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May 20, 2020 - The Joe Rogan Experience
01:42:39
Joe Rogan Experience #1477 - Tony Hawk
Participants
Main voices
j
joe rogan
35:30
t
tony hawk
01:05:00
Appearances
Clips
j
jamie vernon
00:19
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Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
And we're rolling.
How are you, Tony?
tony hawk
Awesome, thank you.
joe rogan
My pleasure.
Thanks for coming here, man.
tony hawk
Yeah, thanks for inviting me.
It's an honor.
joe rogan
It's interesting to see you even just fuck around with your skateboard, just the way you maneuver it.
You're so adept.
It's really weird, like the way you move your feet and just pick it up and...
tony hawk
Oh, it's very impressive.
I mean, it really is just at this point kind of an extension of my body.
joe rogan
It seems like.
tony hawk
And I guess it's weird.
I don't think about how comfortable I am.
And a lot of times we'll be in a city or something or just like now.
I didn't know where to park, right?
So I just parked somewhere kind of close and just I go skate.
And I feel way better about doing that than like parking and then walking somewhere.
And just, you know, I know I can get around people and sort of be...
Indiscreet and stealthy.
joe rogan
Wait, indiscreet?
Tony Hawk on a skateboard is indiscreet?
That's ridiculous.
unidentified
That might be the most ridiculous thing.
tony hawk
I do get weird looks for sure.
joe rogan
For sure?
tony hawk
Yeah.
I get a lot of Dua kickflips out from car windows.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, that's funny.
tony hawk
That's my curse.
That's my burden I carry.
joe rogan
I'm seeing these new skateboards that look like convertibles, where as these guys flip the board, the wheels flip up and go to the other side.
tony hawk
Oh yeah, that's sort of a phenomenon, sort of a social media thing going on.
joe rogan
Ah, so you can see it in slow-mo?
Is that what it is?
tony hawk
No, the board is actually a contraption, right?
I don't really understand what that is.
There's a select few people doing that, and I've seen a couple where they actually have figured out how to make their board grind and then do a flip around a rail as they jump back on it.
joe rogan
Oh boy.
tony hawk
Yeah, it's very specialized, though.
I can't say that's a movement.
It's just a few key people that are doing it.
joe rogan
How many bones do you have to break to perfect that?
When I see this dude sliding down rails, I'm like, how many times do you fuck that up and snap a forearm?
tony hawk
Well, skating went through different waves of disciplines, basically.
And in the early 90s, it was all street, right?
And so what I did was vert skating.
That was kind of dying out.
So I was skating street a lot, too.
And I realized I was not fit to be a street skater.
The third time I rolled my ankle, like both ankles twice.
Then the third time, the other one, I was like, I don't want to do handrails anymore.
This is not working for me.
This impact is...
I'm not going to be able to skate anymore if I keep doing this.
joe rogan
I see these kids like when you whenever you go like near like a large office building that has a lot of outdoor space and you see them using the rails and stuff like how many Breaks can you have before like I there I think that It's a little deceiving because people do you know how to fall relatively safely from from stuff like that, but they get addicted right they're doing that probably every day I Yeah, for sure.
tony hawk
And there's all kinds of different styles.
So there's tech styles where it's more people are skating ledges and benches and they're flipping their board, grinding, flipping out, stuff like that, where it's low impact, but super technical.
And then there's just the stuntmen who are doing the big rails, the big gaps, jumping fences.
joe rogan
How did this happen?
How did it go from just riding a skateboard?
When I was a kid, you and I are the same age, but when I was, I guess I was probably 11 or 12, I had a skateboard.
I was just riding it on the street.
All my friends would just ride a skateboard on the street.
What happened?
How did it get to be grinding across benches and railings?
tony hawk
I think there's a pretty deep history there of how it got there, but skating was just more like a transportation toy.
And then it was really the Dogtown crew that took it to a new level where it was like, oh, you can use this to do aerials and skate swimming pools.
And they were just trying to emulate their surfing.
And so then skate parks started cropping up.
Skating got popular in the late 70s, early 80s.
And then it was all swimming pools.
And then maybe like four years later, the skateboarding kind of started falling in popularity.
The skate parks couldn't get their insurance anymore because the liability was crazy.
And so then the streets became the skate park because there was nowhere else to go.
And there were a few key skaters that figured out how to use the urban landscape as a skate park.
And then that was it.
All bets were off.
Skating kind of took off in the underground as the street culture, street sport.
And then people started doing handrails, ledges, benches, stairs.
Because they just didn't have parks.
joe rogan
How much of an impact did the internet have on it?
Because it seems like once kids could see all these YouTube videos of people doing all this crazy shit, it must have really accelerated it.
tony hawk
I think what it did, I mean, especially in the last 10 years, is it evened the playing field.
You didn't have to live in Southern California.
You didn't have to live in New York or be near where the industry is.
You could just be in your little town.
As long as you're putting out content and it's progressive, you're going to get noticed.
And I think that's awesome.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, that is awesome.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's one of the cool things about it.
Like you said, evened out the playing field.
tony hawk
Yeah, and, you know, people are making careers as skaters now in the most unlikely places.
joe rogan
Well, you are the Lance Armstrong of skating.
And this is what I mean.
I don't mean that you got caught doing drugs.
What I mean is that you're the guy, like when people talk about professional skaters...
Tony Hawk.
Like, I don't know a single fucking bike rider other than Lance Armstrong.
I mean, Greg, um, there was that other guy?
Greg Lamont.
Greg Lamont, yeah.
See?
But I can't remember him real quick.
But for you, that's gotta be strange, because, like, you were the first, and you're, for sure, the most prominent.
Like, how did you pull that off?
tony hawk
Well, mostly longevity by surviving the first wave of skating in the 80s.
Well, it was actually kind of the second wave of skating in the 80s where I had a pretty good career.
I was doing really well in competition, especially in the mid to late 80s.
And then as skating kind of went underground, I never quit.
And started my own skate company in 1992. And then when the X Games came into play, I was still kind of on top of my game.
I did really well there.
And I think a lot of people carried over my name from that first round where they were skaters in the 80s and now maybe their kids skate.
And they're like, oh, I remember that guy!
And their kids are watching me on the X Games.
And then when our video game came out in 1999, that's when everything changed, for sure.
joe rogan
Well, you were famous for skating when you were like 17 or something, right?
tony hawk
I turned pro when I was 14. But I mean, when I say that, it seems...
It might seem magical, but at the time, skating was this little tiny scene.
So when I first, when I literally went pro, I was filling out an entry form to a competition, and I had already reached the top of the amateur ranks, and there was a little box that said pro, and a little box that said am.
So I clicked, I checked the pro box, and that was it.
I was pro.
No one was offering me a contract.
No one had champagne.
You know what I mean?
And like my coach was, I'll never forget, Stacy Perlta was looking over my shoulder and I checked it and he's like, okay.
joe rogan
That's it.
tony hawk
That was it.
Yeah.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
But you had a coach.
tony hawk
We had a team manager.
He's the one who put me on what is now considered the Bones Brigade, but the company was Pal Peralta.
And that was sort of the elite crew of skaters in the early 80s.
And I was the super young newbie on the team.
Like super skinny, dorky kid.
And a lot of the guys that were established were like, this guy?
Really?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What is that, Jimmy?
Oh, is that you?
tony hawk
That's me at age 17. Wow.
joe rogan
Time flies.
tony hawk
Does it freak you out looking at that?
I see that photo making the rounds, so it's cool.
By the time I turned 17, I was kind of doing well in competition and making money, so I'm literally sitting outside of my house that I bought while I was a senior in high school in that photo.
Which was a challenge trying to stay focused on schoolwork when you have the party house.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
You own a fucking house?
tony hawk
Yeah.
unidentified
Wow.
tony hawk
A duplex, but yeah, it was my own place.
But you know, like when you're a senior, oh, so-and-so's parents are out of town.
Party's at his house.
Like, my parents were never home.
So everyone's going to my house.
joe rogan
But what did your parents think about you buying a house?
tony hawk
It was my dad's idea.
joe rogan
Really?
tony hawk
Yeah, because he saw me...
Really not understanding finances or how lucky I was.
And I was just throwing money away, you know, on cars and trips and Sharper Image and just the most ridiculous things.
And then he's like, I really think you should invest your money.
joe rogan
Did you get a massage chair?
Sharper Image massage chair?
tony hawk
Did you get one of those?
No, but I bought between...
Okay, this is a long story, but my sister and I went in on a tanning bed together.
I used it once.
She used it because it was helpful to her skin.
I'm not going to say why, but she had a legitimate reason for it, but I was like, yeah, tanning bed.
I'm never going to go tan, but you've got to have it.
joe rogan
Where did you live at the time?
tony hawk
In North County, San Diego, Carlsbad.
joe rogan
You don't need a tanning bed in San Diego.
Exactly, yeah.
unidentified
That was it.
tony hawk
The first time I went, I was like, why am I laying in there?
I could just go outside.
joe rogan
It's sunny 350 days a year.
Yeah, that's hilarious.
tony hawk
But it almost, you know, when you're that age and you're You're doing well.
You think that somehow that's like a status symbol.
joe rogan
Did you sleep in that house by yourself when you were 17?
tony hawk
No, I had three roommates.
joe rogan
Oh God, that's so crazy.
tony hawk
All of the same age.
One was a little bit older.
He was a good friend of mine, pro skater, and he was the only guy that actually had a job.
And he was tortured for like two years.
Because we were up super late all the time making noise and he'd have to get up at 7am and go to work.
He was doing line stripping back when you'd have to color separate for magazines and stuff like that.
joe rogan
What a bummer for him.
tony hawk
Such a bummer.
unidentified
Yeah.
tony hawk
And he's still trying to make it as a pro skater, but clearly he had to get a job.
joe rogan
And must be exhausted, too.
tony hawk
Yeah, he would leave these kind of nasty notes for us in the morning.
joe rogan
So in high school, so you were a senior year in high school, you had your own place.
Did you do any schoolwork at all?
tony hawk
I did, yeah.
joe rogan
But you must have been like, well, fuck this.
I can already buy a house.
tony hawk
I don't know.
I think it was more because my parents valued education.
My mom was an educator.
She was actually taught in a college.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
So I felt that I was going to be a disappointment if I didn't at least graduate high school.
And I was always pretty advanced.
I was in the gifted program, and I was a grade ahead in a lot of the subjects.
So by the time I was a senior, I only needed four classes to graduate.
So I went to school until lunchtime every day and then I was out.
joe rogan
Oh wow.
tony hawk
And then I got my diploma and my dad Not strongly suggested I go look at colleges.
And so just to humor him, I went looking at like a, you know, a city college in our area and looked around the campus like, oh, that's cool, I guess, sure.
And I just knew that it was my opportunity to really chase this and to embrace all these opportunities I was getting.
I mean, I was literally out of high school onto a Hollywood movie set, Gleaming the Cube.
joe rogan
Oh, that's right!
tony hawk
So I graduated high school and then moved to North Hollywood for two months to shoot the movie.
joe rogan
That was like, what, 86?
tony hawk
It was shot in 88, I think, 87. Wow.
joe rogan
God, I'm remembering that now.
Wow.
