Martin Aparijo, The Chairman, and one of the two pros (Woody Itson was the other) to focus on flatland as BMX freestyle was surging in its first wave of popularity in the mid-1980's. Here's Martin in 1986, showing several of the tricks he invented, and the classic style all of us kids around the country looked up to when we first started reading the BMX magazines.
Pure and simple, as "BMX trick riding" turned into the sport of BMX freestyle in 1984-85-86, Martin Aparijo and Woody Itson invented a ton of the foundational flatland tricks all of us guys around the country started learning. In this 1986 contest run, we see Martin going through the spectrum, Framestands, decades, tailwhips and double tailwhips, surfers, backwards wheelies, Switzerland squeakers, grasshoppers, and the bar ride, which was a brand new trick at this time. As BMX freestyle grew in its first wave of popularity, Martin Aparijo was a leader in the progression of flatland, and we all started learning some of his tricks.
Freestyle was new to the world then, and we were all learning some of the established tricks, and practicing every day, to begin our own lives in the the world of freestyle. At a time when nearly every rider competed in flatland, Martin was a pioneer of flatland riding whose influence can not be understated. Those of you who made it to AFA Masters contests in the mid-80's remember that there were often 300 to 400, sometimes more, flatland riders in a contest. Those were days when it was normal to have 40 or 50 riders in an amateur flatland class. Every single one of those riders was doing at least one or two, and probably several, tricks that Martin Aparijo invented.
As I was working on a drawing of Martin (above) over the last few days, I tried to remember when I first met him. There are a handful of people in freestyle who I remember the exact moment I met, because of the weird circumstances, like Andy Jenkins, Spike Jonze, and Mat Hoffman. Those were weird little incidents. Many of the other top riders, I saw first saw ride in a contest, then maybe rode with in a jam circle, and later actually talked to them, so the first meeting didn't stick out as much in my mind. Martin seemed to be one of those.
He was a big influence on my riding from very early on. As I mentioned in the last BMX post, the first jumping trick I learned was a Hannah, which I saw Martin doing in a bike test in BMX Plus! in early 1983. I started learning BMX tricks at a time when the only book about freestyle told us, "Put a coaster brake on your race bike, and that's your freestyle bike." Yeah, that was the thinking in 1982-1983, and into early 1984. My first BMX bike, a "Kmart special" piece of crap, had a coaster brake on the aluminum mag wheels. But it had a bad coaster brake. Sometimes I would pedal half a crank before the pedals would catch, and start turning the wheel. Other times the pedals would go all the way around once, even twice, before catching. Because of that, I hated coaster brakes.
At that time, Martin Aparijo was the one top flatlander known for riding a freewheel. So I decided I wanted to be like Martin, and learn BMX freestyle tricks on a bike with a freewheel. So Martin seriously influenced my riding long before I met him. As I started learning tricks, backwards wheelies, sliders, and squeakers were favorites of mine, all of which Martin either invented, or added style to.
As I took things back in time, I finally realized that I did remember exactly when I met Martin Aparijo. Like many other epic firsts in my BMX freestyle life, it happened on my trip to the Tulsa, Oklahoma AFA Masters contest in April of 1986. I was going there on my own to compete, but got a surprise call from Andy Jenkins a couple of weeks earlier, who'd been reading the zines I'd sent him, and asked me to cover the contest for FREESTYLIN'. I flew from San Jose and had a layover in Dallas, changing planes for the flight to Tulsa. I'd never flown alone before, and I was pretty nervous. I wasn't nervous about flying itself, but about missing a connection or getting stuck somewhere halfway across the country with no money. I was really neurotic about stuff like that back then. I made it to the waiting area for my connecting flight, and sat there alone for a while. Then, across the aisle-way, three guys walked up, two I recognized, from the magazines. There was Eddie Fiola, Martin Aparijo, and some blond guy I didn't know. I got up my nerve and walked over and said, "Hi." Eddie and Martin were totally cool and friendly, and introduced me to their new teammate, a kid named Josh White.
Josh had just done the epic FREESTYLIN' magazine photo shoot and interview that made him an instant star in the sport, but it hadn't been published yet. As luck would have it, my article for the contest, a zine article naming my zine as the top in the country, and Josh's epic interview and photo shoot, all came out in the August 1986 issue of FREESTYLIN'. Josh got a tiny photo on a blank white cover, a brilliant design idea by Andy Jenkins and his sister Janice, the art director.
Martin, Eddie, Josh, and me were all on the same flight into Tulsa, and I spent about 15 or 20 minutes talking to them until we sauntered onto the plane on the final final boarding call. I didn't talk to Martin much more over the weekend, but I'd made his acquaintance, which I was stoked as hell about.
All through those years, 1984-85-86 and on, Martin Aparijo, in his classic GT factory uniform, was a fixture in the magazines, when that's where all of us riders around the country and the world got all of our info, from the mags. Whether showing off new tricks, like the cherrypicker, or just shredding and adding cool style to known tricks, Martin was is nearly every magazine somewhere. His photos were getting the rest of us guys (and a few gals) stoked to keep riding and pushing our skills. What's really weird, thinking back to my early days riding Blue Valley trailer park outside Boise, none of us ever thought we would get to know the guys riding in the magazines. My biggest dream in freestyle then was thinking that maybe... somehow... someday... I could hang out at a photo shoot, and just watch it happen. Since Martin was a test rider or BMX Plus then, he's the guy I imagined being the rider at the photo shoot. Becoming a pro rider didn't seem possible to a high school junior in Idaho. But watching John Ker shoot photos of Martin someday, seemed like something that was... kind of... possible.
A couple of years later, a few months after meeting Martin in the airport in Dallas, with Eddie and Josh, I was actually driving the Wizard Publications Astro van to a photo shoot with Martin and Windy Osborn, almost exactly what I had once dreamed. But better, since the photographer was Windy, not John Ker. No offense John, but Windy's better looking. We went to a gray wall we new of, Windy thought Martin's GT uniform would really pop with that wall as the back drop. As luck would have it, right when we got there, the shadow was perfect, and Windy got really excited.
The whole wall was was in shadow, making it look extra dark, and the shadow line was rightwas in the light. Martin busted his hop hops on the test bike, Windy did her photo magic, and this is the shot published from that shoot, Martin busting Miami hop hops.
As the years of the 1980's went by, Martin was always a guy bringing out new tricks, and keeping the progression going, and keeping the rest of us riders (who weren't pros) stoked to keep pushing and progressing in our riding. While riding contests, doing tons of shows for GT, and just sessioning one place or another, Martin's been one of those guys who has inspired us 80's riders, and helped us learn tricks, and always been a cool guy to just talk to or hang out with. On a more personal level, he's gone out of his way to help me out over the last couple of decades at times, and is doing so again, right now, by letting me sell copies of the drawing I just did of him, to help get my life back on track. Thanks a ton for that and all the help and fun sessions over many years, Martin.
I'll have another post of some more Martin stories and memories in a day or two. Martin is in the BMX Hall of Fame, for good reason, here's his acceptance speech. If you watch it, you'll find out where his nickname, The Chairman, comes from. If you're interested in a copy of my drawing of Martin, check my Facebook page (Steve Emig-Huntington Beach) or email me at: stevenemig13@gmail.com .
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