It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of five disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, and flatland.

Devin Bank was also documented doing[3] 360 degree freestyle spinning tricks on the street and also in the air by jumping off curbs.

Skateboarder Magazine then published photos of kids on bikes riding in empty household swimming pools in 1975.

In 1975 kids started riding bikes in concrete reservoir channels in Escondido San Diego, California.

In 1976 Devin and Todd Bank [4] began riding BMX bikes inside the Runway Skatepark in Carson California.

Bob Haro and John Swanguen rode BMX bikes at Skateboard Heaven, a concrete skatepark in San Diego, California, late 1976.

In the fall of 1977 Bob Haro was hired as a staff artist at BMX Action Magazine where he be friended R.L.

In the summer of 1978, Paramount, Lakewood, and other Southern California skateparks began reserving sessions or whole days exclusively for BMX bikes.

[5] BMX Action Magazine published the first freestyle how to article in their January/February 1979 issue which showed Bob Haro doing a "rock walk.

"[6] BMX bike riders also performed a demonstration freestyle show in 1979 during a skate competition at Rocky Mountain Surf Skatepark in Salt Lake City, Utah.

[9] Bob Osborn founded a slick quarterly magazine devoted solely to freestyle BMX.

Manufacturers hurried to the drawing boards to develop new freestyle bikes, components, and accessories, and began searching for talented riders to sponsor.

During this period, the sport progressed with the release of new bike models, components, and accessories designed strictly for freestyle.

In the early 1990s, BMX freestyle suffered a decline in its commercial popularity; subsequently a number of large companies reduced or terminated their investment in the sport.

In this economic climate, communities of new rider-owned companies and initiatives began to re-define the sport according to their own needs and interests, paving the way for what is now[when?]

This decline and subsequent new phase of the sport's development into an independently driven industry was notably referenced in the introduction to the BMX video Ride On (directed by Eddie Roman).

Wood is more suited to a flowing style, with riders searching for gaps and aiming to get the highest airs from the coping.

Concrete parks are commonly built outdoors due to their ability to withstand years of exposure to the elements of conditions.

Flatland also differs from the others in that the terrain used is nothing but a smooth, flat surface (e.g. an asphalt parking lot, basketball courts, etc.).

One of the primary reasons flat landers often ride only on flatland is the decreased stability of a shorter bike on ramps, dirt courses and streets.