What a crazy way to go from being a young kid to right into your manhood.
tony hawk
It's deceiving though.
I mean, especially when you have that much success at a young age, you think it's never going to end.
You think you're invincible.
And I definitely sometimes treated it as such where I was just like, woo!
You know, just throwing money away.
And like I said, my dad was encouraging me to save it.
And then it all came crashing down in about 1991, 92, where my paycheck was all based on royalties of skate products.
And it started getting cut in half every month.
joe rogan
Whoa.
tony hawk
Just from lack of interest, lack of sales.
joe rogan
Why did it drop?
Was it just a liability thing?
tony hawk
It was that, and just skating was considered a fad.
And also, my style of skating, I skated the ramps, right?
So I'm a vert skater.
Vert skating was just instantly not cool, because street skating had taken over.
So I was considered this dinosaur, and it was just like, you're out.
Skating's not cool, and you're not cool in skating.
joe rogan
Wow.
tony hawk
So it was rough.
I would say sort of 92 to 95-ish were very lean.
joe rogan
So you were trying to figure out like, hey, what am I doing?
I got really good at this.
Were you thinking, I got to find something else to do?
tony hawk
Yes and no.
I knew I wouldn't quit skating because I just loved it.
I never did it for the money.
When I started, no one could be rich or famous from skating.
So that was never the objective.
It was just because I loved what it brought to me.
I loved the self-confidence it brought to me.
I loved the creativity.
I loved the...
The misfit crew, the community of it.
And so when things started to go south financially, I know it wouldn't quit.
I just had to figure out how to make ends meet.
And I actually had a video editing system, and I learned how to do that very early, like right when nonlinear video started happening.
I had a system, so I started doing freelance work for companies, doing video editing.
Super random.
Some skate companies.
And then...
I did exhibitions like we were doing exhibitions in amusement park parking lots.
We weren't even in the amusement park.
We're like in the parking lot as people walk in as entertainment, you know, and doing that for like 100 bucks a day.
Um, but it, but it allowed me to skate and allowed me to pay the rent.
And it was like, that was good enough for me.
joe rogan
But were you thinking that this is going to stop totally?
tony hawk
Well, it was definitely felt like it was heading that way.
Um, but I, like I said, I was trying to, I was just trying to do whatever I could.
So I was trying to learn different skills.
Um, and you know, maybe skating wasn't going to pay the bills, but I couldn't let it go for my life.
joe rogan
Wow.
That's a great story.
You hung in there, and you brought it back.
tony hawk
Yeah, I guess.
joe rogan
I mean, a lot of ways, right?
tony hawk
It started to slowly come back really when the X Games came into play, where suddenly we were...
We were on TV and kids could see how much skating had evolved.
Well, the whole public could see how much skating had evolved from the time that they last saw it in the late 80s.
And then they were seeing it and it was just like, whoa, these guys are...
This is for real.
For lack of a better word, this is a sport.
These guys are doing acrobatic things, and it takes discipline, and it takes determination, and kids recognize that.
And I think that's really when skating started to spark again.
joe rogan
And this is like 95-ish?
tony hawk
Probably closer than 96, 97. The first X Games was a little strange, a little scattered, because it was like skateboarding and bungee jumping.
And rock climbing and sky surfing.
They were trying to figure it out.
They were just throwing everything.
And then it really rubbed us the wrong way because suddenly we were labeled as extreme.
And it was like, what do you do?
I skateboard.
Oh, you're into extreme sports.
No, I skateboard.
I don't know what...
joe rogan
Yeah, that's a weird category, right?
That extreme sports category.
tony hawk
It was just anything...
Yeah, and that was...
I mean, really, it was coined by ESPN. So that's why they changed it to X Games.
So the first one was Extreme Games in 95. They changed it to X Games in 96. I think they really found their...
Their niche, a few years later, when they really started to weed out all the random stuff, and it was more about skateboarding, BMX, motocross, those became really the highlights and the reason people were tuning in, and then that's when things really exploded.
joe rogan
And what were the early skateboarding events in the X Games?
tony hawk
It was Street and Vert.
joe rogan
So Vert came back?
tony hawk
Yeah.
Well, a lot of it for us...
I think it was really because ESPN recognized that a vert is a spectator sport.
joe rogan
Yeah, I was going to say, for us, on the outside, we would watch it to see someone fall spectacularly.
tony hawk
Yeah, sure.
joe rogan
Because you guys would go, you would hit those ramps, and you would watch people just fuck up, and you're like, oh my god, look how far he's falling!
tony hawk
Right.
Yeah, for sure.
And then once they evolved that into what they call the big air ramps, the mega ramps, then it was just like the aerials and the risk factor was tenfold.
joe rogan
Yeah, the risk factor, I mean, I've seen some wipeouts that are just, they're baffling.
tony hawk
I think when things started to really explode with that, with the big air thing, and then Jake Brown had his big accident, the one that kind of everyone saw went viral.
You've probably seen him where he's just falling from like 30 feet up.
That's when they started to...
I don't want to say tone it down, but really they started to figure out how to do it in a way that is still progressive, but not just throwing caution to the wind and not just trying to break all the height and spin records.
joe rogan
How bad did he hear?
tony hawk
They really refined it.
I mean, surprisingly, I think he broke his hand, maybe his heel...
And had internal bruising, but it was really unbelievably lucky.
joe rogan
Yeah, I watched that and I was like, there's no way this guy's going to live.
tony hawk
And then they didn't have the proper protocol in place.
They just let him walk off the ramp.
It was nuts.
But it was definitely a shock to the system and like I said, they started to refine that event where it's just like, alright you guys, we're comfortable at this certain height, let's just stick with that.
Even all the skaters said it themselves.
They're like, well we can really work on new tricks at this height instead of trying to go to the moon.
joe rogan
Is there an issue with CTE with skaters?
tony hawk
Well, it's definitely a concern.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
I can't say that I know many examples of it, but I'm not following people past their careers necessarily, you know, except for close friends.
joe rogan
You know Jason Ellis?
tony hawk
Of course.
joe rogan
Yeah, Ellis, I think he told me he's been knocked out like seven or eight times, like out cold.
tony hawk
Yeah, definitely at least that for me.
joe rogan
At least that, huh?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
tony hawk
I mean, I've had...
Probably by all accounts, over the years, at least like 30, you know, either semi-concussions or heavy concussions.
I'd say like three or four heavy concussions.
joe rogan
Like out cold?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Out cold just three or four times?
tony hawk
Woke up in the ambulance, yeah.
And I don't take that lightly.
And especially with all the information that we have now and with all the research, I went and proactively tried to figure out if I'm susceptible because...
joe rogan
Did you get that gene checked?
tony hawk
I did, yeah.
joe rogan
What is it, APOE4? Is that what it is?
tony hawk
Yes, I believe so.
I do not have the gene that makes me susceptible.
And I was even more concerned, I mean, because my mom, she passed away recently, but she had Alzheimer's dementia.
unidentified
Hmm.
tony hawk
And it makes you more susceptible to Alzheimer's, dementia, and not just CTE. I mean, I'm acting like I'm a medical expert.
I just, you know, I researched it enough to know that, okay, I'm not more at risk for that, but I don't, you know, I'm not putting myself out there to have concussions anymore, I'll tell you that.
I mean, I'm not doing those kind of moves that I was getting knocked out on.
joe rogan
Have you done anything proactively to try to...
tony hawk
I take supplements, stuff like that, yeah.
joe rogan
Do you ever heard of Neuro Force?
tony hawk
No.
joe rogan
No, Neuro One, right?
Neuro One.
Bill Romanowski, a football player, created it, specifically because he was dealing with a lot of issues, memory issues and the like, because of head trauma.
It's like the first nootropic I ever tried.
It's really good.
It's a bunch of nootropics combined into delicious But you do feel like your mental capacity...
Yeah, it cranks me up.
There's a bunch of stuff that I take that cranks me up.
Alpha Brain, which is one that my company makes, Onnit makes.
There's another one, Neuro Gum, I really like.
It's just a gum that has Neutrophics in it.
tony hawk
I'm willing to try.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, I would imagine any sort of supplement that would aid...
The function of your brain.
Do you feel foggy or anything?
tony hawk
No, I only had a couple of concussions that affected me for a longer period of time, like for a week, where I couldn't focus or I had other physical issues and I don't feel any of those effects like that, no.
joe rogan
You're down in San Diego.
There's an area outside of San Diego that Kat Zingano went to.
She's a UFC fighter.
And she fought Amanda Nunez, who's the Panamweight champion now, currently.
And she got a really bad concussion in that fight.
It was really fucking her up to the point where...
Her hormones were out of whack.
Her cortisol levels were so fucked up.
She couldn't keep weight off.
Her whole body was just a mess.
She was having a hard time with her coordination.
And she went to the center that they do some sort of magnetic therapy for people with brain injuries.
And it re-stimulates growth in those areas of the brain that have been damaged and brought her back to normal.
tony hawk
How long did that take?
joe rogan
It took a few months, and she was going on a regular basis, and it was quite a trek for her.
I think it was more than an hour drive back and forth, and she was doing it, I think, every day.
And I believe the center was developed, because, you know, San Diego has so much military down there.
tony hawk
That's why I lived there.
My dad was in the Navy.
joe rogan
I love San Diego.
tony hawk
Oh, me too.
I'm not leaving.
joe rogan
And the mayor actually just asked to go into stage three.
They made a request in San Diego to go into stage three of the recovery from coronavirus.
They're like, everything's great down here.
I know the rest of the city or the rest of the state is having issues in some spots, particularly Los Angeles, but he feels ready to rock and roll and push it to the next level.
tony hawk
I keep getting different views, different news, different guidelines, so I'm just kind of like...
I go out, wearing a mask, trying to follow the guidelines as much as possible while still leading a relatively normal life.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a weird time, right?
tony hawk
Yeah, and the strange part to me is...
The great divide in terms of, for instance, my daughter loves to get bagels in the morning before school.
So I still try to do that with her sometimes so she can feel like we're doing a normal school day even before she goes online.
And the bagel shop says, like, face mask required.
And people just walk in without them and give you dirty looks for wearing the mask.
And it's just like, I'm just following the rules of the place.
Yeah, I'm just like, this isn't some war of politics here.
I'm just following what they're asking me to do.
joe rogan
That's so weird.
tony hawk
Yeah, it's like they're making a stand.
Why not?
I'm like, okay, well, you know, it's the same theory as no shirt, no shoes, no shirt, no service.
joe rogan
Except your stinky feet doesn't get someone sick.
You know what I mean?
It's a little different.
It's a fucking weird time, and it's a weird time politically.
It seems like the coronavirus is a line in the sand politically.
tony hawk
Absolutely, yeah.
It's a strange time.
Like I said, I'm just doing my best to follow the guidelines, the experts, and still try to maintain a semblance of normalcy for my family so that we feel like we...
There's light at the end of the tunnel.
joe rogan
Yeah, we all feel that way.
Yeah, just California in particular is a very restrictive state when it comes to the recovery.
And maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's a bad thing.
We really won't know for months, you know?
tony hawk
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
joe rogan
Until all the dust settles.
tony hawk
I'm still...
There are certain appearances and events and things that have been so-called postponed.
Some are still very optimistic where they think, okay, we're going to do it in July.
