All language subtitles for King.Skate.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

Czech Television

State Cinematography Fund

A new day of socialist
Czechoslovakia has begun.

To be on the concrete. To whizz
through space. To have it all in motion.

Have it in blurs and in flashes.

No need for waves,
for a ski slope, or a team.

And that’s the way you like it.
Skateboard.

I wanted to do something freely,
without anyone saying: 3, 2, 1 go!

A young person yearns
for one thing. Freedom!

This country was inaccessible
to anything from the West.

This was a whiff of America.

It was something
that had never existed here.

And it made people
who owned it really special.

This was a gift from my friend
for my 50th birthday.

It’s an old model from the U.S.
I can’t even guess the year.

But as you can see
it was made of one rollerskate

but the iron wheels are pretty
special. Probably without bearings.

It’s riveted so it must have been
meant to be made as a skateboard.

-A bit small.
-I’ll try to jump on it. Carefully.

-I might try...
-An ollie?

Yep! It’s fucked. I knew it.

I’ll glue it back later. The tail edge.

I didn’t mean to. The original is broken.

Oh well. We’ll glue it together.

This was everything to me.
I even quit hang gliding.

Then I quit playing in a brass band.
This is the love of my life.

I want to show you a part
of the historical equipment.

Here on top I have the latest thing.

This is a modern gem,
a composite board.

And now check the stark contrast.

These are the boards
from our very beginnings.

We’d fashion them after drawings
in ABC or VTM magazines.

Let me take it all out.

Throughout the years
I rode all these boards here.

Jeez. What do we have here?

This is really a great one
but you honestly cannot ride it.

It’s one of the old boards
I found in my attic.

I have no idea where I got this.

See? I told you this one is no good.
It just keeps getting jammed.

Awful. It was awful back then too.

I would do sprints but then
I had troubles with my back.

I always say skateboarding
and snowboarding cured me.

Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.

Plus, it was a capitalist sport
and a minority sport.

It actually wasn’t a sport back then.

That was a different world.

It was the year 1976. Our dad had lived
in the US for eight years by then

and I had never seen
this thing in our country before.

I didn’t see it in the U.S. either
but someone said to our dad:

“Have you bought them a skateboard?”
And he said: “What is it?”

Fifth grade. I was in the fifth grade.

In winter I practised in the kitchen
and then in spring outside.

It was love at first sight.

I started here when I was 13, 14.
Dunno. Who’d remember that?

Man, that was something
completely different. Brand new.

This is how it works. So I hopped
on it and rode. Left, right, done.

You see, I’m a good skier.

I skied since I was five and I loved it
so much I could see skis everywhere.

In summer we missed
the turns and these movements

so skateboard was the perfect alternative.

We simply skied on the board.

I saw a skateboard for the first time
as a boy in a newsreel in cinema.

I was in awe seeing skateboarders
play basketball and do high jumps.

Skateboarding is a new sport.
It was invented by American boys

who fastened two pairs of wheels
on a board and started gliding

just like surfers on an ocean waves.
But on a dry land and downhills.

On these skateboards
you can also play handball.

You just rode and felt happy
because you were moving.

It’s in the moves which are specific.

It’s kind of like good sex.

I LOVE SEX

We are asking Mr Rybář
from Canneries and Distilleries

-why there is a lack of ketchup.
-If I hadn’t kids I’d never queue here.

Comrade Sedláček asks
why there is a lack of jam jars.

-How long have you been queueing here?
-Only since 8am.

Now it’s 11:30. And there’s nothing
but the scales and water here.

At the moment there are no
skateboards delivered on our market.

A year ago we had some knee pads,
elbow pads and helmets

but not a thing ever since.

Back then the wheels were made
of some weird hard stuff,

definitely not polyurethane.

Trucks were just metal plates
which were kind of bent.

And we would cut the board
off some plywood.

We just tried various combinations.

These are street boards
on which we rode little ramps

and this is a hand-painted board
based on an original.

We used to copy Western designs
which we liked back then.

And we would put the hip brands
on our boards to make it look alike.

As for better boards, they would
come to those who were lucky,

who sent begging letters
to American or German companies,

some guys would send crystal,
or glass, or all kinds of crap.

