Joel Parkinson, circa 1994

By: Jeff Mull | August 10th, 2010 at 1:08pm

If you were under the impression that Joel Parkinson was born with his trademark style, then you'd be right. After stumbling upon this old gem of a segment from Parko's blog, you can catch all of the subtle movements that have made him into the seamless surfer (discounting the stitches in his foot of course) that he is today.

The video, which was shot by a local TV station in the mid-90s, features Parko on a chopstick of a board outfitted with a full-deck grip--hey, it was the 90s--as well as his dad, who touted his young prodigy in the clip with the pride of a father who knows his son is destined for big things.

So what's the secret? How did Joel go from teenage hopeful to World Tour contender? Other than natural talent, according to the clip, it's a set of big feet and surfing against guys that are older than you.

"I've always surfed against older guys, and it has paid off now," said Parko.

Now if we could just get him healthy enough to compete again, we'd have ourselves a world title holder.

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