Anthony Frank Hawk better known as Tony Hawk, is an American professional skateboarder and is considered the best skater in the world on vert or half-pipe.
Tony Hawk entered the world of skateboarding thanks to his brother Dani Hawk. In his biography, Tony is described as "a nightmare" as he was hyperactive and very demanding of himself. His worried parents enlisted the help of a school psychologist, who told them that their son had the mind of an adult trapped in the body of an eight-year-old. At the age of nine and a half, his brother gave him a skateboard, which changed his life.
Tony went to practice every day with his father at nearby skateparks. Some time later, they founded the California Amateur League and the National Skateboard Association.
Tony's qualities were due to his constant training and at the age of 12 he already had promoters who financed his career. At 14 he became in a professional and at 16 Tony Hawk was the best skateboarder in the world, being on the Bones Brigade team.
In April of 1990, Tony founded Birdhouse, a skate brand founded by himself and Per Welinder who had just left the Powell Peralta team. This company is based in Huntington Beach, California.
Two years later, in 1992, Birdhouse showed no sign of having gotten off to a good start in the market. The Hawk family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and there Birdhouse began to make his way in the world of skateboard companies thanks to agreements with companies in the sector such as Adio.
Birdhouse began with the manufacture of skateboards, however, the company has expanded into the market with the manufacture of wheels and clothing. Later Birdhouse signed a contract with Tech Deck to launch fingerboards with that brand.
In 2011, the company announced that Birdhouse's new team manager would be Steve Haring, a skateboarder and videographer who had already worked with Tony Hawk when he founded Birdhouse with Welinder. Among his most notable recordings is the Tony Hawk Skatepark Tour.
It´s worth mentioning that Birdhouse is part of the distribution conglomerate Blitz Distribution, where companies in the industry such as Teck Deck or Trick Power are also present.
Continuing with Tony's life, in 1998, he founded Hawk Clothing, but in 2001, this skate clothing and shoe company would be sold to Quiksilver, an Australian multinational in which Hawk is the undisputed leader along with the "king of surfing", Kelly Slater.
He was also one of the first skaters to have his own professional shoe model, produced by Airwalk.
Now let's talk about Tony Hawk's video games, since 1999 would be a good year for him. His second son was born and he signs an agreement with Activision for the creation of a video game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for Nintendo 64, the first part of the successful series of video games inspired by a dream that Tony had where he could perform huge jumps and unreal tests. After this, they would follow Tony Hawk´s pro skater 2, Tony Hawk pro skater 3 for play station, play station 2, x box and gamecube; Tony Hawk's pro skater 4 and tony hawk undergrond, a completely different game from the previous ones, with freedom of movement, such as getting off the skateboard, driving cars and other vehicles. later Tony hawk's underground 2 was released, which included the "World Destruction Tour"
In 2005 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland appears (its version for Nintendo DS is called Tony Hawk's American Skateland) and, the following year, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is released for PlayStation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS. Next comes Tony Hawk's Project 8. The penultimate installment is Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS, released in October 2007. The latest installment was released in November 2009 and was titled Tony Hawk Ride. In addition, this 2020 Activision surprised with the launch of Tony Hawk Pro skater 1 + 2 for play station 4 and Xbox one.
Continuing with Tony's career, in 2004, he had already won 10 competitions and invented numerous maneuvers on the skateboard. In 1985, he landed the first “720º” (720 degrees, or 2 full laps), and in 1999, he became the first skater to complete a “900º” (900 degrees, 2.5 laps), which was considered a "immortal" achievement in the world of skateboarding. This occurred in the Best Trick competition at X Games that year. He has also invented a wide variety of tricks such as the Madonna, Benihana, Airwalk variations, Stalefish, among others.
Finally, Tony has appeared in many series and movies such as the Simpsons, jackass, drake and Josh and many others.
Comments