I’ve been putting work into developing Brand of Rascals, a clothing line.

Check out the blog here at http://brandofrascals.tumblr.com

My longboarding site (my final thesis) will be in development over the next few weeks. I’m really excited to get it together to help spread the stoke a little more and finally inch closer towards finishing school at the same time.

I’ve also been mulling a different personal project over in my head for a while now.

For anyone looking to get into longboarding, safety equipment is of tantamount importance, even on the most relaxed skate session. This article aims to discuss the different safety equipment available to longboarders regardless of skill level.

1. Helmet

“Wear a helmet.” “HELMET!” “mag-helmet ka!” It’s not rare to hear somebody saying these words to someone skating without a helmet when different groups of skaters share a spot. As bossy or brash as it may sound, there’s good reason behind the warnings. It’s not fun hitting your head on the ground, especially without a helmet. Just because you’re over legal age doesn’t mean you’re exempted from the possibility of eating it when you hit the ground. People both here and abroad have lost their lives from head injuries sustained from not wearing a helmet and messing up. It could happen to anyone.

Different Half-shell helmets are readily available at different places such as bike shops, motorbike shops, boardsports stores in the malls, and your friendly neighborhood skate shops. You’re going to want a helmet with a good, hard shell that’s lined with something like a foam that can effectively dissipate impacts, and is capable of taking a good number of hits before you need to replace it. When trying a helmet on, make sure it fits just right on your head, meaning it doesn’t feel like wearing a vice grip, but it isn’t too loose to come off when normally riding either. The same thing goes for Full-Face helmets as well.

2. Slide Gloves

Sure, you can throw big stand-up slides all day. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear slide gloves. Aside from being able to put your hand on the ground for slides that require dropping a hand, to a certain degree slide gloves keep your hands from getting cut up. You can make your own slide gloves with a little time, construction gloves, velcro, superglue and chopping board. Some ready-made gloves offer cushioning for your palms and wrists, or a mix of leather and breathable textiles to keep your hands cool. Most longboard brands available here should offer branded slide gloves, and even one of our local shops is releasing their own branded gloves soon!

3. Pads

Elbow and Knee Pads help protect your joints from impacts and keep them from getting scraped. When trying them on, again fit is important. You’ll want pads that are snug and won’t slip as you sweat. You’ll want a nice liner and material that doesn’t feel like it’s digging into your skin as a session goes on and allows them to breathe.

4. Leathers

Leather suits protect you somewhat from impacts and keep you from getting nasty road rash when you mess up bombing hills. If I remember right, I read from Kiko Meily’s blog that getting leathers are a sign of commitment to downhill skateboarding. You can either get yourself an off-the-rack suit from motorbike shops, or have one suit custom made. Either way, a leather suit is a considerable investment. The former option has suits that fall under specific size ranges, which differ in brand. Unless you’re really lucky, chances are ready-made leathers won’t give you the exact fit for you and if you’re into the aesthetics, you’re limited to set color combinations for their suits. On the other hand, getting a custom suit allows you to create your own design, and have it fit you exactly the way you want it.

So before you look into building that board, make it a priority to invest in safety as well. What you shell out for a helmet and gloves is nothing compared to the amount you spend on hospital bills and time spent not skating because of injuries that could have well been mitigated because of no safety gear. So skate hard, but please please don’t forget to skate safe!

Picking up some time after the events that transpired in Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City thrusts gamers into a closed-off city for criminals run by Dr. Hugo Strange. There’s a whole lot of power struggles going on between criminal gangs, on top of threats carried out by the Joker to neighboring Gotham City and a couple of conspiracies in between. The rogues gallery in this game puts more emphasis on villains who weren’t featured in the first game. Expect appearances from Penguin, Two-Face, Ra’s Al-Ghul and many others. I wouldn’t want to give away too much of the story, but do know that it was written by Paul Dini, a writer for the Batman Animated Series as well as some acclaimed comics and graphic novels.

Gameplay wise, the most obvious gameplay change is the setting itself. Despite the city being closed off, the setting provides gamers with an open world to explore. It’s not as open-world as say, Grand Theft Auto. You can’t enter every building, but the ones you can enter provide pretty intricate maps, each filled with their own challenges. You can choose to shoot your grappling hook and glide through the city, bypassing the chaos on the ground. Or you can choose to dive headfirst into it, exercising the improved freeflow combat system. The tweaks now allow you to counter multiple enemies at once, making for some pretty cool combos. Hotkey-type button combinations make the transition from hand-to-hand combat to gadgets pretty easy, eliminating having to access a menu to disrupt your flow of attack. With these improvements, enemies have now become a tad bit tougher to deal with as well. They aren’t just limited to their fists and firearms anymore. Some enemies have blades, armor and even shields, which prompted me to assess the threat level of each wave of baddies I fought and thereby modify my plan of attack.