You think so?
I don't know.
Or August.
We're going to push it back.
I just don't know what to believe.
I got a schedule for doing some promotional stuff for our video game coming out in September.
It's like, okay, August.
Go on to...
You're up like, are you sure?
Are we going to be let in?
Am I going to have to wait in quarantine for two weeks when I land?
Like, I don't know.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I have a bunch of dates.
I've got one in July in Vegas, and then I've got a bunch in New Orleans.
I've got one in New Orleans and one in Nashville with Chappelle.
And we're just like, hopefully it happens.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it's like September 4th and 5th.
Like, really?
I mean, maybe.
Maybe.
I never thought this was going to happen.
I never thought we'd be sitting around in May going, there's no way we're going to be open in August.
I thought it was just going to be, we close down for a month, we take this financial hit, but the virus settles down, everybody can get back to where we get testing or whatever takes place, some sort of therapeutic relief, something where it comes along, some sort of a treatment.
tony hawk
No.
joe rogan
No, not yet.
Yeah.
It's weird.
tony hawk
Yeah, I remember when a couple of my events got canceled and I was in shock then.
joe rogan
Right.
tony hawk
And now I'm more in shock that they're trying to reschedule.
joe rogan
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting how quickly you get used to this new normal, too.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Like now when I watch movies, people are hugging and handshaking.
I'm like, ah!
tony hawk
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I was going to be in this commercial.
I mean, I don't know if they want me to say what it is or whatever, but they had to delay it because they were just like, yeah, it's not the right time to put that one out.
But we know we didn't shoot it.
joe rogan
Right, right, right, yeah.
It doesn't matter.
tony hawk
We didn't shoot it yesterday.
joe rogan
That's so weird.
Like, perception.
Like, just the appearance of releasing it now.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, I understand.
Everyone's got to be careful and whatever.
I was just super excited to be in it.
So I was like, no!
Oh, but they're going to put it out there.
joe rogan
Statistically, at least, San Diego seems to have taken it much better than Los Angeles did in terms of, like, fatalities.
And one of the superintendents was a supervisor, a superintendent, said that there's only six deaths that can be directly attributed to nothing but coronavirus.
And everything else had people with underlying causes, which is pretty extraordinary.
tony hawk
Oh, wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I don't know if he's right, though.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, it's so hard to know what to believe, too.
joe rogan
That's the problem, right?
Yeah.
That's the problem.
San Diego is a really healthy place.
Every time I'm down at Pacific Beachway, people are always running and biking.
tony hawk
Yeah, especially in North County.
joe rogan
It's very outdoorsy.
I would imagine just that alone would lend itself to people having stronger immune systems.
tony hawk
I would hope so.
But...
Like I said, it still feels like a great divide, even there.
joe rogan
Really?
tony hawk
Yeah.
Where people, you know, when they opened the beaches, and then there was only one beach in our area open, and it was like spring break.
Just nuts.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
And then, you know, people are frustrated with each other.
What are you doing?
You're putting everyone at risk, and it just was a mess.
And then they're like, all right, now it's closed down for good.
And then everyone just goes up to...
Newport or wherever they can and then got more crowded there and it was a mess.
joe rogan
Well, the beaches are pretty open now, right?
Isn't that the new thing?
tony hawk
You can go surfing, but you can't park on the beach.
joe rogan
That's so stupid.
tony hawk
Which is very challenging, but at least we're surfing.
joe rogan
But that's so dumb.
Why can't you park there if you're allowed to surf?
What's happening to people when they park?
It's like some of these rules are so arbitrary.
tony hawk
Yeah, and you never know what...
What is the rule now?
It changes day by day.
But it does feel like there's definitely a slow opening happening.
joe rogan
So when we're talking about San Diego being like a very fit place, do you do any sort of strength and conditioning or anything for skateboarding?
Is that something that people do?
tony hawk
Some people do it.
I never found it to help my skating and I always felt like skating kept me fit so I never really did it.
I mean outside of swimming and surfing which is more upper body than skating obviously but But I do feel like that would have benefited me later in life.
I just got stuck in my mode.
And then just skating was it.
joe rogan
And you stay there.
You're in your mode now.
You don't do anything?
tony hawk
I don't do anything else.
I do make an effort to swim some laps.
Because my mom lived until her 90s and she swore by swimming.
joe rogan
Swimming is amazing.
tony hawk
Yeah.
She would go through...
I mean, I remember all as a kid, she had to get her 20 laps in every day.
And where I live, the residential area had a community swimming pool that was like Olympic size.
joe rogan
We were talking before about surfing and I was saying that I think that surfing, at least partially, would kind of mimic some of the muscles that you use in skateboarding.
And then you're telling me about getting towed in by Laird Hamilton.
While you drink his coffee.
tony hawk
Wow.
Yeah, so, well, my brother, my older brother was a surfer and he got me into skating because he skated in the 70s when that was the thing was they were trying to emulate surfing with the skateboards.
And so he actually gave me one of his old boards.
That was my first skateboard.
And then he would drive me to the skate park once a week, like come home from college and take me to the park.
And then I just got hooked.
Like that was my home way from home from that point on.
And so I surf pretty regularly.
I would say less now, but it was hard not to with my brother's influence.
And we were in Hawaii.
My brother actually used to be the editor of Surfer Magazine.
So he knows all the surfers.
Because he's a journalist.
Really good writer.
Teaches at Stanford now, actually.
And so we went to Maui and he said, Hey, Laird said he'd take us out toe-in surfing if you want to go.
We're going to go toe-in surfing with Laird Hamilton.
I don't think his level of what is mellow is something that is what we would consider.
And I go, but we gotta go.
It's a once in a lifetime.
joe rogan
Right.
tony hawk
So they took us out to Spreckles, which is near Jaws, which is their big spot.
This is like early 2000s.
So Toewen serving was just starting to come into play.
I'll never forget Dave Kalama, who's one of the surfers, one of his homies.
He was trying out the first foil board there.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
And he was wearing ski boots attached to the foil board.
That's how he was riding it.
I was like, these guys are out of their minds.
unidentified
Does it detach like a ski boot if you fall?
tony hawk
I never saw it detach.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
Oh my god.
So you have to recover and swim to the surface while you're permanently connected?
tony hawk
I was too focused on trying to survive myself to worry about what he was doing.
But yeah, so Rush Randall, who's another windsurfer there, he was towing me and Laird is towing my brother.
And I'll never forget them being outside.
And then, you know, they're saying it's a small day and they're like, oh, I think there might be like some 10 or 12 foot sets.
And I know what 10 or 12 foot in Hawaiian measurement means.
And I was like, just don't tow me into one of those, okay?
And then I'll never forget looking out and Rush said, here comes one.
I'm like, where?
Because you're so far out.
And he's like, get ready.
Okay.
And so then I got ready and I'm getting towed and all of a sudden this thing, this mountain just swells up underneath me.
And before I know it, I'm just in the pit of this wave that was like double overhead.
Biggest wave I've ever ridden for sure.
And for me, it's backside.
So when you're going backside, you're just sort of looking down the line.
You're not looking back at the barrel.
joe rogan
What does that mean by backside?
tony hawk
So the wave is breaking this way and my back is to the face of the wave.
Oh, okay.
And backside's a little more challenging, just because of the turning and the way you're facing.
So when you're going frontside, you're facing the wave.
You can really see down the line.
You can go back easily.
So I'm going backside, and I remember looking at the wall thinking, like, I've ridden 20-foot skate ramps.
And I'm like, that looks like about a 20-foot skate ramp.
So I was going, and I was cruising, and then I did a little cutback.
So I started going back towards the barrel.
And I looked at the barrel and it was like the most frightening thing I've ever seen in my life.
Because it was, you know, it was like a massive hollow wave that you see in movies that you see Laird just dancing around in.
And I'm like, I can't, I'm not getting near that thing.
And I immediately just turned back and went down the line even further to just get ahead of it.
And then I did find myself...
After a few waves getting cocky and I tried to pull into the barrel and it just clobbered me in the head.
And then I, you know, you're wearing a life vest.
And then I went down, I'll never forget, like I felt myself going down one shelf and, you know, trying to swim up to the top.
And then I felt it go down another shelf and I was like, oh, this is bad.
And then finally made it up to the surface, and Rush is like three feet from me.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
Because he's just been chasing me.
Those guys are, they're the masters.
joe rogan
Experts in recovering people that get clobbered.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Fuck.
tony hawk
And I was just like...
How long were you down for?
It wasn't like a crazy hold down, but in my inexperience and not conditioned body, it felt like a long time.
And I told Rush, I was like, oh, that was so scary.
I've never been held down that much.
He's like, yeah, I've had my worst hold downs out here.
unidentified
Cool.
tony hawk
Thanks.
joe rogan
I was telling you, you know, I get in the sauna every day, and I said something to Laird, and he sent me a picture of his sauna.
Let me pull it up here.
He's at 250 fucking degrees in his sauna.
I mean, I don't even understand why he would do that, but he's like, I'm pissed that this thing doesn't go any hotter.
tony hawk
Yeah, he lives on a different plane.
joe rogan
He gets in there with oven mitts at 250 degrees.
Oh, here it is.
Look at this crazy motherfucker.
Look at that.
tony hawk
So does he wear oven mitts so his skin won't melt off?
joe rogan
Yeah, because he rides his fucking Airdyne bike.
So the metal of the Airdyne bike would literally cook him.
I mean, I cook a steak at 250 degrees in the smoker.
This is crazy.
And it's actually like, it's pinned at 250, because that's as hot as this thermostat gets.
tony hawk
Oh yeah, right.
joe rogan
Like it's probably hotter than 250. He's out of his fucking mind.
tony hawk
Yeah, he's nuts.
unidentified
He's fascinating.
joe rogan
More is always better, is his quote to me.
I just, there's got to be a point.
I did it once here.
I was trying to, after he came on the podcast, I was trying to copy him.
So I was doing it at like 2.10 and I did once at 2.20.
I was burning like the inside of my throat from breathing in the air.
I felt like I'm cooking myself because I was in there for like 20 minutes.
I was like, and then I'd get out and it was as tired as I've ever been in my life.
I would just collapse on the mats after I got out of the sauna.
I was like, I got to stop doing this.
And then I'd come in and do podcasts and I was having a hard time talking.
I was like...
My throat was cooked.
It was basically getting cooked.
tony hawk
Yeah, I never did well with that stuff.
We got one, actually.
We got one of the infrared ones.
joe rogan
Those are different.
He doesn't like the infrared ones.
Laird said that they gave him a real bad skin condition and that there's something about particularly the temperatures that he's putting them at.
tony hawk
Yeah.
Well, I gotta start somewhere.
I'm not gonna...
joe rogan
Well, I think the dry heat, it's like, that's where the studies have been done on them, and I'm sure there's some benefits to the infrared one, but according to him, he's not into it.
tony hawk
Yeah.
Well, I don't...
Like I said, I don't really do it anyway.
My wife and my kids, they like going in there, but I usually go in for a little bit and, like, we'll watch one episode of something, and I'm like, okay, I'm done.
joe rogan
Have you done his crazy water workouts?
unidentified
No!
joe rogan
No way!
tony hawk
No, I would never survive that.
