Issue 1
December 2016
Sighkick Mag
A Kenyan Skateboard Magazine
_Features
David “Ngis ” Mwangi “Monkey Vibes” Video Tips On Skateboarding Cool Skate Spots
Skatebaord History Skate Equipments
_Content
Backgorund:: a pic on the gap a trick being done.
Give content by Page, maybe thank the brands involved including SSK and Leo, Pioneers who paved the way and light for this amg to happen.
_Editorial- Pg 2
Magazine Team Saviour Kumwaka
Edwin Mangoe David Mwangi
Samuel Maguta
Shuyin Ben
Sydney Yongo
Leo Kilel
_’Ngis’ Interview- Pg 3
_Cool Skate Pictures- Pg 6
_Skateboard Tips- Pg 7
_Fav Skate Spots- Pg 8
_Comics and Toons- Pg 9
_Skateboarding History- Pg 10
_Skate Equipments- Pg 13
Contact US sighkickmag@gmail.com sighkickmag.wordpress.com
@Sighkickmag +254703943070
_Pictorials- Pg 14-16
_Editorial
The Sighkick Mag is all about telling the Kenyan story through Skateboarding. All skater owned. It has been here for a year now, in idea form, but now as you can see has flipped in to a page and I can’t wait for you to see what’s in store, on our First Issue. I’m a writer, an artist and science enthusiast. I started skating in 2012, and after frustrating searches for online for Skate articles and materials, I decided to take it upon me to write stuff on Kenyan skateboarding, in 2013.That’s on my blog (http://nimimiblog.wordpress.com). And well I saw it wise to dive in on it with this cool piece of mag. Skateboarding played a big part in my life, I discovered I could write cool articles. And this is just giving back to the community and also give a relevant voice to skate fam in Kenya. 2016 has been a great year for skateboarding, from been on big budget adverts (read BLAZE here), Skate videos coming; ”Good Wheat” and “Monkey Vibes”, this mag too LOL. can’t wait to see what 2017 has for us.
Saviour Kumwaka Producer & Editor
In this mag we’ve covered David Ngis Mwangi, few tips on skating and equipments buying. As well as the Kenya’s Skateboarding history, and a fun Toons and Comics section. I dedicate this mag is for those skateboarders who pioneered way back in the early 2000s, Skateboarding Society of Kenya, all supporters and skateboarders locally and internationally. You paved the way for this growth and also this mag Go out discover yourself. Grab that board and sigh as you kick through the streets and the cool spots around. And enjoy this mag.
Special thanks to Skateboarding Society of Kenya (SSK) for supporting this Mag
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_Feature Interview
David “Ngis” Mwangi
By Saviour Kumwaka
Who's David Mwangi? I guess I’m someone trying not to be a poser. Not just in skating, but life in general. The later part is very ambiguous but I think the general idea is there. How’s skateboarding in Kenya? Skateboarding in Kenya is super good. Not because of how good everyone is but because of how closely knit the society is. How fast anyone interested can learn about not being a kook and integrate some sort of skate culture in their individual lives.
Stance: Goofy
Fav Trick: : Nollie heel and Feeble Grind
Couldn't agree more with you`on that filming more part. When did you start skateboarding? I started skating around November or December 2011 with some shitty Joerex board. But some 2 weeks later it got run over by a lorry. So I stopped for like a month or two till Leo gave me an Almost deck. The tail was snapped but their is no choosing when you are a beggar. Learnt how to ollie with it in early 2012. LOL le struggle maahn, so how did you get into skating? I think Solomon Kaigua (Solo) got me into it. I can't remember what he told me but Im sure I saw some wicked rocket ollie from him and decided rocket ollies was going to be my new challenge :-)
How has skateboarding progressed since you started? About the progression, I think its not where its supposed to considering there haven't been that many "legit" full videos since 'Wakeup'. There's been less than 5 individual parts since Victor Murages insane street part. Kelvin Maina is still killing it with his Good Wheat videos but I think we just need more content. Film more guys :-)
Tell us about your new 2016 SL28 skate video, "Monkey Vibes" with George Zuko. We started having ideas about one after Kiaro left in 2015. As a dedication. Filmed on and off with Sam and George. Never really that serious. Up until like 6 months ago when we decided it was taking too long and had to just get it over with. Its been hectic because I only have kickflips on lock so I had to learn other tricks. Like taking them to spots. Had to deal with a wrist thing. Not sure exactly what it is. What else apart from skateboarding? Apart from skating? I think I #$@?h a lot :-) Some Maria Abramovic now and then. Origami making is sort of f$%&d up. Being a poser in lots of other stuff.
