Bob Haro Master Class: The beginning of BMX freestyle

Masterclass Bob Haro - Paris 2012 from Seb Satoorne on Vimeo.
 If you're an old school BMX freestyler, have you ever wished you could sit down and have Bob Haro, himself, tell you how freestyle began?  I know I have. 

I was working in the BMX and skateboard industries in Southern California from 1986 to 1990, and then Chris Moeller's roommate/video guy from 1991-1995.  I was in the mix quite a while, and I only met Bob Haro once.  So for all of us who got into freestyle in the 80's, and wondered just what the early history was, here's Bob Haro telling it, in his own words... for an hour.  This video is EPIC.

From Seb Ronjon and Franck Belliot in France, who I really got Facebook chatting with a couple days ago, comes another epic video.  They put together the truly first class BMX/skateboard/scooter culture exhibition Beton Hurlant, in 2011-2012 in France.  They invited Bob Haro over to check out the exhibit and narrate it on video.  But they also had an old school event they called the "Bob Haro Master Class."  Bob gives a slide presentation to a group of old school BMX freestylers from Europe, and spends an hour telling his side of the story, which is where it all began.  I found this absolutely fascinating.  I'm pretty sure many of you will, too.  It's an hour, so watch it when you have some time.  This video hasn't had any exposure outside of France, until now.  So I want to give a huge thank you to Seb and Franck for sharing it with me and all of you.  

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Bob Haro narrates a French bike/skate/scooter culture exhibit in 2011

Bob Haro / Béton Hurlant from Seb Satoorne on Vimeo.

Going through all the comments from people at the book signing last Saturday, I wound up finding a post on a French old school BMX facebook group I belong to.  I took a couple moments to add the names I knew to some of the line-up photos he had on there.  I posted my blog post as well, and wound up in a cross-ocean Facebook chat with Seb Ronjon.  As much as I have trouble learning new technology, I love that fact that, in today's world, it's possible to stumble into a conversation with a like minded person 5,000 miles away.  Amazing.

He turned me on to this video, from the Beton Hurlant exhibit in 2011, I believe, which never really got shared outside of France.  Seb and friend Franck put on this amazing museum exhibit about BMX/freestyle, skateboard, and scooter culture in France, and then flew Bob Haro over to walk through and share his thoughts and insight on the exhibit.

This is 17 minutes, but definitely worth the watch, if you're an old school BMX racer, freestyler, or skateboarder.  The exhibit is absolutely first class, very well set up and displayed, and Bob Haro's thoughts as he walks through and comments are great.  Thank you Seb for sharing, and I'm glad to be able to show the U.S. bike world this video and exhibit.  Great stuff.

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