Heimana Reynolds

As a kid growing up in Pennsylvania during the 1970’s, I saw the skateboard magazine photographs of all the original pool skaters. Most of them came from a surfing background. They had style. It oozed from their pores. I can see the photographs even now. Shogo Kubo, Roy Jamison, Kent Senatore, Jayboy, TA… all of them had that thing that separated them from most others. Great style. Over the years, there have been a few super stylish skateboarders. In my opinion, a skater can do every trick in the world, but if he looks bad doing it… well, there we are. There are skaters that look good doing even the simplest things… effortless. Quiet upper body. Flow. Some skaters just have that thing. I was watching the Am Tec a few years ago and saw it again. Heimana Reynolds. Pure style. He is from Hawaii. He surfs, skates and is about as cool as one can be. It isn’t hard to see the reason once you meet his father. Epic human. Heimana was on an absolute tear this year at the Combi contest but a slam took him out…  literally. He left on a stretcher but made it back to watch the finals. I personally think he has the potential to light that building on fire next time around. It will be a great thing to see. I asked Heimana a few questions and here is what he had to say. Enjoy- Ozzie

Heimana Reynolds

BTO-  How much do you skate and what do you ride the most? Vert, street or bowls?

Heimana-  I try to skate as much as I can, probably about three to five times a week. I skate everything from flat ground to curbs to street to vert and bowl. I usually get warmed up skating street then work my way to skating bowl. I’ll go up to the vert ramp and then usually I end skating street again. I vary things.

BTO- How much influence does surfing have on your skateboarding?

Heimana-  It has a lot of influence on my skateboarding because I am lucky enough to do it almost everyday with good waves and warm water. Surfing and skating definitely work hand in hand. My skating helps my surfing and my surfing helps my skating.

BTO- How do you learn new tricks and what inspires you to do so?

Heimana-  I learn new tricks by thinking of them in a skate session and trying them out. If they work and I like it then I keep trying and trying until I hopefully land it. I get my inspiration from seeing really good skating from other skaters or skating with my friends and feeding off of each other.

BTO- Is there anything you really want to learn that you haven’t yet?

Heimana-  Of course there are a lot of tricks out there that I want to learn, but ultimately I just want to get better at everything and keep learning.

BTO- Favorite trick that you do?

Heimana-  My favorite trick has definitely got to be a Madonna. I like to see how far I can kick my foot out and I like to see how loud I can slap my tail.

BTO- Influences (pros past or present)?

Heimana-  Some of my biggest influences were of course my dad and my family but as a grom my biggest pro influences were the boys from “The Search for Animal Chin.” I watched it so many times I could repeat all the lines and call out the tricks. I especially liked it when they came to Hawaii and skated the famous Wallos ditch located in my neighborhood.

BTO- Favorite places to skate?

Heimana-  I enjoy skating my home parks here in Hawaii with my boys. But I also really enjoy traveling to California to skate with all my friends there. I spend a lot of time at Combi, DC Ramp, and Woodward.

BTO- Future plans?

Heimana- My future plans are to finish school, and keep trying to get better at skateboarding and surfing. I enjoy competing and traveling to new places. There are so many surf and skate spots all over the world to be ridden. I plan to stay involved with skateboarding as much as I can. My family owns a successful skate shop and skate park here on the islands so skateboarding will always be a part of my future.

Thank you to Heimana for the words and MRZ, Landon Hayashi, N. Bustamante and Dan Sparagna for the images. Skate- Ozzie