I’ve been a fan of Skate Tales for some time, and it has easily become my favorite show in skating. Thanks to The Nines bringing Madars to Shanghai last month, we had the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss his amazing and inspiring journey.

We starting from his roots in the small skateboarding scene of Latvia. He shares how he got sponsored by Element, moved to Barcelona, and uniquely negotiated his university education as payment for a commercial—ultimately earning his master's degree while simultaneously skating professionally.

Madars also breaks down his breakthrough in the US, including his legendary firecracker down the El Toro 14-stair with filmer Ricky Bedenbaugh.

Plus, we go behind the scenes of his hit Red Bull YouTube series, Skate Tales, which is now in its sixth season.

Madars talks about his inspiring recent trip to Uganda to support the local skate community, bringing 35 kilos of skate gear to kids in need.

He also highlights his passion for giving back, including building permanent DIY skateparks back home in Latvia with the help of Red Bull.

Instagram / Youtube: @kickerclub

email: [email protected]

Chengdu is blowing up right now! It's become one of the most popular cities in China, and skaters are flocking there. It's easy to see why—laid-back lifestyle, delicious food, and an awesome community of skaters. We're hyped to have Jason Zhang, a skater who lives in Chengdu, here to tell us all about it. Jason recently ended his pro career with Challenge Skateboards and started his own clothing brand - BLACK8SAP. For the first time ever, he's sharing his story about skating for Symbolic......

During the adidas Three Stripe Skate Hype event in Shanghai, we had J Brian Siswojo a.k.a. JBS, the founder of 8five2 skateshop in Hong Kong, swing by our office. We chatted about his story and the skate scene in Hong Kong. It's just like Brian said in the podcast: 'Skateboarding is not for everyone, we are the chosen ones.'

00:20 Introducing J Brian Siswojo, JBS (Just BullShit）@jbs8five2 .

04:20 adidas Skate Hype event and Xuhui Binjiang Spot in Shanghai.

07:55 He moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1985 when he was 11 years old. That's where he learned English. He can speak English, Indonesian, Cantonese, Mandarin, a bit of Japanese, and a little Korean (his wife's Korean).

08:57 The pioneers of skateboarding in Hong Kong, the first and second generation who paved the way.

10:40 Stories with the legendary skate artist VCJ

13:20 Back in 1991, Hong Kong got its first skater-owned shop, BFD (which stood for Big Fucking Deal!).

14:15 Here's some behind-the-scenes trivia about the skate scene in Jackie Chan's 1993 movie City Hunter. They brought in ten big-name pro skaters from the US for the shoot, but on the day, director Wong Jing was being such a pain that the skaters just walked off! They had to scramble and find local skaters from Hong Kong to fill in and finish the filming.

17:33 Skateboarding is not for everyone, we are the chosen one.

19:15 The founding of 8five2 skateshop back in 1999. This year is their 25th anniversary! They've got a collab with NB Numeric dropping soon, and they're also doing a clothing collection with the Japanese brand Muraspo.

23:50 Funny story of how he met Tim O'Connor.

29:04 Inside joke “IN THE CLUE”

30:05 Stories about two pair of 8five2 X NikeSB Janoski collaboration shoes.

37:55 Hong Kong needs some fresh blood! Why is still the same face out there after 15 years?

41:16 Which Hong Kong celebrities skate?

45:35 We're hoping to link up with more cities across mainland China, exchange knowledge and resources, and grow the skate scene together.

48:00 Follow 8five2 youtube channel @8five2shop and subscribe their skate podcast @SSBSTS .

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.
This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.
After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.
5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...
Instagram / Youtube: @kickerclub
email: [email protected]

Just this past May was insane for the Shanghai skate scene. Vans AVE 2.0 World Tour, Olympics Qualifier Series, Nike SB's party, Monster Team Demo... all the top pros in the game were right here in Shanghai. We even bumped into a bunch of old homies from the industry, guys we haven't seen in ages. It was wild.

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.

This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.

After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.

5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...

Instagram / Youtube: @kickerclub

email: [email protected]

With our friend Bernhard Spahni's help, we had the opportunity last week to check out the venue for the Shanghai stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series. We also spoke with Pierre Fratter-Bardy, the Associate Director of Olympic Games Strategy and Development, about the relationship between skateboarding culture and the Olympics, as well as highlights of the Shanghai event. You can also check out the interview article on our website - www.kickerclub.com

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.

This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.

After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.

5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...

Instagram / Youtube: @kickerclub

email: [email protected]

00:27 Guests introduction

06:04 China Olympic program results blow my mind

10:20 If Zoe Zeng film a street part……

14:29 I want to let Chinese skaters know there is another path but not only the contests

18:03 Video parts for ever, nobody goes back to watch contest lines

18:55 Cool China local brands recommended

19:46 For Chinese skaters, how do they become more known globally

21:18 About social media

27:09 A good team manager is insanely important

31:32 We travel the world to get fucked up

35:52 We need good local media

Recently, another video of a Chinese skater went viral on various skateboarding media social accounts (Yuan Dong's roller cast drop-in). Do you still remember Chinese skater Smileface's 29-stair handrail noseslide a few months back? Last month, Tian Jiaxing also scored the highest position a Chinese skater has ever achieved at Tampa Am, ranking 39th. More and more Chinese skaters are starting to draw global attention.

In this episode, we also look back at the major news in the Chinese skateboarding community over the past five months, from the recent Halloween skateboarding party to the Pushfest Skateboarding Film Festival to the GrandMasters Skateboarding Competition......

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.

This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.

After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.

5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...

Last month, Li-Ning brought legendary American skateboarder Erik Ellington to China and we were fortunate enough have him a sit down with him at the KickerClub office. Erik dropped some knowledge on us about cross culture partnership with the Chinese sports brand giant, how the connection with Li-Ning came about. He also discusses working with LN design team on his new pro model, and his upcoming plans. Meanwhile, host Danny name drops and reminisced with Erik about skateboarding's golden era in California.

5MoreMins, your visa to China Skateboarding

Host by Danny Zhang & Andrew Guan

Presents by KickerClub.com

After skateboarding became an Olympic sport, the Chinese government started to pay attention to it. They established a national skateboarding team with the goal of winning medals. So where do these skateboard athlets come from and how are they trained? Where do their coaches come from, and more behind-the-scenes stories...

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.

This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.

After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.

5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...

Instagram / Youtube: @kickerclub

email: [email protected]

This is Andrew Guan, the founder of KickerClub.com, promoting skateboarding in China since 2001.

This is Danny Zhang, Cali native and Shanghai local, working in the industry since early 2000s.

After 20 years of telling the skateboarding stories of world to China. We decided to tell the world the skateboarding stories of China Let us be your visa to China skateboarding.

5MoreMins, just 5MoreMins...