Kenzo has balls. Big ones, made of steel, which steel is actually an alloy, a mixture, if you will, of several different elements, including, but not limited to: iron, aluminum, carbon, and nickel (that sentence has more appropriately used commas I've ever used at one time. Proud of myself). Yeah, that's right, nickel. It's an element, not just a monetary coin, and if you don't believe me, pull out that little periodic chart you carry in your back pocket and do some fact checking.
You've already got me off topic. I met Kenzo in December last year right when I got back from Italy. AJ had told me about him one time when we were chatting on gmail, and he said that this Asian kid moved to Provo and he skated really fast. I imagined a little Chinese kid pushing as fast as he could through a Smiths parking lot and didn't find that image too impressive. Then I got back from Italy and met up with AJ and a bunch of other kids at that treacherous rebar flat gap that chews up your skateboard. I saw Kenzo ride around and do a flat ground nollie flip, and it was one of the most impressive nollie flips I've ever seen in person. Then he did a bunch of tricks over the gap and ended the session by tweaking his ankle, which is usually how Kenzo ended his sessions. I liked him after that, and we became good friends immediately.
Kenzo's super funny because he says the most random but truly honest things. Like the time he told me that he saw my old videos and thought that I was a ripper. Then he saw me skate in person, and no longer thought I was a ripper. Or when he said that he was impressed I still get out and make skate videos, even if I'm getting old. Or when he introduced me to other people by saying, "this is Jon... He's like 30 years old! He's a dad!" All that made me appreciate Kenzo and try not to disappoint him when we went skating and filming. Hearing him talk about me like an old man actually really motivated me to try and film stuff, just to spite my age, I guess. Anyway, Kenzo is a unique friend in that he is completely honest with you, fun to hang out and talk with, and way fun to skate with.
I think his part does a really good job of showing how good and diverse he is. Also, it shows how fast he skates, because, like AJ said, he really does skate fast. All the time. Every trick he does is popped 4 feet in the air while traveling at speeds that could create sonic booms, and he doesn't bail. Ok, I've seen him bail a few times, but he's definitely stuck his tricks more often than he's bailed, which is always inspiring to be around.
What really impressed me with Kenzo's part was how much he was able to film while being hurt. He messed up his ankles way back when and never had the patience to let them heal. So he kept skating, then jacked up some other parts of his body. He'd always come out with us under the oath that he wasn't going to do anything hard, just watch. A couple tries later he'd pull off some crazy trick or line, and he'd be one step closer to finishing his part. So he literally filmed his entire part while being perpetually hurt.
The 360 flip down the rock gap at the first of his part, the back lip on lion's park ledge, and the crooked grind on the out rail at the village apartment complex are some of my favorite tricks of his. The 360 flip was maybe 3rd try, and he told me not to film, but I wasn't going to pass that up. That was the first trick I filmed of him, and it blew my mind. Oh yeah, that super tall nose slide he did at the the end of his part as well, that was the same day as the 360 flip. That was insane because I seriously thought that rail was unskateable. He looked at it, got really excited and said, "yeah... yeah, I got this!" Then without hesitating or bailing once he started jumping straight onto that rail.
I really like Kenzo's song. We were thinking of using it for AJ in the last video, but it didn't possess that kind of anger that AJ needs while skating (he's a very angry individual...), so it didn't work. But I think it fits Kenzo's style perfectly, and it makes his part one of my favorite of any of our videos we've made.
Kenzo ended his filming a week before the rest of us because he seriously hurt his foot and ankle trying to 360 a super huge drop in heavy wind, then he tore his ACL 2 days after the premier. But even then, it takes the controlled efforts of everyone to convince him to stay off his board until after his surgery and it's all healed up. I'm excited to see what he is doing in a couple months from now when his knee, ankles, and feet are all good, and he's at 100%, seeing what he did when he was hurt.
With that being said, Kenzo is definitely one of the most talented, gutsy, inspiring people I've ever skated with, and I'm so glad I got to know him and film with him the last couple months. To end this blog post, I want to give a very honest and sincere thanks to Kenzo. Making this video was so much fun, but it was still pretty hard a lot of times because I was super busy with school, my wife having a baby, and getting ready to move across the country. But Kenzo very often would tell me how grateful he was that I was taking the time to film and make this video, and that always boosted my spirits to know that my efforts were appreciated. A couple days after the premier, after he had already busted his knee and could have been really bummed out, Kenzo sent me a text that said, "Thanks so much for all the time you put into Bolts of Thunder 4. I will treasure that movie forever! Thank you for being a fun mentor, filming with everyone was really enjoyable! I'll buy you a subway if I ever see you again." Of all the complements or thank yous I've gotten from the video, this one for some reason means a little more than the rest, mostly because I know that it's straight from the heart and as sincere as they come. And because he promised me food. You're welcome Kenzo, it was one of the funnest things I've done in my life! And the next time I'm in Utah, Kenzo, I'm taking you up on your offer! Awesome job on your part, Kenzo!!!!!
he's so fast!
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