Christian Hosoi was skateboarding's biggest rock star in the 80's. He was flashy, he was talented, and he demanded more attention than anybody else.

Hosoi was a leader. From inventing tricks like the rocket air and Christ air, to wearing shirts that were all ripped to hell, everyone tried to imitate him. He designed a skateboard deck that had cutouts for frontside and backside grabs, and called it the Hammerhead. The cutouts were completely nonfunctional, but the kids ate it up anyway.

Christian was also one of the first skaters to sport spandex while shredding. Only the brave followed this fad, however.

After living the life of a rock star, he suffered like so many others before him. Due to poor money management, he fell on some hard times and was eventually put in jail for having a pound of methamphetamine on his person.

In the late 90's and through the millenium, Chad Muska, a modern-day perpetuator of his skating style, championed a campaign to have him released. One of the many steps in this process was raising funds, which he did by donating all of his royalties from the Shorty's (Muska's sponsor) Rising Sun deck design. This deck was an homage to an old Hosoi deck design, from when Christian was still skating professionally.

In 2003, Hosoi was released from prison on parole. He is now skating professionally for Shorty's, alongside Chad Muska and other professionals. He has had no reported problems with the law.

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