Welsh Skate History - Enter The Dragon

To celebrate his upcoming short film and book, 'Open That Door', Dykie has blessed us all by delving into his archives and uploading some of his classic Welsh skate videos for your viewing pleasure. 

First up, we've got his 1997 classic, 'Enter The Dragon', which featured a bunch of Welsh legends, including Chris 'Gibbsy' Gibbons, Lee Dainton, and Matthew Pritchard. The video starts out with a sick little montage of Cardiff looking, well, pretty different to say the least. There's even a shot of Church Street pre-CSC. After the intro, Mike Jenkins kicks things off with some seriously powerful manoeuvres in Swansea, Cardiff, and Bristol. Pretty crazy to see how little some of the spots have changed in comparison to the rest of the cities. Fun fact: Mike was the first Welsh person to get a 'Haunts' feature in Sidewalk. Historic shit.

Next up, Foster's fanatic, Gibbsy, shows off his two-wheeled prowess with plenty of hectic manuals, including a marathon kickflip nose manny ender. The part features a load of recognisable Cardiff skate spots, including a slammin' line at Marbs, as well as some notable Bristol bangers. Probably got some of the best kits from the video too.

Part 3 features one of South Wales biggest legends, Dirty Sanchez's Lee Dainton, who comes through with his unique brand of all-terrain ripping (which even extends to snowboarding). Dainton tears up the streets before laying down some bangers on the old Skate Extreme mini-ramp, including an incredible Tom Penny-esque kickflip back tail revert. Plus, the kung-fu skit at the start nicely foreshadows his later shenanigans.

Luke Duckett comes through with the next part, featuring some of the craziest trick selection from the whole video. With lesser-seen bangers like a fakie inward heel off the first step at Lloyds and even a back 180 nosegrind down a handrail, Luke's skating was definitely pretty ahead of its time. Wish you could still smoke in pubs though.

The next section sees Chris Pulman channeling Ricky Oyola as he strings together lengthy lines through picturesque seaside resorts, alongside Cornwall-based homie, Pin. With the stripey shirts, no-complies, and general quirkiness, the part wouldn't look out of place in a Polar video. The video also features a friends section featuring even more Welsh OGs, including Pete Fowler and Matt Davies. Just in case you hadn't already had your fill of dragons.

Much like Chris Pulman's part, Ben Bodilly comes through with a surprisingly on-trend part in this section. Despite the black and white, slow-mo wallie shifty intro, this isn't actually an excerpt from an early Polar or Supreme video, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was. But what's possibly one of the craziest parts about this is you can actually see someone using a phone box in the intro, which goes to show just how old this is.

The other half of Pritchard and Dainton, Matt Pritchard, has the honour of last part in the video. Safe to say Pritch is a certified Welsh legend. He's gone on to do way more than just skating - including various TV shows, businesses, cookbooks, and athletic milestones - but it's always a treat watching old footage of him killing it on the board and seeing where it all started. Pritch lays down hammers in the streets before tearing up a number of prehistoric indoor establishments. That back 180 down the uni building 3-block is still absolutely mental.

That's enough chit-chat though. Head to the shop to browse the full range of skateboard decks, clothing, shoes, and more, and buy now from CSC. Or, check out more videos on the CSC Blog. Safe.