The last skate of the session can be a key factor to your total skating experience that night. It is a combination of how you feel and the person you skate with: someone you adore, an aquaintence or a friend. The key to make the night at least okay is to always have an alternate skating partner and to not make the last skate of the night that important. You may avoid disapointment or a bad end of night. A challange, but a goal that could be obtained.

Love and Skateration,

Zuri

Being a new skater, in addition to having or creating roll dawgs(best friends on the floor), its a good idea to have mentors or idols. Of course these are people whose style of skating you one day would like to accomplish or add on to your own individual style. I have about 2 major ones and a group of people who I observe/learn from afar.

Master Detroit, of course is from Detroit and skates that region's style. This style could be described to have a lot of bouncing, occasionally some kicking, and sliding. The slide is one the major things that make that style so famous. One has to have special wooden or clay wheels and major balance to really do it. Every good skate jam lets the Detroit skater's have a moment to show off they're different sliding skills, it's called "open house." Open house has the rink smelling like burnt rubber!

My mentor Master Detroit, is so cool becuase he lets me shadow him around the rink. I aint got the wheels to copy his slide, but just mimicking his movements has helped develope my skating style by the way of bounce, turning, and flow. It has also gave me greater confidence to try other new moves such as spinning and skating sideways from other skaters.

Master Lee put me on my toes for spinning. He is my other major mentor and his style is more of the Chicago, despite him being from grand Louisiana. Chicago style is real smooth and slow, and they Spin. My favorite spin of Master Lee's is when he spins really fast, then slows, then speeds of again, "clutch spin". A lot moves that've learned he takes and shows me how to do them better. Or sometimes he shows me moves hes invented. Everytime I skate with him...I'm learnin' somethin' new.

Watching from a far would be the married couple of my club leaders, The W's.  Mr. W has sort of a chi-town style too and he and his wife are from louisiana as well! Mrs. W gives "gettin your roll on" femininity and challenge. To get the moves she does takes me a-while and a minute. Their energy is amazing and creativity endless. Also there is Ms. T, I just love how shes pretty and still likes to get her roll on with the rough bunch of guys that fly through rink. She leads the group sometimes too. Then, it's my man Master Reg, its like he is tap dancin' in his wheels. He is really good to watch if you're interested in gettin your groove in one place without gravity. You can just zone out watching him. I watch a lot of other people too, but these guys you'll see me stare at least 4-5minutes at rink tryinin see if I can get anything that they are doing.

Even though I still have a lot to learn, I still earn a couple compliments when I gets my roll on. Anything that those nice folks like mostly I have learned from my mentors. They get much credit.

I thank them very much, especially Master Detroit who showed me I can do more than just backwards skate.

Skateration!!!

Zuri

FYI-A crucial factor to gettin' your roll on is to have a bounce. A good bounce, on beat of course, can help you do all kinds of skating moves from going backwards to leaping 'round. Sometimes I forget this and it makes the easiet moves hard like doing the cha cha or grape vine.

Skateration my Rollas,

Zuri