{"id":1842218,"date":"2026-03-23T14:47:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1842218"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:47:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T11:47:49","slug":"jamie-foy-brings-his-rail-expertise-to-the-japanese-skate-game-show-kasso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1842218","title":{"rendered":"JAMIE FOY BRINGS HIS RAIL EXPERTISE TO THE JAPANESE SKATE GAME SHOW KASSO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nWe\u2019ve all seen Japan\u2019s neon-colored skate mouse trap called Kasso<\/a> by now. Created by the people behind American Ninja Warrior<\/em>, it\u2019s an obstacle course built to gamify skateboarding. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last weekend, Kasso had an event in Long Beach, California, marking the competition\u2019s first time in the States. The build featured a tilted, hopscotch nightmare, tightrope gaps, and a hellish rail. <\/p>\n

Aptly titled, \u201cRailCoaster Big Boy Foy,\u201d the rail was designed by none other than kink rail king Jamie Foy<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Before the contest, we caught up with Jamie to ask him about designing the rail, and while we were at it we squeezed in some rail-centric questions for skateboarding\u2019s favorite cross-locker.\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

What was the inspiration behind designing this rail?<\/strong>
\nI took inspiration from all the things I grew up skating. My local park had a double kink, and then there were a few DIYs and prefab parks, specifically Bum Park in Ft. Lauderdale, that had rainbow rails. Those are still my two favorite types of rails, double kinks and rainbows, so the [Kasso] rail I created starts with a double kink, goes flat for a little bit, and goes into a rainbow rail situation. <\/p>\n

The other thing I incorporated is kind of a Kasso classic, it\u2019s the S-shaped, dragon-tail style end to the rail. I kept that in there as the X factor, because even with the amount of rails I\u2019ve skated, an S-rail is super out of the ordinary. No one is used to skating that. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For the average skater who has never skated a kinked rail, what advice do you have? <\/strong>
\nI\u2019d say go with whatever trick you\u2019re most comfortable with. It\u2019s usually a board slide or 50-50, and that\u2019s where you want to start. And then it\u2019s all about getting a good lock in. When I was about 12 or 13 I used to skate a bump flat bump with a circle rail on the flat, and I used to just go for whatever lock in I could get. It was very trials and tribulations style. But over time I learned the best thing for me, which is a double heel lock on front 50-50 and cross lock on back 50-50, but it\u2019s different for everyone. <\/p>\n

Growing up, who were some of your big rail idols? <\/strong>
\nSomeone who paved the way for me is James Hardy<\/a>, RIP. He is someone I grew up watching and loving. On top of that, I loved watching all the Zero videos. Jamie Thomas was a big thing for me, partly because we had the same name and as a guy it was hit or miss if you\u2019d hear another guy having the name Jamie. He influenced a whole Zero generation to get gnarly on big handrails. <\/p>\n

And then what about currently, who are some of your favorite rail skaters?<\/strong>
\nBraden Hoban. He\u2019s doing some of the longest 50-50s I\u2019ve ever seen. Obviously Nyjah Huston. Other than that, Rob Pace, Gabbers, the list goes on. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Is there an age window where big rail skating is most possible? <\/strong>
\nI\u2019m hoping not [laughs], but that\u2019s something I always joke around with the homies about. I\u2019m hoping I\u2019m like 50 or 60 years old grinding at least a ten rail. That would be awesome, but we just have to see how the body ages. I\u2019m not a big jumper, so I\u2019m hoping that skating all these rails and getting away with it the way I have in my career, hopefully my joints are doing better than someone who\u2019s jumping off giant things. <\/p>\n

Do you do any rail specific training or working out?<\/strong>
\nNot really, I\u2019m about to be 30, and I just try to stay on my board as much as possible. You know what they say, if you don\u2019t use it you lose it. And certain days I still feel 23, so that\u2019s good. <\/p>\n

One thing you\u2019re not going to do skating stairs is sack a rail. I have to ask, how\u2019s the package doing? <\/strong>
\nObviously I\u2019ve sacked a lot, but thankfully I\u2019ve gotten away with no gnarly testicular things, because I am trying to have some kids in my lifetime. [laughs] The worst thing that I\u2019ve done is sack a really skinny circle rail and I had like a quarter inch laceration on my asshole. That sucked. I had to take stool softeners and sit on a donut for two to three weeks. But thankfully, the gonads have been ok. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Do you have any superstitions or things you need on the session when about to try a big rail?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s just about the people. You have to keep good homies around, good energy around, because I\u2019m the type of person who gets doubtful at times, so it\u2019s important to have those people around that put it in your brain that they believe in you. That\u2019s just going to help you go that extra distance. <\/p>\n

A lot of people know me as the guy who pulls up with a squad. It takes a lot of the pressure off, and if someone wants to skate the spot with you that\u2019s even better. <\/p>\n

When you\u2019re about to skate a sketchy rail do you do any prayer before a trick? <\/strong>
\nHere and there. I don\u2019t know about praying to one specific something, but I do know there is a lot of energy out there from passed loved ones and family and friends. Like I\u2019ve had moments where I get smoked on a trick and I walk away all good, and I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, there\u2019s got to be a guardian angel out there.\u201d I don\u2019t know who\u2019s up there watching over us, but it\u2019s got to be something. <\/p>\n

Are there any tricks that you haven\u2019t been able to figure out yet on a rail? <\/strong>
\nRight now I\u2019m trying to fakie heel into some stuff. I want to try to fakie heel back lip, or fakie front heel 5-0. I\u2019m just trying to put stuff together and see what works. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Do you ever practice your handrail tricks on a flat bar? <\/strong>
\nNah, I\u2019d rather learn a handrail trick on a handrail. To me, skating a flat bar you\u2019re almost more likely to get smoked than a handrail. At least a handrail goes down and ends super quickly, so you can fall past it. With a flat bar, 80% of the time you\u2019re going to fall on it, and that shit hurts. I\u2019d rather jump to the bottom all day than land flat on a flat bar.<\/p>\n

Is there anyone that comes to mind that isn\u2019t known for skating rails but can skate them really well? <\/strong>
\nLowkey, Chris Joslin. I\u2019ve skated a lot of contests with him, and he\u2019ll throw some crazy rail tricks out, like I\u2019ve seen him nollie inward heel front board and nollie heel back lip handrails, and people don\u2019t really think about that. He can jump down a crazy set of stairs and do some tech tricks on a handrail, so I think Chris is one of those underrated rail skaters. <\/p>\n

Interview by: Ian Michna<\/a>
\nIntro and editorial assists: Ben Komins<\/a>
\nPhotos courtesy of: Matt Winkelmeyer
\nTalk yo shit on Facebook<\/a>
\nScroll to the bone on Instagram<\/a> and Twitter<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all seen Japan\u2019s neon-colored skate mouse trap called Kasso by now. Created by the people behind American Ninja Warrior, it\u2019s an obstacle course built to gamify skateboarding. Last weekend, Kasso had an event in Long Beach, California, marking the competition\u2019s first time in the States. The build featured a tilted, hopscotch nightmare, tightrope gaps, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,282],"class_list":["post-1842218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-jenkemmag-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1842218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1842218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1842218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1842218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}