In exchange for a skateboard.

I remember when I got the first
parcel with Kryptonics wheels.

It felt like a small miracle.
Such a thing was impossible to get.

I had to wait. I was waiting
for a month, two, half a year

because they sent it by sea mail.
I thought they blew it off

and then it suddenly arrived
and I got the mammon. Original!

Wheels, that was an extreme issue.

Even those who knew the ropes
had troubles obtaining wheels.

Wheels make a good skateboard.

If you look at these stripes,
it’s not some skidproof trick,

the wheels are simply made of pucks.
We would call them “puckpals”.

It was a nylon core with bearings
and a pressure hose pulled on it.

That was our wheel.

-We’d lathe them from sledgehammers.
-Or from grenades.

We’d lathe bearings from a grenade.

Good wheels must turn well.

You can easily go 40 miles an hour
downhills. If you’re a good skater.

If you fall on your head
and you’re not wearing a helmet

you get a lisp after some time.

Suddenly some places in Prague

were swarmed by guys
with home-made skateboards.

Back then it was a big rebellion
because in the era of communism

you weren’t allowed
to even lie down in a park.

People were scolding us
for riding on sidewalks etc.

“You’re kicking up a rumpus.”
“Your wheels are ruining roads.”

“Piss off! Let us sleep!”
That was a classic back then.

We’d set the wheels in motion,
stopped abruptly behind some chicks,

wheels squealing, girls screaming.

And we’d have a blast, you know.

They had no idea
and we looked like fools.

Excuse me, there used to be
this fire reservoir once.

That would be so cool
if we found a piece of the old pool.

We’re getting closer. I can smell it.

Excuse me, can I ask you something?

There used to be a small water
reservoir here. Never heard of it?

Are these the blocks of flats?
They look it, right?

Look, these two and this one.

And this must have been out there.

It doesn’t look wrong, right?
These must be the blocks of flats.

-Boys, do you ride skateboards?
-No. -Why? You prefer football?

-Yes, football is better.
-Football players make more money.

Yeah.

Where is our pool? Where is it?

The pool in Karlovy Vary,
it was almost like California.

Well, not really but good enough.

Our first attempts to ride up,
turn around and glide down,

or do some grinds.
We couldn’t practice anywhere else.

There were no ramps back then,

they were built much later.

So this was the only way
to ride some kind of waves.

Otherwise we’d have to ride
downhills, or do curbs, stairs

but if you wanted some style,
some feeling, this was the place.

I can’t remember it at all.

-Remember the plywood ramp?
-Yeah, made just of the doors.

That was actually King Skate,
the whole thing was made of doors

and some braces, some scaffold.

Then we moved it over there.
But the first one stood here.

The first bigger ramp was here,
right where I’ve put the board.

It wasn’t a classic half-pipe
but just a curb ramp

which was made of three doors.

It was hammered together
with nails with big heads.

Our riding would make it springy
and the nails would gradually pull out

and when you fell down
it would strip you like a grater

so we’d have bloody back or hips.
The nails were flesh-shredders.

You’d go to a building site nearby,
steal some blocks of plywood

and we’d try to nail them together.

Someone managed to get a permit
to build a welded half-pipe

and it was a real iron monument.

Strahov was an amazing spot.

It was up on a hill,
just stadiums and no one around.

-Only the Spartakiade got in our way.
-That was the only problem. It was 1980

and they decided
we had to dismantle the whole thing

so we wrote ČSS 1980 on the half-pipe.

They closed the stadium,
enclosed it by police cordons,

only the masses were allowed to enter.

Prague and our whole country
lived and breathed Spartakiade.

For Spartakiade
is not only a sports event.

It is also a great manifestation of
our people’s unity,

of our loyalty to socialism
and trust in our happy future.

It was awful because
they banned skateboarding.

They put a chain on our half-pipe
so we covered it with a metal plate

and rode anyway.

Skateboard was a huge symbol.

And an escape to a feeling of freedom

because we didn’t get to live
in a free country this way.

But we could experience a great adventure.

That’s why we had so many followers,
why people would come to Strahov.

