I like a lot about what Rodney Mullen has to say. Much is applicable to jiu-jitsu, and anything else.

From a 2013 interview that I’ve had saved for a while:

I fell in love with skateboarding because it was individual. There were no teams. There was no captains. There was no nothing to, to perfect. No style that had to be measured. It was completely the opposite of what I saw in so many sports. It was creative. And to this day, that’s what I love. It’s always kept me back to it because it’s endless creation.

That’s the aspect of skateboarding I love most. Through the years you have so many experiences, you sponsored, you traveled the world, you win contests, you do these things. And so sometimes through all the years, all the years, you lose the sight of what, why you do it. For some time, maybe you think you skate because you want to be the best video part, or I wanted to win 10 years of contests and I did.

And in the end I found that that wasn’t why I skated. I lost years of really realizing why I love skateboarding. And now as I get older, I get less in a sense public with my skateboarding. And I go back to the original reason why I loved it, was to do new things in my own way. And that’s what I love about skateboarding.

I’ve been injured a bunch of times. I’ve had a bunch of not bunch, but definitely a few surgeries. And when that happened, I think, oh, maybe I’m too old. I should give up. Or I won this award or won skater of the year. What does that mean? Before I got it, I thought it meant a lot. And then when I get it, it doesn’t mean anything and that’s a realization that’s come.

And if there’s anything that sometimes I can see kids there. So they started skateboarding because they love, they love the freedom of it. It’s freedom and it’s art in a lot of ways. And then I see them along the way and they start to hate skateboarding, but they have to do it. They feel for some reason, they don’t know, they think it’s because of the money, but they could quit and make money else or the other way, I see it all the time.

People that love it. They get what they wanted and then they hate it. And so if there’s anything I could say to the kids, so they don’t have to go through all the years of like waste. It’s like, just remember that winning awards or winning contests, or it really truly don’t mean anything. It’s the enjoyment of doing what you want to do all the way through.

That’s the beauty of skateboard. So many people actually never find the whole lives. And that’s what skateboarding’s given me. I can’t wake up. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning to try something new. A lot of times I can’t sleep because I can’t wait to try something new. And how many people never really experienced that feeling often.

And that’s why I skate.