No.
joe rogan
I have a bunch of friends that have gone up there and trained with him, and then they just text me afterwards, what the fuck?
tony hawk
Yeah, because he's just not, no one can go easy.
joe rogan
No, there's no easy with Larry Hamilton.
tony hawk
Yeah, there's only two speeds.
joe rogan
I was telling you about his ankle.
He came in here and showed me his ankle.
He has an ankle that broke that he never did anything to.
He never bothered getting a cast.
He never bothered getting surgery.
And it's like the root of a tree.
It's this fucked up, thick ass knee of an ankle.
It's so weird.
And like, wow, that's next level.
He's just a next level human.
tony hawk
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I respect him and admire him, but I don't want him to train me.
joe rogan
But his workouts are so crazy.
Like they take a 75 pound dumbbell and they swim with it.
Like they hold a 75 pound dumbbell and then you're swimming across the pool with one arm while holding the 75 pound dumbbell while trying to pop your head up and breathe.
I'm like, oh, okay.
Yeah, whatever.
tony hawk
Yeah, so not my conditioning.
joe rogan
But I like that there's a guy like that out there.
tony hawk
For sure.
joe rogan
I think it's important.
tony hawk
Leading the charge.
joe rogan
Yeah, just some fucking maniac at the front of the line.
tony hawk
Yeah, exactly.
joe rogan
Who's just so...
He's so psycho about everything.
The guy sends you a 250 degree sauna that he's mad that doesn't get any higher.
It just...
So interesting.
But I think, like, in terms of a guy like that, who's like a world-famous big-wave surfer guy, you almost have to have that kind of mentality.
And I would imagine the same thing, at least in some way, has to transfer over to skating and kind of to everything, right?
tony hawk
I think so.
I think that there's an adventurous spirit, but also there's a sense of self-confidence that you gain and that you explore.
You want to see how much further you can take it.
You want to test the limits.
And I identify with that for sure.
That's always been my drive, just to come up with new tricks.
The first time I ever did A new trick and one that hadn't been done before, the buzz that I got from it was what I've been chasing my whole life.
The idea that I created something new, just on my own, with my own thoughts and creativity, and that I did it my own way.
And, you know, skateboarding was like that.
It was like this art form to me where there's this blank canvas and it's just like, go, make it your own.
joe rogan
Oh, that's an interesting way to look at it.
I never thought of it that way.
Yeah, I mean, it really is cool to look at.
So it is an art form.
unidentified
Sure.
tony hawk
You could show me a picture of two people doing the same trick, silhouette it, and I could tell you who it is.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
tony hawk
You know what I mean?
Because everyone has their own style and they put their own flavor on it.
And that's what I love.
I love that it's subjective like that.
People think of it like they don't like...
Skaters themselves, especially the more hardcore purists, don't like to call it a sport.
They're like, we're not a sport.
I'm like, well, there's legitimate competition, so...
joe rogan
Yeah, and there's athletic.
tony hawk
There is a sporting element to it, but I agree, it is more of an art form and a lifestyle because you're comparing apples to oranges, always.
joe rogan
That's real similar in a lot of ways to martial arts in that if I saw a silhouette of certain people, I'd say, oh, that's John Jones or that's John Mayne Parr.
You could tell by the way someone moves right away.
tony hawk
Yeah, because you put your stamp on it.
That's what I love about it because it's so diverse.
joe rogan
Yeah.
When you come up with a move, what's your process?
You just skate, fuck around, have some fun, and then go, no, I'll just try this.
tony hawk
It's always different.
A lot of times it's like, how do we combine, how can I combine these two things that I know I have dialed in?
Can I make them work together?
Sometimes it's a happy accident.
You go try something, your board spins the other way, and it's like, well, wait, if I caught it there, that would have worked out.
I literally created a new trick yesterday.
joe rogan
Yesterday?
tony hawk
Yeah, because we are doing this...
When will this air?
unidentified
Tomorrow.
tony hawk
Tomorrow.
Well, we're doing sort of a...
We call it an NBD Best Trick event at my ramp.
NBD means never been done.
And so my idea was that, and this will all come out, but my idea was that while we're all stuck, you know, doing this social distancing and whatnot, let's do a best trick event where everyone gets one hour on my ramp, all the best vert skaters.
So you get one hour to get a trick on video.
So it's literally just one dude and one skater and one filmer at the ramp at a time.
And I was the guinea pig.
So yesterday morning was like, alright, you're the first hour.
Go.
And I had to come up with this trick and I started trying one that I had been working on and it just kept slipping away, like getting worse every attempt.
And so I went and sort of switched gears into a trick that I had tried a couple months ago and was like, if you're ever going to make this happen, this is it.
And finally one just clicked and I made it.
And it was the combination of two tricks that I have pretty dialed, but putting them together added this element of...
Just so much to miss.
Everything had to come together at the exact moment and land on my feet, on the coping, in the right position.
And I knew if I got it once, I'd make it, but I'm never going to do that trick again.
That's how technical it is now, where I just know that, okay, I got that one, done it, got it on video.
I don't want to go through that again.
joe rogan
I don't know shit about skating.
Forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but how much improvement has there been in the wheels, in the boards, in the components and all the different things?
Are there things you can do now today that just really weren't possible when you first started skating?
tony hawk
Only in the, well, when I first started skating, skateboards were all over the place.
So they were made of different materials.
They were different with like all different shapes.
They, you know, the urethane had just come into play.
But I would say for the last 30 years, it's pretty much the same construction.
unidentified
Hmm.
tony hawk
Seven-ply wood, maple, skateboards, trucks have not changed.
Wheels have changed in size and hardness, but it's still the same urethane for the most part.
So there hasn't been a lot of huge advancements.
The big changes are the shapes of the boards.
joe rogan
Now, why have they stuck with plywood?
What about carbon fiber, anything synthetic?
tony hawk
That's the big question and something that I would like to pursue, but we really need a sea change in skateboarding with materials.
I believe that.
And we haven't found anything that...
Responds the same.
Or, you know, the other thing is, skaters, as much as they are very progressive, and, you know, they like to do different things and think outside the box and whatnot, if you try to sell them, A deck that's, you know, $200, that's going to be hard.
Even if you can convince them that it's going to last three times long, four times long.
joe rogan
So is it just a money thing, or are they married?
tony hawk
We just haven't really found...
Some people have done different construction where they add a different ply in, and that has worked a little bit.
But...
Like I said, there just hasn't been that one seed planted where it's like, alright, this is it.
joe rogan
I would imagine carbon fiber.
tony hawk
I tried something along those lines and it just, like I said, didn't have that reflex.
joe rogan
Does it have to have a certain amount of weight to it too?
tony hawk
Well, that's the other thing.
We're kind of stuck where this is how a skateboard should weigh.
joe rogan
Right.
tony hawk
And so if you bring in something that's way lighter, maybe that's not the answer.
But we don't know.
It just takes R&D for sure.
joe rogan
And you would have to get someone really good to fuck with it, too, right?
tony hawk
Yeah, and to believe in it.
joe rogan
And get behind it?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
When I was a kid, there was no 50-year-old rock stars.
You know what I'm saying?
We thought of rock stars as they were in their 20s and 30s, and then they just kind of like, we thought they faded away, like the Beach Boys.
Everybody felt sad about the Beach Boys when I was a kid.
But not anymore.
You know, now Mick Jagger's like fucking almost 80 years old and he's rocking after heart surgery and shit.
And the same is kind of true with skaters, right?
Because when we were kids, when you became famous, you were like the first wave, right?
Or one of the first waves and certainly the most famous.
You're 52, and you're still...
Like, is that a weird thing that you're...
tony hawk
It is weird.
It's...
Well, it's fun.
joe rogan
It's great that you can still do it, and then you're still...
You know, I mean, you're also...
It's not like...
You're a dinosaur.
You're accepted.
Like, you're a skater.
It's like you just happen to be 52. You know what I mean?
tony hawk
Yeah, well, it went through the years.
So when I first started skating, the sort of unspoken rule was once you're at an age of responsibility, you're 18, you got to get a job.
You can't skate for a living.
No one can.
So, you know, your skating career is over by then.
And then as I turned 18, things started to sort of ramp up with skating.
Forgive the pun.
And things started to kind of explode.
And I remember around that time, there was a photo in Thrasher of this guy, Mark Lake, who was an older skater at the time.
And it was a picture of him doing one of those hand plant, like upside down on a ramp.
And it was like, Mark Lake...
30 and still going for it.
And I remember I was like in my early 20s thinking, that's crazy!
He's 30!
And then as things progress, we realize that if we're able to do this for a living and we can really pursue it and we have support, we are getting better into our 30s.
When I did the 900, the X Games, I was 31. Wow.
And so then it was just like, well, what is the limit?
I don't know.
I guess I'm sort of the guinea pig now or leading the charge of how far you can take it.
I've refined my style.
So I'm not doing big impact stuff.
I'm not doing the big spins, the big errors and stuff.
I've learned to get more technical with my skating and that has allowed me to stay creative but maintain my health.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's why I was asking you about strength and conditioning because if you're an older athlete, it's a mandatory thing in almost every sport.
tony hawk
Yeah, it's just, I skate for a couple hours a day, I'd say four times a week, and that's pretty much my exercise, but definitely I could use some help with endurance these days.
joe rogan
Well, have you thought about doing something?
Like, what would you do?
tony hawk
I don't know.
I guess I would listen to the experts.
I would tap you.
joe rogan
But you haven't done anything yet, which is amazing.
tony hawk
I haven't yet, but like I said, it's just because that's worked for me pretty much my whole life.
My only really ailment is my neck.
joe rogan
What's wrong with your neck?
tony hawk
I've had so many whiplashes.
We call them chicken necks because you shoot out and I've had so many different ways that whenever I'm sitting here and someone were to call me over there, when I go to turn to look at them, they'll definitely say, what's wrong with your neck?
That happens to me every day.
And I'm like, what's wrong with my neck?
I don't know, 40 years of whiplash.
Have you got an MRI? Yeah, and I do.
That's the only thing that I get worked on.
So there's a guy near where I live who does chiropractic, but also does a lot of body work, and he just works on my neck once a week.
joe rogan
Just massages it?
tony hawk
Yeah.
Just tries to get it loose.
joe rogan
Have you ever heard of a thing called an iron neck?
tony hawk
Yes.
joe rogan
Have you ever used that?
tony hawk
I did try, but it was just awkward.
joe rogan
It's awkward, but it's really good.
It's a must-have thing for grapplers.
You should really try it.
tony hawk
I did this racing training with Cadillac a couple years ago, and their racers do that.
joe rogan
Okay, that makes sense.
tony hawk
For turning their head, checking their mirrors.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, it's great for fighters, too.
A strong neck will keep your head from snapping around.
I would imagine the same thing would happen with skaters.
I've got one out here.
You should try it after we're done here.
I swear by the thing.
It's also, it doesn't fuck with your neck in a way that's un...
Unnatural in terms of putting weight on your head and flexing your discs.
It actually keeps your neck stiff as well as, you know, when you're turning it, it doesn't bend at unnatural angles and it still strengthens it.
I'm a giant fan of it.
tony hawk
Okay.
