BMX Plus! february 1984: We might as well let you know that Vans freestylist (and BMX Plus! test pilot) Martin Aparijo is in the vanguard of a new rage in Southern California - "breaking".' Breaking, or 'break dancing" as it is also known, is the exotic form of street dancing that first came to wide attention in the movie Flashdance. Aparijo is a master of the form already. The most famous of the moves he does is ''spinning,'' short for spinning on his back on the ground. Martin says that in the movie one dancer spun around eight times without stopping. Martin's own record is 13 times. Another popular move is spinning on one hand while the rest of one's body is parallel to the ground (Martin says he has gone around 20 using only his free hand to propel himself, eight times in a row without touching the ground with his free hand or any other part of his body). An even more difficult move, according to Martin, is spinning on one's head without otherwise touching the ground (see ''Parting Shot''). Martin says he can manage three revolutions with that move. Readers interested in trying their skill at this latest craze may note that BMX elbow pads make it easier to spin on one's hand or head, and that one should not wear an expensive shirt or jacket when attempting the back spins. Martin likens breaking to freestyle BMX without a bike. Sociologists might take note that, according to Martin, street gangs in Los Angeles are now using breaking contests instead of fights as a means of establishing superiority on the streets.
Martin Aparijo, BMX Action Bike march 1986: A lot of tricks are invented by making mistakes. You go out and ride, you do something wrong, you make a variation on it and it kinda goes from here. The cherrypicker got invented 'cos we used to do the trick where you ride the bike like a uni-cycle. The thing is you can't actually ride the bike so I thought I'd try and pogo it, so I went in my garage and held on to the roof, stood on my bike and pogoed it. But getting in and out of the cherrypicker was a completely different story. What I'd do was I would just get myself up there and I'd just let myself fall. Then I'd figure out where the pedal is. I'd reset the pedal and get back up. I learnt how to get out the trick before I could get into it.
Martin left Torker and is now riding for GT.
BMX Plus! april 1985: GT announced that it has signed BMX Plus! test rider Martin Aparijo to the GT freestyle team.
BMX Plus! Freestyle raddest tricks video.
Martin Aparijo interview in Super BMX and Freestyle april 1986.
RAD.
BMX Rider Martin Aparijo was the stunt man for actress Lori Laughlin at the nightclub scene, performing freestyle tricks while "Send me an Angel" song (performed by Real Life) was around the place. Aparijo had to wear a wig to look alike Lori!
On the cover of the july 1986 issue of BMX Action is Woody Itson and Martin Aparijo.
Reportage sur le GT World Tour 1986 avec Martin Aparijo et Dennis Langlais et interview de Martin dans le numéro d'août 1986 de Bicross magazine.
GTV video.
Martin Aparijo interview in the november 1986 issue of Freestylin.
Martin Aparijo test out the GT Pro Performer in the november 1986 issue of Super BMX and Freestyle.
Martin Aparijo and Michael Dominguez did a show in front of 10,000 people at the Bicross International de Paris Bercy en France, november 1986.
Martin Aparijo au sol; around the moon, double around the world, double tailwhip.
Paris, november 1986.
Troisième indoor de Tour en France avec les démos de Martin Aparijo et Josh White.
2nd place pro flatland @ 1987 AFA Masters round 2, march 28-29, 1987, Portland, Oregon.
Martin Aparijo's quickspin and the real McCoy's cancan on the cover of the april 1987 issue of Freestyle Spectacular.
GT Demo tape video.
Troisième édition du Supertour en France avec Martin Aparijo, Josh White et le team Blix Haro.
Undertaker how-to by Martin Aparijo in Super BMX and Freestyle august 1987.
1st place pro flatland @ 1987 AFA Masters round 5, october 3-4, 1987, Wayne, New Jersey.
Martin Aparijo put on a great routine, slower and easier than McCoy's run, by most observers' standards, but also much cleaner. He touched down only three times. Martin's run included forwards and backwards bar rides and much more, but one trick really blew away the crowd and the judges. He turned the front wheel sideways, rocked forward, and started hopping in the regular Miami hop-hop manner, but then he started spinning the bars 180 degrees between hops, no handed no less! The crowd went absolutely, totally crazy. It was the trick of the contest.
1st place pro flatland @ 1987 AFA Masters finals, november 1987,the Velodrome, Los Angeles, California.
Martin Aparijo started knocking off his best collection of framestand, surfer and barride moves, and then went through an assortment of other moves, including a radical no-handed backyard in circles.
AFA Masters round 2.
GT Demo tape.
AFA Masters round 5.
AFA finals Velodrome.
Martin Aparijo rentre des cowboys no hand barspin, backward gripstand, pedalpicker to decade et backyard avec du mal.
Martin Aparijo interview in the september 1988 issue of American Freestyler.
Martin Aparijo riding and RL Osborn young on the cover of the december 1988 issue of Freestylin.
To those around him, Martin was also known as a very positive person. According to Woody, "He had a good attitude, and he was always fun to be around." I never met him myself, but if he was that good of a person, I suppose I can forgive him for the rat-tail and the peach-fuzz mustache he always rocked. Even if I wasn't into his personal grooming habits, I had mad respect for his riding; he was one of the best."