It wasn’t because of us riding
and horsing around. It was the freedom.

People would simply come there
to experience the “what ifs”.

That was the general feeling there.

That’s what made it so special.
“The boys are daring, we want it too.”

That’s how I see it.

On my 18th birthday my father
gave me a cubic metre of wood

so me and my friends built
the first ramp and a half-pipe here.

Fashioned after the thing
which was originally in Strahov.

Here in Březiny we also painted
a line 20 centimetres below the edge

and wrote “King Skate” there.

Whoever got all four wheels
above the line was called King Skate.

On summer holidays we’d organize
a camp, people built tents around

and spent a week or two here.
It was open for everyone.

The river was dammed
with kegs of beer so we could drink

and we would ride for dear life.

Once we ran out of beer
we’d pack our stuff and go home.

The underage kids got together
in pretty big gangs.

Some gangs have
10, 12 underage members.

We might say that each member
of the gang was quite unique.

And that was appreciated.

We came from various intellectual
backgrounds. There were boys

whose dads worked in factories,
boys whose fathers were writers.

But there were also illicit
moneychangers with long fringes.

But no one cared, people
talked to each other no matter what.

It would always click right away.

Once I saw a guy with a skateboard
I’d always start talking to him.

It’s the thing among people like Saab
drivers. Those who own something special.

You didn’t even have to spot the board.

Once you saw the scuffed shoes
you knew the guy was a skateboarder.

We started talking
and I knew I had a place to stay.

I divided skateboarders
into nutcases and friends.

But mostly it was about friendship.

There was always something
to talk about and it was really nice.

No matter how many silly ideas came up
people would just go for it.

Skateboarders are still a gang. Everywhere
they go riding they stick together.

Those who rode were accepted

but if you were just a poser
you were finished.

Youth is a joy of speed and motion.

On your feet, or on some wheels.

If the wheels are small and attached to
a small board, it is called a skateboard.

Those enchanted by skateboards
had a summer rendez-vous in Prachatice.

During one week they exchanged
their experiences from half-pipe,

checked out the others’ tricks,
turns and jumps.

So the concrete is still here.
Pretty interesting way of gardening.

I hope the owner
is not coming after us with a gun.

Sure enough, people were sitting
on the railing, cheering,

a friend was cooling beer in the pool
because it was his birthday.

Many beautiful stories took place here.

Ironically when we were looking
for a spot to build a ramp,

a half-pipe,
where we could do slaloms,

we had to go to our town hall
which was occupied by communists.

There was no other way to do it. But until
they knew what this would develop into

they wouldn’t give us dirty looks.

They were actually glad something
was happening and were pretty helpful.

ČSTV, Svazarm, schools, municipal
offices and other organizations

had to use all possibilities for sports
provided by the socialist society.

We were different because
we didn’t belong to any unions,

we were just boys in a park.

Regulations of a skateboarding club,
duties of club members.

To represent the club impeccably
in all spheres of its activity,

to develop one’s qualification
and fitness and to promote our sport.

To actively participate
in events organized by one’s club.

To pay dutifully club dues
and ČSTV dues 200 crowns a year,

pupil dues 100 crowns a year.
Due date... Blah blah blah blah.

This is just a piece of paper.

We just went on the same way

but now we could do
legally organized competitions,

legally organized fun.

Each competition was a blast.

The most important thing
was to actually meet the people.

I remember my first competition
in Karlovy Vary

where I saw slaloms, high jumps
and long jumps for the first time.

This is the place of our competitions.

The Czechoslovakian Championship.

The place wasn’t so flattened out.
It was just a steep hill.

Here by this awful, huge,
beautiful, empty pavilion

there was our launch ramp.

And this is where we’d do high jumps.

It used to be nice here.

You’d set the board in motion
by quick movements

and then you’d keep the speed
or just go even faster.

At the first competitions
we’d do high jumps, long jumps.

Those were the events.

-Weird events.
-Yeah, they were weird.

I could even do turns back then.
Now it’s not that great anymore.

Things like this.

We’d also do these... Sitting...
What’s the silly thing called?

Oh, Catamaran.

Let me grab this poor invalid.
Jesus, I’m so sorry about this.

