Driven is a action sports documentary. Action sports are truly amazing. The drive to achieve can be pain staking but very rewarding. Perth scooter rider Jakob Wells put together a short documentary about action sports which features Freestyle Now squad member and co founder Shaun Jarvis. Shaun talks about the benefits of participating in action sports and how the skills learnt can help with life skills. This is definitely a video worth watching.
Freestyle Now recruits squad members Naotada Yamada and Jigen Omotehara attended the 2019 Flatark bmx flatland contest in Samukawa Kanagawa Japan. Both riders did fantastic runs in the Expert class. Jigen place 12th with 309 points and Naotada placed 13th with 307 points. A very tight competition it was. Jigen and Naotoda are both only 12 years old and moving up to the expert class is a big step. Jigen attended the Flatark contest a week after winning the junior bmx flatland division at FISE in Hiroshima.
At the last Flatark contest in 2017 both riders competed in the Novice class where Naotada placed 2nd and Jigen placed 6th. In Qualifying it was Naotada in 1st and Jigen in 2nd. Both riders are good friend and have grown up together riding bmx over the last 6 years. it is great to see their progression.
These two are legends in the making, watch this space over the next 5 years, at only 12 years old they have a long future of radness ahead
We are so stoked for Freestyle Now recruits squad member Jigen Omotehara for winning the juniors class at the 2019 FISE in Hiroshima. Jigen Omotehara is a super rad 12 year old bmx flatland kid. Coming from Osaka in Japan he has been riding bmx flatland since he was six. In November 2018 Jigen joined the Freestyle Now squad as a recruits member. His win in the junior’s class at the FISE Hiroshima contest shows he is a future bmx flatland pro in the making. Freestyle Now is very proud to have Jigen as part of the squad. Keep rolling out the rad.
Jigen Omotehara linking his way into a time machine and taking the winning spot on the podium at FISE Hiroshima.
Jigen Omotehara rolling a hitchhiker on his way to winning the juniors class at the 2019 FISE in Hiroshima.
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and the 1st December saw the finals hit the iconic location of the Melbourne Imax. Bmx flatland riders from around Australia and the world converged on Melbourne to partake in one of the hardest forms of bmx riding, flatland. It was good to see a great turnout with a few international riders attending. This was the tenth year of DownUnderGround, the first contest took place in Perth in November 2008. Over the past 10 years many riders have attended at various locations around Australia to compete and have fun. In Australia bmx flatland riders would rarely get to hang out if it was not for DownUnderGround. It’s not just about a competition, it’s a time for riders to come together, share tricks have good times and build the bmx flatland scene in Australia.
David Rooney is progressing well in the beginner class ad took another win in Melbourne for DUG 10.
There have been many changes with DownUnderGround over the ten years. When it first started there were four contests around Australia, now there is only on physical contest along with the video contest, this makes travelling easier for the riders. Melbourne has the biggest bmx flatland scene in Australia so it makes perfect sense to hold the contest where the majority of riders live.
Clockwise from top left – Year end title holder Philipp Frueh mid hitchhiker – Freestyle Now boss man Shaun Jarvis moving into a upside down backward wheelie and a 3rd place in expert – Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain doing his best strong man pose while wearing some of that Freestyle Now rad dude merch – Heru Anwari returned from Indonesia once again to throw down some of his radical riding like this front wheel to back wheel whip transfer.
In the beginners class heading into the contest it was Paul Griznic who had a great video entry and was sitting in fist place. He didn’t ride as consistent as he would have wanted to and only took a 3rd in Melbourne. His progression is good though and its rad to see that passion. In Melbourne it was local rider David Rooney who ended up taking the win from Rusty Eylward-Pyko in the beginners. David was just a little bit more consistent than Rusty but both rode well. With his first in the video round and a third in Melbourne it was Paul Griznic who to the year end title in the beginners class. What was great to see with all of the beginner riders was the willingness to give it a go and not care how sketchy they were, that is what is needed at more competitions.
Beginners L-R – 2nd place Rusty Piko, 1st place David Rooney and 3rd place and year end title holder Paul Grzinic.