Well, I'm open to ideas.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Because I would think that, like, the whiplash thing, that's got to be real similar to what happens with fighters.
tony hawk
Oh, yeah, for sure.
It's weird, though.
A lot of my peers, they have more knee problems than ankle problems, and I've just realized that mine's all on my neck.
joe rogan
You never had any knee problems or ankle problems at all?
tony hawk
I had surgery.
I tore my meniscus in both knees, actually got it cut out, tore my PCL, but always came back from it.
joe rogan
That's amazing.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, I feel pretty lucky.
I was always very flexible as a kid, so I know that that was to my advantage, for sure.
Oh, for sure.
And, like I said, when I went through the sort of street era of the early 90s, I was rolling my ankles left and right, so I never actually broke an ankle, but they're loose.
joe rogan
They've got some play.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I was really bummed out, man, because I was seeing that they were trying to keep these kids out of the skate park.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
So they filled it with sand.
tony hawk
I know.
joe rogan
Did you see that shit?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
What the fuck, man?
I mean, how much of an effort did it take to do that and why?
tony hawk
That was very strange.
joe rogan
How are you going to get that sand out of there now?
tony hawk
Yeah, good question.
No, well, you know what?
If they say skate parks are open, the skaters will do it.
They're all very DIY resourceful.
I did see some helicopter footage on a news feed where there were some guys that actually dug sort of a path so that they could skate through the park.
So they cleared out one area, and this guy was trying to get a trick on video, so he kept trying the same trick, and the helicopters just shoot him.
I was like, what world are we living in?
joe rogan
So strange.
But imagine being in an office somewhere, whatever, government office, and they're like, well, how do we stop these skateboarders?
We're going to have to truck in some sand.
So they use our money.
They use tax money.
Probably a lot of it, too.
If you think about how much sand that must have got.
tony hawk
It did seem like a very big effort, yeah.
joe rogan
Fucking giant effort.
tony hawk
The irony is that they're trying to keep skaters out of public areas and schoolyards and stuff and give them a place to go.
And now you're just forcing them back to those days.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's not like they're going to stop going to staircases and railings.
tony hawk
No, they're going to do it more now.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's so dumb.
But all of this, it sort of exposes some of the flaws and governance, you know?
tony hawk
It's very scattered.
joe rogan
Well, skateboarding too, it's almost like some people would think of it as a frivolous activity.
Sure, yeah.
Glorious results of a misspent youth, if you know how to slip around a skateboard.
tony hawk
Yeah, it's funny.
When I first started, I have a foundation for public skate parks.
We've been going 20 years, actually.
How does that work?
We basically give communities the resources to get a park going.
If someone in their community has started a petition or fundraising or just raising awareness that they need a park, we sort of give them the roadmap to do that and funding to do it.
Oh, that's amazing.
And, you know, designed help and things like that.
So it's been great.
We've helped to fund over 900 skate parks now, all 50 states.
We've given away almost $10 million.
joe rogan
That's incredible.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely my proudest work.
That's so cool.
There was a point where we were trying to get funding and trying to raise awareness and I'm doing visits to children's cancer wards and stuff like that and at some point I was like...
I'm trying to build skate parks.
And I remember this conversation I had very vividly, actually, with Lance Armstrong.
And this is when he was the face of cancer research.
You know what I mean?
Say what you will about his competitive career, but he did so much for cancer awareness and research.
And I'm visiting Children's Hospital with Lance Armstrong.
And when Lance Armstrong walks into a cancer ward back then, like the C's part...
You know what I mean?
It was just like, oh, he's here!
And I remember having lunch with him that day, and I was like, it's so weird to be with you.
You're doing so much for cancer and cancer victims, and I'm just trying to build playgrounds.
Yeah, like, you know, concrete waves.
And he said, look, the number one cause of cancer or number two cause of cancer in the U.S. is obesity.
And by building those skate parks, you are preventing cancer.
You're preventing obesity.
joe rogan
Wow.
tony hawk
And that was heavy for me.
joe rogan
That is heavy.
tony hawk
And it really gave me a lot of inspiration and a lot more motivation.
joe rogan
Well, you're creating a potential place for joy.
tony hawk
Right.
And for people to...
Like-minded people to hang out, to develop a community.
I mean, when I was a kid, I felt like an outcast.
I felt like...
I didn't belong in sports.
I didn't belong in my school.
And when I went to the skate park and there was this band of misfits listening to punk music and weird hairdos from all walks of life, I was like, this is it.
This is my crew.
And I want the same sense of community.
We're not trying to build training grounds for Olympians.
We're just trying to build a place for them to feel like they belong and feel like their community actually cares about them.
joe rogan
Yeah, and it is a loved pursuit.
I mean, even though it's had these weird views, or people have had weird views about it, if you think about how many people love it, and how it requires this sort of a place, like what you're creating, to really do it right.
tony hawk
And nowadays, it's way different now, the sort of perspective on skating, or the attitude towards skating, is that Parents are doing it with their kids, and little girls are encouraged to try it, and that just wasn't the case when I was a kid.
joe rogan
Well, I think it's because of you in a lot of ways.
tony hawk
Oh, well, thank you.
I was always happy to at least advocate for skating and try to explain to people, like, this has a real positive impact on kids.
You're too focused on the hairdos and the music and stuff.
You've got to really look at what it provides someone's mentality.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But that's always been the case with things that kids do that their parents didn't do.
tony hawk
Sure.
joe rogan
Like, how many parents told their kids to stop playing video games, and now kids are literally making millions of dollars playing video games.
And parents have to kind of make this adjustment, like, okay.
Okay, I didn't know.
tony hawk
So I think the generation of parents now grew up at a time when skating was starting to be cool.
joe rogan
Yeah, okay, right.
tony hawk
And so either they're encouraging of their kids skating or they're actually skating with them.
joe rogan
Oh, that's awesome.
That's got to make you feel good.
tony hawk
It is very cool.
joe rogan
Real impact on the thing that you love.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean the coolest part for me is that I still get to participate and I get to bear witness to all this.
joe rogan
Who's the oldest skater?
Is there a really old dude out there shredding?
tony hawk
Sure.
I mean, even some of the Z-Boy guys, like Tony Alva still skates.
I just saw a photo of him grinding a pool.
He's 60-something.
joe rogan
Holy shit.
But when you fall at 60-something, that's rugged.
tony hawk
That's real.
Like I said, I've kind of narrowed down my discipline to the ramp because I know how to fall on a ramp and I wear the pads, and that's what's kept me going.
joe rogan
But even that, that's why I'm encouraging strength and conditioning.
When I see people in their 50s that are doing things, I'm like, ooh, okay.
But do you lift weights?
Because you should.
Really, just get a fucking trainer, man.
Just keep your bone density.
That's what's really a real problem when people get older.
Their shit breaks so easy.
tony hawk
Right.
joe rogan
Things that normally you just bounce off of and be fine, and then all of a sudden you're like, hey, there's some clicking in my arm.
Like, oh shit, I gotta go to a hospital.
And then, you know, a normal fall causes you to have a cast.
tony hawk
Yeah, I learned that well.
I broke my pelvis.
unidentified
Oh!
tony hawk
I was almost 40. I was doing a loop ramp which is something that I had done many times before that and the loop that we were skating was kind of weathered and kind of slow and I tried to adjust for that and I just overshot it like I shot out at the top And then just fell straight to the bottom.
joe rogan
That's got to affect you.
Jamie broke his butt bone out here with a hoverboard, and he was fucked up.
You were fucked up for like a year, right?
unidentified
Yeah, it came and went.
tony hawk
I thought I got fixed.
unidentified
Couldn't get fixed.
jamie vernon
No one I went to knew what was going on.
joe rogan
He had to self-identify what the injury was.
And then who was it that had a similar injury?
Zach Bitter came and said he had the same thing.
unidentified
He went and got MRIs.
jamie vernon
The doctor told him he was okay.
And then he re-looked at it and was like, hey, by the way, you have a small fracture and like...
tony hawk
Yeah, and your whole body freezes up.
joe rogan
Yeah, I couldn't walk for like 25 yards.
jamie vernon
I had to stop and sit and let it loosen up.
tony hawk
I had the same thing.
joe rogan
You know those hoverboard things?
Well, my kids have them out here, and they go bananas out here in the warehouse, and Jamie was fucking around on it while not totally paying attention.
I was trying to practice and see if I could film and stuff.
Yeah, and we didn't really figure out what it was until Zach Bitter explained it, and then we thought about the, I mean, you're a 200-pound man or whatever, you weigh somewhere around there, and you fall, like, on polished concrete on your asshole.
Like, that's a lot of weight, like, butt first.
Do you know who Zach Bitter is?
tony hawk
I don't.
joe rogan
He's the world record holder for a 100 mile race.
He ran 100 miles in 11 hours in like 40 minutes.
He's a savage.
I mean, just bananas.
And then he kept running afterwards.
He just did a new one too.
jamie vernon
He ran like 100 miles, or the fastest to run 100 miles on a treadmill because he was doing it while he was in quarantine, I think.
joe rogan
Oh my god.
tony hawk
Wow.
joe rogan
And he eats mostly meat.
tony hawk
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah.
His diet is almost all ribeye steaks.
Wow.
He supplements it with some glucose supplements and things like that while he's doing it.
He did it again.
Zach Bitter shatters 100 mile treadmill world record.
Oh my god.
He averages 7 minute mile.
7 minute 18 mile for fucking 100 miles.
That's so insane.
That's so insane.
He's an animal.
tony hawk
How old is he?
joe rogan
He's in his 30s, right, Jamie?
Yeah, 34. Yeah.
jamie vernon
But he was still running while he had the problem, too.
tony hawk
That's kind of crazy.
So when I went through that, the thing that I had to adjust mostly was that I didn't realize...
I was favoring my back foot when I would skate because the fracture of my pelvis was on my front leg, front leg side.
And I ended up...
joe rogan
Injuring something else.
tony hawk
I actually got KO'd once.
Because I was leaning back more than I should have been, and I thought I was balanced.
And then found myself just on my back, like, KO'd.
joe rogan
Oh, shit.
tony hawk
And then another time, I was putting so much weight, like, because when you skate, you put one foot on the tail of the board.
And I was trying to get speed for something, going on the big ramp, and I had so much force on my tail that I broke it off.
Going through the flat bottom of the ramp, my tail just was left behind me with my foot doing the splits.
joe rogan
That's so crazy.
tony hawk
And I realized that...
That's when I realized that I needed to readjust my weight distribution because of my pelvis and try to figure out how to skate properly again.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
Now, how do you recover from that?
Did you have to go through rehabilitation?
tony hawk
I basically laid around, sat around for...
Almost two months and then slowly started to walk and then was skating about like six weeks after not walking.
joe rogan
So you didn't do any rehab?
tony hawk
I did some stuff in the pool.
I did have a trainer that was helping me.
A guy that I knew that used to work on skate stuff.
So he did help me for a few weeks.
And then I started skating.
It was actually, I was working towards a goal.
We had a big exhibition in Orlando that was already booked.
And I was like, alright, that's the timeline.
joe rogan
How many weeks out was that?
tony hawk
I want to say it was about 12 weeks from when I got hurt.
joe rogan
Oh wow, that's not a lot of time.
tony hawk
To recover from a bone break, almost 40. It wasn't my best performance, not my best work, but I got through it and then really had to figure out how to rebuild my confidence.
