MANILA, Philippines - Maybe it's the words "extreme sports" that put fear into parents when their children tell them about venturing into skateboarding. But is it really that dangerous?
Skateboarding was catapulted to mainstream when it was featured in ESPN's Extreme Games on 1995. It is a type of extreme sports often compared to surfing, except no waves are needed to ride the board.
By the late 90s, skating started to appear in commercials and people began to reflect the influence of the skating crowd.To date, statistics show there are more than 11 million skaters worldwide.
On Friday, the Dew Tour arrived in the Philippines after traveling around the United States, Canada and Europe. The tour brought the world’s recognized skateboarders, Sean Malto, Justin Schultz and Jordan Maxham for an adrenaline-fueled two-day skateboard competition and concert held at the Circuit Makati in Makati City.
During the press conference, the athletes shared their thoughts on whether skateboarding is dangerous.
On the interview, Malto pointed out that anything is in fact dangerous, but skateboarding is healthy because it keeps your body active.
"Life is dangerous. Driving your car is dangerous. Anything is, but skateboarding is healthy because you are moving and exercising," Malto said during an exclusive interview with Philstar.com.
"It is definitely dangerous, even when you know how to skate. We were skateboarding for 15 years, and we all still get hurt from time to time," added Maxham.
Skateboarding is considered as a freestyle sport where the only limit is imposed by the ability of the person riding on the board. But there are ways to lessen its risks.
Despite being considered as a sport for adrenaline junkies, Malto said knowing the extent of one's ability is important.
"Skate within your ability. Skate in a controlled environment like a skate park, especially when you are just starting out," he said.
According to a US study in 2002, injuries brought by the sport can be limited by wearing protective equipment at all times when skating. In fact, A 2002 US report found that skateboarding is a relatively safe sport when compared to other sports like baseball and basketball, in terms of number of injuries.
Schulte admitted that skateboarding is not as easy as any other sport, but he also asserted that every fall is worth it, once you have finally learned how to do it.
"I like skateboarding because there's no feeling that's better than accomplishing what you have tried hours of hours. It's like having to pat your back after a very long day."
"The first time you fall hard, you will know if you are gonna skate or not. You fall, and you are either like 'I'm gonna get, up, do it, or it's gonna be like you fall, and say 'I'm never doing that again,'" he added.
Philstar.com/Efigenio Toledo IV