Skateboarding According to 'CJ': Stay Strong. Live Long. Skate Often.

Hey my name is Christopher 'CJ' Johnson; in this book I offer some of the basic things that beginner skateboarders need to master before they get to the tricks and the stunts. Always remember that safety comes first, this book offers the fundamentals, which is the best weapon to avoid accidents or injury while skateboarding. The journey started when I was about six years old and I first picked up a skateboard. I can still remember how it felt riding downhill near my house. While all of my other friends were off doing other things, I just found it exhilarating. When I wasn't skateboarding, I would watch professional skateboarders on television, like Tony Hawk, Terry Kennedy, and Rodney Mullen, and how much people loved them as they were whisked away from one part of the globe to another, all with just a skateboard in hand.I always wanted to be like them, to practice like them, to travel around the world and visit all the famous skateboard parks. My own professional skateboarding career started to truly blossom around the age of twelve with the guidance of the stars and their alternating methods. In fact, I think of myself as still learning every day, and embrace every second of my passion.Skateboarding takes practice and skill, and a tough body to handle the bumps and bruises along the way. It has taken me many years to learn and that's just touching the surface of what the greats have accomplished in their own lives.Skateboarding is my calling; a good method of exercise, and the best method of transportation available, as you don't have to wait around for public transportation or worry about the high expenses related to owning a car. All you do is pick up your skateboard and hit the road. It's a good stress relief, It's funny looking back, my mom always wanted to drive me to the places I needed to go that were a mile or two out of the way, but I refused the ride. I was too attached to my board. If I was upset about something that happened in my day I would skate around for a few hours and let myself calm down, or practice just as hard. I often spent countless days a week and sometimes even months, practicing one trick.Granted, it wasn't the only thing I engaged in. On top of skateboarding, I had a video-editing gig that helped to get me where I am today. Just me and my film crew of friends, who got passionate about it, the first time we watched video game clips on YouTube. Certain video streams always seemed to have a boatload of subscribers and they did every little thing you could imagine with the music, the characters, and even the voice-overs. I always got chills when I noticed how the music seemed to fit right in place with what the character on the screen was doing, and then the added special effects were edited in to give it a real bang. I mean it was just cool, the stuff these guys could do with a computer.So I picked up the job with all the enthusiasm I had in me. And still at the age of twelve, I made my own YouTube channel. I was eventually picked up by a very popular YouTuber and asked to do video manipulations for them. I became really good at it and not only the people who hired me for the task thought so, but also friends on my Xbox live account.Can you imagine just how cool it is to have someone send you a message or ask you in the middle of a game, "Hey, aren't you CJ . . . the one who edited that video?" It felt great to be recognized, like I was suddenly becoming my own celebrity. I loved the recognition, my subscribers also loved that I was always around for them to talk to.However, I was forced to abandon my YouTube account when personal issues came up.It was a wonderful experience for me as it helped me become a huge hit-not just in the gaming phase, but also in real life skating and the videos that came of it. I look forward to many more wonderful opportunities that life has to offer now that I'm officially an adult!