A brief history lesson told by Jaybird.

What exactly IS Freestyle Walking?

Freestyle Walking, or FSW, is a play off of skateboarding and rollerblading.  The difference, nothing else is used besides the shoes on your own two feet.  Although, the goal remains the same to do the best grabs and grinds around.  Skateboards and roller blades limit where you can go with cement paths, but Freestyle Walking allows the sport to go anywhere, which makes for endless possibilities.  Ever see a skateboarder ollie off a tree stump?  I think not.  FSW relies on physical ability combined with imagination to create the most memorable tricks, which is really what FSW is all about.  There really isn't much of a difference between landing and not landing a trick, because that doesn't matter.  FSW isn't about whether you are standing or not at the end, it is about the trick and how it looks, how far you can push yourself, and what you can and can't do.

Where did Freestyle Walking come from?

Although stories may vary from person to person, this is the story of how Freestyle Walking came about for us.

Go back in time about 4 1/2 years, location, Fargo, North Dakota.  A group of kids walking down a residential street laughing and having a good time, not knowing what they are about to discover.  One kid runs along the edge of the curb, "Look, a grind haha," the children laugh.  Another one jumps off the sidewalk and grabs their feet, "Oh, tail grab."  Than one makes a joke, "Hey, its Freestyle... Walking!"  In this group of kids were none other than Thephilomath and Jaybird of the current PsychoNoble staff.  And so it began...

The Fargo Era:

With limited resources, Thephilomath and Jaybird (often along with their good friend Mike) would set up "courses" in Thephilomath's yard.  They would consist of picnic tables, trash cans, and lawn chairs, among other things.  They would try stacking things as high as they could to see how high and how far they could jump and they slicked up the picnic table for grinding.  This was the birth of Freestyle Walking.

Later Thephilomath informed them that he owned a video camera, so why not tape it?  So they did.  With their limited technology, music was inserted by turning up a stereo outside really loud and video editing was unheard of, but this didn't stop them.  One memorable instance was when Jaybird attempted a 360 off the picnic table, but landed short and got scrapped up pretty bad.  This led to a cut getting infected and having to go on anti-biotics.  Yes, the first ever FSW injury.

If that wasn't bad enough, a string of misfortunate events made the FSW future look bleak.  First off, the unexplainable breaking of Thephilomath's camcorder..., the oncoming of winter, and the topper, one of the founders, Jaybird, moves away.  This threatened the very existence of FSW and the sport wound up becoming dormant for many years.

The Federal Way Era:

It is now nearing the summer of 2002, and Jaybird has been living in Federal Way, Washington for a few years now.  Jaybird now has a digital video camera that he bought for school projects, complete with video editing equipment.

On one of those boring days, Jaybird remembered Freestyle Walking and decided to tell some friends about it.  They were skeptical at first, but once they tried it, they fell in love with the sport.  Regulars like Matt and Sean would join Jaybird to do tricks around the town.  Often they were joined by a few others who would also involve themselves in the FSW pastime.

Now for over a year this group of FSWers continue to go out and live the sport day by day, to try to up themselves in what they can do, by thinking of new and creative ways to change the sport.

Conclusion:

Freestyle Walking is an ever changing sport made possible and kept alive by the people who do it.  It pushes people to their limits and further.  Hopefully Freestyle Walking will be able to live on for many years to come, for it is very enjoyable and fun to do.  With this website we hope to spread the knowledge of what Freestyle Walking is to others, so they can enjoy this great sport too.

And that my friends, is Freestyle Walking.

Jaybird currently resides in Seattle where he reads comics, works in a library, and writes for this site.  He has also been known to blow your mind, rock your world, and eat pizza.