In 1980, the 14-year-old Mullen entered the Oasis Pro competition, defeating the world champion, Steve Rocco. "Innovation rarely comes by revolution it develops by continual and gradual evolution." -Mullen Mullen then proceeded to win thirty successive amateur competitive victories in the late 1970s, mostly in his home state of Florida, culminating in a win at the Oceanside Nationals in June 1979. Mullen cites July 1979–August 1980 as his "most creative time," a time when he was predominantly a loner who counted the cows of the family farm as his best friends. When his family moved to a farm in a remote part of Florida, Mullen began perfecting his flat ground techniques in the family garage he has said that the isolation and lack of terrain naturally guided him towards freestyle skateboarding. In later years, Mullen was coached by Barry Zaritsky (also known as "SIO Barry"), who owned a company called SiO Safety Shorts. Mullen was also influenced in a positive manner by professional skateboarders from Florida including Ed Womble, George McClellan, Clyde Rodgers, Tim Scroggs, and Kelly Lynn. Mullen's biggest influence in skateboarding at the time was a Walker professional skateboarder, Jim McCall, who was coached in his early years by Walker (Walker also coached a young Kelly Slater). Skateboard manufacturer Bruce Walker saw his performance and sponsored Mullen through Walker Skateboards from 1978 to 1980. In 1978, even though he had owned a skateboard for only just over a year, Mullen placed fifth in the Boy's Freestyle category at the US Open Championships at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida. He became obsessed with the skateboard and practiced for many hours on a daily basis. He also spent time with his sister's surfer friends who skated on weekdays. Mullen practiced in the garage of the family home while wearing a comprehensive protective pads setup, a precaution that was part of the deal with his father. The other style, which is what I did, was called free style, which was tricks you could do on flat ground. Vert skating was the kind of skating that was done in pools, where you could get airborne and be weightless. We lived in the country in Florida, it was sort of farmish, and there was no cement anywhere else. He was a dentist, but before that he was military, and there were times you'd call him, 'Sir.' New Year's Day he had a drink and felt better, and the skate shop was open. He thought I'd get hurt and never get good, and the culture was bums, and I'd turn into one. My dad wouldn't let me have a skateboard. He promised his strict father that he would cease skateboarding the first time he became seriously injured: Mullen began skateboarding at the age of ten, on New Years Day of 1977, after a neighborhood friend introduced him to a skateboard. Despite Mullen's condition, "He had an incredible dexterity with his feet," said Phil Chiocchio, former owner of the Florida skatepark, Sensation Basin. As a child, Mullen slept in boots designed to correct a severe pigeon-toe condition. Mullen has appeared in over 20 skateboarding videos and has co-authored an autobiography, entitled The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself, with writer Sean Mortimer. Over the following years, he transitioned from freestyle to street skateboarding, adapting his accumulated freestyle skills to street and inventing or expanding upon additional tricks in the process, such as primo slides, dark slides, and casper slides. Rodney Mullen won his first world freestyle skateboard championship at the age of 14 over the following decade, he won 34 out of 35 freestyle contests, thus establishing the most successful competitive run in the history of the sport. As a result, he has been called the "Godfather of freestyle Skateboarding". He is considered one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited for inventing numerous tricks, including the flatground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, impossible, and 360-flip. John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding.
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