Twenty-three years ago, young hockey player Scott Olson bought a second-hand pair of roller skates, which he slightly modified to include better wheels and easy-to-use brakes. God knows why Olson's company came to be named Rollerblade, Inc., but the fact is that it took in-line skating out of the world of hockey players and consequently made the sport extremely popular. Objectively speaking, all Rollerblades are in-line skates, though, quite frankly, not all in-line skates are Rollerblades - like many other products, the trade name has become synonymous with the product type.

As in ice-skating, rollerblading is all about keeping your balance. The most common mistake beginners make is standing up straight with their knees locked or balancing their weight on their heels. Instructors suggest practicing the balancing technique as long as possible, standing on one foot at a time like a heron. Making your first skating stride, you'll feel like a baby learning to walk. The better your balance becomes, the easier stopping and starting will be for you.

Rollerblading reflects your imagination, creativity and free expression. And although extreme sports have yet to achieve a mass-market appeal in Russia, rollerblading has fast become a cult here. While the number of better-skilled skaters has shot up, the skating grounds have not continued apace. Of course, if it were still summer, you could head to Poklonnaya Gora or Vorobyovy Gory to skate the warm days away. Now that the snow is starting to fall, you'd better head indoors. One of the best indoor skating complexes is Lokstream, near Cherkizovskaya metro station. In fact, it's so good it was even chosen as the site for the Extreme Sport Russian rollerblading competition this Nov. 8-9 at noon (entrance 50-100 rubles).

"Bear in mind that the art of rollerblading opens up to those who have managed to achieve some sort of mental equilibrium: Ninety percent of this sport is mental," explains Alex Zinchenko, the Lokstream sports manager and a former in-line skater.

"Our competition promises to be a potentially dangerous event, an extreme rollerblading contest, in which there is a strong chance of crashing or breaking down. The winners will be the ones with the best technical performance, as well as the most innovative approach to the sport," says Zinchenko, who will be judging the competition.
For beginning rollerbladers, the competition should be a good way to pick up some moves from the pros. "The highlight of the sport and the fastest way to learn it is watching and imitating a champion," says Zinchenko.

Still, the most important element in mastering rollerblading skills is experience. First of all, you need to get started somewhere. The best way is to take a few lessons from an instructor. In Europe you could pay upwards of $50 an hour, but in Russia it's only $10. Like any sport, rollerblading has basic elements that you'll definitely have to learn - with or without the help of instructors. Once you have mastered the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time. Just buying a pair of pricey skates doesn't count: You'll have to spend a while learning how to operate them safely.

Here's a rundown of what you'll need: wrist guards (look for wrist guards that contain a hard plastic splint on the top and bottom), knee pads (when you fall you'll hit knees first) and elbow pads (they protect the body from scrapes). When you're learning to skate or trying new things, you feel so shaky that you're almost destined to fall. And there's no knowing what you could hit your head on.

Most instructors say rollerblading is a lot like riding a bike - once you've learned it, you can't forget it. "The more you train, the better you realize that you have more potential and speed in you," says Zinchenko. "The basic principle consists of competing against yourself. It's about self-improvement, about becoming better than you were the day before."