Extreme fun: Top action athletes blazin' into town
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| Blazin' Circus rolls into Blaisdell Exhibition Hall for three days starting Thursday with a mixed plate of extreme sports plus live music, a car show, a model search and karaoke contests.
Fabiola da Silva won her first X-Games gold medal — and a Rollerblade sponsorship deal — at age 17. Blazin' Circus Action Sports and Music Festival 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday through July 6 Blaisdell Exhibition Hall $15 general; $10 children under 10, before 4 p.m. 526-4400; more information at www.blazincircus.com Thursday ($2 off general admission with Sobe proof of purchase) Extreme sports exhibitions: Noon, 2, 4, 6, 8 p.m.: Aggressive in-line skating with Fabiola Da Silva, Shane Yost, Cesar Mora, Eito Yasutoko and Takeshi Yasutoko 1, 3, 5, 7 p.m.: BMX bike stunts with Mat Hoffman; and GrindCo Extreme Skateboard Team, Tas Pappas, Chris Gentry, Sergie Ventura Music: 12:30 p.m. — Darrell Labrado 1:30 p.m. — Tani Lynn Fujimoto 2:30, 3:30 p.m. — Ho'okani 4:30, 5:30 p.m. — Mr. Vanray 7:30, 8:30 p.m. — Natural Vibrations Also: 6:30 p.m.: Say Yes! (not Say What!) Karaoke with MTV VJ Dave Holmes, preliminary competition July 5 ($2 off general admission with TheBus pass) Extreme sports exhibitions: Noon, 2, 4, 6, 8 p.m.: BMX bike stunts with Mat Hoffman; and GrindCo Extreme Skateboard Team, Tas Pappas, Chris Gentry, Sergie Ventura 1, 3, 5, 7 p.m.: Aggressive in-line skating with Fabiola Da Silva, Shane Yost, Cesar Mora, Eito Yasutoko and Takeshi Yasutoko Music: 12:30, 1:30 p.m. — Koa'uka 2:30 p.m. — Forté 3:30, 4:30 p.m. — Marty Dread 5:30, 6:30 p.m. — B.E.T. 7:30, 8:30 p.m. — 3 Plus July 6 ($2 off general admission with Kona Cafe proof of purchase) Noon, 2, 4, 6 p.m.: Aggressive in-line skating with Fabiola Da Silva, Shane Yost, Cesar Mora, Eito Yasutoko and Takeshi Yasutoko 1, 3, 5, 7 p.m.: BMX bike stunts with Mat Hoffman; and GrindCo Extreme Skateboard Team, Tas Pappas, Chris Gentry, Sergie Ventura Music: 12:30, 1:30 p.m. — Ells with Ilona Irvine and Mr. Vanray 2:30 p.m. — Disguyz 3:30, 4:30 p.m. — Tino & The Rhthym Klub 7:30, 8:30 p.m. — Ho'onua Also: 5:30 p.m.: Say Yes! Karaoke with MTV VJ Dave Holmes, semi-finals 6:30 p.m.: Say Yes! Karaoke with MTV VJ Dave Holmes, finals 7 p.m.: Asian Model Search, finals |
For three days beginning Thursday, the Blazin' Circus Action Sports and Music Festival will bring in a handful of athletes from the fields of BMX trick riding, aggressive in-line skating and skateboarding to Honolulu to show off their collective mettle in a series of hourly extreme sports exhibitions.
No, you won't get extreme snowboarding, skiing or wakeboarding demonstrations at Blazin' Circus (come on, folks, we're talking about the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall here). And unlike the X-Games and other extreme sports contests, participating athletes don't compete against each another for medals or prizes.
But the Honolulu-based organizers of Blazin' Circus have upped the "festival" component of their extreme event's ante with a full schedule of live local music (all 13 of the acts are listed on Page 16), and a mixed bag of interesting sideline happenings. The extra events run the gamut from the expected (strike fighting martial arts competitions; a souped-up import car show and competition) to the, frankly, unusual (an Asian model search; Say Yes! Karaoke contests with MTV VJ Dave Holmes).
Welcome or strange, it all adds up to a thankfully interesting schedule mix for the first-time extreme sports festival. At the very least, we're hoping MTV's linguistically challenged Holmes finally gets verbally whacked by a Honolulu audience into uttering the word "karaoke" correctly. (Hint: It's kah-rah-oh-keh, Dave. Not carry-oh-key. I don't care what Merriam Webster's says.)