In the expert class it was a close result between Philipp Frueh and Shaun Jarvis. These rider had scored 2nd and 3rd in the video round so only 5 points separated them going into the championships in Melbourne. With western Australian rider Trent Karow not at the competition it was up to Tasmanian rider Chris Letchford to ride well enough to take the win in the expert class with Philipp and Shaun taking the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively. With two seconds it was Philipp Frueh who took home the year end Australian championships title in the expert class. Good work Philipp.
Chris Letchford has been heading to DownUnderGound for 10 years now and in Melbourne took home to Tasmainia a 1st place.
Experts class L-R – Philipp Frueh with a 2nd place and the year end title, Tasmanian Chris Letchford in 1st and Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis stoked on his 3rd place.
The open class is was all about Agentinian rider Gonzalo Bellanti. With taking a first in the video round he was almost untouchable to take the year title. Indonesian rider Heru Anwari was present to keep the heat on him though. Heru won the Australian championships last year and was back to defend his title. With 3 run each the riders were able to be a bit more relaxed on the runs knowing that their lowest score would be dropped. Gonzalo had more combos completed and rode a bit more consistent than Heru who had some fast cross footed techniques but consistency defiantly held him back. So 1st to Gonzalo and 2nd to Heru. DownUnderGround veteran Paul Chamberlain took home the 3rd place in the open with some great riding but consistency was down.
Gonzalo Bellanti rode with consistency and difficulty for the win.
Open class L-R – Heru Anwari from Indonesia with a 2nd, Argentinian Gonzalo Bellanti taking the 1st and the year end title and Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain in 3rd place.
DownUnderGround 10 was awesome. It had a great relaxed vibe. All the riders were happy with the new format of 3 runs and dropping the lowest run, it worked well. Planning has begun for DUG 11 which will no doubt take place in Melbourne towards the end of 2019 along with the video round announced around mid year.
Thank you to the competition supporters Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, Sneaky Wholefoods, Anchor BMX,
DownUnderGround BMX flatland contest – 1st December 2018 – Official results
Open – 1st Gonzalo Bellanti, 2nd Heru Anwari, 3rd Paul Chamberlain, 4th Aristyo Rahadiyan (Ais), 5th Lee Kirkman
Expert – 1st Chris Letchford, 2nd Philipp Frueh, 3rd Shaun Jarvis, 4th Matt Wootton, 5th Matt Spencer, 6th June Dungca
Beginners – 1st David Rooney, 2nd Rusty Piko, 3rd Paul Grzinic, 4th Seth Piko.
More photos can be found on the facebook page here. Full results of DownUnderGround from 2008 can be found here
In October 2018 Freestyle now headed to Japan to attend the legendary Flatark contest. With flight all book the contest was cancelled a few weeks prior the date, so it was still all systems go to head to Japan and go on a riding holiday. Freestyle Now squad members Shaun Jarvis and Paul Chamberlain headed from both sides of Australia while Dez Maarsen traveled from his home in The Netherlands. Meeting them in Kobe was Freestyle Now recruits rider and Osaka resident Naotada Yamada. Shaun Jarvis documented the 10 day trip with making a video of each of the day’s activities and riding. It was an awesome time with so much riding going on almost every day. The video highlights the Spaceark jam that happened in Kobe which took place due to Flatark not happening, and the Freestyle Now jam that took place the day after at Nagai Park in Osaka. While in Japan and in Osaka Freestyle Now also added young shredder and good friend of Naotada, Jigin Omotehara to our recruits squad. So much great riding took place. Also there are many riders from around the world who also were riding in Japan as well as so many of the Japanese bmx flatland riders. Give it a watch to see some amazing bmx flatland.
Riders included in the video – Paul Chamberlain, Shaun Jarvis, Dez Maarsen, Naotada Yamada, Jigin Omotehara, Joel Schallhorn, Naoto Tamaru, Masato Ito, Dan Hennig, Benjamin Hudson, Jorrit van Drumpt, Minato Sato, York Uno
Freestyle now squad members L to R Paul Chamberlain, Dez Maarsen, Naotad Yamada and Shaun Jarvis
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and has been going since 2008 with Freestyle Now being the competition organizer. Once again DownUnderGround will return to Melbourne for series 10 of the national competition on 1st December at the iconic Melbourne Imax in Carlton.
