Big Jim has been my favourite french rhythm skater, and in amongst my top 3 three skaters since I first discovered him on Insta around 3 years ago.
What do I love about Big Jim? It’s the freshness he brings to the traditional rhythm skating moves we all know and strive to master. Not only does Big Jim have a firm grip on the big moves, he expresses them his way. He brings hip hop swag and high level skate moves with slow mo control — in ways that is uniquely Jim's. Jim has mastered taking his flow low, and slow. Groundwork is a regular feature of his unmistakable style. Jim certainly appears to be compelled to create and skate his own way.
When I first saw Jim, he was posting a series of slow mo skate clips on small surfaces — skating on flexible acrylic tiles [around 1 sq/m] in his living room [often with his beautiful black cat getting involved, or chilling in the background], and eventually progressing to performing his skate moves ontop of boulders, brick walls, concrete podiums — anything he happened upon in his explorations in and around Paris. His approach to skating was fresh back then, and now some years down the line, he’s still giving us the freshest of interpretations through his skating art.
If I saw a silhouette of Jim skating — even for 30 seconds — I’d know it was him! There aren’t too many skaters who could pass that litmus test! And that’s why, for me, Big Jim is 'that guy', who's fresh approach to the art of skating never fails to impress, and influence my own skating goals. I love him for that — and, I don't feel that I’m alone in this.
I've met Jim a few times now [during the European Skate Festivals] and I can honestly tell you that he is one of the most humble, REAL, and creative skaters you could meet. We UK skaters really rate his style, so it wasn't a surprise to see Jim embark on his first UK tour in 2025, teaching his refreshing skating style and drills that come together like poetry.
"...since I began, I saw the video of, Soul Skate, my goal is to go to Soul Skate in the USA and skate the middle. It was my main goal since I began.
I am a big, big fan of US rinks. It was my big inspiration. It's a really big matter for me. "
~Big Jim
7 Questions
Q.1 How how did you start skating?
"We start when I was a child with my twin brother, at age 5 or 6. But just to play. At that time in Paris, skating was really popular. In Paris, everybody was doing it. Just skating through the streets. We played a lot, uh, in my building, you know like a housing estate. It was a good time.
We played a game where you skate fast and catch the other kids, and then you get to punch them [Jim gently punches me on my arm to demonstrate the game 😅]. We had a lot of fun, it's like cat and mouse. I loved it. It was a game the boys and girls loved to play on skates everyday. For developing good agility on skates, it was great. By this time, I was a teenager. At this time in my life, my school also had roller skating classes as part of our physical education, that was normal in France. We skated on quads because inlines hadn't been invented yet. After, when I become a younger adult at, 18, I start to do dance."
Q.2: Tell me about your dancing?
"I started getting into dancing at 18. I became a professional hip hop dancer for more than twenty five years. I was touring in the same dance troup with my twin brother [@brice_krummenacker]. And so, at this time, I didn't skate too much for some years.
And, uh, I never imagined or saw dance skating till I was maybe 40. I saw a video of Soul Skate in Detroit. When I saw that, to me it's like the same, like, hip hop you know? I have circle [Jim makes an impression of being amazed with wide eyes]. I saw skaters performing spins and other dance moves, and I imediately thought, wow ...I need to to do that! This was before, COVID. Skating at this time wasn't popular in France, nobody was skating. So I have a lot of different problems. So I am learning by myself. Still, I set my mind to it. I wanted to do it, but there's no opportunity to learn from others, like there wasn't many rhythm skating tutorials like there is today. So, uh, I decided to go to New York.
I'm still working as a hip hop dancer, but I decided to to go to new york. I go to Central Park, to a rink, and, uh, when I came back, I start to, you know, I start to learn by myself."
Q.3: How did the trip to New York change things, that made it possible for you to be able to learn by yourself?
"I was inspired. I fiound some tutorial on, uh, YouTube, especially from, Chris Neima. I think he is a Canadian skater. He was very amazing. It was the first skate tutorial I found. Then, I saw a man do a grapevine Youtube tutorial and he helped me understand a lot [Jim describes Bryan [BFunk Phenominom]. A lot of stuff begins after that. Oh my gosh!
At this time, I was still only skating in my flat, my apartment."
