In this podcast episode we talk to the founder of the Swiss longboard brand Rocket Longboards. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the company, Daniel tells us about the beginnings and the development of the brand. Rocket Longboards are deck manufacturers and have specialized especially in the segment of downhill skateboarding. Paul and Felix talk to Daniel about how boards in this segment have changed in recent years. Listen in and learn more about how the Swiss longboard manufacturer produces their solid longboards and what has changed in the new collection.

From the Netherlands we are joined online by Maarten van Heel. Annika Rudolph represents the fast growing longboard dancing scene from the Ruhr area and Philipp Baumann tells us about the Hamburg scene. Since we are planning to publish more episodes on this topic we would be happy if you would like to join us and tell us about your longboard or skateboard scene.

The topic of this podcast episode is the foundation of the International Longboard Dance & Freestyle Federation (ILDFF). Our guests Simon and Werner who are developing this project are talking about the mission of ILDFF to support and grow the community and to make the sport more popular.

Having a lot of experience in organizing contests and knowing very good the needs of the community, Simon and Werner (as well as the other current members of ILDFF) came up with the idea to bring all the unwritten rules and regulations from different contests into a written form. They have used the pandemic by creating a first rulebook for longboard dancing including guidelines on competition formats, scoring mechanisms, specifications of materials and safety measures.

Simon and Werner

At this point they're presenting the first draft of the rulebook to the worldwide community and collecting the feedback. They have also launched the official ILDFF website, where you can request the rulebook and learn more about the missions of the federation.

Listen to this episode to find out more and check the website of ILDFF. If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to us or to Simon and Werner directly.

This month we talked to the legendary Michael Brooke. Michael is author of the first comprehensive book on skateboarding the concrete wave and the founder of the concrete wave skate magazine. Michaels story is about a lot of incredible coincidences that brought him to where he is today. His new book "The Endless Wave" talks about skateboarding, death & spirituality and is available for free here: (https://www.docdroid.net/EiCRUm9/endless-wave-pdf).If you want to know how these things are connected and hear all of Michaels story listen to this episode of the podcast.

Cover photo by Scott Starr

book cover

some links:

Longboarding for PeaceMichaels first webpage SkategeezerSome history

Antonio is from Hamburg and started skateboarding in 2000. He came to snowboarding after several years, where he became an instructor pretty quickly. Unfortunately, 10 years ago he had a tragic snowboard accident and has been paralyzed since then. But that still hasn't stopped him from practicing different kinds of extreme sports like skiing, wakeboarding or downhill-longboarding.

Listen to this episode to find out how Antonio made it back on the board after his accident and how he is developing sit-downhill-longboarding as a sport.

follow Antonio on Instagram: @antonio.hoempler

foto by https://www.instagram.com/vidorphotography1/

In this special episode we talk about the Hamburg Longboard Open 2021, which is a Longboard Dancing and Freestyle contest organized by AWHOU! and Skateboard eV Hamburg. Linda and Paul interviewed some people at the aftershow skatesession, like judges, participants and winners as well as the organizers of the event. In the conversations you can feel the happy atmosphere and how glad everyone is that the contest could take place again after a long break.

Interview partners:

Simon Arsenidis , Olivia Berger, Deborah Keser, Sergej Schwarzkopf, Bram Alferink, Christopher Graham, Philipp Baumann, Anastasia Kuzina, Tobias Seifert, Marshall Brettschneider, Christopher Weggler

Picture by Jeff Spörri

In episode 10 Felix and Paul get to talk about one of the things they love most about longboarding: the technical details. They answer all the technical questions you had like: "What part of your board should you replace first?", "How many parts is a longboard made of?" and  "What is this rake people talk about?".

This episode is a bit different since we don't have a guest who we're interviewing. Let us know how you liked this style of episode and if there is anything else you want to know!

As there is a lot of things that are hard to explain with audio only we put here all the links and pictures that the guys referenced:

10:17 Parts of a RKP truck

Reverse Kingpin Truck (RKP)

15:50 ROJA Trucks

23:25 Rake (source: https://stokedrideshop.com/blogs/trucks/the-ultimate-longboard-truck-guide)

31:00 "Truck Geometry | Sabre Longboard Trucks UK" 

50:28 Aaryn "Axl" Curtis

Did you know that Studio Longboard was more or less started at a party? Or which skating discipline the owner of Studio Longboard - Sergej Schwarzkopf - likes most? How come that Linda and Paul are on the podcast and what are their skate-stories?

This episode, we reveal the story behind Studio Longboard and of the people being connected to it. Sergej tells us about his life and how skating helped him after moving from Kazakhstan to Germany when he was a teenager. And also about his journey from having a well-paid job at a big company to making his dream come true and own a skateshop and recording studio.

Paul and Linda are both skaters, but their journeys, experiences and interests in skating differ quite a bit. Even more interesting to hear about their stories. Enjoy listening to this great interview in a very familiar atmosphere and make sure you’ll get to the surprise Q&A at the end!

Now it's time to talk about Long Distance Skateboarding. This episode is gonna be split in two parts. In the first part Linda and Paul talk with our local LDP expert and experienced skater Yannick about the basics of Long Distance Pushing and Pumping (LDP).

In this podcast episode we're excited to have Shiran Habekost as an interview partner. Shiran is not only a skater, who knows the skateboard scene since the 1980s and has founded some skate stores and skateboard brands in Hamburg. As he is part of quite a few national and international skateboarding clubs and associations for many years, he became an expert in structures of skateboarding.