Cross Academy basics
C ross boneless
Boneless to Front Cross Step
Alternate basic, derived from frontside boneless
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The boneless is an old school trick where a foot plant is used to boost you into the air with the board. It's a good alternative to an ollie. It's good to know how to do a boneless if you're a longboarder, since it's so hard to get any real height with an ollie. You could use it to get up onto a ledge or a high curb.
In the Cross Academy, the cross boneless (you could call it a croneless!) can be used as an alternate basic. Once you get the basic boneless to front cross, there are a lot of possible cross boneless variations. You can boneless to back cross. You can also launch the boneless from a cross stance, giving it a whole different feel and making it a true longboard only trick. I include a variation that is a backpedal step to backside boneless.
You can use the cross boneless as an exercise or "brick," a tool to help learn a trick that you ultimately intend to perform with an ollie. You can use it to practice cross step landings, substituting it for the ollie takeoff. If you're working on an ollie trick, working out the landing using a boneless takeoff can be the best way to get your footwork straight.
The basic cross boneless is based on the frontside boneless. The frontside boneless would typically mean that a skater would jump off his front (left) foot, using his back (right) hand to grab the board. Following the Cross Academy walking trick flow, the regular stance takeoff will be followed by a cross step and cross stance landing.
As I roll into the frame, I'm crouching down in a wide tail stance. I reach down with my back hand and grab the toeside rail.
By putting my weight on my arm and back foot, I free my front foot so I can take it off the board and plant it.
I plant my front foot on the ground just off the heelside rail, at about the middle of the board. At the same time I begin to wheelie the board up, putting a little pressure on my back foot on the tail, and picking the nose and front wheels off the ground with my back hand.
Since my knee is deeply bent from the crouch stance, it's a good position to start a jump off my front foot.
I jump up and let go of the board. Normally in a boneless you would leave your back foot on the tail and you would pick up your front foot, which you just jumped off, and bring it up and replace it to its original stance spot on the board. This is where the Cross Academy variation starts. Instead of leaving my back foot in place, I bring it forward up the board in a walking motion. The front foot trails behind for now.
I walk my old back foot up the board, keeping my foot turned out so it points the same way it did when it was planted on the tail. I keep it a couple of inches off the board. An alternate technique is to maintain contact with the board, dragging the foot up on its inside arch. That way you get a lot of control. This way, as shown, I lose control of the board in the air and regain control later on the landing. The back foot by going forward takes a cross step and will become the new front foot. I lift the original front foot off the ground and bring it up over the board. It's now the back foot.
You can see the landing is going to be done in a cross stance, like the crollie landing.
I land on the board with both feet at the same time, in a cross stance. Both toes should point diagonally to toeside and feet should be essentially parallel. I do this by turning out my new front foot and turning in my new back foot. Personally, I don't turn in as easily or naturally as turning out. That's why my back foot is pretty straight up the board, and my front foot is diagonal, and you'll see me do that over and over on these tricks. If you don't turn out easily, and turn your foot in naturally, as many skaters do, you might change your stance to fit your comfort. One foot at least should be diagonal, for maximum stability.
Now I want to continue the walk forward to the nose, out of the cross stance landing.
This sequence shows the uncross step to the nose pretty well. Notice the delay of lifting the toe, the knee lead, and the brush step very close to the new front leg. I wind up in a close parallel stance on the nose. On this one I didn't go for the tip, I stayed behind the front truck. I keep my arms up for balance and as part of the relaxed walking style.