I’ll just sit on it
as if it was a big skateboard.

Careful, fellow!

Man! Like this. Like this.

You’d have to mind your fingers
so you don’t run over them.

-And we’d go downhills.
-Really silly.

But we’d ride even ramps like this.

Hang on, let me... Hang on!

I was a high jump champion.

There are three registered records,
one of them belongs to Luděk Váša

and one is mine, 155 centimetres.

People are competitive, you know.

Everyone wants to win,
to be faster and better than the others.

I’d win the high jumps pretty often.

Luděk deserves a song for his
performance and prestige promotion.

-Luděk, do you like popular music?
-I do.

Long jump is an awful event.
You use a footstop

and jump to another board. If you take
off too late it just tears your back off

and you’ll end up face down.
Excellent thing, really technical.

It’s kind of a small murder.

You fell down and your socks dropped.
Those were terrible falls.

The jumps were always a big hit.

Sometimes we’d collect money.
Girls would walk around with a hat

and then we’d buy something.
Well, it was a wild ride.

Once I came home from an event,
all gloomy and my dad said:

“You came in second, right?
It was about time.”

I’d always win. It was fun.

Commendations and medals. Classic.

We organized “Vysočina Cup”
and the winner got Vysočina salami.

Whatever we could get our hands on.

It was a nice feeling to win
and enjoy the 15 minutes of fame

and life went on.

We would ride the board all the time.
To school, from school, always.

Then there came the competitions
and I must say I was pretty good.

I won a few slalom races.
That was my thing.

This is a great relic.
A piece by Petr Kotting.

This girdler made it
for “The Strahov Grand Prix” event.

And these are the names of winners.

The first one was Petr Forman
in 1979, then Milan Milesík

and the third winner was me.

It was a matter of prestige.

Once you won something
in that age, you were the boss.

It was nice.

The competition was a big deal for us.

Everyone feels that these are
the moments when you must win.

I wasn’t into competitions too much.
Mostly I did exhibitions,

or things I enjoyed.
I just wanted to have fun.

Because I was a naughty pupil,
my parents would get notes

but I just did anything
to prevent the class from boredom.

Once again like every year
marches resounded in Chrudim square,

playing for newbies on the occasion
of their military oath.

Most of the boys will now go
to their units all over the country

and start fulfilling next tasks.

What a change. From my free life
on a skateboard I rode into the drill.

-Not very nice, trust me.
-I had a good doctor.

She gave me some papers
saying I was totally washed-up.

Plus some allergy and that was it.

That saved my ass!

I was very ill.

They recruited
a healthy man immediately.

But... It depended.

There were various ways
to sort this out and...

I was very ill.

The professional soldiers
left the barracks in the evening

and terror began.

But that chapter isn’t
about skateboarding anymore.

The good thing was that my friend
Martin Kopecký, chairman of our club

who is in the skateboard heaven,

he’d invite me to competitions
where I could relax a bit.

We were always against organized stuff.

We would be more like clans,
or... be organized in our own way.

I’d say we did what we wanted.

We didn’t care about socialism.

The only thing we had to do
when we planned competitions

was to ask for permission,

we’d mostly use the Union of Youth
or something as a fig leaf

because otherwise they wouldn’t
let us use squares as venues.

And Martin Kopecký actually
pushed skateboarding through

at the Central Committee of the UY.

Our skateboarding dealt
with two big problems.

One is a lack of materials.

As you can see in this footage
a skateboard must endure a lot.

In our country you practically
could not get any quality skateboards.

The old Esarol brand is fit
for moving furniture, that’s all.

We competed only here
in the Czechoslovakia. It’s a pity.

He was a rad organiser,

an interesting person who could
weld people together into a team.

He could unobtrusively dig
the best qualities out of people.

I created a system
of The Czechoslovakian Cup,

I established certain rules
so that things could be happening.

When Claus Grabke
and then Shane Rouse came here

and started showing us their tricks
we were staring at them in awe

because we’d never seen it before.

Those guys were absolute role models.

Plus, they never behaved
like prima donnas, you know?

They were here to get the skate
into this country, to make it work.