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_Feature Interview
Ollie at Kile
Ollie at Uhuru Park Gap
Showing the shoes of their laborWith Fello Skaters
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_Feature Interview David “Ngis� Mwangi
Facebook: David Mwangi Instagram: Full_ofBeans Your take on how the skate scene has grown. The skate scene has exponentially grown since I started. I can remember when Vick was filming for his street part around 2012. Sam, Jean, Mark, and I, used to carry our boards on Thursdays because Vick was always there trying to film. So sesh during the week kinda started having some roots then. I'm specifically referring to Uhuru park because people just had their own little skate sessions at home or wherever. There is definitely growth outside Nairobi. The Eldoret crew is dope. Not much about Nakuru except from you but so far so good. Positive direction in general. Also your take the way skateboarding has blown up this year? Skating blowing up is a good thing. That means all of us can entertain that dream of making a life out of it a bit more vivid. Sure there is going to be lots of misrepresentation on what it really is but that always fades. Even if it doesn't posers always quit Posers suck btw. ..Experience in skateboarding? Getting arrested and kicked out of spots will be a more frequent occurrence but that's also a good thing. Makes for nice stories to tell. Unless you end up in a Kamiti for not making bail and your ass has to do the talking. The future and challenges? I think the growth rate at some point will skyrocket. But having a self sustaining scene is no where around the corner. Probably in like 10 or so years. Or 20. The biggest challenge is still stuff. And poverty. Hahaha
Haha brathe! And you were selected, together with Kelvin Maina, last year 2015 to rep Kenya at Kimberly Diamond Cup, WTF happened? The Kimberly Diamond Cup? Lets just say it was poor management and follow through from those guys. We were getting the necessary papers like 2 days before the contest and it still wasn't enough. Some other time maybe. Word of advise to the woooden toy lovers Skatewise? For guys just starting out I think diversity is key. Personally I think most of us from the Nairobi scene skate pretty much the same as far as style and approach is concerned. So monotonous. Shout out to KK for doing his thing. And Manu from Eldi for looking at things differently. Lifewise? Try and find more stuff to do. Skate life is the best life for sure but their is nothing wrong with missing the occasional sesh or two pursuing other life thrills. Bonus advice for new skaters... I don't know. Just what I've said above, try and look at things differently. The scene doesn't need another linear approach skater. That part of my life was kinda put on pause but we'll see how life goes. That’s all for now Cheers man. That was sorta fun. Cheers man, had fun too 5.
_Cool Pictures
Livu, Kassy, George Zuko Old and modern day freedom fighters
Left Top - Bottom Right Michael Laini, Kickflip Vincent Kavita, Boneless Sydney Yongo, Boardslide
Photos: Cartoon Lifestyle and SSK
_10 Skateboarding Tips Now you’ve decided to partake on this wooden toy’s adventures. You just coped your first board and ready for whatever. Then get off those Youtube vids and hit the street or the park near you. As you pursue to push and kick, here are some useful tips to help you maneuver these +254 streets.
1. Always secure your fare back home. If you can’t skate to your mama’s house because of distance..just have your fare back home 2. Carry an extra bearing(s) You might not use it but you might end up saving the day by helping out a fellow mate while you’re skatevenging out there deep in the wild.
3. Know the guards but don’t befriend them because they suck!
LOL joke. But really, they used to let you skate at the building sides and stairs until this new manager called “Insecurity” came in. All in all you’ll find respect goes both ways.
4. You will not have enough of the ‘utaacha meno chini’ comments. Much like the “Mtaachana tu” and other Kenyan “Proverbs.”
“It aint no fun unless the homies have some”
5. Avoid skating alone downtown at night. Sometimes it’s hard to resist the urge to hit up some obstacles down there at night with no traffic and many people. But beware of thugging and Obs. Common urban logic 6. Help out your board but keep it on your bird eye’s view.
The welcoming nature really makes the skate fam stand out. (That’s how i got hooked). The boards are challenging to come by so we help out to the “freshmen” . Unfortunately, some come with other intentions. There have been cases of boards theft (and this is not nice) so always be on the watch for your board and know who you’re giving it to.
7. Avoid the city’s pavements and sidewalks and also Parliament Road, you can be arrested. There’s a law against that. As you proudly annoy pedestrians just hope no Kanjo is in the loop for some drama. But you can hit up some cool spots.
8. A light lunch snack.
You don’t want that long-nature to come calling at a wrong time. More on starch/energy foods and lots of water.
