July/Aug 2004

Good Jammin' News

A SKATE LOVE AFFAIR - Pt. 2 - con't from last issue - RST -   In one of our interviews you talked about treating the floor as though you were making love to it.  When did you begin to look at the skate floor like that instead of just as a floor? BB -  You have to look at the floor as this wonderful, and I use the term, female because it’s easy and it’s appropriate.  I think women as a gender are very special.  I have a very special care about women over and above what other men might think, so I like to think of the delicacy of the floor being a woman, so you have to address that. I’m very, very careful and cautious when I’m dancing that I caress the floor with the stride... I learned how to caress, and to this day the stride eludes me sometime but it’s just that I’m so good at it that with the untrained eye I can get away with it because I can make the move happen or as we use the term ‘play it off’.  I can skate it off.  But with the trained eye I might get someone over in a corner tucked away, they look at me, wink and say ‘ I see you choked that one,’ but the untrained eye, I’ll get away every time.  As Shakespeare said in his many writings, ‘to thyself be true.’  The one person I can’t fool is Bill Butler, I can’t fool myself so that’s an application that one shoe fits everybody.  You know when they say one shoe fits all, or one skate fits all in this particular case, to thyself be true - you know when you almost fell or ran into somebody or made a boo-boo. I’ve had situations happen to me in the skating world where people fell within three feet of me and said to me, ‘Bill I’m sorry.’  First of all, they didn’t have to say it to me because I just happened to be near them but I’ve had people to do that.  They fall just near me and say they’re sorry and I think it’s cool but at the same time, when I think of being cool I’m thinking of the respect people have for me and I don’t ever want that not to be, but it doesn’t have to be in that way. I want them to have respect for me because we share the same love for a given sport and that I’ve been doing it this long and have something to share.  I do say the word ‘share,’ because when I pass on I want to live in every roller skating rink for the unknown skater, that person that might get the same inspiration that I got when I was younger and to keep the ball rolling because no man is an island.  We must be the carriers of the baton.  When you’re running a relay race it takes a group, it takes competitive spirit, it takes the love of something to be a part of it with your whole heart and soul.  To be good at any given thing anytime, you express your love for it by doing it well and nothing more. I think along with becoming great at anything, you have to develop character along with the greatness otherwise you screw it up.  Don’t get too big for your britches and you’ll do just fine.  Love it, enjoy it, and make it better would have to be the motto of the day.  I want to add this because I think for those that will read this, I want to make this clear, want to bring this home.  In the stride, there’s so many different strides, the more you learn, the better you skate, that’s simple. Either you’re gonna have a bag full of goodies, a bag one quarter full of goodies or half full of goodies, take your pick.  If skating was put in the classification of a buffet, you would have to keep going back to get more because once you stop you can only speak for what you have, but make sure it’s the best of the litter, be a great shopper, get the good stuff and leave the other stuff. If in your travels you run across somebody that just might have enough respect for you to ask you what is in your bag, don’t be reluctant to tell them. That’s how I feel about the sport. - To be continued - Do you have a specific question on the above information or the Jammin technique?  Ask Bill Back to Top

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