“You wanna know this and that?”
“Yes, please. Show it to me again.”

“You mean that trick? I haven’t
done it for years but I’ll try my best.”

A year later Mark Gonzales
came here to Summer Camp.

He arrived, did an ollie 360,
landed on his feet and rode on.

We were stoked, shrieking “What now?”,

we just lapped it up like this.

Someone who could speak English
came to him and said...

Actually, not to him, he just said:

“If we had such equipment
we could do this as well.”

And he just looked around
and came to this young kid

with the kind of board I showed you
earlier, the one with puck wheels,

and even on this board he was
able to fly a meter above the ramp.

And then he told us: “See, guys,
it’s not just about the equipment.”

We fraternized with them

so we got to get cheaper
skateboards, or their old ones.

And suddenly you were able to start
doing the same tricks they did.

It’s like when you haven’t seen
someone for five years

and then you meet him
and it feels like a week.

I haven’t seen Shane since...

Since 1987 I guess.

It’s 2017 now. So it’s been 30 years?

It’s not worth adjusting.

It’s all in the legs.

Fooling like this in your old age?

Aren’t you going to ride?

You have to ride as if it wasn’t there.

-Good advice is better than gold.
-As always, right?

Well, Thiele Junior.

What is your training level
for high jump? How much did you do?

-85.
-85. And how about your dad?

Hundred...

-125, I guess.
-No shit.

Your dad’s a badass.

Turn it off, man.

-I’ve just found out.
-What did he say?

Junior jumps 85
and you do 120 at trainings.

-It was just a practice.
-Yeah, right. Practice.

-Did you really do 120?
-Well, it was only a practice. -Only.

Only.

You mustn’t give such information away.

This is gonna be a wipe-out.

That’s how the champs ride, man!
Cool, man.

Great job. You’re the best.

Nowadays when there is an event somewhere
I always ask is there a party afterwards?

I’m not going to travel that far
to watch people compete

and then just say goodbye
and go home. Nope. Not even today.

Back then there was no way
to do an event without an after-party.

We’d reunite after a month
and there’d be hugging, kissing

and that’s where
a never-ending party started.

Sometimes the competition
just developed into a huge party.

We’d “eat” beer.
A lot of beer was “eaten” there.

I remember that awesome goulash
which was served in coffee cups.

Goulash with spaghetti.
We’d always look forward to that.

Some people would bring
canned food to the events.

Chinese luncheon meat and stuff.

But back then everything was
quite cheap. Food, beer.

Beer for one crown seventy.

On Friday you’d set off
with 200 crowns in your pocket,

you’d come home with 20 crowns
after a gnarly weekend.

It might have been Martin Kopecký,
our biggest guru back then,

who came up with an idea
of Bikini Contest.

We pulled tables together,
put white sheets over to make a catwalk,

skateboarders with pens and papers
sat in the first row as a jury

picking the most beautiful girl.
they were all young and beautiful.

The girl who went topless
and had awesome breasts won.

Not many girls rode skateboards
back then, it was a boys sport.

You got all dirty and bruised,
it just didn’t suit girls.

I also preferred them to stand aside,
look nice and watch us ride.

I’m not a fan of female skateboarders.
But some of them look hot anyway.

For me as the only girl among boys
it was hard on the one hand

because I’d compete with boys
and always ended up at the bottom.

There was no women category.

But otherwise I felt fine,
I would rouse an interest

being a woman who could ride.

Little girls play with dolls,
real girls ride skateboards.

How about you?
How about you? How about you?

“Get me a bottle of coke and this will
be a perfect America,” Bezbol yawns.

“Get me three chicks and this
will be a cool party,” Jerry grins.

It’s kind of high-flown
but that’s the way it was back then.

What a beautiful drawing.
A skateboarder in the night air

and a lot of women in lit-up windows.

Our dreams, our wet mornings...

Football players had great bodies
but we were just crazy

and we were aware of it.

So picking up a girl was...

My friend Simon Thiele said
we were something like rock stars.

Cities would hand us
their prettiest girls.

When one managed to win
at some event, well...

that was counted as a success.

I mean girls never want to date
a guy who always loses.