That's the thing I lost the most.
Because I started to question everything.
joe rogan
I can only imagine.
So mostly just laid around, let it heal up, and then you had to do something to build your muscle mass.
tony hawk
I was doing a lot of stuff in the pool with resistance in my leg and stuff like that.
That was pretty much it.
It was just more I just felt stiff.
And like he said, when you have an injury like that, You can't cough.
Like, you know what I mean?
You can't, like, sneezing.
If you feel a sneeze coming on, it's traumatic.
joe rogan
Right.
tony hawk
Because everything hurts.
Yeah, it's about to get shot.
Yeah, and then, like, just going to the bathroom is a trauma.
joe rogan
Oh, God, right?
Just sitting, right?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
On the bowl.
Oh, my Christ.
Oh, damn, dude.
Wow.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
That's amazing, though, that you got through that with pool work.
But you could do some great shit in the pool.
George St. Pierre is one of the best UFC fighters of all time.
He does the majority of his workouts in the pool now.
He has these things that he wears on his hands, these resistance things, and he does all these crazy workouts in the pool.
He does them on his legs, and he does these jumps inside the pool.
And he does it all just to preserve his joints while still building up muscle.
tony hawk
So he's mostly focused on the pool?
joe rogan
Yeah, see if you can find them.
They're pretty cool, George St. Pierre pool workouts.
Yeah, he has, I mean, he's a fascinating guy, really intelligent guy, and he's gone through a bunch of different kinds of strength and conditioning routines and attitudes about it over his career.
At one point in time, he really embraced gymnastics, and he got really into gymnastics.
But now, most of what he does, he goes to the pool and see these things he's wearing?
tony hawk
Oh, wow, yeah.
joe rogan
He's got these barbell-looking things and a bunch of different apparatus that he uses.
See these things he puts on his legs?
And he develops his kicking power and his jumping power and all these different things with those.
tony hawk
Oh yeah, that's up my alley right there.
joe rogan
It's really interesting because you're really not concerned about getting injured this way, but he gets this ferocious muscle workout, and he doesn't have to worry about tearing things or, you know, hurting himself because of weight.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
All right, well, I'm going to leave here with a whole new attitude.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, it seems like a good thing to try, especially for someone.
tony hawk
It was funny.
That was one of the things that when I told my kids I was coming here, they're like, he's going to talk to you about working out, you know?
I was like, I'm sure.
And they go, but you don't work out.
I go, I know!
joe rogan
Fucking kids, man.
They never let you take a break.
They ride you.
If they find this one thing.
tony hawk
Oh yeah, of course.
joe rogan
What about your diet?
Are you healthy?
Do you eat healthy?
tony hawk
I think so, yeah.
That's iffy.
What's that?
joe rogan
I said that's iffy.
tony hawk
Well, let's put it this way.
I don't eat to excess like I used to.
I think that's really what I've learned getting older is just like, don't go crazy with everything.
You know, drinking, eating, like, just eat till you're not overly full.
Just eat enough and watch what I eat.
Like for sure, when I was a kid, it was just all junk food.
Everything.
It was sugar cereals, McDonald's, Jack in the Box.
I mean, our big going out night with my dad was Bob's Big Boy.
That was like, we were living large.
joe rogan
In Burbank?
tony hawk
No, in San Diego.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
tony hawk
Yeah.
That was it.
I mean, I never went to nice places.
The extent of his nice place was like, hey, this place has prime rib for five bucks.
unidentified
Okay.
tony hawk
Okay.
So I didn't really grow up with a health-conscious diet.
And then as I got older, I discovered, well, mostly just so much great food and then realizing that I've got to get more greens and really watch it.
And so I've managed to be able to do that, I'd say, over the last 20 years.
joe rogan
Do you take supplements at all?
tony hawk
I do, yeah.
joe rogan
What do you take?
tony hawk
I have a whole bavvy of stuff that this nutritionist gave me.
I wish I could name them all, but I just know which bottles they are.
joe rogan
But it's good and makes you feel better.
tony hawk
Definitely.
I can tell when I've missed a day or two on them.
I mean, just in terms of how I feel.
joe rogan
Well, people are so much more conscious of that now.
I mean, it's something that pretty much in every athletic pursuit, anything where people are doing things physically, so much more really conscious of supplements and diet.
tony hawk
But I do have to admit that I do love barbecue.
joe rogan
Of course.
tony hawk
Who doesn't?
My wife.
Not much of a fan.
joe rogan
Really?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
What's wrong with her?
tony hawk
She eats much more healthy than I do.
She's more Mediterranean.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
tony hawk
In terms of her diet.
joe rogan
Have you ever gone to Dr. Hoggly Woggly's in Van Nuys?
tony hawk
No.
joe rogan
There's a joint in Van Nuys that's been around fucking forever.
You go in there, it's like wood panel walls.
They've done zero for the decor.
And no one gives a fuck.
There's always a line.
It's Spectrum when it's open.
Can't even get there now.
But it's some of the best barbecue I've ever had anywhere.
And it's in Van Nuys.
In this semi-sketchy neighborhood.
tony hawk
Oh, perfect.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's phenomenal.
unidentified
It's phenomenal.
tony hawk
There's a place in San Diego that I've been going called Abby's that I think is pretty spectacular.
My daughter loves barbecue too, so that's our big lunch outing.
joe rogan
San Diego's got some great food, man.
I've been going to San Diego forever.
I started going to the La Jolla Comedy Store.
tony hawk
Yeah, of course.
joe rogan
Way back in the 90s.
Yeah.
It's a great spot, man.
tony hawk
I might have actually seen you there.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
San Diego's never gotten too big.
You know what I mean?
It's still a great size.
tony hawk
Yeah, I try to tell people it's one of the last small beach towns.
joe rogan
But it's a city.
Right.
tony hawk
You don't feel like you're missing stuff.
If you fan out, especially if you go north, it's more like no one can really build on the coastline anymore.
So the homes that are there are there and it's not going to get any more crowded.
joe rogan
Okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, well, that's smart because they've preserved a really nice spot.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like the right size.
It's like you get traffic there, but it's, ah, stop complaining.
It's not shit.
You know, come up here.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is ridiculous.
And even now with the quarantine, it's still, you get on the road like, well, I thought everybody's supposed to be home.
tony hawk
Right.
joe rogan
Stay safe indoors.
It's fucking five o'clock traffic.
You get real traffic out.
tony hawk
I was telling you guys, actually, I was on a Zoom call just on audio on the way up here, and I was passing LAX on 405, and usually it's just dead.
Stop, right?
And finally, I was just like, oh, man.
So I turned the camera on and faced it out.
You guys got to see this.
I am driving.
Look at this.
There's the 105. There's LAX. I'm still moving!
joe rogan
Yeah.
Whenever I've done gigs in San Diego and I have like an 8 o'clock show, I'll leave here at 11 in the morning.
I'm like, there's no way.
tony hawk
Oh, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
I'm not taking any chances.
It could easily take five hours.
Easily.
tony hawk
Oh my god, we sound like that SNL skit, Californians.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
I don't know that skit, but it's pretty easy to write.
tony hawk
All they do is talk about traffic.
joe rogan
Well, it's fucking ridiculous out here.
Have you ever thought about living anywhere else?
tony hawk
Not really.
My wife and I sometimes sort of muse about we'd love to live in New York once all of our kids are out, but probably for a brief time.
joe rogan
New York's going to be real weird now.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Apparently there's a mass exodus out of there right now.
tony hawk
I was there right before everything turned upside down.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
And it was already feeling...
It's shaky.
I don't know.
We went out to dinner.
We saw our friend's band perform at this little club, and there was this sense of unease.
joe rogan
What month was this?
tony hawk
That was in early March.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
So it was just starting to get there.
tony hawk
No, no.
It was in February.
Sorry.
joe rogan
Oh.
tony hawk
Yeah.
But it was late February.
There was something in the air where you knew something was going to change.
joe rogan
The buddy of mine caught it there in New York.
tony hawk
Yeah, my buddy of mine, too.
Skater, my age.
And he went through hell.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, it seems like the New York strain, what they got on the East Coast, they were saying, is coming from Europe.
It's a stronger strain than the strain that they got here in California that's coming from China.
tony hawk
Yeah, my oldest son and I were extremely sick in February, both as sick as we've ever been.
We were convinced that we had gone through it once everything...
And so I managed to get a test.
I had to pay through the nose.
The tests are not available.
But I lucked into one and we both didn't have it.
joe rogan
Interesting.
Yeah, we've been testing pretty much everybody.
I didn't test you, but we've been testing everybody that comes here.
We just have a concierge service comes here, concierge MDLA or whatever.
tony hawk
Oh, wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's nice.
tony hawk
How did I luck out?
joe rogan
I don't know.
I just didn't test you.
Didn't ask.
I fucked up.
It's my mistake.
tony hawk
Well, I was negative as of a month ago.
joe rogan
That's good.
As long as we don't make out, I think we're okay.
tony hawk
Okay, cool.
joe rogan
I've been tested.
I got tested last weekend.
I took the swab because I flew to Florida for the UFC event.
So I had the swab before that.
I had the antibody test, and then I got it again when I came back.
All negative.
We did have one fighter test positive, though.
He was asymptomatic, and his two cornermen were asymptomatic too, which is one of the weirdest things about this disease.
tony hawk
And he discovered it here?
joe rogan
They found out in...
Oh, he's from Florida.
But they found out when he arrived that he knew that someone in his family had had it, and so he was cautious and wore gloves and masks and the whole deal and didn't make contact with anybody other than the people that he was with the entire time.
And then they found out before the fight that he was positive.
tony hawk
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, but all the other fighters, they did 1,100 tests, and only three people were positive, and they kind of knew that they had a potential for being positive, even though they were exhibiting no symptoms.
tony hawk
It's just wild right now.
joe rogan
It's weird.
And we called the event, that was what was really wild, calling the event with no audience at all.
tony hawk
I saw it.
joe rogan
Strange, man.
tony hawk
Yep.
joe rogan
Just fucking strange.
tony hawk
Well, I can tell you watching it at home with my kids, they had the same excitement level.
joe rogan
Oh, me too.
I mean, it was great.
The fights were amazing.
The judging was fucking terrible.
There were some really bad decisions, but the fights were incredible.
It was just great just to do something, to be...
tony hawk
I was curious about that, though.
Do you think the fighters had a different sense of...
Energy or motivation because they didn't have the crowd?
joe rogan
I don't think the motivation is any different.
It might be a little bit less stressful, slightly.
Obviously, it's a fucking cage fight.
It's going to be stressful.
But maybe a little less stressful because you don't get the roar of the crowd.
There's not the energy in the place.
Maybe you could focus a little bit better, but...
You know, they're in the UFC, so they're fighting the best fighters in the world, so it's no matter what.
tony hawk
It's a certain mindset you're getting into regardless.
joe rogan
Yeah, but it was just interesting because they could clearly hear their corner.
So when their corners were yelling out instructions and when the opposition corner was yelling out instructions, they could hear all that.
And we could hear that too, like crystal clear, not a sound in the room.
And you could hear the breathing and the impact of the shots way better.
