Tam Glad sitdown with Eric Kirkwood, Bay Area skateboarding OG, coach, and guru of skateboarding
Bruce lee said martial arts is “honestly expressing yourself”
While this is not a bruce lee article, this quote defines my conversation with Eric Kirkwood.
The history of skateboarding can be traced back to roughly the 1970s when the sport looked and felt vastly different. The movements were very much earthbound with tricks staying on the pavement or wood surfaces. Over the decades both people and equipment have evolved. Pioneers of the sport such as Jay Adams, Stacey Peralta (who gained recent fame through their feature film Dogtown and Zboys) paved the way for Tony Hawk, Christian Hasoi, Rodney Mullen just to name a few…
Skateboarding started on the ground with speed and agility then turned into air and spins. In a sport with traditionally less organization, it organically grew with the progression of its participants. Often considered against the grain, these individuals pushed themselves (sometimes dangerously) to create their own style and land their tricks in their own way. This was truly people honestly expressing themselves.
Living across the street from Proof Lab, you get the sense that skating has its place in our Marin community whether it's young or old; this is the hub for Northern California skate culture. Young skaters have been skating the ramp at Proof Lab for over a decade and even more recently, Ladies Shred, a local women’s skate business has been partnering with Proof Lab to hold ladies nights on the ramp. While COVID brought things to a standstill, several of the Bay Area’s finest skate coaches used the ramp to provide a venue for lessons. Today that ramp continues to play host to a few select coaches who have access and continue to provide the next generation with their knowledge and passion. It is why I took the time to hunt down one of the world's premier skateboarding coaches and discuss his life, journey, and spiritual connection to skateboarding. Eric has cultivated a decades long career in skateboarding with the accolades to follow.
Highlights include: Sponsored skater since 1990, Program Director Visalia Skate Camp, Professional Skateboard Judge X-Games, Dew Tour, Olympic Skateboard Coach Thai National Team
Eric and I sat down at the Equator Coffee @ Prooflab just steps from the Proof Lab skate shop. The Proof Lab “compound” if you will is a temple to the skate and surf gods who drink expertly sourced coffee from Equator and fill their tanks with fish tacos @ Hookfish from locally sourced fisherman. This was the perfect setting to learn more about this skater I had known of but knew so little about.
Speaking at the Skateboarding Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 2019
Here’s our conversation:
How did you get to CA, and then to Marin?
In 1990 I got a job at Visalia YMCA Skate Camp - known by some newer skaters as Element Skate Camp for the period when Element Skateboards was the major sponsor. I saw a camp edit in an H-Street skate video and was compelled to write to them asking if I could join the skate staff and was accepted.
My older sister lived in San Rafael, California at the time so after the summer of camp was over I moved in with her and her boyfriend and then into my own place on 4th Street above a store next to the 4th Street Tavern.
How has skateboarding shaped your life?
Skateboarding has given me a community throughout the world, it’s given me multiple careers, and something endlessly exciting and challenging to put energy towards that keeps my mind stimulated and my body strong and nimble. It’s accurate to say that skateboarding has shaped every aspect of my life.
What is your approach to coaching skateboarding?
The part of teaching skateboarding that excites me now is less about teaching individual tricks and more about looking at how human physiology, physics, and the way a skateboard functions combine to allow us to move through the world (or on an obstacle) ably on the board.
One coaching style for all rarely takes place because although the physics is consistent, each student is unique in attitude - physically as well as emotionally.
I would describe my approach to coaching as imparting basic and advanced rules of moving on a skateboard (as I understand them so far) and then pay close attention to the student as they learn to use them so I can give tips and insights that accelerate the process of mastering those rules.
What are your thoughts on Proof Lab as a skating venue?
The ProofLab ramp is one of the most creative and best uses of a space that I’ve experienced as far as small transitions are concerned. It is exceptional in my opinion.
Tell us about judging the X games and that time period
In 1998 I was offered a position on the judging staff for World Cup Skateboarding. WCS was in charge of officiating most of the professional contest series in the late 80s through early 2000s. I judged various pro series including X Games, Dew Tour, Vans Triple Crown, and others. Following my time with WCS I judged for another events organization, the ASA judging other pro series including the LG Action Sports World Tour. All said, I was a judge for around 10 years.
It was exciting as you’d expect to go across the country and around the world for skateboarding events. With something like skateboarding everyone is in for the love it, so a lot of the vibe is celebratory. The job of Judging skateboarding however is mentally taxing and definitely hard work. We all love skateboarding and it means a lot to make sure that everyone ends up where you feel they belong in the ranking. Some events the caliber of skating was so high and the competition so strong, that it was nerve racking to have to put one person above another . . . I really loved it, but it is truly “the hot seat” to judge pro contests. I'm so glad to have had that career, but now I am really happy to watch skateboarding contests and just appreciate the skaters and not have to scrutinize them so intensely.
Tell us about coaching the Thai National Skate team?
In 2007 I was honored to be invited to train the Thailand National Team for an Olympic Sanctioned event in Macau China, the Asian Indoor Games. It was my first time in Thailand and we trained in a small town a couple hours outside of Bangkok, Suphanburi. Living in Thailand for the first 4 months was one of the most incredible experiences of my life at that point. The food, the people, the temples, elephants walking down the streets, and an alligator farm. The locale was exotic and dreamy and for me it was my dream job.
At that time Thailand was just starting to be recognized as a skateboarding power in Asia. They were good at the tricks they knew about, but there was more to learn all around. It was so fun to help my new Thai skate family refine their tricks and learn new ones over those months leading up to the competition. We trained hard the months prior to the AIG and we also went to various skate jams around the country. That was so fulfilling because it was reminiscent of skating in the mid 80s in America because we’d go hours to attend a skate jam and so would everyone else from everywhere. It seemed no skater in the country could get enough and that was really inspiring and exciting.
Eventually it was time. We flew to Macau and skated strongly in the event. Thailand ended up with 2 silver medals in the 2 events we had entered. It was a solid outcome. Shortly after the event I returned to the States expecting that it was a one time opportunity.
I would end up being asked to return to Thailand again in 2014 and then consistently from 2016-2021. We traveled the World over those years and had many wonderful experiences and valiant moments . . . There’s too much more to say without specific questions.
Did you ever think about turning pro?
I was pro for PoorBoy Skateboards from maybe 1992 - 1994. For me turning pro ended up being a very small part of my skateboarding career, but it is nice to have attained that goal.
How to reach Eric for lessons and inquiries:
Lessons details:
Saturday and Sunday mornings @ Proof Lab in Mill Valley
Times: 9am, 10am, and 11am
Private lessons for all ages!
Metroskate Camp: metroskatecamp.com
Email: iamerickirkwood@gmail.com
Cell: 510-501-0383