DownUnderGround also has a video contest to help riders earn points toward taking the Australian bmx flatland title. Riders submit a contest video between 1 and 2 minutes in length. The rider has to perform their tricks on camera as if they were at a physical contest. Riders are then judged according to the judging criteria. This year the video round judges were –
Paul Chamberlain, Freestyle Now squad member and flatland rider who is no stranger to competitions having judge and entered many DownUnderGround competitions
John Yull, Winner of the 2017 Master Of Creativity video contest and judge of the 2018 master of creativity video contest
James McGraw, With decades of bmx flatland competition experience and is the guy behind the American Flatland Association
We would like to give a big thanks to the judges and it was great to have their input into judging the video round.
Thank you once again to our competition supporters Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, Anchor BMX and Sneaky Wholefoods. Hope to see many riders at DownUnderGround on the 1st December at Melbourne Imax in Carlton, come on down to witness the best bmx flatland riding in Australia.
Check the DownUnderGround video to see the contest runs from the riders
2018 DownUnderGround – Australian bmx flatland championships video competition results
Beginners – 1st Paul Grzinic – Melbourne, 2nd Troy Williams – Whyalla
Expert – 1st Trent Karow – Perth, 2nd Phillip Frueh – Melbourne, 3rd Shaun Jarvis – Perth
Open – 1st Gonzalo Bellanti – Melbourne, 2nd Mohamad Aristyo Rahadiyan (Ais) – Melbourne
Freestyle Now squad member Dez Maarsen attend the Fight the Winter bmx flatland contest to kick off the 2018 bmx flatland contest session. The contest was held in Göttingen Germany. Fight the Winter contest had lots of the heavy hitters in the pro bmx flatland curcit. After this first run Dez was sitting in second place behind Dominik Nekolný. In round 2 it was Alberto Moya who had an amazing run pushing him up to second behind Dominik Nekolný with Dez Maarsen taking out the 3rd place. Flatland bmx is the hardest forms of bmx competition with hours of practice put into a contest run and Dez hits the flatland harder then most so you know he is dialed. Congratulations Dez on taking the 3rd place keep rolling out the rad.
Dez Maarsen captured mid halfpaker just before he switched to another combo Picture by Nils Henrik
Freestyle Now recently performed some awesome stunt shows at the CMEFU family picnic day. Taking place at the Melbourne show grounds the set up was indoors. Freestyle Now squad members Shaun Jarvis and Lee Kirkman were there onn the day to roll out the rad along with good friends Jai Bradley and Dean Anderson (bmx), Matty Cerovolo and Billy Watts (scooter) and Josh Dunstone (skateboard). The weather on the day was a very wintery day in the middle of summer with rain coming down in buckets. It was great to have such a perfect indoor location to perform in. the crowds were loving it and getting into the shows with great crowd interaction.
Lee Kirkman has the best no foot Indian air seat grab in the business.
When the last jumps were performed in the stunt show the crowd erupted in so much noise, seeing the riders hit the jump box in a series of back flips, front flips, back flips, front flips and back flips. This was defiantly a crowd pleaser. Freestyle Now performed some radical stunt shows for the families that had gathered and attended the CMEFU family picnic day. Be sure to check out our coming events page to see where and when Freestyle now will be rolling out the rad next.
Freestyle Now stunt shows at the Melbourne show grounds had some awesome riding and great crowd interaction
Clockwise from left – Matt Cerovolo taking to the air over the jump box tail whipping – Josh Dunstone displaying his skateboard trickery to the crowd – Jai Bradley 360 tailwhip just before the crowd makes some noise – Billy Watts is a powerfull scooter rider and this no hander is just the start of his tricks.
Dean Anderson barspins over Shaun Jarvis while the crowd at the stunt show look on.
More photos can be found on our facebook page here
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and the 25th November saw the finals hit the iconic location of the Melbourne Imax. Bmx flatland riders from around Australia and the world converged on Melbourne to partake in one of the hardest forms of bmx riding, flatland. It was good to see a great turnout with a few international riders attending. DownUnderGround is entering into its 10 year in 2018, the first contest took place in Perth in November 2008. Over the past 9 years many riders have attended at various locations around Australia to compete and have fun. This round of DownUnderGround in Melbourne has the highest rate of beginners the contest series has seen. In Australia bmx flatland riders would rarely get to hang out if it was not for DownUnderGround. It’s not just about a competition, it’s a time for riders to come together, share tricks have goodtimes and build the bmx flatland scene in Australia.