It was a lot different.
tony hawk
That's a new element.
joe rogan
It was a lot different.
It was really strange.
Yeah.
tony hawk
Wow.
joe rogan
Are they gonna have skating competitions with no audience as well?
tony hawk
That remains to be seen.
I assume that's probably where it's going to go.
I'm not part of the whole Olympic qualifying thing going on, so I don't know what they're going to do or how they're going to continue to qualify people going into next year.
We had an event planned that was supposed to happen in June in Salt Lake City, Big Vert Skate Contest, and it has been pushed to August.
And I don't know if we can do it with the audience or not.
joe rogan
Well, Utah's opening up.
I mean, they're doing comedy shows there now.
Restaurants are opening up now.
They're opening up some things.
They're cautiously opening up some things.
tony hawk
Ultimately, I'm not the one that will decide if it happens or not, but I hope that we can get it done.
With the necessary guidelines and whatnot, because I do feel like our type of skating, which is the vert skating, is sort of a lost art.
That's not going to be in the Olympics, by the way.
joe rogan
So is this the first year that skating is going to be in the Olympics?
tony hawk
Yeah, well, next year.
joe rogan
Is it 2021?
tony hawk
2021, yeah.
unidentified
Interesting.
tony hawk
So skateboarding, the disciplines are street, which is sort of the handrails and stairs, ledges and stuff like that you see, and then what they call park.
And park is sort of a mishmash of pool skating, but also some other skate park elements like banks and curves and things like that.
So it's more because that type of skating is more accessible, especially internationally, than what we call vert skating.
To me, it's a disservice to skating because vert skating, like you said, it's the thing you can understand if you're not a skater.
People are flying around.
They're doing gymnastics.
They're doing somersaults.
And that type of stuff, you see a very muted version of that in park skating.
joe rogan
Why do the Olympics choose those events?
tony hawk
I think that's it, because of the accessibility.
And I have to respect that.
joe rogan
It's just nice that it's in there.
tony hawk
For instance, there is a skate scene in places like Ethiopia.
And Ethiopia has parks.
They don't have vert ramps, obviously.
So I understand on that level you're going to have a much more well-rounded competitive field.
joe rogan
That's cool that Ethiopia has embraced skateboarding.
I would like to see that.
tony hawk
Yeah, I've been there.
joe rogan
You've been there.
See, here it is.
Jamie's already got it.
The best in the business.
Young Jamie.
Look at this.
Wow.
That's fucking cool.
Well, that's not what I picture when I think of Ethiopia.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
I mean, that looks like that could be Atlanta.
That could be anywhere.
tony hawk
Yeah, absolutely.
joe rogan
Chicago.
It could be any city.
tony hawk
And I mean, that kind of thing is happening all over the world.
There's a...
I don't know if you've ever heard of Skatistan, but Skatistan is a skate, for lack of a better word, camp facility, an educational facility in Afghanistan.
joe rogan
Whoa!
tony hawk
In Kabul.
And they teach girls.
They teach girls, they give them educations, and they learn how to skate.
joe rogan
Whoa!
tony hawk
In fact, there was a documentary on them that won an Academy Award at the last Oscars.
joe rogan
Really?
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Do you got anything on that?
tony hawk
That was my in.
It's called Learning to Skate.
That's Skatistan.
It's called Learning to Skate in a War Zone if you're a girl.
That's the name of the documentary.
joe rogan
That's got to be very dangerous for them though, right?
Because the fundamentalists don't want them doing anything.
tony hawk
Well, so that's the thing is that they see it.
The culture sees skateboards as a toy, not a sport, and allows girls to do it.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
So they don't see it as this co-ed sport at all.
And so it's really interesting that the ratio of boys to girls are equal.
Skating in Afghanistan.
And same goes for, they have another program in Cambodia, and they have one in South Africa.
I've been to all of them.
Not Kabul, but...
joe rogan
Look at that picture.
That is so wild.
The mountains of Afghanistan, the background of these girls catching air.
tony hawk
Their program's insane.
They're one of the best.
joe rogan
Wow.
That's wild.
That's crazy.
That's crazy that during your lifetime, skating has just blossomed and gone from this sort of misfit thing to something that's in the Olympics in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, all over the world.
That's wild, man.
tony hawk
It is wild.
Every day is like a new surprise.
joe rogan
Now, when they do it in the Olympics, what is the scoring criteria?
How do they judge?
tony hawk
Well, I don't think they're going to reinvent the wheel in terms of how they judge.
I think that they have to be very concise with their criteria now in terms of writing it down.
Because before it was just sort of loose and that skater ripped and went higher and looked cooler and we gave him first.
And now it's got to be much more...
But it's more about...
Technical aspects, like the difficulty factor, how you flow, like how you link tricks together, how much speed you have, how high you go, I mean all those factors.
But at the end of the day, when you go to a skate contest, you can tell the top skaters.
It's just obvious that they were ripping, they used the course better, you know, they...
Went higher, they spun more, they flipped their board hard in more difficult ways, and they were the winners.
joe rogan
And now, do you have former pros or current pros, the judges?
tony hawk
I'm not really sure how they're picking judges.
joe rogan
For a standard competition?
tony hawk
A lot of them are ex-pros, yeah.
joe rogan
And so there's pretty, like, universal acceptance of, like, what's good and what's bad or what scores.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, it's always up for debate.
Yeah.
Who should have won that event or this or how did we score higher?
joe rogan
I would imagine, too, that at the level that these guys are at, there's probably quite a few guys that are comparable, right?
tony hawk
Sure, yeah.
joe rogan
So it's basically how good your run was.
tony hawk
How good your run was, yeah.
And who had a better day?
joe rogan
Similar to surfing in that regard?
tony hawk
Absolutely, yeah.
joe rogan
So that's what's interesting for someone like me watching.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm seeing.
I know what looks cool, but I don't know what won, you know?
tony hawk
Sure.
Yeah.
And I think that, well, I'm hoping that that will be my job to explain to the audience.
joe rogan
Oh, right.
tony hawk
I was supposed to be there in Tokyo doing some commentary.
Not the play-by-play, but more sort of coming in and out of there and doing whatever shows they need me to do.
joe rogan
So did they postpone the Olympics for a year?
tony hawk
For a year, yeah.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
So you would like to?
tony hawk
I would like to be there to try to bridge that gap of the non-skating viewer who is interested and explain to them why this nuance is going to score way higher even though they look the same to you.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
And I've done it.
They had the Vans Park Series all last year where we went to all over the world.
We went to China, Brazil, Canada, France, and they built these parks that they left there, but I was doing all the commentary for the events.
And that's where my strengths are, is being able to explain those things to non-skaters.
joe rogan
Well, that's got to be fun for you, too, because it's an opportunity to sort of, you know, proselytize.
Let everybody know.
Like, show them how cool this is.
tony hawk
Yeah, for sure.
joe rogan
Like, put words to your passion, this thing.
I mean, that's got to really spark up the interests of new skaters.
tony hawk
I think that's the silver lining with the Olympics.
I mean, there is a lot of controversy in the hardcore skate scene where it's just like, we don't belong in the Olympics.
We've always done this to be anti that type of thing anyway.
And then it's just like, well, you guys...
All those things that you love about skating will still exist.
joe rogan
Right.
tony hawk
You can still go hop fences and skate.
That's not taken away from you.
If anything, it's going to bring it to a bigger audience that is going to be interested.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
And I believe a more international audience.
I think that's the really cool part about it.
joe rogan
That's a thing, though, man.
When things start going mainstream, people always panic.
tony hawk
Right.
But the other thing is this, like...
If you think that the competition element is what is somehow sanitizing skating, I grew up skating competitions.
I literally entered my first contest at age 10. That is the only way you got recognized when I was a kid.
This is not something new to skateboarding.
It's just that now there are different opportunities in skating and there is a way to make a living even if you don't compete.
And so because that exists, people are just like, oh, Olympics are a, you know, that's a sport competition.
Like, yeah, but we already have Street League.
We already have the Dew Tour.
We already have X Games.
Those things all exist.
So we're going to have this other big event once every four years.
joe rogan
People always want to shit on something that's different than what they're doing, though.
tony hawk
Oh, sure.
joe rogan
It seems like...
tony hawk
I mean, hey, I've lived with so much ridicule my whole life that I just...
It's like, yeah, sure.
Whatever you say.
joe rogan
Well, for you, I mean, you've crossed over to the other side.
That's what's interesting.
I mean, you don't even need a thick skin anymore.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, there's obviously still haters, like, you're a sellout and whatnot, but it's like...
joe rogan
Do you read those comments?
unidentified
You don't read Twitter or anything, do you?
tony hawk
If someone's making enough noise, I'll see it.
And every once in a while, I'd see what the general vibe is on something.
But when I grew up, I think my journey allowed me to really be prepared for that.
Because when I was a kid, I was doing this outcast activity, right?
So I was already not cool in school.
And then I started skating and I was like a scrawny little kid with a really sort of what they call robotic style because I was focusing on tricks.
So I was getting made fun of in the skate world.
So I was like an outcast in this outcast activity and it was really isolating.
And at some point I was just like, I love this too much to listen to these people and not do it.
joe rogan
Like explain to me what you were getting shit on for.
Like you had a robotic style.
tony hawk
So...
Basically, when I first started getting into skating, especially pool skating, to be a pool skater, you had to be super cool, look like you're surfing.
It was all about your style, right?
And it was all about how you flow.
And if you're doing aerials, it's got to look cool.
And I was super scrawny, super short kid.
And so all I really knew how to do was to maneuver my board.
And so I was doing these tricks where I'd spin my board under my feet.
And do these weird sort of hand plants and aerial tricks and things where it just wasn't, that wasn't the normal.
And it wasn't really considered the cool way to skate.
And so they just, they were like, they call me a circus skater.
unidentified
Yeah.
tony hawk
We're like, oh, there's Tony with the circus tricks.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
And then at some point I just like, I loved what I was doing and I didn't really listen to it.
And then I got, I got more confident and I got stronger.
And then I started doing this stuff like way up high in the air.
And then it was sort of undeniable that I was like, oh, well, that is something.
joe rogan
So was there pressure for you to change your style and sort of blend in?
tony hawk
Um, I just didn't have the bulk to be able to do it anyway.
The physical bulk.
Yeah, like I just didn't have that weight behind me.
And so what I did was when back then, in order to do aerials out of pools, you had to like reach down and grab your board and sort of muscle it into the air and above the coping.
And I learned how to launch into the air without grabbing my board and then grabbing it at the peak.
And that allowed me to get the height when I was still really scrawny and weak.
And they said that technique was cheating.
Like they literally wrote that in Thrasher magazine.
It's just like, well, Tony Hawk cheats because he ollies into his air and that way he can just grab it wherever.
And I was just like, yes, that's exactly it.
That's what I'm trying to do.
unidentified
That's so weird.
joe rogan
That's so weird.
So they would judge you on...
That's so crazy.
Here's this invented thing, right?
tony hawk
Right.
joe rogan
This art form.
And then you're doing it your way, and they're saying you're cheating.
tony hawk
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
I don't...
tony hawk
It was just like this old guard in skating, and they didn't like to see anything new or sort of...
Fringe.
And then I started doing that.