Stealth still plays an important factor in the game, and this area too has been tweaked to provide more challenges for gamers. Enemies now have more items at their disposal to quickly respond and seek you out, making it much more of an imperative this time around to creatively think of plans to clear a room of armed thugs. Fortunately, the detective mode is still there and provides a great help not only when it comes to strategizing, but for the side quests as well.

The increased level of difficulty spills over to the Riddler Challenges which make their way back in this game. Aside from the types of riddles that have you scanning the environment for answers and finding the hidden question marks by looking through certain viewpoints, there are also environment and skill challenges in order to pick up certain Riddler trophies. Some involve stepping on a button on top of a building to open a cage that holds the trophy at the bottom, with a time limit to make it down before it closes again. On my first playthrough, the new puzzles frustrated me quite a bit, pushing the replay value of the game a few notches higher than it already is.

My copy of the game came with a download for the Catwoman patch, making her a playable character both in the story and in the challenge maps. I downloaded the patch after finishing the game for the first time. It must be noted that should you opt to not download the patch, playing through the game remains to be a pretty solid experience. But downloading her adds more levels to the story, and allows you to pick up trophies Batman doesn’t have access to, something certainly worth looking into for the hardcore challenge completists out there.

Overall, the game didn’t disappoint me, not even in the least. The gameplay is solid, and never made me feel like an underdog even when faced with a wave of more than 10 men at once. There’s so much to come back to even after finishing the game, in the form of side quests and all the Riddler’s puzzles. The story is great, but leaves a whole lot of loose ends to tie up, possibly setting up a future game in the franchise. I do hope they come around to making one eventually. I don’t know how the good people at Rocksteady will end up topping this game, but I’m certainly looking forward to it.

In hindsight, I was always more interested in the application part of science. I bring these things up because regardless of whether you love science or not, so much of it has to do with downhill skateboarding, most especially physics. Recalling those times just seemed apt when I came face-to-face with the Sayshun Formula.

Image taken from internet. This is the "Chalkboard" graphic on the older Formula

Its name alone is a nod to all those times many of us have spent or are still spending buried under science books. A quick round of research will point out that the Sayshun Formula is named such due to Nick Breton (Sayshun Team rider and board designer) also being a school teacher. Getting past the name, the Formula is a 38″x9.75″ topmount board with seven degrees of wedging on the nose. The board sports a pretty aggressive tub concave and has wheelbase options from 30″-30.75″.

I set it up with 44 degree Caliber trucks, slapped on some 70mm wheels and took it out to cruise and pull some slides on one of the spots in my neighborhood. As I quickly found out, saying my size 9.5 feet were sufficiently cradled by the concave is putting it rather lightly. The formula’s tub concave rises pretty high to lock your feet in at both the heel and toe sides, and the beefy rails give your feet a lot to dig into when it comes to throwing a slide. As the board was intended for high-speed freeriding and racing, the board is pretty stiff, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t lively when it comes to normal cruising and carving. The 7 degree wedge on the nose, on paper, transformed my truck setup into a 51-44 split, meaning in reality it made my front truck a tad more responsive while I still got relative stability out of the back. The extra bit of response made for some nice carves, yet didn’t become worrisome when it came to some light bombing.

The new Graphic. Spot the Skull

I also brought the board on a nice little skate session in The Fort, and down a couple of runs at Taktak. In both scenarios, the board fared pretty well. The wedging gives a more responsive feel when it comes to carving. The wedge creates a notch for your front foot when it comes to getting in a tuck, something I especially liked when it came to bombing a hill. I certainly felt locked in, with the wedge coupled with a bit of rocker and that tub concave. However, the wedging may not be for everyone, especially for those like myself who aren’t accustomed to split angle setups. It’s nothing that an angled riser can’t fix, giving you the benefit of the front pocket without the wedge.

For years, formulas have been used to be able to determine and explain things. This goes without saying that each formula has its own practical applications and can be tweaked for when it comes to desiring different outcomes. This one is no different. The Sayshun Formula will most definitely help any rider apply their skate skills and knowledge to neighborhood streets, mellow slopes, all the way to the craziest hills.