9. If it rains, it reigns havoc. You know that saying – “It’s slippery when wet” This is just a turn off when skating. Unless if you’re geting laid :) :)
10. Get off the mall and hit the streets or the Park. To some of you
that skateboard stays longer in the hand than on your feet.
Bonus: 11. Know where to find fellow skates, then keep in touch.
If there’s a cool spot let others know, there’s no fun if the hommies can’t have some.
Written by Saviour Kumwaka Photos: SSK
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_Cool Skate Spots
Have photos of cool spots around Nairobi, and tell readers to check the blog for the maps to location
As a skater skate spots will becomes important to you as time goes by. They are cool hag out places as well as a good place to challenge your self more on skateboarding For today I‘ll list cool skate spots we’ve discovered around Nairobi. 1. Uhuru Park- is one of the oldies skate spot. Public place with Manny pad, Gap, Stairs..This can refer as the skate park we had before Shangilia Skatepark. 2. Shangilia Skatepark - It’s the first skatepark in Kenya, in Loreto near Kangemi. The experience here is worth it. 3. Sunken Carpark- In the city’s CBD, near Nairobi Cinema. The chill out zone in the evening 4. UON - Nairobi University, When Uhuru Park is occupied, this becomes the second spot. 5. Hills of Kileleshwa - If you’re a cruising person, you’ll love these steep downhills 6. TUK - Technical University of Kenya, there’s some nice ledges here so it’s a joint. 7. KU- Kenyatta University, usually has some stairs and high rails
Did I miss a cool spot let me know
@SighkickMag
Photos: SSK & Skateaid
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_Toons and Comics
The story of a cool sesh with the homies By
Michael Laini (Rasta Skater) 9.
_Skateboarding History 1990’s It’s difficult to say the exact year that skateboarding began in Kenya, however it’s safe to say that by the 90’s skateboards had made their way into Kenya mostly through foreigners and Kenyans who had travelled to Europe and America. Skateboarding at this time was mostly a private affair done by the high end Kenyans in the society in the confines of their compounds and the children of foreigners who were working in Nairobi. This continued for a long while.
1995: The Media By 1995 the Kenyan media started broadcasting international sports programs such as Gillette World Sport and Transworld Sport on weekends; this was the first time for most Kenyans to be exposed to this new art, that’s when I also learnt of skateboarding. Family TV a local broadcast station, gave skateboarding a huge boost from around 1998 when they began a new show called G-Rock (Music and Sports). The show was mainly a collection of extreme sport clips edited to soothing soundtracks. They mainly concentrated on skateboarding. They still bring it upto now. Skateboarding was now finding its way into the minds of mostly the younger people but still it was a private affair. The lovers of skateboarding were scattered randomly around Nairobi and they did not know each other. Kids toy stores increased and started stocking old-school skateboards. I bugged my dad for a long time until he finally bought me one, an Ozbozz skateboard, in 1997. Then the Sony Playstation One got to Kenya in 1999. The game Tony Hawk Pro Skater, though not popular then, it eventually grew into popularity and more guys in Kenya got introduced and learned about skateboarding through it, especially most members of our society can attest to this. My first Skateboard After getting my board, I used to skate with my friends in Nairobi at Buruburu Girls high School. But when I joined high school I stopped skateboarding and my parents had us move to another estate in Nairobi. When I cleared high school (2006) I had a lot of free time. So one day as I was at home I remembered my old skateboard, it had stayed under my bed for four years. I took it from under the bed, went outside to ride it but as I did so it snapped and broke. The same year I joined college to pursue a Diploma in Architecture. While on internship I got some money and bought a Joerex skateboard at Nairobi Sport House. This board had the shape like that of a pro skateboard but it wasn’t. I once told my classmate Rene Moturi that I had a skateboard at home and he convinced me to come with it to school. He got so interested and in a few days he bought his own skateboard at a supermarket. 10.