And then a lot of my peers who were my age, they all figured that same technique out.
And then we just kind of took over.
You know, that became the way to skate.
But then through the years...
Like, in those days, you know, skating was still very much a novelty.
And then in the 90s, like, X Games came into play.
And then all of a sudden, my name was being well known.
Not mainstream, but getting there.
And then our video game came out.
And then it was just like, oh, you're just a sellout.
Wow.
joe rogan
Because of the video game?
tony hawk
Because of the video game and the endorsements that followed from that.
You know, I was doing stuff for Jeep, for McDonald's, for Doritos, and they were just like, oh, you're just a sellout?
I was like, when I turned pro at age 14, if McDonald's had asked me to be in a commercial, I would have jumped on it.
Are you kidding me?
Like, I was eating McDonald's my whole life.
I still do.
So it was more like they thought somehow I changed my values and was just like, I haven't changed my value system.
It's just that I'm getting these opportunities, finally.
And I've been doing this for most of my life.
joe rogan
For the most part, it's you're getting opportunities that they're not.
So the best way to dismiss that or diminish it is to say that you're a sellout because you're on a video game?
That's so short-sighted.
tony hawk
Sure.
So what I'm saying is that just sort of...
That sort of steeled my resolve.
So once social media came into play and people were talking shit online, I was like, you're not getting to me through this media.
People used to say this to my face.
They used to write about me in magazines like...
You're hiding behind your Twitter username.
I don't care.
joe rogan
When you first saw someone say that you were cheating by using that technique, that must have sucked up.
tony hawk
Yeah, and it was from a skater that I really respected too.
He was quoted in the magazine and it was crushing.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
That's such a bitch-ass approach.
You know?
Cheating.
That's so weird to me because I never would have...
I guess it makes sense because there's always factions in any discipline or any art form or anything where some people respect some things and other people shit on it.
But the idea that you doing it your way would somehow or another be cheating, to me, it seems so strange.
That doesn't make any sense.
tony hawk
Like I said, it was just weird because skating was such a small community at the time.
And it was like, why are we fighting in our little tiny world?
joe rogan
It's always going to be that way.
That's just humans.
Especially when you're doing something different.
Especially if you're getting attention and doing something different.
They're going to find some way to diminish you.
tony hawk
It was harder for me because all I wanted to be was accepted as a skater.
I'd kind of given up on...
My peers and my schoolmates, I knew I wasn't going to fit in there.
And so I was like, I found this thing and I'm just like, you guys don't like me the way I do it?
Rough.
joe rogan
But look, you hung in there and came out on the other end.
tony hawk
Yeah, and I don't harbor any ill.
A lot of people are like, oh, you should go back to school, go to your reunion.
I don't...
It's not some revenge for me.
I'm just so thankful that I still get to do this for a living.
This is seriously living the dream.
I get to do this for a living.
I get to come on your show because I'm a skateboarder.
The stuff that I've gotten to do over my life is beyond any dream I could have ever written or imagined.
And it's all because I just kept skating.
joe rogan
That is the American dream to me.
tony hawk
For sure.
joe rogan
Or the worldwide dream.
The human dream.
tony hawk
Absolutely.
joe rogan
To be able to do what you want for a living and to continue doing it.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
And to support your family and to, you know.
tony hawk
It's crazy.
unidentified
It's amazing.
tony hawk
The kind of stuff that we've gotten to do, especially as a family, like the kind of trips we've taken and people we've met.
joe rogan
For skating.
tony hawk
Yeah, for skating.
unidentified
It's crazy.
tony hawk
Crazy.
joe rogan
That's amazing.
Do you still talk to that guy who shit on you back then?
Do you know who that guy is?
I do.
tony hawk
I think he fell on some hard times.
joe rogan
That's how it usually goes with haters.
unidentified
I'm sorry.
joe rogan
It's interesting, though, that there's been these waves of change inside of it during your lifetime.
You know, that it's such an evolving, sort of growing thing that from the time you were a kid to now, it's almost just a totally different thing.
But yet, still skating.
tony hawk
Yeah, I mean, at its core, the feeling I get when I'm on a skateboard is the same.
Like, when I just go out just practicing on my ramp or in our backyard or whatever, I can just feel that...
That happiness, that sort of peace.
And it's the one thing in my life that I'm fully in control of.
And that's my escape.
joe rogan
That's so cool that you still enjoy it like that.
tony hawk
Yeah, I never imagined.
I never imagined skating into my 30s.
joe rogan
Do you have friends that are your age that also still skate as well?
tony hawk
Yeah, I have a couple friends that are a couple years older than me and they're sort of my gauge.
joe rogan
So do you have a crazy set up in your backyard?
tony hawk
I have a small concrete setup that's not huge, but, you know, it's fun.
And then I have a proper size, big vert ramp at my office.
And, I mean, in the last two months, those are the only places I'm at.
joe rogan
Is it an indoor thing, the vert ramp?
tony hawk
It's indoor, yeah.
joe rogan
How high is it?
tony hawk
It is 13 and a half, 14 feet.
joe rogan
Wow.
So you just go there and fuck around and have fun and practice?
tony hawk
Yeah.
We've done a couple of live streams from there just to provide entertainment for people.
joe rogan
Oh, that's cool.
tony hawk
Yeah, and we did one with DJ Z Trip.
He was mixing up on the deck, and we were doing tricks up on his table.
That was pretty cool.
And then we are working on this Best Trick NBD thing.
I actually got some money from a sponsor, so just trying to...
Make content, make entertainment as best we can.
joe rogan
What other content do you make online?
Do you do a podcast or anything or a video?
tony hawk
I used to be on SiriusXM.
Actually, that was the first time I reached out to you because I had a SiriusXM show for 10 years.
And I stopped doing it just because it was...
I kind of went as far as I could with getting guests, and I just wasn't really moving up the ladder.
And it was really hard to maintain that schedule.
It was only once a week, but for me, it was like, I got to book studio time in LA, drive up here, beg someone.
I didn't have anyone running the show, so it was just more like, hey, does anyone know Seth Rogen?
unidentified
Can you...
tony hawk
But I had a good run.
My last two guests were Pharrell and Seth Rogen.
Oh, that's great.
joe rogan
Pharrell the sports guy?
tony hawk
No, Pharrell.
joe rogan
Oh, the musician?
tony hawk
Pharrell Williams, yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
That's a big get.
tony hawk
It was, yeah.
So I felt like I can't really go further with this idea, and let's just end it here.
It was fun, though.
joe rogan
Do you do anything with it now?
Do you do anything like that now?
tony hawk
No, not really.
I mean, I'm happy to, but I just...
joe rogan
Because it's so easy to do some sort of a podcast now.
tony hawk
It is, yeah.
I just don't...
I guess I just don't want to be that guy that's like, hey, man, do my podcast.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tony hawk
Because that's how I felt when I sent you the first message on Twitter.
I was like, hey, you want to call my SiriusXM show?
And that was right when your show started blowing up.
And I saw you all, and I was like, oh, he doesn't have time for my show.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But I did.
I mean, I'm happy you came to do this.
I think what you've done in your life is it's like a great roadmap for young kids that are sitting out there trying to figure out if they can make a living doing something that they love.
That's the roadmap.
tony hawk
Oh, for sure.
I try to tell people, too, you don't have to...
You don't have to be the best in your field to enjoy and make a living at it.
You can maybe find some angle on it that maybe isn't even the thing, but it gets you in the door and you get to be part of the community or the industry.
And you can live like that, whether it's doing video or art or...
You know, behind the scenes, you're still part of that scene and it's still super cool.
And I feel like that's what's lost on kids.
They just want to be the best.
They want all the stardom.
And it's just like, no, think of something that you would enjoy Make that your job because that's for me.
That's what success is.
joe rogan
That's such an American mindset that the mindset of I need to be the best I need to be number one, right?
tony hawk
Yeah Yeah, and that that's just the thing that sucks about that mindset is that if you do reach any Sense of that a lot of times that's when it all falls apart How so I feel like a lot of people get a taste of it and they're no longer motivated Do you know what I mean?
I think in a lot of cases, I've seen in skateboarding especially, where they just want to be, they want to get in the magazine, they want to be, or win the contest, and then they finally do, and they're not motivated to keep it going.
joe rogan
That's interesting.
tony hawk
Or to progress their own skating.
joe rogan
So instead of just enjoying it...
In their end, the competition is the end goal.
Yeah.
And then once they hit that competition...
tony hawk
Yeah, it was just a means to an end, and then there's no more...
joe rogan
That's a funny thing, rather, for a lot of people in any art form or any sport.
Once they reach a pinnacle, it's very difficult to keep momentum up.
That's what happens with a lot of fighters.
They reach the top and then they don't have the same enthusiasm they had when they were younger.
And then, of course, the trappings of fame.
tony hawk
Oh, and that's another distraction.
And some people, that's what they revel in.
And you can lose sight of...
I mean, I think that's what I was lucky, that I was young enough and had success.
And I saw some of my peers kind of fall into that.
And I saw how it affected their skating.
And that was my signal.
It was like, if you follow that road, your skating is going to suffer.
And my focus was always getting better at skating.
joe rogan
That's interesting.
That happens with comedy.
A lot of times guys get really famous and then their specials just...
They start to fall apart.
When they're on the come up, their specials are edgy and they're really into it.
They're poor.
They're all into it.
And then they become famous.
That was the thing with Kinison.
He's partying with rock stars and hanging out.
tony hawk
I saw him during those days.
joe rogan
Did you really?
tony hawk
Yeah, in San Diego.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
tony hawk
Yeah, it was awesome.
joe rogan
Yeah, I got to see him a couple of times.
tony hawk
But you could tell that he could just come out and scream and everyone's like...
joe rogan
Yeah.
Oh, so this must have been like 86, 87-ish?
tony hawk
Yeah, he did a thing where he called people from the audience to come up and then call...
joe rogan
Their ex-girlfriend?
tony hawk
Their ex-girlfriend, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, I saw that set.
Yeah, that was the thing he was doing.
Yeah, I saw him do that in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
Yeah.
tony hawk
But in his day, man, he was a genius.
joe rogan
Oh, he was the best.
For a couple years, he was probably the best ever.
But then the trappings of fame just got to him.
He stopped writing.
His brother wrote about it.
There's a book called Brother Sam.
His brother Bill wrote this whole book about this sort of meteoric rise.
And one of the things that he said was that once he became famous, he was just doing coke and partying all night.
And he really wasn't writing anymore and wasn't out there trying to put together sets.
tony hawk
And he definitely wasn't keeping it a secret.
unidentified
No.
tony hawk
That he was doing it.
joe rogan
No, no, he was partying.
Well, listen, man, I appreciate you coming in here.
It was really cool to meet you.
tony hawk
Oh, it was my pleasure.
Thank you.
It was an honor to be here.
joe rogan
I think your story is fucking amazing.
It's really cool.
I love hearing stories like that, where someone finds something they love and they just follow their dream and they become famous and successful at it.
It's just, it's so cool.
tony hawk
Yeah, I'm still chasing that carrot.
joe rogan
Chase that carrot, baby.
tony hawk
Thank you.
joe rogan
Thanks, brother.
Appreciate you, man.
Tony Hawk, ladies and gentlemen, goodbye.
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