Push culture – a new concept?

Happy New Year! Yeah!

Now that’s over, back to business…

Definition (best one found so far here): “It’s about the push culture–a whole mainstream sport based on pushing and the ease of that, as opposed to going slow and not moving far”.

I’ve come stumbled upon this term on a couple of sites now and from what I can tell it results from a variety of elements:

1/I first came across in an advert from a magazine (another version of which was kindly captured on the Skatefurther main page back in August 2009).

It’s quite clever marketing but still has a serious message which made me think – yeah, they’re right. It would be great if more people reached more for their boards and less for their car keys. However, I’m digressing slightly.

2/ Now recently, I came across the new line of Bustin t-shirts with a similar message:

I think that we might be in the early stages of a new trend here, where both longboards and skateboards are being seen more seriously than before, at least by their users as a real mode of transportation, mostly for getting around cities but also as a means of commuting.

3/ Push races – this another trend linked to this movement. 2009 has been the year when, for me at least Push races have taken on a new more independant character with more and more events being organised both abroad and closer to home. Hopefully with some in mainland Europe too…

Perhaps, I’m talking jive here and I’m certainly not trying to assert myself as an expert on the matter, but it seems to me that this new ‘Push Culture’ encompasses both the love of pushing (ie: skating) and the need to try and give culture the push it needs to try and change. I for one am glad to be a part of it…