Blazin' Circus' main attractions, though, are two of extreme sports' most recognized and respected athletes: BMX vertical rider Mat Hoffman and in-line skater Fabiola da Silva, both leaders and record-holders in their respective fields.
Da Silva: Beating the boys
Yeah, she played with dolls as a kid — and liked it. But by the time in-line skating champion Fabiola da Silva talked her parents into procuring her first pair of skates when she was 15, she was already more enamored of playing with the boys.
"I've just always liked guy sports, and really any action sports," said da Silva. "I was never into little-girl stuff. I mean, I always played ... and it was pretty fun. But I always liked the sports the boys were playing better."
Growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, da Silva played basketball, volleyball, and (at a wiry 5-foot2, 112 pounds) also was a champion kickboxer.
These days, though, da Silva isn't interested in simply playing with the guys, but kicking their collective butts in the process as well.
Now 23, da Silva is recognized as the greatest female in-line skater in the sport's history.
Besides being consistently ranked among the world's Top 10 overall skaters — male or female — da Silva has won gold medals in competitive vertical skating (where skaters perform airborne tricks off a 90-degree ramp) in five of the last six X-Games, the annual Olympics of extreme sports.
Perhaps most impressively, da Silva's incredible talent inspired the aptly-named Aggressive Skating Association's 2000 introduction of a rule eliminating gender divisions in competitive vertical skating. The rule — now more famously known among skaters as the "Fabiola Rule" — still genuinely embarrasses da Silva, who giggled shyly when congratulated on it.
"I don't see any of these sports as (male) independent sports," said da Silva, her accent still distinctly Portuguese after four years of Orange County, Calif., living. "I mean, I've been skating with guys since 1996, you know? I just love skating with them and hanging out. I want to be as good as they are one day. That's what I'm looking into."
Caught off-guard by her own unintentional verbal throwdown at her male competition, da Silva giggled and finished, "It's just inspiring to watch them."
Da Silva was a ringer from the start, entering Sao Paulo skating competitions soon after her first lacing. During an exhibition at a local skatepark, she attracted the attention of then-champion skaters Chris Edwards and Arlo Eisenberg, who were blown away by her skills. Three months later, she received an invitation to participate in the 1996 X-Games, where she went on to win her first gold medal and a Rollerblade sponsorship at 17.
She moved to Costa Mesa, Calif., after her 1997 graduation to be closer to her sport's action, but plans to enter college to become a veterinarian once her competitive skating career is over.
"I see myself doing this for another 10 years, probably," da Silva said, commenting on the harsh toll the sport's gravity-defying maneuvers exacts on the body. "For now, though, I just want to enjoy skating, try to push my sport and get more girls involved." She paused to catch herself again.
"And boys, too."
Hoffman: Battered but not broken
Faced with weeks of rehabilitation after particularly gnarly on-the-job injuries, Mat Hoffman's bicycle stuntriding friends have of late taken to calling the record-breaking vertical rider for advice before phoning their respective physicians.
"It's funny," said Hoffman. "People will call me and just be, like, 'All right, man. I did this.'" This, meaning any number of injuries that sooner or later befall all vertical (or "vert") bike riders seeking aerial nirvana by way of a 24-foot wood quarter-pipe ramp. "Sometimes I feel like I'm Dr. Hoffman, y' know?"
And Hoffman's peers have good reason to dial him for medical advice. Recognized near unanimously as the best — and most legendarily risk-taking — vert adventurer in the history of his sport, Hoffman is also one of vert riding's most battered.
Hoffman, 30, said he'd had 16 major surgeries — not to mention more broken bones and other internal injuries than he can count — in his 16 years of professional vert competitions and exhibitions.
"Head injuries are the worst, because you just can't assess them whenever you're unconscious," Hoffman said. "I've been in a mild coma for seven hours. I've had times when I've lost my (sense of) balance for a month and couldn't get it back. THAT gets really frustrating because you don't really know if it's healing or not."
Hoffman's worst injury occurred in 1993 after clearing 23 feet of air off a 21-foot ramp — breaking an aerial record he had set the previous year — and rupturing his spleen on his return to Earth. There was so much internal bleeding, Hoffman said he was given 20 minutes to live and even flatlined before being resuscitated. He still holds the record — now 26.5 feet, achieved in April 2001 while trying for 30 feet of air.