Some guys liked to use the fact
that they rode skateboards

and there were always girls
who’d cling to the skateboarder.

We’d call them “stickers”.

When I arrived to the event in Hrádek
nad Nisou I saw playboy Luděk Váša there,

this handsome athlete,
a head taller than me and said:

“Guys...” Sure, he was drunk.

“Don’t bring your girls in here,
or we’ll fuck them all.”

Things went pretty well with girls
back then. It was pretty good.

Me and Roman Bagin decided to create
this club called “Ain’t Putting Out”.

We’d just wouldn’t give a damn
about those chicks.

Two months later

I was automatically transferred
into “Ain’t Getting None” club.

And this club is really tough to leave.

It’s the classic “Karlíček never fucks”
so unfortunately that was it for me.

It took style most of all.

It might have been
the feeling of uniqueness

that made our gang dress
in a crazier way than others.

But it might also have something
to do with the era because back then,

maybe even before I got my first
skateboard, there came punk rock.

We were called The Dry Brains...

“My ear’s covered in blood
I pierced it myself...”

-Well, songs like this.
-We needed a leader, a singer.

And we got the best one we could.

I was such a lazy bastard...

When you do punk it’s ok
if you don’t sing in tune.

-A garage style.
-It’s all about your image.

All the bands were banned
so if you wanted to do a gig

you had to play your songs
for some five, or six people who’d say:

“You must change this verse.”
A classic censorship.

No regime which lays such claims

and dictates people what to do
can be considered normal.

YOUNGSTERS WITH A QUESTION MARK

They live among us.
Years ago they were a rarity.

Nowadays we get to meet them
more often, especially in larger cities.

Their appearance brings out a smile,
sometimes repulsion, fear, even shock.

Punk was very often
connected to skateboarding.

There was the influence.
To be different and to provoke.

That was the right thing. To be different.

To be the best in being different,
and all the adrenalin on top of it.

And of course,
we loved provoking the cops.

When you do something non-standard
you always get into troubles with cops.

Skateboarding was non-standard
back then. And it still is, right?

They did it out of boredom.
They’d walk around and kept checking

and when they came across
such a weird guy they had to stop him.

Roman Bagin was just...

He was a kid who...
He was the Czech Sid Vicious.

He killed himself. A long time ago.
Such a sensitive guy.

It’s a common mistake to think that
those people were crazy, or uneducated.

It was the other way around.
They were much more sensitive

who suffered in the lack of freedom.

And for them this was
the only way to stand up against it.

And they’d be punished.

But they just kept showing people
to be true to themselves.

I think he was the first
graffiti artist in the Czech Republic.

I was blown away by his tag.
He wrote Bagin as 13QFIN.

He did it in the film Snow Bitches
and the footage was sent to Jake Burton

who has been using 13
instead of letter B since then.

This information about number 13
was delivered to Burton by Luděk Váša.

And that’s a fact.

Bagin would also run around Pernink
with a black spray tagging snow.

These people were a huge inspiration
for others. Maybe even role models.

I think people seek their idols.

This person influenced me
in everything I do.

He introduced punk
and things like Tristan Tzara to me

and showed me
that Dadaism was the real punk.

Lenin was another punker,
one of the regulars at Voltaire Cabaret.

Bagin simply showed me the way.

I realized that being a punker
doesn’t mean just punk music

but you need to have
some general knowledge.

Then he got into a trouble
when they found him on a bridge,

he spent some time in a loony bin
and then two weeks at my place.

And then I talked to his mum
so this is a sensitive issue for me.

Soul is really hard to cure, man.

After years 1982-84
when I was doing my military service

the repressions got stronger.

I’d get letters about boys
being arrested, things got tough.

Once you met a cop you got busted.

If their van was full you were lucky
because someone else took your place.

Sometimes they’d just let you go.
Sometimes they’d call another van.

And after 1984 they eased up.

They couldn’t keep up any longer.

The state just had to accept
skateboarding officially.

In 1986 Vancouver hosted
an exhibition called

“The World in Touch,
the World in Motion”.

There they even organized
the first World Cup of Skateboarding.

One of the various events
was also high jump

where Luděk Váša, the Czechoslovakian
team member, won a gold medal.

