It has a way of locking him into the present allowing him to enter a state of acute awareness and heightened consciousness it is a form of meditation. The problem is that the euphoric experience ends with the inevitable deceleration.Īccordingly, Slomo has created his skating technique around perpetual motion. It’s the reason we jump out of airplanes, become ski bums, or wait in absurdly long lines to get on roller coasters. Slomo explained that there is something about the feeling of acceleration that people love, so much in fact that it has the power to change them (check out the documentary for the scientific explanation). When I say its an art I mean its done inside yourself (pointing to his head), a sport is done out here (pointing towards the street)” “This is all an art,” Slomo explained of his roller blading, in a slow pensive southern drawl, “it’s not a sport. He began expressing his desire to go for a ride and then launched into a 45 minute introduction to his gliding philosophy.

Amidst the crowded boardwalk he barely saw the board rolling up, we got off as he examined it with considerable interest, enthusiasm, and admiration. Honestly, we were star struck and needed a moment to collect ourselves as he came into view, clad in his classic blue tank top, fishing cap, and of course, skates. We met Slomo on the Pacific Beach boardwalk after a long morning shooting video footage at dawn. It turns out he is also a big Onewheel fan, and after an impressive demo session at our shop, he connected us with the man, the myth, the legend, Slomo. We were blown away after watching the documentary and shot an email over to Josh expressing our kudos.

John, who is now known only as Slomo, has spent every day of the last 16 years perfecting his unusual signature skating style and has grown into a folk hero and local legend. Slomo chronicles the life of John Kitten, a man who left a successful medical practice for a simple existence slowly gliding down San Diego’s Pacific Beach boardwalk on a pair of trusty roller blades. A couple months back we stumbled upon an award-winning documentary produced by Josh Izenburg titled Slomo.

Slomo san diego