouble flip) and the 360 shove blot slapper done as suggested by fans. People think of progressing in their skating usually by improving all of their tricks and learning new ones, but asking fans for new tricks can only go so far. So Daewon's video history is a better way of showcasing how he has progressed his skating in a different fashion. After getting creative with benches and ledges inside a warehouse in Deca's 2nd to None, Daewon came out in Skate More with the rock-solid blunt kickflip fakie at 5:09 and the famous waterfall tailslide at 5:45. Cue Colin Kennedy's voice, "This dude is waxing a waterfall." (Also worth mentioning that he rock fakied on a polejam at 5:37 that in no way looked skateable.) Since skating waterfalls and rock variations wasn't enough, Daewon took it to the trees and rocks in 5-Incher (above). The opening tree segment at 0:27 sums up Daewon's attitude towards progression in skating. Filmer: "That's not gonna work." Daewon: "Yeah it will." And while every trick in the part really captures the spirit of skating things that no one else would think of, here are a few of my favorites on spots unimaginable to the standard skater:

Kickflip back 50 the most rugged rock you could think of at 1:14

Ridiculous pipe drop in ollie at 1:23

Three clips back to back to back of shocking firecracker variations starting at 1:52

Lamppost session at 2:33

Amazing full blown tree session at 3:00

Skating rocks like skatepark banks and ledges from 3:16

And finally, revisiting the waterfall terrain at 4:02 for one of the most entertaining enders of all time.  

Dudes with Nicknames #1: Willow (Christoph Wildgrube)

Christoph Wildgrube is definitely not an easy name for implementation into the skate industry, so it's a good thing that Willow's school teacher saw the resemblance to Willow Ufgood from the movie and started one of the best nicknames in skateboarding. It's comfortable (dare I say "fun") to say and has worked well with Almost's board graphics. Willow is definitely well recognized in the industry, especially for being European, and his nickname is a sure aid to that.
Willow is definitely one of my favorites for his wonderful fliptricks and style.  He's put out quite a good deal of good footage and video parts over the past few years around his leaving Flip, getting on Almost, and turning pro. So to highlight him, check out his going pro part above (Willow's World) as well as his 5-Incher part, which has possibly my favorite skate video song of all time. It's cool that you can notice an exchange of kickflips from 5-Incher to heelflips in Willow's World for some particular spots, or at least an overall shift of those main tricks and their variations. Willow's definitely got one of the most appealing flicks for his tricks so it's always enjoyable to watch these two parts of his, as well as Willow's other full parts and commercials that he has put out.

Manny Maniacs #2: Daewon Song

A writeup about manuals in skateboarding would not be complete without mentioning Daewon Song. I don't need to mention what kind of manuals or tricks he does because he does them all.  Daewon's creativity surpasses any need of spot searching, making a single curb or a warehouse suitable for an infinite amount of manual trick combinations. If I went into any specifics about his video game like manual combos on the crustiest of spots, I wouldn't finish this post. So I'll highlight some of my favorite video parts from Daewon with his best, and a good portion of skateboarding's best, manual moments.
In one of his earlier parts (without neglecting to acknowledge his Round 1 or 2 parts with Rodney and his Love Child part) for Deca, Daewon skates a bench on a rooftop with a manual nonetheless at 1:12, strings a few awesome manuals combo tricks with just a concrete bench and a curb from 0:13 to 0:37, and undoubtedly destroys a warehouse with combinations of tricks upon tricks where the video-game-like manual combos can be seen from 3:51 - 4:36.
In his Almost Round 3 part (above), he has really too many great manual tricks to list, but he works in a wide array of fliptricks into and out of his manuals (as well as in the middle of them) while balancing across a diverse mix of banks and pads and curbs. In particular, his triple fakie manual at 3:02 shows just how controlled and entertaining Daewon is with his board and from 4:40 to the end of the part, he comes through with unbelievable manual tricks that are bound to stay ingrained in your memory.
In DVS Skate More, Daewon continues his extremely impressive and creative use of manuals to coincide with his other really great footage at appealing spots.  A couple tricks that stick out to me: at 3:36, he kickflips into a manual and then basically manuals into a two-wheeled powerslide for a moment, turns it all the way around to a fakie manual and then flips out. Godly control once again. And for his last trick at 5:52, he holds a super long switch nose manual going very fast and along a reasonably steep bank as well. The following speedy fakie big heel and Colin Kennedy's laugh as the picture fades is the perfect reaction to watching Daewon's skating: you just can't help but laugh at how ridiculously good at skateboarding he is.
New Year's Dae, a promo part of sorts, is a very refreshing take on the warehouse/back alley curb kind of skating that was in Daewon's Deca part. Obviously new and improved, Daewon still has all of the skills and style that he had back then.  New Year's Dae comes out with plenty more NBDs and innovative tricks as well as a few newfound bank tricks where he spins 720/900 or so in manuals.  I still can't believe that at 2:57 he actually films two separate clips of his nollie backside flip fakie manual fakie big flip out.
Finally, with Daewon's latest part in Almost's 5-Incher, you really can't explain the feeling you get when watching someone use rocks and tree stumps with his tricks, especially when manuals are involved. A whole new realm has been opened and Daewon's masterful creativity is to thank for that.

Manny Maniacs #3: Youness Amrani

Youness Amrani has the balance and control for manuals on a completely different level than most manual skaters. He has the ability to hold out tricks for very long distances, pop out quite high from a manual when needed, and even come to a full stop and reverse directions mid-manual, and that's not mentioning all of the body control and fliptricks he also has to throw into his combos.
Despite the high quality footage Youness has put out in his video parts, I still like his introduction to Almost (above) the best.  Looking at just his manual tricks (because he also skates gaps and ledges super well too), there are two specific ones from this video part that make me praise Youness's manual skills: At 1:35 he starts a manual up a mellow banked ledge, kickflips at the very peak when he's completely stopped his forward progress, lands back into a fakie manual and slowly rolls down the ledge only to fakie hardflip out. To back that up, he follows it with the same exact trick but with a fakie 360 flip out instead of the fakie hardflip.  The fact that he slows down so gradually and is able to hold the manual both ways for so long is absolutely stunning to me, regardless of the fact that he kickflips in the middle of each and does two really cool tricks out.  Plus, the foot positioning and setup for the next trick is always fun to watch, especially when done slowly like this because you can see the pure control of his balance.  Same goes for the control of the slowly reversing nose manual/switch manual at 3:06 (switch flip out too?! come on!).  Adding to that control, the pop out over the trash can of the kickflip manual at 2:14 is the highest I've seen from any manual.  The half cab nose manual at 2:29 appears as if Youness is just waiting for the right moment to nollie shove out into the bank; he could probably have kept going if the ledge was longer.  The manual line at 3:35 is also really worth mentioning.
That part by itself made me a huge Youness fan, especially for his special talents with manuals.  This is before he comes out with what can only be described as video game manual skills that you see in his ender for his Nike SB Chronicles Vol. 1 part.  Seriously unreal.
On top of those great parts with mind-blowing manual skills, he continues his display of amazing skating in his Almost 5-Incher part and his latest part through Transworld: Marrakesh Express.