Though I’m glad to be done with school, I don’t have any reason to undermine the value of education. The good people who make all the boards we have the good fortune of riding had to be paying attention in science class. So study hard, skate harder but don’t forget to skate safe!

Excitement, anxiety, and a little bit of that kind of fear that unsettles your stomach; these were the things that were running through my mind leading up to the first time I got to skate it with Ice and some friends a few months back. The misty mountains of “Sierra” offer a solid mix of extremely fast straights and sharp, challenging turns. When you see the spot for yourself and hear how many of the country’s top-level speedboarders skate it, it’s easy to get intimidated. But when you’re there, whatever drives you, be it the thrill or the resolve to see just how far you’ve come since you first started skating, you simply have to take that first kick and make your way down.

Having a better grasp of it and knowing what to expect certainly helped the second time I got to skate the course. But nonetheless, there’s still that bit of fear that gives way to a solid amount of stoke once I get to the end.

All Photos: Alexis Javier-Betia. 

Solid Pack Run! (L-R J-Bels, Me, Kaloi Sulpa, Kishin Javier)

J-Bels attacking the hairpin with steeze

Nico Naguit sailing through the corner

A breezy run for Joshua Bondoc

Kaloi turning Japanese past the hairpin

Thank You Again to Koun Ryu Streetwear for the shirt!

Hangtime for Kishin Javier

Good times!

I’m always looking forward to a chance to get re-acquainted with this long and winding mountain road, for at the end of each run and even in the downtime in between them, there’s an abundance of stoke to be had. It’s out there, you just have to keep chasing it.

Do keep in mind that this is an open mountain road. So do exercise road awareness when it comes to all road users, and not just your fellow skaters. Like any other spot, there’s always a chance for bodily harm to happen, so make it a habit to wear protective gear. Skate hard, but don’t forget to skate safe! Aside from safety and proper road awareness, it’s or tantamount importance to pay your respects to any spot that you have the fortune of skating.

A huge “thank you” to Joel “J-Bels” Belcina for having us and guiding us through. It’s always a pleasure to get to share the stoke with you! Til the next session, in your words, iskitsip!

I’m all for traveling to new spots, trying to chase and spread the stoke. But sometimes you can’t go wrong with hitting up an old favorite. Taktak over in Antipolo will always be special to me for a handful of reasons. It was the first hill I got to skate that wasn’t in my neighborhood, as the site of the first race I ever joined (Padyak Bayani 2),a and most importantly, because all the time I spent skating it eventually instilled in me the confidence to go out and skate faster, lengthier courses.

I owe a lot to Taktak for helping fuel my drive to keep pushing, to see how far I can take my skating, and ultimately, to see how far skating can take me. With its good mix of straights and a couple of challenging turns, Taktak is a great spot for both beginner riders looking to start developing their DH game, and for seasoned skaters looking to get some speed while being relatively close to the city. It’s no surprise by now how many people get stoked on this spot, as you’ll certainly run into a good number of groups on the weekends, and even on the weekdays too!

Photos: Alexis Javier-Betia

Paul. Everyone's favorite Taktak local.

Me on the last turn before the "finish"

Stoke run with my good buddy Kaloi.

Whether skating solo, or in small or big group sessions, Taktak is always a spot for a great time.

Artee, Me, Justin Rivera, and Pao. I believe this was the first day I ever got to skate it.

I know I owe Taktak a whole lot, for a whole lot of great times I’ve already had, and for the ones I have yet to have. I’m sure everyone who’s had the chance to skate it has their own fair share of stories as well. For those who want to get into DH, or for some reason you haven’t skated it, it’s a must. It’s not too far from the city, and there’s a lot of groups of skaters who you could get hooked up with for a session for sure.

Always remember that Taktak is an open road, so do acknowledge the presence of other road users such as motorists and bike riders. Always skate safe, and please do respect the spot.

It’s not just just finding out how far you can take your skating, it’s also finding out how far skating can take you. Take a trip to a new spot, and keep on chasing the stoke!

After picking up my girlfriend Ice, the both of us went straight from Manila to San Fernando, Pampanga to meet up with my buddy and Longboards Manila Gnarchitect Nico Naguit, his cousins Carlos and Wax, and a good number of groms that make up Sisig Skate. After getting some food, the entire party headed out to Bataan to meet up with Orion Skim Crew (OSC) and to skate Mt. Samat and Radiation Hill.

