Sunday, March 4, 2012

What is a Busenitz?


It was a typical Friday afternoon as I entered Prahran Skate park. I was immediately greeted by my ten year old buddy, Brody, who was excited that he had landed an Ollie out of the bowl. Then, as I walked to the area where I normally place my items, someone flew past me executing a perfect smith grind spanning several meters.         

'What on earth was that?' I asked a familiar local. 'Busenitz!', he exclaimed.
My mind processed the word and came up with three definitions:

1. Busenitz: expensive and stylish Adidas skate shoes that I really wanted to purchase from the local skate shop but couldn't afford;
2. Busenitz: a word Raph Brous mentions whenever we arrive at a huge gap between two obstacles which we can only dream of ollying;
3. Busenitz: (abbr. Boozen [to drink alcohol] + Yetzt [Yiddish for now]) I.e. an invitation to get drunk.

Assuming that I wasn't being invited to have a drink, I eliminated the third definition on account of its irrelevance and tried to make sense of the others. Realizing that the Busenitz that flew by me was a person, it suddenly struck me that Busenitz may be his name. Then, as I enviously spied the Busenitz shoes he was wearing (suffering from severe psychological dissonance as I grappled not to transgress the Tenth Commandment: 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour...) it dawned upon me that Busenitz is a professional skater after whom a particular Adidas shoe is named. Then, after watching him skate for just a few minutes, observing the incredible speeds at which he performed tricks, and seeing him transform what to me seemed like a reasonably sized park with decent sized gaps into a little parking spot with a few pot holes, I also grasped why his name is associated with the bridging of large gaps.

I now have another definition of 'Busenitz':

4. Busenitz, Dennis, is a professional skater from the U.S. considered by many to be one of the top street skaters in the world. The hallmark of his skating is the ferocious speed with which he performs his tricks and his ability to make apparently insurmountable gaps seem small...      
    

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