I listen to purely Christian Worship Music, Christian Rap etc. People will give me some old music, stuff I used to listen to back then and when I listen to the words, it blows me away.

Skateboarders are envied by people because they just glide so free. Any time something moves like water, they’ll make a dam. Every time something moves in nature, they want to stop it.

DC and Monster have always supported my vision for street skateboarding, from building skate plazas throughout the world to now creating the first-ever professional skateboarding league.

Live an inspiring life. I don't do anything if I don't have a passion for it. I can't wait to get up in the morning and start the day. I just have such a passion for life and everything I do.

I like skateboarding. I'm here on this planet to skateboard; I feel this is what God wants me to do. I just live it. I get hurt all the time. I break bones. It's just all part of the process.

Skateboarding has nothing to do with competition or sport. It has to do with trying to stay as immature as you can for the rest of your life. It's kind of a lame thing to say, but it really is.

I won contest after contest until finally I realized, "Ok, I am the best in the world, but now what?" So I opened my own company, but there was still that feeling of, "What else do I need to do?"

I changed high schools three times because my parents moved. I had one friend my freshman year named Miki Vukovich. Miki and I were the only skaters in our high school. He runs my foundation now.

I feel like I've influenced in the sense that if you want to do it, do it. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. But don't rely on what people are saying you can do or saying what you can't do.

I need to live up to my potential, wherever that may be, in all aspects of my life. My head gets in the way, and I need to look at the big picture - that this is the best, and I am living my dream.

I was literally living on the edge of life, to the point where I didn't know what was going to happen, not caring, taking chances and finally landing in prison and once there, all my lines were cut.

If my parents really understood how much I've learned that I could never learn in school, they'd be very proud. Instead, I'm still their crazy kid, sagging his pants and dancing around on the laptop.

Skateboarding teaches you how to take a fall properly. If you try to kickflip down some stairs, it might take you thirty tries - and you just learn how to take a tumble out of it without getting hurt.

I grew up on the Bones Brigade as well. The very first skateboard video I saw was the Bones Brigade Video Show and I'd always valued the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta as the ultimate in skateboarding.

Any eyes on me - a late-night street sweeper, some dude texting in his parked car, the homeless guy talking to himself - make me feel uncomfortable when I skate. Everyone expects me to do certain things.

I want to inspire and encourage people and intrigue them to want to know what makes me tick, which is ultimately the love of God, the grace, peace and forgiveness of God that I'm so thankful & grateful for.

The year was 1996, Guy Mariano and I had no clothing sponsors, and at that point in our lives we had purchased enough Polo, Hilfiger and Nautica gear to think, hey, maybe we should start a clothing company.

I'm proud that I was able to use my recognition to, maybe, raise the awareness of skateboarding and help grow it, and to help fund public skateparks. That's the legacy, just trying to grow the entire sport.

I live a pretty balanced life. As hard as I do work & as many things that I do... I take a lot of time to stay physically strong. I really just try to get the proper rest. I don't run myself into the ground.

There were so many things associated with it in terms of music and fashion, and a different way of thinking that, for me, skateboarding represented so much of what I wanted to do with my life at an early age.

I'm not out here on the front lines trying to create clones, or consumers, or worshippers of who I am, and what I do. I'm trying to nurture the idea that you should do your own thing, which is really powerful.

If you feel comfortable by shaving your body, then shave your body. I feel comfortable keeping my body ready by shaving. I don't think it's unmanly to shave; I think that if you can get past that, you're fine.

Through getting sponsored and becoming a part of the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta, doors were being opened. The entire culture was shifting from ramps to street, and I sort of became a poster child for that.

This is something I've always wanted to do- to skate through a part of New York City that thousands of people ride through every week, feeling the energy of one of the original stomping grounds of street skating.

It wasn't until '79 I won my first amateur championship, and then, by '81, I was 14, and I won my first world championship, which was amazing to me, and in a very real sense, that was the first real victory I had.

My life path has been a blessing and a great learning experience. Skateboarding is my passion and I don't see that changing. When I'm not skating, I love to surf. I'm open to the new experiences and opportunities.