The Riders Life channel came down and filmed this rad compiled video from the competition.
Heading into the finals the points for the year end titles were close. In the beginners David Rooney and Rusty Eylward-Pyko were equal so it would come down to who would place higher at the contest for who would take the year end title. In the expert class Thore Saggau was in the lead by 25 points from Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis, Thore would have to have a really bad day to place last with Shaun having to be on game to take top spot for things to change. In open class it was tied points with two of Australia’s flatland heavyweights, Paul Chamberlain and Simon O’Brien. Simon unfortunately did not show so the year end went to Paul.
Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain rolling a nohanded plastic man on his way to placing 2nd place in the open class and taking the year end championship title. Photo June Dungca
David Rooney ended up taking the win from Rusty Eylward-Pyko in the beginners. David was just a little bit more consistent than Rusty but both rode well. With the win David took home the year end title and a rad looking trophy. 3rd went to first time competitor Paul Griznic who had some cool combos, he was pumped. 4th was a tie between Melbourne newcomer Jo Hilis and Perth rider Alexsandra Louise who was also competing in her first competition. What was great to see with all of the beginner riders was the willingness to give it a go and not care how sketchy they were, that is what is needed at more competitions.
In the expert class it was a close result between the two German riders with only one point separating first and second with both riders having some hard combos. Phillip Frueh took the top spot from Thore Saggau who took home the second place trophy. Singaporean rider Ron King Tan placed in 3rd with a banger comb at the end of his run. The best way to describe it is a front wheel rolling spin to a hop whip landing on the back pegs in a backwheel spin. Had the King rode a bit more consistent he would have been a threat to the top two. 4th place went to Tasmanian rider Chris Letchford who made the trip at the last minute, it was good to see him there. With Thore Saggau taking 2nd and Shaun Jarvis placing 7th the year end title in the expert class was all Thore’s.
Clockwise from top left – Alexsandra entered her first competition and placed equal 4th, well done (photo from the riders life) – Phillip Frueh took thhe top spot in the expert class by 1 point – the top 3 in the beginner class, David Rooney taking the year end title – Ais Rahadiyan took 4th in the open class with tricks like this cliffhaneger.
Heru Anwari traveled from Indonesia just for the contestand smashed out some fast backwheel combos to take the win in the open class home to Jataka. Photo June Dungca
The open class was won by Indonesian rider Heru Anwari. Some rad fast back wheel trickery was what sealed his win. There was only 5 points separating 1st and 3rd so you know the riding was good. Heru was on fire and it was great to see his style at DownUnderGround. Freestyle Now squad members Paul Chamberlain and Lee Kirkman took home 2nd and 3rd. Both Paul and Lee had some hard combos on the back and front wheel which would have help their scores. Both were of equal consistency but the judges must have awarded Paul a few more points in difficulty. 4th place went to another Indonesian rider Ais Rahadiyan who has been living in Melbourne for the past year. Ais had some good combos but just was not on game with his consistency on competition day.
All round the finals of DownUnderGround were one of the most successful rounds to date, good international turnout, high number of beginners, the rain stayed away and everyone had fun. 2018 will be the tenth year that DownUnderGround will be running and the promotion of flatland bmx continues.
Freestyle Now squad member Lee Kirkman hittin a brakeless decade to take 3rd in the open class. His last combo in his run was a killer, check the video below for the video lowdown. Photo June Dungca
Expert and open contest runs, DownUnderGround is all about the fun.
DownUnderGround – Australian bmx flatland Championships – 25th November – Round 3 the finals – Official results
Contest sponsors – Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, GAIN Protection, Sneaky Wholefoods, Anchor BMX, Solid Signs
Beginners – David Rooney 78 points, 2nd Rusty Eylward-Pyko 73 points, 3rd Paul Griznic 62 points, 4th Jo Hilis 60 points, 4th Alexsandra Louise 60 points, 6th Richie Spencer 57 points, 7th Seth Eylward-Pyko 34 points, 8th Kit McKenna 30 points, 9th Zephyr Pawlak 24 points, 10th Tahj Pawlak 17 points.
