Skater Bro Highlight: Jean-Marc Johannes, The South African Nollie Heelflip World Record Breaker
Jean-Marc Johannes skating near a Western Cape market. Photo credit: Jean-Marc Johannes Facebook page, September 2017
Jean-Marc Johannes, 27 year-old professional skateboarder and native to Cape Town, South Africa, recently broke the Guinness World Record for the most nollie heelflips in under one minute. With over a decade of skateboarding under his belt, Johannes beat the previous record of 8 nollie heelflips with an impressive 14. Any skateboarder knows, that a nollie heelflip is a very technical trick, you have to kick the board away from your heel, allow the board to flip and cleanly land. Just landing one is a feat, but landing 14 in a row is amazing! So we're officially dubbing Jean-Mark "
Fundi (fundi means expert in zulu) of Skate “Attempting to break the nollie heelflip record was one of the most fun and challenging things I’ve ever tried to do.” he said after breaking the record (Independent Media, 2017).
Check out Jean-Marc Breaking the Nollie Heelflip World Record
Early Beginnings and Motherly Boards
Another interesting aspect of Jean-Marc's skateboarding beginnings is that it flourished with his mother. His mother actually gave him an old skateboard she used in the past, when he wanted one for his 10th birthday. Now 16 years later, Jean-Marc has accomplished a lot of "firsts" in his skateboarding career. He is the first South African to win a gold medal at an international skateboarding event- FISE (Festival International des Sports Extrêmes) World Series in China- and the first South African to be featured on Tony Hawk's RIDE Channel.
Jean-Marc and Youth Empowerment
Jean-Marc on an outreach day with his charity. Photo credit: Fill The Gap Facebook page, September 2017
Jean-Marc was also motivated to break the Nollie Heelflip World Record for the representation of South Africa skateboarding and encouraging youth, “I attempted to break this record for South African skateboarding...When kids see this I hope it invokes a sense of confidence in them, so that they believe they can do anything. That was my ultimate goal,” he said (Independent Media, 2017). Jean is working to achieve this ultimate goal by being an advocate for marginalized youth through his charity, Fill The Gap.
Fill The Gap "focuses on helping communities and motivating the youth in underprivileged areas, through skateboarding and youth empowerment programs." So far, the organization has facilitated pop-up skate events and skateboarding demos for kids.
Jean-Marc's Skating Compilation 2017
Currently, Jean-Marc's sponsors include Globe footwear, Volcom, Nixon, Red Bull, Almost Skateboards, to name a few. Check out a selection of his sick moves in this short skating compilation, it surely affirms that he is a "Fundi at Skate."
Follow Jean
Big up to the Cape Town massive! Stay updated on Jean-Marc's developments on the concrete and in youth empowerment at the following:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanmarcskate/
Twitter: @jeanmarcskate
Instagram: @jeanmarcskate
Black Skater Chick Cruising Playlist #1 (September 2017)
Tunes for Cruising
Music is a vital attribute to creating an enjoyable skating experience. Whether you're listening to music through your earphones or wireless speakers, it sets the atmosphere for a chilled out coast or a vigorous skating session in the streets or at the park. At BLACK SKATER CHICK, we like cruising to any genre with rhythmic drums, ambient loops and experimental instrumentals - afrobeats, soul, soca, hip hop, trap and reggae- to enhance the momentum.
We decided to create the first official BSC Cruising Playlist for this month. Enjoy the eclectic musical vibes and hear full mixes from DJ BLACKSK8ER CHICK on SoundCloud.
Interviews
Jazmyn Glause
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Jazmyn Glause reps Duluth, MN. At the age of 12, Jazmyn's journey with skateboarding began when her parents bought her Tony Hawk Underground 2. She thought it was so "rad that there was a girl skater in it, it was Elissa Steamer. I wanted to be just like her!" Since that moment, Jazmyn rolled around on her skateboard everyday. Soon her level of comfortability increased and started learning tricks.
Now 15, she is sponsored by Starz Skateboarding Co. and Rockstar Bearings. Jazmyn believes that "trying your best to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish in life, if you can do that, no one can stop you." This zealousness shines through her agility in simultaneously ollieing down sets of stairs, nollie tre-flipping and executing challenging assortments of tricks, while still holding her unique easy-going swagger.
Jazmyn in Action!
Jazmyn loves the thrill skateboarding produces in helping to face one's fears and the feeling accomplishment from learning and perfecting new tricks. She also notes that "you can never really 'win' at skating, there's always something new to work for." Though the only skater chick in her community, she thinks it would be "awesome to have girls to skate with, and someone that shares the same love for it as I do." She advises that girls who are interested in skateboarding should, "Just go for it! It’ll be scary at first, and you’ll worry about getting hurt, but once you get into it, you’ll be glad you did. It’s challenging, but SO fun." When Jazmyn is not skateboarding she participates other intense sports like Roller Derby.
Quick 411 on Jazmyn |
- Stance: Goofy
- Set-up: Six Starz Skateboard, Venture Trucks, Blank Wheels 52mm, Rockstar Bearings, Mob Grip, and Shorty’s Hardware
- Sponsors: Six Starz Skateboarding Co. and Rockstar Bearings
- Skating Attire: "I love skating Nike Sb’s, Levi Jeans usually hold up the longest for skating, and I always rock any shirts that I get from my sponsors, whether I’m skating or not"!
- Favorite Skating Spot: "Midtown in Duluth, it’s this neat little spot under an overpass. It’s got a sweet Miniramp, and alot of cool street elements."
- Favorite Skaters: "Lizard King, Dylan Rieder, Karl Watson, Neen Williams, and I’ve been seeing alot of Diego Najera lately, he kills it."
- Music: "Pretty much anything by Snoop Dogg or Tilly and the Wall. No specifics, I like just about everything from the both of them."
Jazmyn's WORD on Sk8ing
"It’s one of the toughest things out there, and you’ve really gotta have heart if you wanna progress."
Twitter : @JazmynGlause Youtube Channel: XxJGSK8RxX * Elissa Steamer is the first female to have attain professional status in the history of skateboarding*
It's great to see the "mid-late 90's babies" like Jazmyn, Samarria Brevard, Christiana Smith and Beatrice Domond stepping up and continuing the shredding tradition more and more. I can't wait to see these girls skating at the X-Games in coming years. Much KUDOS to all of you, especially Ms. Jazmyn Glause (cool last name). Girls are here to stay in SK8ING!
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Beatrice Domond
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| Source: twitter.com/Beatrice_Domond |
Beatrice would like to see more notoriety for women in skateboarding. She hopes to become a professional skateboarder and construct skate parks in the future. In addition, Beatrice prides herself on three principles, Skate, Fashion and Faith.
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| Source: http://greenteacigarettes.tumblr.com/ (Beatrice's Tumblr) |
*Check out Beatrice's video for entry into the CCS AM Video Project. Make sure you vote for Beatrice by liking her video, also leave a comment. The CCS AM Project ends August 31st. Let's support this fellow BLACK SKATER CHICK. *
More Skating Footage!
- Twitter: @Beatrice_Domond
- Tumblr: http://greenteacigarettes.tumblr.com/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ElementFlip (she has some helpful tutorials)
Tutorials
If you are a skateboarder or involved in action sports and would like to share some trick tips or tutorials, please send your request to richie@blackskaterchick.com.