I would dream of being a pro skater, but I never dreamt I'd be discovered by Lance Mountain and Stacey Peralta, who were two major heroes of mine, and be asked to skate for that team and be a part of their company.

Who are you? What is your distinct contribution? That is so valuable whether it gets you anything or not. Trophies? Doesn't matter. If you know you did it, that's what keeps you going, you know? Success is illusive.

Vert skating was the kind of skating that was done in pools, where you could get airborne and be weightless. The other style, which is what I did, was called free style, which was tricks you could do on flat ground.

I don't even need to do anything; I am always amped to skate. Always amped to be competing. I love competing - that's what I do. Any contest, it doesn't really take much. Just get me on the course and I'll get going.

I've definitely had my share of calls where I just laugh. Someone came to me once and wanted to do a signature Hawk cologne. I was like, 'Of what? Sweaty pads? Am I wringing out my pads into a little perfume bottle?'

Being involved and hanging out with my brothers who skate is really amazing, especially because of our age. I mean, we're in our mid-late forties and we're still skateboarding in competitions. Who'd have ever thought?

Skateboarding and that whole industry just became so far away. I was trying to find that ultimate place, that place of contentment but I couldn't. I didn't find it in pushing the dark things of life to the limit either.

There's a lot of time when skaters think they know everything because they've seen videos of you, and seen you on TV or the internet, and there's ways of throwing jabs and being inconsiderate and not having your manners.

I want to be an example, the person who when they look at, they say, "That guy is a Christian, there's no doubt about it." I want to be blameless. I want to be an encouragement. I want to be a role model for the believer.

God’s grace in saving miserable sinners has been replaced by heretical teaching, such as saying that it is because we are so valuable that Christ came to redeem us. Not all who hold self-esteem views go so far, but many do.

I was a lot more cultured than the other kids in my high school. Because I traveled, I understood different cultures and had a more worldly view. Most of the people I went to high school with had never been outside of California.

The neighbors could be as mad as they want, but I'm not running a business at the house. It's just a location. It will never get me out of here, because I don't have offices set up at my house, and that's what the township thinks.

I have a lot of time to smoke a cigar and sit around and do nothing and enjoy life-and wonder and ponder. I need time to think about how to conquer things. I am faced with the challenge of what I will do next and how will I do it.

I understand that these people are all there to see me ride, that that's why they're in the building, and whether I have ten people, or a thousand people come out to see me, they still came out to see me, and I take that to heart.

No matter what I do, how much money I make, where I live, or what kind of car I drive, the stuff I skateboard on is the same stuff that every other kid in L.A., every kid in the country, everybody in the world is skateboarding on.

It was a revolving door that kept going in circles. I got to the point where I thought, "Man, none of this is doing it." but I'd keep repeating the same actions. I'd go win another contest, open another company, invent a new maneuver.

I built a very methodical television show around my business. I learned how to use television as a platform to advertise products. I created a platform showcasing the stuff that I build. It's taking the integration model to another level.

Kids at skate parks will step up and challenge me to a game of Skate, but I'm over that, I really don't care. I'm all about participating, and I'm all about being a part of this scene, but there's certain vibes I just don't get along with.

I got addicted to Tetris, playing it in my basement, I was missing all these airplane flights over it. After the fourth one that I missed, I realized I needed to get rid of this thing - so ever since then, I don't play video games any more.

My uncle is so funny - Don Vito. He was always fat with the craziest voice. Dude, he barely speaks English; it's just full-blown jibber-jabber. It's so funny to watch on TV because you really need subtitles because you can't understand him.

No one is going to give it to you. Spend everyday getting better and focus on that which you can control, let everything else fall into place. You can't stay focused on what you can get from success, but rather focus on becoming successful!

There's a stigma to skating. People think of it as a kid's sport. People kept telling me I couldn't possibly make a living out of it. Then they said I couldn't keep it up in my 30s. And here I am in my 40s, and I'm still improving my skills.

Contests were so pertinent that you had to think that way but today, it's not like that. You have your contest skaters, you have your video skaters, you have your skaters who don't like either of them, but they all are sponsored and get paid.

I don't really have a type. I just kind of hang out with girls that I think have a good personality, know how to have fun, active and definitely have something going on in their life so they are busy so I'm not stuck all the time hanging out.

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