Expert – 1st Philipp Frueh 98 points, 2nd Thore Saggau 97 points, 3rd Ron King Tan 82 points, 4th Chris Letchford 79 points, 5th Ben Pawlak 77 points, 5th Trent Karow 77 points, 7th Shaun Jarvis 74 points, 8th Matt Spencer 72 points
Open – 1st Heru Anwari 127 points, 2nd Paul Chamberlain 125 points, 3rd Lee Kirkman 122 points, 4th Ais Rahadiyan 107 points, 5th Grant Cruse 100 points
Freestyle Now squad member Dez Maarsen has been super busy over the last few months, travelling Europe, winning contests, finishing school and being involved in a big theater production. Currently Dez is about to compete once again at Flatark in Kobe, Japan. We caught up with Dez to get the low down on what he has been up to and to do a catch up on all the contests that he has been rolling out the rad at. Read on.
Dez Maarsen captured mid combo switch at the Ruhr games.
You have been hitting up a few contests lately which one were they?
After not competing for all most a year I hit four contests in one month. So a contest almost every week. It started this year with Ruhr Games at the beginning of June. It was an invitational contest for European riders. For European conditions it was extremely hot during the finals. Due to a busy tour schedule and school I wasn’t able to really prepare for this contest. The weather conditions didn’t make it any easier so I ended up riding so well.
I decided to take trip to Croatia for the Croatia BMX Championship to get more in de contest mood. This contest was held on the boulevard in the beach town of Baska Voda. It ws good to see a lot of riders from Eastern Europe from Czech and Hungary making the trip to Croatia. The contest was held in the evening, so during the day we had time to enjoy the sunny weather and chill at the beach. After a small qualification the finals where in battle format. During the contest I got in a nice flow and hit some combo’s I was really stoked about. In the final with Dominik Nekolny and Chris Bohm I took some more risks, but didn’t finish too much combo’s, so I had to do it with 3th place.
At the sea side town of Baska Voda in Croatia Dez powers through one of his original combos, check the feet, you know he is about to pivot on them pegs.
A week after Croatia it was time for the second edition of the Urban Sport week Amsterdam. We had a small turn out since Nass aka the Worlds was held the same weekend. Riders from all over the Benelux made it to Amsterdam. Viki Gomez who is originally from Spain, but is now living in Luxembourg made it to support an up and coming contest instead of heading to the Worlds. The contest was hosted in the centre of Amsterdam and we had a nice OSB floor for flatland on Sunday. The weather was hitting over 30 degrees, which is pretty special for Dutch weather conditions. My trip to Croatia got me back in the contest flow and this time I kept it together during the contest. I managed to pull all my bangers in the final jam battle with Viki Gomez, Gilles van der Sompel and Sietse van Berkel, scoring me first place on home turf.
Dez spinning cross foot at the Urban Sport week contest in Amsterdam where he took the first place podium.
Nothing like the taste of victory on home ground.
Speed and flow is the Dez Maarsen trade mark style, and it was evident in Amsterdam.
Then it was time for one of the biggest contest of the year, the annual BMX Cologne contest. Again the contest was held in the bumpercar arena which made sure there was a great floor and awesome ambience! A couple of big names that made it last year where missing, but still the level was top notch and almost all the top pro riders from around the world made it. Almost 40 pro riders entered which was pretty much the highest entry I’ve seen all year. During the qualifications I managed to drop a solid run that scored me second place. Unfortunately the day of the finals my run it didn’t went as I wanted. I’ve noticed that sometimes it is nicer to qualify in a less higher position. This way you don’t have to wait for all the riders to pass and you just focus on your own run.
The BMX Cologne contest is one of the biggest contests of the year and to qualify in 2nd place out of almost 40 pro riders is no easy task. Photo by Melissa Zucchiatti
After a big theater tour, writing my thesis and hitting a contest almost ever week I decided to take a good rest during the summer. After not riding so much there was one contest close to home on the agenda. This time I made a trip to Antwerpen, Belgium for Antwerpen City Drops. There was a small turnout of Dutch and Belgium riders with the appearance of David Hoffman from Germany and Martin Drazil from Czech. We were blessed with great weather all weekend! Antwerpen City Drops was hosted by the City of Antwerpen and had wide range of Actions Sports. The disciplines where spread over the city and BMX Flatland and Dirt was hosted next to Antwerpen historical Castle, giving the contest a cool ambiance and a lot of spectators. I was pretty solid the whole weekend and manage to hit all my contest combos in the final jam battle and took home the win. All round there was a great vibe at this contest. All the riders hanging out after the contest and jamming. This is really what flatland is about.
