see if you can spot it
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Still flying high
By IZUAN SHAH
Aggressive inline skate wizards Eito and Takeshi Yasutoko have been at the top of the pro game for five years now – and they’re not even 25. IZUAN SHAH finds out what Malaysians can expect from the brothers at the sixth Asian X Games next week.
CALLING from their native Japan, with friendly translator at hand, the Yasutoko brothers were greeted by reporters from one magazine, one website and two daily newspapers.
“Oh, okay. Big interview,” were Eito’s first words, drawing collective laughter and breaking the ice. Uttered carefully in his slow drawl, presumably with the same lovable ear-to-ear grin Asian X Games audiences have seen on the vert ramp and on the big screens, Eito’s talkativeness signalled that he was in the mood to talk skating.
The older brother is the more proficient in English of the two, doing most of the talking when not in need of the translator.
Takeshi Yasutoko in performance. --Photos by Simon Yap
Eito, 23, and Takeshi, 20, have been busy in the last six months. In their hardworking tradition, the pair have kept their heads down to focus on what they do best – perfecting their unique, pioneering skating styles and inventing awesome new tricks for the inline skating world to follow.
With a lot of spare time this year in between just the single ASA Pro Tour to keep them on their competitive toes since late last year, they have plenty of energy reserved to wow Malaysian crowds with their virtuoso inline demonstration routines. And the tricks just keep on coming.
Eito recently landed a 360-degree back flip in front of a home crowd – a feat inline skating pundits would have deemed impossible a year ago.
“It’s that new trick I did, right? Uh, how did you know that?” asked a bemused Eito when this was brought to his attention. The skater (who has coined and executed tricks like the fearsome 1440 flat spin, which involves four complete mid-air spins where the body is suspended horizontally in mid-air) reveals that this latest trick was mastered during a stint at Camp Woodward in the United States.
“I went to Woodward and got the opportunity to try many new things, and this was one of them. I’m not sure if I’m ready to try it out in competition though. I would love to try some other new tricks in Kuala Lumpur next month but I have a knee injury,” revealed Eito, whose name means “eight” in Japanese (he was given the moniker by his famous roller skater father).
Takeshi, “the Japanese bullet”, has just as many X Games and Gravity Games gold medals as his older sibling and has inspired with his personalised 1080 Mac Twist.
The eighth Asian X Games, presented by Kia, returns to these parts on May 12. The Yasutokos, along with their hot Brazilian equivalent, the “samba skate princess” Fabiola da Silva, will be the celebrated centrepieces of the competition.
Eito says that fans have a lot to look forward to, and should have plenty of reason to be just as excited as they are about next month’s Asian X, which could bear witness to history in the making.
“There are personal records I still have to break and who knows what Takeshi can do on his day. We have tricks and routines we have never done before, and this will be another great opportunity,” said Eito.
Takeshi, who holds the world record for the biggest air (or highest jump) ever seen on a vert ramp, adds that the Malaysian crowd has the power to “get us going to do something really unexpected” and beyond even their own super abilities.
Inline fans have always debated who the better skater among the brothers is the fair truth is that both have different skating styles, each with his own specialties and tricks of the trade.
Eito’s fluid, hard-driving and highly technical style is an example for pro skaters worldwide while Takeshi’s spectacular, high-flying nimbleness is the stuff that dazzles crowds and inspires young skaters to devote themselves to the craft.
Whether during guest demonstrations, exhibitions and best trick competitions or competitive runs, followers of the Yasutoko brothers have seen that on any given day, either could have the upper hand depending on their mood and form.
And that hasn’t changed now either – the dynamic duo continue to push each other’s seemingly limitless abilities in a pair of roller blades to the hilt.
“Our personal styles are very different. We’re good at different things. Whenever we go out to compete, sometimes I win and sometimes Eito wins. It’s never a question of who is better. I don’t really feel I’ve had the upper hand over my brother,” said Takeshi.
How much of their success is due to each other?
“I cannot count (my success) in medals – there are a lot of them,” chuckled Eito. He shares that although they train less with each other nowadays compared to training together daily a couple of years ago, they always encourage each other.
“When we’re skating against each other, we compete against each other the same way that we compete against other competitors. It’s not like we feel any different, like we are competing brother against brother, but it’s just a natural competition against another skater,” Takeshi explained.
Around the world, the siblings are revered as breathtaking performers and the best in the game, but back home, according to Takeshi, there is still much to hope for when it comes to getting more Japanese talent to take up the game professionally and rise up as world-beaters.
“While I don’t think I would have started skating if I didn’t have professional skaters as parents, I really do hope more Japanese show their interest and join us. I do hope to empower more young skaters from my country and the whole of Asia to express themselves and excel in skating,” he said.
How many years of being at the very top does 23-year-old Eito have left in him? And will life always be about inline skating and action sports for him and Takeshi?
“I feel I have a good 10 years left – I’ll be 33 then, but I’m in no rush now,” said Eito who dreams of becoming “a legendary pro skater”. He also shares his interests in photography, design, film directing and even songwriting, all of which he writes about on his personal online space for fans (www.cabin8.info). Takeshi, meanwhile, wants to help his brother and his parents keep the family’s company, Good Skates, going when he retires from competitive skating.
For the time being though, there’s no slowing down the brilliant Yasutoko brothers, and skates will be flying in KL next month, when the time comes for the duo to lay down their famous doubles routine on the vert ramp.
# Catch Eito and Takeshi Yasutoko in action at the upcoming Asian X Games presented by Kia, which runs from May 12 to 14 at Sunway Lagoon, Petaling Jaya. For event details, log on to
www.asianxgames.com. For more information on the Yasutoko brothers, visit their skate company’s website at
www.goodskates.com.
thestar.com.my/youth2/story.asp?file=/2006/5/3/youth2/13956758&sec=youth2