After we had met with Christian from OSC, we drove straight to a spot that I had been itching to get back to since the Gravity Games Super Slide Session, Mt. Samat’s “Dark Terror”, a steep, curvy section of road that’ll get you going fast without even trying. The spot can get intimidating, but skating it will work wonders for anyone’s DH game, especially when it comes to practicing sliding. And even though we didn’t skate the entire course, there was stoke aplenty, and this was only the first course we hit that day!

Photos: Alexis Javier-Betia

Nico at the hairpin

Carlos Naguit sticking the line

Me rounding out the hairpin

Kosmo Tayag

Skating runs in the Tayag family. Kosmo's cousin Ozni

Group shot with Koun RyuxOrion Skim Crew (Thank you for the shirts!)

After leaving Samat and having a bit to eat at a Sari-Sari store along the way, our group made it to Radiation Hill, the site of an upcoming race in September which a number of us were keen on joining. Prior to skating it, I had seen the course video, so I had an inkling of what to expect. But all that goes out the window when you find yourself on top of the hill. It’s a short but pretty fast course, with a good amount of challenging turns. Everyone pretty much had fun on it while I somehow didn’t exactly sail through it, but thankfully didn’t get bucked off during any run.

Nico and Carlos leading the pack run

Me and Kosmo

Jam Vergara Leading Ozni Tayag

Watch out for Wax Naguit

After a good amount of runs, we left Radiation Hill before the rain started to come down and had ourselves a little rain skate over at Crazy Trucks in Subic before grabbing a bite to eat and calling it a great day of skating before hitting the beach to relax and top off a great weekend!

Skate trips make for great experiences. Skating new and different spots to test your skills I think is an essential in terms of raising your skate game and becoming well-rounded. Once you skate something totally new to you, if you don’t sail through it, you find out your limits, and eventually learn what you need to push past them. I came back from that skate trip stoked having finally gotten to take on the “Dark Terror”, but seeing how I fared during my initial runs at Radiation Hill never dented that stoke even in the least. I’m glad I got to skate new spots, and got to do so with some real good friends! I know I’ll come back one day, to give it the runs I know I’m capable of doing.

Again, skate trips make for great experiences. It’s not just the fun in skating the spots, there’s the fun in the travel, the to and fro, and coming to the realization that aside from chasing stoke, the only real competition is yourself. It’s always up to you if you want to raise your game.

Plan one with your friends. Take a trip. Skate hard, skate safe, and keep chasing that stoke!

Press play, hopefully enjoy, and get enough stoke out of it to tide you over until the weather gets better! 

In the third and final installment of the Stoke +63 series, Longboards Manila and ManilaMan Productions pop in on a downhill training session with the Longboards Manila team riders. 

With seven local championships won, at least fifteen podium appearances, and two international competitions (and counting) between them, these guys are not only some the finest longboarders of the local Manila scene but through their example are true ambassadors of the sport, always punctuating the need for safety and respect for one another, the environment, and for longboarding itself. Perhaps we all can learn a thing or two from them.

Rafe, JV, Fern, Paolo, Arthur, and Joaquin, Longboards Manila is proud to support your skating and we wish you the best in all your endeavors always, be they on, or off, your boards.

As always this production would not have been possible without our friends at ManilaMan Productions:

Executive Producer: Longboards MNL
Director: Paolo Abrihan
Directors of Photography: Jan Parma and Gio Puyat
Assistant Directors: Dijo Songco and Gracie Vergara
Editor: Paolo Abrihan and Gio Puyat
Producer: Dijo Songco
Production Assistant: Raffy Las
Featuring: Rafe Arcenas, Fern Garcia, Arthur Manuel, JV Montoya, Joaquin Romero and Paolo Villacorta
Original score by Paolo Abrihan
Special thanks to: Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

We also would like to thank Mrs. Jenny Romero for her time and dedication to helping us complete this project.

Here’s three for the rain, and the hope for sunny skies ahead. 

1. Death Cab For Cutie – “No Sunlight”

2. Coldplay – “Parachutes”

3. TV on The Radio – “Keep Your Heart”

Although a lot of people are moving into downhill skateboarding, it’s nice to see that Loaded still keeps  creating products that will work for the modern longboarder, the one who loves to blend riding styles in the name of progression.

Enjoy the video!