Antwerpen City Drops bmx flatland contest was a sweet victory in the battle finals for Dez Maarsen. Such a solid finals run.
The pure power and style of Dez was in full effect at the Antwerpen City Drops contest battle finals.
What ones have been your favourite and why?
The Urban Sport Week Amsterdam was definitely the best. The event is as set up great this time and I rode the best here. The victory was really great with all my friends, family and theater show colleges to cheer me on! And I was stoked to pull all my bangers after struggling at the previous competitions. I even saved a trick for the final that I manage to pull in the last second.
St Martin has a new prototype frame, can you tell us anything about it?
The geometry is the same as the previous Opera frame, there are just a few minor changes on the frame to make it stronger. The strawberry patented wedge seat clamp has been replaced with different seat clamp. Then the chain stay is more cleaner and has some fancy bended tubes and thicker dropouts. The frame I’m testing isn’t heat treated so I won’t be able to truly test its strength.
The new prototype St Martin Opera frame is in current test mode, its looking solid.
You’re heading back to Flatark, it’s been 2 years since your last time there, what are you looking forward to the most and the least?
I’m the most excited about the Japanese riding scene to hang out and ride with the riders. The scene is still top notch and so strong. Now with all the super young kids riding BMX Japan is making sure flatland will stay alive in Japan. Also i’m looking forward to the food!! Can’t wait to have a bowl of ramen. The thing I’m looking for the least is jet lag and qualifications. Arriving in Japan on Wednesday, with qualifications on Friday I hope there will be enough time to get ready.
Dez Maarsen in 2015 at Flatark in Kobe where he placed 8th. Here is hoping for a rad result at one of the biggest contests on the flatland contest calendar. Photo by Marcio Abe.
Dez qualifying run from Flatark 2015
You have finished your school studies now, what were you studying? How will this help moving forward? Are you glad it finished with?
Getting this bachelor degree feels like such a big win. It was a long journey to get this. Struggling with dyslexia, school was never my thing. After dropping out of school at the age of 17 after getting my high school degree, riding BMX and traveling where my only ambitions. My mom supported my decision as long as I found a job. After working at soulcycle BMX shop for a couple of months I got the best job a young BMX rider could ask for. I was approached by ISH a theater group that makes breakthrough theater shows by using urban sport and street arts. I saw them preform a year before and back then I toughed it would be so awesome to be part it, so it was definitely a dream come true. For two years I was performing in sold out theaters and traveling and Romania and China to even to shows there where big high lights. After two years unfortunately the tour was over. I saved up enough money to finally make my trip to Japan where I spent over a month travelling across the country with my homie Gino Stuart. Competing at the legendary King of Ground contest making the final of pro contest for the first time at the Prova Cup in Hiroshima. After I was super motivated, but had to get a job again and ended up as dish washer. I decided I had to be more pro active in getting shows. Media & Entertainment Management seemed like a fitting study and with the right motivation, taking some test I was accepted to my local university.
Studying and riding went pretty good together. I still had plenty of time to ride. Unfortunately studying and competing didn’t always go so well together. Sometimes I would skip exams and risk getting expelled from the semester by skip mandatory classes just to go to competitions abroad. At the end of college I was pretty deep in competing since I no longer had mandatory classes. Riding was more priority since I was competing in the World Circuit. After doing that for two years it was really time to finish college. Getting back in college mode was hard, so finishing it was a hard time. Many months of no riding and rejected graduation studies passed. But the same determination I’ve for riding kept my going and after struggling for almost two years I finally graduated and I’m a proud owner of a Bachelor in Arts.
For now I want to focus on BMX, traveling, riding shows and competing and slowly make a transition to pursue a career in the real world.
Thanks to my supporters St Martin, Soul City Cycles and Freestyle Now.
