martii/justin

[2flat2furious]

Justin also never rode for riches or fame or anything. He just seriously wanted to be the best. Honestly I think he got there.

Maybe, but got a different impression of him from plenty of stories that I've heard. These 'rumors' if you want to call them could be false, but after a while of hearing them, I think there is probably some amount of truth behind it.

Justin and I used to talk when i was going to bed and he was getting up to ride. I rode all night and he rode in the early morning. Right after the worlds in 2004 he told me he wanted to rip out a fingernail with pliers for every place he was away from first. He wanted to win, and he wanted to be the best. Trust me.

[locky]

surely there is enough riders now doing things just as good..

forget these guys who are not riding anymore, what about whats happening now. didnt we just have some sweet contest go down. with a bunch of riders chilling and riding for the love of it.

would you really want some guy with a "must win" attitude turning up to anything and killing the vibe.

[locky]

whats this about martti, flipping a bird? @ COB ?

I remember watching the 03 xgames and seeing how pissed off he was.
Scary face on him

[2flat2furious]

would you really want some guy with a "must win" attitude turning up to anything and killing the vibe.

Honestly? Yes. It would be a nice alternative to what we've had the last few years.

[Flatgod]

Justin also never rode for riches or fame or anything. He just seriously wanted to be the best. Honestly I think he got there.

Maybe, but got a different impression of him from plenty of stories that I've heard. These 'rumors' if you want to call them could be false, but after a while of hearing them, I think there is probably some amount of truth behind it.

Justin and I used to talk when i was going to bed and he was getting up to ride. I rode all night and he rode in the early morning. Right after the worlds in 2004 he told me he wanted to rip out a fingernail with pliers for every place he was away from first. He wanted to win, and he wanted to be the best. Trust me.

I think now from what you just told me that I was misinterpreting his attitude and behavior as being influenced by money, but it seems like he was more interested in contest placings than anything else. This to me isn't far different.

Still, riders in the past have been considered the 'best' without ever even going to contests. He was a really good rider no doubt and in my mind one does not have to get high contest placings in order for people to see that they are good. I never had to see him in a contest to know that he was exceptional and it wouldn't matter what he placed in order to make that determination.

In either case I think he just put way too much pressure on himself in regard to false motivations.

[Flatgod]

And nowadays so many people have taken the tricks from those videos and made them normal that maybe I don't realize how crazy they were when they were invented.

This is part of what you're doing yes.

Am I wrong though, didn't he give it up in part because he had overdone it in the past or something like that? He didn't stop because he lost interest or was injured. I guess he did get a real job around that time so money was likely part of it.

What exactly do you mean by overdoing it? As far as I know he quit awhile back and then started up again. He has made some references to his physical health and the toll flatland has taken on it. He did get a job at some point too, but he was also riding at that same time.

[Flatgod]

Well actually nobody does most of those tricks haha.

This is also true and is probably because most people still can't even come close to touching much of the sh*t he has done -- even things from long ago. I would also suggest watching his MK Moments solo dvd as well as Impulsivity if you have not already done so. A lot of it is mind blowing.

My best guess as to why he quit recently is because I don't think it is much of a challenge for him anymore. Without the challenge, he doesn't really have much motivation for it. He might not even realize this himself or maybe he just doesn't want to say it in fear of sounding arrogant.

There are only two riders in the world that I can think of who actually heavily incorporated kick flips into their riding on a regular basis and those are the two people we are speaking of right now.

[Bri-jon]

old global-flat is back I miss this depth discussions.


I never met Justin or Martti but I heard alot about how Justin was like at comps. But its his choice.


Think it would be cool if he could clam down and do a odd comp once a year so he still can see old friends and show up the scene. But life is life.

[2flat2furious]

In either case I think he just put way too much pressure on himself in regard to false motivations.

Uhh what? The guy had goals and set out on a warpath of progression in order to achieve them. How can you dismiss that because he wanted to place well?

I mean honestly, do you think every competing pro out now there is any different? Justin just never put on any fake bullsh*t through all of it. He was there to ride, not jump around for the cameras.

[wolverines]

TRUE STORY;

I remember a few years back Justin was at a contest in Cleveland, threw his bike and almost took out TRANQ'S brother......darn.

[2flat2furious]

TRUE STORY;

I remember a few years back Justin was at a contest in Cleveland, threw his bike and almost took out TRANQ'S brother......darn.

Good thing he didn't hit Tranq or else Justin would have been knee deep in lawsuits am i right?

[locky]

Zinnnngggggg

[Flatgod]

In either case I think he just put way too much pressure on himself in regard to false motivations.

Uhh what? The guy had goals and set out on a warpath of progression in order to achieve them. How can you dismiss that because he wanted to place well?

I mean honestly, do you think every competing pro out now there is any different? Justin just never put on any fake bullsh*t through all of it. He was there to ride, not jump around for the cameras.

I can't dismiss it and of course other pros do the same thing, but if that is ALL some of them are riding for then I personally don't agree with it. You can progress without contests, you can have fun without contests, and you can even be considered the 'best' without them.

Justin took contests too seriously and too literally. Who cares if some random judges have a different opinion that week especially when often times they are unsubstantiated (as you already know since many judges don't know their ass from a hole in ground)? I don't need some random dude somewhere tell me that this is good or that he/she is bad or whatever. Whether they are participants or spectators, those who depend on contests placings to do the thinking for them can't think for themselves.

I respect and even like that he wasn't there to put on some false sense of character but things are obviously getting out of control when he is literally getting violent tendencies because of it. Contests placings to me were always arbitrary and are often times meaningless.

[jm]

old global-flat is back I miss this depth discussions.

I never met Justin or Martti but I heard alot about how Justin was like at comps. But its his choice.


Think it would be cool if he could clam down and do a odd comp once a year so he still can see old friends and show up the scene. But life is life.

Even though everyone doesn't usually agree, I think it's awesome that this type of discussion is still possible in a central worldwide flatland forum.

[ortho]

Well contests are a complex thing. I mean they are more than meaningless in that they can at least show who rode best that day by actually landing their links in their runs. Being that super-dialed where you can nail everything in a contest is an insane level of riding that I will never aspire to although I thank Justin for showing us what that looks like. I agree in some sense that contests are meaningless in that I think the creative sides of flatland are more juicy and good for the soul than trying to force some olympic type metrics with numbers into what we do. I grew up as a skater and contests in that world definitely were no indication of who we really admired.