“Everyone says, `Such a shame Christian went from fame to prison.’ You know, having everything on a silver platter, anyone would have killed to have my life,” Hosoi says. When he called her from prison after his arrest, she told him they had to trust in God and that he needed to get a Bible. When his girlfriend Jennifer, now his wife, decided to start going to church he went with her just one time before his arrest. The maneuver is a pose that resembles Jesus Christ on the cross: While in the air, the skateboarder picks up his board in one hand and then spreads his arms and straightens his legs.ĭespite all the signs, Hosoi didn’t know anything about Christianity or what a relationship with God might look like. “Christ” became his nickname after Thrasher skateboard magazine published it as the headline alongside his photo on its April 1985 cover.Īnd he invented an aerial skateboard maneuver called “Christ Air” that is still popular. He began smoking weed at age 10, doing acid at 12, cocaine at 14 and eventually became addicted to crystal meth and speed.īut his partying didn’t prevent him from becoming one of the best skateboarders in the industry as he and Tony Hawk battled it out for the No. At a young age I got taken into the family of the elite of skateboarding at that time.”Īside from learning how to skate, he also learned how to party. “They took me under their wing, they taught me how to skate, they showed me the ropes and they became my big brothers immediately. They did radical things like smoke weed, drink beer, go out with girls and I thought, man that’s the life I want to live,” Hosoi says. “All these people who were my idols at the time were these radical, rebellious skaters.

His idols were also regulars at the local skatepark including Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Shugo Kobo and Dennis Agnew, or “Polar Bear,” as many people know him.

At age 14 he went pro and he started his first skateboard company at 17. Then one day a photographer’s photo of him landed in Skateboarder magazine, igniting his desire. His father, Ivan, was the manager of the legendary spot that attracted skateboarders from all over the area.Īt 8 years old, Hosoi knew he wanted to be a professional skateboarder. Growing up in midtown Los Angeles, Hosoi went to the Marina del Rey Skatepark every day.

Hosoi skateboarder