Hosoi would also pioneer a number of his own tricks, most notably the rocket air and Christ air, and won countless vert and street contests worldwide through the dawn of the ’90s. With his flamboyant charisma, giant airs, and a touch of spandex, Hosoi became the style-based antithesis to Tony Hawk’s more trick-difficulty-based contest runs. In 1985, Christian’s release of the patented Hammerhead shape under Hosoi Skates took the world by storm and quickly inspired every other major company to come up with outlandish shapes of their own. On the heels of Tony Alva, “Holmes” blurred the line between rock star and pro skater and also became the third pro after Brad Bowman and TA to launch his own brand and namesake, Hosoi Skates, following brief stints with Powell-Peralta, Dogtown, Sims, and Alva Skates. He then rose with the surging tide of the ’80s vertical skateboarding boom to become the godfather / superstar of going big and looking good while doing it. Just have them over there to the side.’ Pretty soon, they knew we were there just to skateboard, not to cause trouble.After honing his skills with constant access to Marina del Rey Skatepark, which his father, Ivan, managed from the late 1970s to the early ’80s, Christian Hosoi got his first photo in Skateboarder magazine at age 11, and by age 14 turned pro for Sims.
We did that so much they went, ‘They’re just going to keep bringing ramps.
Just as Hosoi reclaimed the joy and glory of his youth, the documentary shows the determination necessary to create the “most beautiful skate park on the beach in my hometown.” Hosoi still remembers how difficult it was to go skating in Venice growing up: “We’d take ramps and they’d kick us out. I wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world.” He feels there’s no certainty he would have stopped using if he had that payday: “I might not even be alive if I had that cash.” Most importantly, he believes “my life, my story, my rights, my wrongs” can offer hope to other people who feel lost: “Your mess-ups become your message, your tests become your testimony.” Hosoi says no: “You know, my story’s my story. Even so, don’t you ever wonder: If I’d found my faith a few years earlier, would I have Tony Hawk bank today? (The skater and X Games announcer Dave Duncan told Sports Illustrated in 2004 that he felt “every dollar that Tony Hawk has made is really Christian’s money.”)
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