Q. 4: I saw the of videos of you skating with your cat. What's the story behind you skating on small tiles at home?
"Ahh, I ruptured my cruciate ligament two months after I began skating, while doing a hip hop freestyle. You do the show after you do a freestyle. I was out for six months, I had to have surgery.
And, uh, when I come back slowly, I had to keep it simple, easy, uh, only skating straight lines, no rotationational moves at all! So I began my education to do this move [Jim gets up to demostrate his iconic slow motion dribble in his skates]. So this is what I did. Because I can only that, and I finished up with this as my main move. I said, okay, I need to to buy a little surface for for training. And, uh, I was doing only this move for ten months straight, nothing elseu.
Then, I think this period informed my skating style, you know, because I have a very small place to skate. After that, I loved skating in this way, but then, I can introduce a rotation through my knees again.
I began to dance on the square, it's like the primary drill for me. I think skating this little space has given me a lot of control when I dance on skates.
And, you know, in your apartment, you can't go crazy, you have to think of your neighbors ...the things in your kitchen, or you end up in the sink [we laugh]. And honestly, for two years, I only do this kind of skating at home. Just slow moves"
[Me: "This makes so much sense now."]
"And now, you know, I'm very comfortable with, uh, small space moves.
Me: "So you turned it into a blessing?"
"Yeah. I was living in Lyon, and uh, after this, I came back to to Paris because I saw people in Paris making connections to rhythm skate. After, I was only doing roller dance in skates, I stopped performing as a hip hop dancer."
Me: "When I first saw you, on Instagram, you were skating in small spaces, it was so fascinating, and, the control ...wow. It's like drilling, but you turn in into an art form."
Q.5: How did your skating progress after that?
"I say in my mind, now it's time to to go out, to to go meet people. And after, since I began, I saw the video of, Soul Skate, I see in my mind— my goal is to go to Soul Skate in the USA and skate the middle. It was my main goal since I began.
I lived ten years in Lyon, and when I started roller skating, I saw there was a little skating community in Paris, and my brother lived in Paris, and I feel it's it's the time to come back. It would be better for seeing my family. When I arrived in Paris, I met the community. We have a place, called, Passage Saint Honore, people meet there for practise. We called ourselves Team Saint Ho.
So I work a lot, a lot, a lot. And after, uh, okay, I'm ready for it, it was around the time of COVID. And I go with my twin brother and uh, and we go first to Chicago.
Me, I am a big, big fan of US rinks. It was my, big inspiration. It's a really big matter for me. After, I this, I went to New York.
And after, uh, COVID came, roller skating blew up, all over the world.
➡️ Watch Video: Big Jim Skate Cypher [Valencia: Nov 2025]
➡️ Watch Video: Big Jim Skate Cypher [Paris: June 2024]
Q.6: So you've been a few times now? How did it Feel?
"Two times. Also, I went to Miami. And we start do snapping, because we in France, we don't have rinks. We don't have space like this.
It was, really great. A lot of pleasure. And, of course, uh, you know, I come from a dance background, I know, how it works. So then, I got to do the middle, a cypher. It was good
Q.7: So what now, are you just enjoying skating or do you have other goals?
"This goal is my second goal [after going to Soul Skate] because me, I come for the dance. I danced with the number 1 choreographer, It's really my job, my work. You have time to create repeat, and quickly, I see in my mind, ahh, I can do the same thing I do in sneakers, but I can do it on roller skates. I wanted to do this creation with the top people [in the industry]. Creation with sense, not only with spins, but telling a story, it all deoends what the choreographer wants.
Now, for the past year I've been creatiing a show called Pacific Sqaure with Le Scribe So I'm very happy. It's not a street show, it's really for the theatre with big lights, a special musical creation, we take a lot of time for create. For example, we do, uh, one choreography with water. Okay, we have the bottle, two of us, and just like this [Jim demostrates ways to creatively move while passing a bottle of water]. We improve it, and after creating something from the improv, we take the best parts and create a theatrical performance. This is what I want to do more of."
➡️ Listen & share: Big Jim's Audio [via YouTube]
➡️ Follow: @jembigjem on instagram.
➡️ Previous interview: 7 Questions With Skate Dredd
Kelly
Cranial Osteopath | Wellbeing Coach | Roller Skate Instructor
🗯️ What did you take away from Big Jim's story? Were there anything that surprised you? Share your thoughts and comments below.