I participated as a professional
so I was to supposed to get 500 USD

but they took it away from me
saying they’d paid the flight tickets.

But the problem was that we only
had a flight ticket from Toronto

so they finally gave us at least
some money for a bus ride.

But I was happy to compete
with Tony Hawk who won that time.

It was just a totally different world.

What a beautiful award.
How high did you have to jump for it?

-5,1 feet. -In metric system?
-155 centimetres.

-How did it feel to win?
-I couldn’t believe it. Then came joy.

In Canada everyone told us

they’d never seen a Czechoslovakian
citizen coming back to his country.

They immediately offered us jobs
in some skateboard factory.

But I said we can’t let down
all the skateboarders here.

None of them would ever get
a chance to go abroad because of us.

So we came back.
That event helped us get white cards,

we could travel
to any events we wanted to.

I never wanted to emigrate.

I enjoyed being here with my mates.
We made our own America here.

No one had ever tortured me here.
I could do anything I wanted.

No one had ever tried to
drive me into becoming a snitch,

sure, they tried to lure me
to join the communist party

but I’d say I didn’t feel ready and that
was that. I’d never ever become a commie.

So I think if anything had really
bothered me I’d have done a runner.

But I personally felt kind of free.

Once we started travelling abroad
I got to meet many immigrants.

And none of them were doing great.

All of them were scraping along,
looking forward to go back home.

But they couldn’t.
It was pretty tough for them, too.

Passport control often finds items
made by sabotage groups on trains.

These items are lying about in aisles,
in compartments and toilets.

Leaflets were found describing the Western
society as something of a paradise,

appealing to youngsters
to leave our country,

for refusing to join military service,

appealing for
criminal activities against the state.

People who close the borders
and take away your freedom...

That’s bad enough, isn’t it?

Everything was becoming a problem

and it got even those you honoured,
or those who didn’t have to do it.

For all kinds of reasons, for a career,
for family they joined the party

because they knew it was
their only chance. Or they emigrated.

So, is this normal? It’s not normal.

We left this country knowing
we could never come back.

So we said goodbye to a part
of our family, others were unaware

because we didn’t know
how they’d react.

I met a few friends before I left
and it was clear I’d never come back

but it was a very weird secret.

My brother was at the farewell party.

My mum knew about me and dad didn’t.
Dad knew about Simon but mum didn’t.

So, you go on the very last date
with your girl and you cannot tell her.

Let’s get to the nicer aspects of sport.

Prague is the first socialist capital

to host the best European
skateboarders at Euroskate 1988.

Euroskate was put together
by me and Martin Kopecký.

We went for a beer and came up
with an idea of a big event here.

Today’s programme of the unofficial
European Cup had 8000 spectators.

Our contestants rank well in Europe.

Especially in slalom, in free style.

Halfpipe isn’t so good
but hopefully we’ll make it there, too.

It’s a well-known fact
that we excel in high jump.

Nothing is definite yet,
Luděk Váša has the last attempt.

I’m just so happy that

the event here in Prague went well,

that despite the organizational chaos
and running around this hall

it came down to this success
in front of the audience here.

The event really was a success.

Even people from Western
Europe were very appreciative

of the organization, size
and functionality of all aspects.

Plus, it was broadcast live on TV.
Unlike the Western-European events.

Finally! Finally! Finally! Finally!

After the Velvet Revolution
many things changed,

skateboarding goods
were imported to Czechoslovakia.

I started to leave this commune
and turned toward snowboarding

because each sport starts as fun
but once money gets involved

all the fun disappears.

The friendships are gone,
it’s all about money and things get bad.

Everyone wanted to make money
because it was possible

but they forgot about the spirit,
about the feeling of freedom.

Skateboarding is freedom,
not hard work and big money

and once you have the money
you become friends with moneybags

to be even better.

In the 1980’s we were free but in 1990’s
we couldn’t bear the weight of freedom.

The freedom was too much to handle.

Some people just couldn’t deal with it.
I think I’m one of them.

DEDICATED TO ROMAN BAGIN (1986)
AND MARTIN KOPECKÝ (2013)