"I was unconscious for three days after that one," said Hoffman.
He explained these death-defying injuries without a hint of either braggadocio or embarrassment, but in the same good-natured way he described his continued fondness for the risk-taking sport.
His motto? Life's pleasures and successes can hardly be experienced without the willingness to accept the pain and failure that might come with them.
"I have a lot of pain that I live with every day," said Hoffman, talking about his constant body aches. "But I justify it because I'm doing what I love to do. I'm happy. I have no regrets." Pause. "I DO feel like I'm about 60 or 70 right now, though," he finished, before breaking into a deep fit of laughter.
Hoffman admitted to mellowing out a bit since becoming a father 18 months ago. But a large part of his personality still seemed involved in a mental tug-of-war with the Oklahoma City-born 10-year-old who jumped his bike off a rooftop and into the family swimming pool — a 13-foot drop — on a dare from his older brother. The very same boy who has tried to top himself with virtually every performance since.
"Having a baby, you start looking at what you do through their eyes also," Hoffman said of his daughter Gianna, and his wife, Jaci. "I try to second-guess some of my aspirations now with riding," doing tricks where "there is a good chance of survival and it's not super risky. I kind of have a buffer now with (Gianna), and that's great. I'm hoping that'll definitely keep me out of the hospital a little more."
Not that the veteran vert rider has any plans to retire or anything.
"I'm waiting for that day when I can just sit on my porch and throw rocks at a tree and be happy," said Hoffman. "But I don't think it's coming any time soon."
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| Fabiola da Silva won her first X-Games gold medal — and a Rollerblade sponsorship deal — at age 17. |
Alley-oop — A skateboard trick performed in the opposite direction from which the skater is moving
Brainless — In in-line, a backflip and 540 degree turn on a ramp
Canyon — The sunken area between dirt ramps, or empty space between street ramps
Drop in — Entering a ramp or obstacle from the top
EXPN — ESPN's offshoot extreme-sports organization. All Blazin' Circus athletes are EXPN members
Flat spin — When an in-line skater achieves air, turns the axis of the body almost horizontal to the ground or ramp, spins, rights the body and lands
Grind plate — A piece of metal or plastic attached to the bottom of a skate frame between the middle wheels, making grinding (or skating on railings) possible
Half pipe — A ramp shaped like a "U"
Invert — Also known as a hand plant, a trick where one hand grabs the skate/skateboard while the other does a handstand on a ramp or obstacle
Jump ramp — A small ramp that gives a skater some air to do a trick
Kick turn — Applying pressure to the tail of a skateboard to lift its front and turn it in another direction
Look back — In BMX, when a rider achieving air turns the handlebars and his body backwards to face the back of the bike
Manual — A wheelie
Nothing — When a BMX rider achieving air lets go so no part of the body (hands and feet included) is touching the bike
One-Footer/One-Hander — Air achieved with one foot or hand off of the bike
Pornstar — When an in-line skater rides with the front foot, and back foot on the outside of the skate's grind plate with toes pointed in
Quadratic sidecut — In skateboarding, a maneuver that softens the transition from the entrance to the exit of a turn
Run — A sequence of various tricks
Superman — When a BMX rider removes both feet from the pedals while achieving air and stretches his legs as far behind the bike as possible
Table top — In BMX, when a rider achieving air off a ramp flattens the bike horizontal to the ground before straightening to land again
Unity — When an in-line skater rides with the front foot and back foot outside of their grind plates. The trick gives the appearance of the skater skating cross-legged
Vert — A half-pipe event. Also, a 90 degree ramp, pool or wall
Wallride — Riding on a wall that has no transition
X-Games — Sponsored by ESPN, the winter and summer Olympics of extreme sports; both are held annually. The sixth annual winter X-Games were held in January in Aspen, Colo. The eighth annual summer X-Games are set for August in Philadelphia.
Yasutokos, The — In-line skating brothers and X-Games medalists Eito, 19, and Takeshi, 16, from Osaka, Japan; both will make appearances at Blazin' Circus.
Zakharovs, The — Speed sport climbing champs Vladimir and Olga. They won't be here, but we needed a "Z."
