http://mpora.com/videos/qoqOEPhUk Anyone who read this story from the Olympic Games last month will know that we’re massive fans of the dreadlocked Japanese shredder Kazuhiro ‘Kazu’ Kokubo. While snowboarding contests can seem like a blur of technical but boring tricks, Kazu embodies the old fashioned art of going BIG. He also nearly got himself banned from the Japanese Olympic squad for turning up at Narita airport with his trousers round his arse and official tie looser than a high school truant’s. Now that’s rock n roll!

We were therefore stoked to hear that at the Burton US Open last week it all came together for Kazuhiro San. His winning run in the halfpipe managed to combine technical tricks with great style – and of course, he went fooking huuuuge. A well known pipe rider suggested to me recently that small guys like Louie Vito are at a natural disadvantage when it comes to gaining amplitude – they just don’t have the power of a taller guy like Shaun White or Iouri Podladtchikov. Well, after seeing this here video I’m not sure that theory holds much water. “Banzai!!!!!”