Keith Sasaki

Keith Sasaki is without question one of the most important Dropkneers of all time. He made DK radical in the '80's by bringing in the swift, fluid, functional turns of stand up surfing, punchy lip blasts of ramp skating, and the quick 360 combinations of prone bodyboarding and mixing them all together to create a blueprint for modern Dropknee.

Keith was Paul Roach's primary influence during Roach's developmental stage (check the Roach interview on 'The Lackey Project' dvd for some great insight and anecdotes on Keith's influence upon Roach), and he made Dropknee not just more attractive and functional, but also  more accessible. What I mean by that is the moves Keith did were moves kids could attempt all over the world in pretty much any kind of surf. You didn't need macking Pipe (or even hollow waves) to begin attempting DK snaps, floaters and 360s, and I think this really made a huge difference to the history of Dropknee - effectively, Keith brought 'tech' to Dropknee.

Another massive achievement of Sasaki was his competition history. He won the first Bud Pro Tour riding 100% DK. And back when the Pipe contest served as a one stop 'World Championship' in bodyboarding (i.e before any world tour), Keith placed 4th in 1986 and 3rd in 1989, again riding 100% DK. These are incredible achievements that will almost certainly never be repeated.

If you can track down the old Morey video 'On The Edge', you can see footage of all the Pipe contests up until '91 and there's plenty of footage of Sasaki displaying his phenomenal, futuristic DK surfing.

Here's Keith talking about being a pro bodyboarder back in 1988...

Sasaki joined the Wave Rebel team in the early '90's and had a series of his own board models that were popular worldwide...

In the short history of Dropknee, Keith Sasaki is comparable to Tom Curren - both shaped the future of their respective sports with smooth, flowing lines and a forward thinking approach to their art. Both went on to majorly influence their respective sport's 'prodigal sons' (Sasaki - Roach. Curren - Slater). Also, both relocated to France!

Fu Man Chu - Dragon Whips It's Tail

The Joseph Libby/Scott Carter directed all Dropknee masterpiece, Fu Man Chu is pretty much universally lauded as being a stone cold classic. It features DK gods Kainoa Mcgee, Paul Roach and Aka Lyman at their absolute prime, as well as so many other DK legends both overground and underground.

Since Fu Man Chu was made there have only been 2 (what!!??) all DK movies as far as I know - the Libby/Mcgee directed 'Untouchables' which is kind of a sequel to Fu Man Chu, and Matt Lackey's epic 'The Lackey Project' in which Lackey dedicated a bunch of time to surfing, filming and editing some great footage and also managed to give the world that rarest of golds - a new Roach section.

There needs to be more all DK movies and hopefully the phenomenal quality of Fu Man Chu will inspire more to be made in the future. 

Paul Roach - Bodyboarding Enough Said

The section that changed it all. Paul Roach's notorious profile from the Scott Carter directed 'Enough Said, released 1993. No one had seen Dropknee like this before. Roach's speed, precision and flawless style were on another level. Factor into that his newfound 'Throw Tail' moves and you had something truly revolutionary.

  

 Just to put into context how ahead of it's time this clip was - Try imagining that this clip is released now, exactly as it was then, only you've never heard of Paul Roach. Your reaction now would be exactly as it was back then - this kid would be the best DKer on Earth now.

Nothing about the surfin' is dated, or 'of it's time'. It's just pure genius. "One of these days we're gonna stop spinnin', and you know what's gonna happen then...?"

Jack 'da rippa' Lindholm - Founding Father of Dropknee riding...

The founding father of Dropknee, Jack Lindholm, began riding in the DK stance when attempting to stand up on his boogie in the pounding shallows of Sandy Beach in 1975 - he accidentally ended up with one leg up and one knee down and found it be a functional method of wave riding, the rest, as they say, is history.

A true legend, Jack then took his new stance to huge Pipeline and began blowing minds in both the bodyboard and stand up surfing worlds, leaving onlookers slack jawed as he popped up into this unique stance, dropped to the bottom of heaving Pipe monsters, grabbed his outside rail and proceeded to scoop his now trademark huge bottom turns.

This haphazard, creative, slightly maverick birth of Dropknee is one of the many factors that sets it apart in the modern age - a wave riding style performed, originally, on a board that was in no way designed for this use. It was the pure originality, incredible inventiveness and phenomenal talent of Lindholm that kick started it all, something every modern Dropkneer should be both aware of, and grateful for.

Jack took his Dropknee riding to Morey World Championships at Pipe and achieved phenomenal success placing 2nd in 1982, 4th in 1983 and 3rd in 1984.

Jack went on to star in many of the Tom Boyle directed 'Bodyboarders Video Magazine' series. Hunt down (if you can find it) 'The Indonesian Experience', and enjoy the legendary 'dropknee duel' section between Jack and a young Kainoa Mcgee.

Jack Lindholm was also the first ever Dropknee rider to have a signature board model. He had a board out on Wave Rebel in 1989 (why don't they make deck colors this rad anymore!?).

To sign off, here's a short clip of Jack DKing Pipe in '94. Check out the brutal, signature bottom turn on the 2nd wave - I've never seen a DKer scoop as hard or deep as Lindholm could. He turns so hard that literally only his inside tail corner is in the water, the other 95% of the board is out! Insane...