2007: The Crew In 2007, while heading to class, a young man passed by in front of us as he skateboarded down the street. We caught up with him. The skater was Chemi Wambalaba. He introduced us to a scene of approximately 20 more skaters we never knew existed in Kenya. He said they skate on weekends in a place called Uhuru Gardens, a public recreational ground. They had skated Uhuru Garden since 2004. We got absorbed and taught most of the basic skateboarding tricks. We eventually became good friends with them. They had a lot of knowledge and experience as they had lived part of their childhood skating in America and they had pro skateboards that they said they used to buy from skatewarehouse.com. The Pro Team In mid 2007, Kirk Franklin the American musician toured Kenya to perform, and with him tagged along a pro skateboarding team riders of Reliance Skateboard. They did a public demo at Kasarani International Sports Complex in Nairobi, the first one ever to be done in Kenya. Among the team riders were Josh Kasper, LukeBraddock, Uriel, Elijah Moore, Brandoon Wall, Jud Heald and Richard Jefferson. This tour motivated the few riders in Nairobi to keep skating and it showed us that we had a very long way to go in Kenya. The number of skaters was still few just about 20 and 6 regular skaters at Uhuru Gardens. Some came but bailed on us after some weeks but we kept pushing. In February 24th 2009, we were kicked out of Uhuru Garden. We had to find a new place to keep Kenyan skateboarding alive. In the same year, Rene discovered a new spot at Uhuru Park, a public recreational park. We told the crew and sessions were now being held at Uhuru Park on almost all weekends. We still skate it to date!
2010: Birth of SSK Rene also came up with the idea to register a society with the government to help push the skateboarding movement in Kenya and on one of our sessions I presented this idea the crew and they agreed with the idea, so we started the registration process with the government. In June 2nd 2010, the government gave us a certificate recognizing the existence of the Skateboarding Society of Kenya (S.S.K.) and allowed us to pursue our objectives. The skaters chose me Leonard Kilel(Leo) as chairman, Rene Moturi as Vice chairman, Otioli Wambalaba as Secretary, Asim Mughal as vice secretary, Japhet Ominde as Treaasurer, and Victor Mureithi as vice treasurer. We set out with the objective of r epresenting and promoting skateboarding in Kenya. In October 2010, the first skateshop and only one opened in Nairobi. The shop served both Kenya and Tanzania at the moment. The shop ensured we had quality skate products and accessories and has greatly played a role at our increased number. Now the number of skateboarders in Kenya is more than 100. That’s the great history of our skate scene
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_Getting Skate Equipments By Shuyin Ben The first thing you‛re going to have to do before venturing into Skateboarding is getting equipments those are: trucks, bearings, wheels, bushings, griptape, hardware(screws), raisers (optional) and washers(optional). Spare parts are also crucial, with some apparel too. X-One Skateshop, it was a one stop shop for skate equipments along Biashara street, unfortunately it closed down :( Good thing those is you can still get equipments from various local skate brands. Here they are.
Skate Hustle Apparel. Mostly has apparel for example T-Shirts, Hoodies, Caps and stickers. However, Deecy the C.E.O of Skate Hustle is also sort for shoes apart from apparel and stickers. I got really nice ADIO shoes from him. Numbskull Skateboarding. It‛s shrouded in mystery for now but I‛ll give more reviews in my future articles.According to their facebook page they also sell element equipment such as decks.
BADWOOD Skateshop. I‛ve never bought from them but in future I definitely will. They possess mostly equipment from the company Element. But Leo Kilel told me their equipment is good quality. Currently, it‛s not functional. Wanderer skateshop By Livu Iluvi who lives in china. Though focus on requesting skateboarder equipment, apparel and shoes. He‛ll have them shipped for you to Kenya.
+254 Skateboards by Adam. He has decks, trucks (crash), blank wheels of various sizes among other things.
SL28 Skateboarding, they have T-shirts and someboard stickers. They also do skate videos and photograph, see their latest “Monkey Vibes” video.
Arap Skate Distribution is yet another company that can supply you with equipment. On the other hand, it has not officially started its primary objective. But soon it will be operational Shaolin X a.k.a Daniel Gluche (same name on FB). Just a person. In short, Gluche has everything from Skateboarding equipment to apparel namely shirts, wheels, decks (available upon order) and trucks. I used a SBC special edition deck; saying it‛s amazing is an understatement. SIt was light as a feather and durable. Grab a deck from him, you won‛t regret it Saga Yard A new one. According to their twitter handle @saga254 “Dealers in sport ware accessories. Focused in skateboarding and the community around it. giving you the edge out in the streets”. I don‛t know much about them, give them a call and ask around if someone has bought something from them.
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_Pictorials
Top Left to Bottom George Zuko, Boneless at Shangilia Skatepark Nish Wairimu, Habibi, Sarah Jones and Shiku Ivy 14.
Samuel Kaguru, Tailslide on the streets on Nairobi
_Pictorials
Top to Bottom; Samson Kansimee; Nose manual at uhuru Park Kelvin Maina; 50-50 rail, at shangilia skatepark Ollie at Ergerton University
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Top to Bottom; Sameul Maguta; Wall-riding a DIY spot Simon “Nutkid”; Ollie at Uhuru Park Skate Nation 254 Fam on a weekend session
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@SighkickMag
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