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Burnquist in Brazil
Pt. 1

Editor's Note: This is part two of an interview with Bob Burnquist at the Latin American X Games Qualifier in Brazil. If you haven't yet, check out the first part to get your head straight, enjoy these fine words and photos, then keep your eyes peeled for part three in the next couple of weeks.

DF: OK so down In So Cal every kid knows what skateboarding is, knows what a kickflip is, knows what a pop shove-it is or whatever, is it different from that in Brazil?

BB: One of the cool things about Brazil is we have our own industry. There's a lot of countries around the world that really depend on the American product and if for some reason their country closes (to trade) or their import taxes go up to 70% or their country goes broke then skateboarding dies. But in Brazil we manufacture our own boards, our own trucks, our own wheels, our own bearings, everything. So we can survive if something happens and no American boards come in. The boards are heavier, I learned to skate on Brazilian boards and when I started skating on American boards it made all the difference.

Another photo that says "You really suck at skating vert." Bob going all one-footed b/s smith grind at the Latin American X Games Qualifier.

Skateboarding still is an expensive hobby, or art form or sport or whatever you want to call it. The average Brazilian doesn't have that much money. It's not like soccer - that's so cheap, you buy a soccer ball and there you go, you've got 20 guys having fun. For a skateboard you've got to spend 120 bucks, or even if it's a national (Brazilian) board it's 50 bucks. But with the things that kids are doing now like trying to jump stairs or slide a handrail, that will snap a board and they have to get another one and another one. . .

It tends to be a little more expensive and it's not so accessible to lower income kids. I really think that the lower income kids are the kids that have way more of a chance of being good because they will be the ones that will pour their heart on that skateboard, you know? Usually the ones that have the money and can get the board, (for example) you know the new Tony Hawk board came out, "I want that one Dad" and his (the kid's) board is perfectly fine but he gets it - because that's the way of the culture and the society. It's available, they have the money to do it. Of course a lot of parents aren't like that.

Not every kid has a skateboard here. But I'll tell you now after these two years and after a lot of the success of the Brazilian skateboarders and the infiltration in the mass media and like the David Lettermans of Brazil and some different tv shows that I've been on air at, I mean after that, it just was crazy. I go to the airport and people recognize me, skateboarders or not, be it like older guys, you know? Come up to me, "Oh yeah that's cool". They're all psyched you know? "Brazil!" You know? - Patriotism.

Really right now in every sport in Brazil I think I'm the best placed one like, Guga, (Gustavo Kuerten) the tennis player, I think like is in second, and soccer is in third. And the soccer team, the whole country is pissed off at the soccer team. Skateboarding happens to be, right now, the one that's making it happen. (I remember) The same day as the soccer world cup the grand prix of skateboarding went down and both Carlos (De Andrade) and I won. He won street and I won vert and that night it was the soccer night the finals with France and so I remember we were all stoked. "Yeah let's go celebrate and see Brazil win the World Cup", and we go out there and Brazil loses and we're just like " yeah who cares, we got skateboarding!" You know? All the other guys and I'm sure all of Brazil was weeping and tripping out and this little piece of news that barely even got to them that these two Brazilian skateboarders just won a contest together that no one really knew about or cared about, you know?

Bob just being his happy self during a charity skate demo in Rio.

So it's kind of like it's really switching the table a little bit now. It's going main stream. It's starting to work to where skateboarding can grow and have a base in Brazil. The only way that that will happen is through skateparks. Skateparks are the way of Brazilian skateboarding because street skating is really hard. It's a third world country, there are some modern buildings but mostly it's old stuff and they got that rocky type traditional cobble stone and there are a lot of cities and rural areas around that most of the streets are dirt. So really it's skateparks and not paid skateparks. Not like the X Games skateparks or Vans parks where you pay a lot of money. It's public skateparks where kids can do whatever they want to do.

Most of them are concrete.

Most of them are concrete. Obviously there are some (wood) parks here. When I was growing up there was one made out of wood - pretty much I think the only one out of all Brazil. And now just in Sao Paulo there are three.

Out of wood?

Yeah wood is not as good as Skatelite but good enough. If our generation . . . if I grew up and the guys like Christiano, Sandro and Lincoln . . . if we grew up with one park from wood and another out of cement . . . I mean our generation grew up with that (only concrete) . . . just think about if with the amount of parks there are now, and the amount of motivation and incentive there is, then the next generation will have so many guys.

And that goes around the world. I mean skateboarding is really hitting a mainstream when you get the parent to be okay with you skateboarding. That's a huge leap. And when a parent comes to you and says you can skate because, "Yeah that guy, he makes millions right?" That sucks that they're taking it the way that only because he makes millions it's okay to skate. It's like, "Kid you got to be a doctor, you're going to make a lot of money" and it's like that's not where your attention should be. You obviously you need to make a living but first you have to be happy. It's not - How do we figure out how to make more money? No it's like - How can we free these kids minds? How do we make them think for themselves and not everyone else?

We went with Bob to this pool that he "respects" in the middle of two crazy busy streets in Rio. Despite the cracks and leaves and glass at the bottom, he killed it with no pads and no warm up - frontside ollie.

What ways are you interested in giving back to kids who are into skateboarding?

First teach them that no matter how good they are it doesn't matter, they're not above anybody else. The first thing is there should be no priority for the guy and the crew that skates better and the other guy that doesn't skate as well. Or it doesn't matter if you're forty years old and all you want to do is jump on the board and you really feel it - you get on the longboard. It doesn't matter you know? The feeling of skateboarding should matter the most. Skateboarding is for everyone. For girls, for older guys, for younger guys, you know? That is the main message.

The objective shouldn't be one that in one way the first X Games was starting to create. You know the first ESPN X Games, the rivalry, like "He's dropping he wants to take him down" you know they're trying to create something that really isn't there (a false sense of competition). Thank goodness it's no longer around. It's really true - you can't make something that's not happening. When we're out skateboarding, out on the deck, we're out rooting for each other and we're skating like it's a session. People kind of trip out on that, you know? They go, "Why the heck is that guy cheering for him if he's competing against him?" It's like it doesn't compute in their heads. And it's different in that way I guess, the message is that the objective is to first and foremost have fun with your friends and learn and progress. And just to kind of develop your individuality and creativity. It's all right to do whatever you want to do.

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