Forget Macarena, freestyle walk

Corey Moss

So MTV shows fewer and fewer videos each day. And most of the new programs are nothing more than new attempts to get Jenny McCarthy in a bikini (God forbid).

But every now and then, in between the “real” life stories of seven (completely screwed-up) normal guys and gals, Music Television will broadcast something worthwhile and maybe even life-changing.

Take freestyle walking for example.

Now, this term may be new to you, but only because it’s just now starting to catch on.

But, believe me, it will be big. Huge even.

Soon freestyle walking will be ten times bigger than the Macarena ever imagined.

I’m not sure where exactly freestyle walking began, but it first became public on MTV’s “Unfiltered.”

The news show sent MTV correspondents searching high schools across the country for new and unusual dilemmas.

I don’t remember this particular school exactly, but I’m sure it was somewhere in California, seeing as how all cool new sports seem to start there.

After their skateboards were taken away one day, a group of hyperactive freshman got together and decided to bring their moves into the school hallways, only without their boards.

Just as you will discover when you begin freestyle walking, the kids found that the sport was actually pretty fun.

And when there’s fun, there’s administration to take it away. And so freestyle walking soon became prohibited.

I never did find out what happened to the kids (the program canceled after two or three shows), but what is more important is that freestyle walking got the publicity it needed to take off.

Freestyle walking became a part of my life shortly after the show aired. In the six months or so that I have spent freestyle walking, I have learned quite a bit about the sport that I am willing to share with all beginning freestyle walkers.

Essentially, freestyle walking is a chance to do all the cool the things you see people do on skateboards, inline skates, pogo-sticks or whatever your true heart desires, without having any coordination what-so-ever.

Freestyle walking is a combination of creative art and walking, put together by the adrenaline in your blood.

As in most sports, uniform is required. Two items are necessary to maximize your freestyle walking adventure. A wallet chain of at least eight inches and a comfortable pair of shoes.

You will quickly find that a wallet chain will provide the added weight to your lower body needed to pull off some of the more advanced maneuvers, such as the ollie-shakey-shakey.

Although I would recommend a local mall, freestyle walking can take place anywhere.

Steps, rails and other obstacles are a bonus for more advance freestyle walkers, but a plain old hallway or street corner will always offer some potential.

In my most advanced freestyle walking, I have found the Iowa State Center to be a great place to practice (especially after a great concert.) The tunnels provide excellent arenas for walking trickery.

If you’re worried about getting hurt (and it will happen), wear pads. A cup can be crucial protection in rail-sliding and a helmet may be helpful in doing hand-plants.

Freestyle walking can also be a competitive sport.

Get your friends to do it and have tournaments. Judge on the difficulty of a trick and the size of the wounds obtained from it. Score ollies according to the height of the jump and what the feet do in the air.

Guys, chicks dig a good freestyle walker. Impress them with the latest move you’ve been working on. Freestyle walk on your dates, it’ll drive them crazy.

Freestyle walking can be for everyone, but it requires a lot of concentration and intensity.

If you’re not willing to freestyle walk at 110 percent, you’ll never be able to enjoy the sport. In other words, don’t be a poser.


Corey Moss is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.