Joslin Hunter

Indo Board founder, Hunter Joslin, has always been fascinated with and passionate about balance. As an avid competitive swimmer, at age 11 he had his first introduction to a homemade balance board kept by a water safety instructor at the country club swimming pool where he was a team member.

The surfing boom of the 60's hit Hunter full tilt in 1965, and he was going to the beach at every possible chance to pursue the latest teen craze. One day he re-discovered one of the abandoned homemade balance boards used at the pool, which he quickly claimed as his own. This began an obsession with mastering the device. Hunter would ride on the balance board every night while doing his homework after swim practice. On the sidewalk or in his garage, he would spend hours upon hours on the board, becoming quite proficient, inventing tricks and innovative maneuvers while striving to do something new, always pushing the limits. The results of balance training was evident in his surfing when he was able to ride a surfboard better than most of his friends who were spending much more time in the water.

In 1973 he started working for Lower Eastside Surfboards as a sander and a polisher. With the newly discovered urethane wheels reviving the sport of skateboarding, Hunter began building skateboards, as well as skimboards, and balance boards, which led to the discovery of the unique Indo Boarddesign when he mounted a skimboard on a roller. The wider deck allowed for a more stable ride, and a greatly increased range of motion, which brought hours upon hours of fun experimentation. In 1976 Hunter took a serious look at the possibility of designing and marketing a balance board when he traveled to Washington D.C. to research patents, and educate himself about the legalities and logistics of developing the concept. He then quickly decided that the timing was not right, and that his motivations were much more focused on following his surfing and skateboarding endeavor. Surfing led him to embrace skateboarding as a means to stay in shape for the next swell, and he became fully entrenched in the "Dogtown Era" of the sport.

In 1983 he picked up the microphone at a pro surfing event in Jensen Beach, Florida. His broadcasting style, presence and personality were an instant hit, effectively launching his m/c career in professional surfing. To date Hunter has announced over 150 professional surfing events including 16 ASP Pro Tour events in California, Australia, Barbados, Costa Rica and the East Coast. He also announced the very first two Professional Wakeboard Tour events in 1991 as well as several events for the Women on Water Pro Waterskiing and Wakeboarding Tours. In 1998 Hunter was hired by NBC to be the Head Judge for the Gravity Games street luge and downhill skateboard events in Providence, Rhode Island. Hunter made his national TV debut when he disqualified Biker Sherlock in a controversial skateboard race with Lee Dansie. Biker eventually went on to become the West Coast Distributor of Indo Boards.

Throughout the years he has remained an avid surfer, and has evolved into a world-class longboarder, recognized as a member of the legendary Donald Takayama Hawaiian Pro Designs team. Hunter's worldwide surfing adventures have taken him to 23 countries including Japan, Barbados, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, France, England, Hawaii, Indonesia, Australia, and the Galapagos Islands. He parlayed his travel experiences into several different business endeavors, including a woodcarving and bamboo furniture import business from Bali, importing bikinis from Australia, and a travel agency for surfers. In the late nineties he ultimately decided what he really wanted to do was pursue his passion and belief that he could design, build, and market a better balance board, one that was versatile, fun, and functional at the same time. This led to a nine-month research and development period; numerous deck and roller prototypes were made and tested.

In the fall of 1998 the Indo Board Balance Trainer was incorporated and trademarked, and a new era in balance boards was launched. Originally designed to train surfers out of the water, Hunter soon discovered that the apparatus was much more than just a surfing simulator. Users reported increased leg strength and flexibility, so it became apparent that the Indo Board was an excellent cross trainer for all sports and fitness disciplines. Hunter's keen interest in the dynamics of balance led to a fervent study of the concept of proprioception, biomechanics, and functional mobility training. Today he has emerged as a qualified, passionate coach of balance training and advocate of core fitness, earning him such descriptives as the "Balance Sensei" and the "Balance Whisperer", or simply "Indo MAN". The Now From its humble beginnings in a spare bedroom in Melbourne Beach, Florida, to the eventual move into our new office and warehouse in 2005, Indo Board Balance Trainer has stayed true to its commitment of quality and customer service. Today, Indo Board is the most recognized brand in balance board trainers and offers one of the most extensive lines of top notch balance board training products on the market with distribution spanning the world.

The future appears to have no boundaries, as the basic elements of all athletic endeavors - balance, posture, and core fitness are addressed by using the Indo Board. Indo Board will continue refining and expanding its product line, create new and innovative balance training products, and most important of all, continue keeping exercise fun and challenging.