After six years of touring the states and spreading the gospel of skateboarding to all corners of the country, Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam continues to showcase the lighthearted side of skating, BMX and FMX (motocross) in a noncompetitive environment.

But what is this Boom Boom Huckjam, and how did it get its unusual name?

Tour namesake Hawk explained while on the road somewhere in the Midwest, his 2-month-old baby girl, Kadence, sitting on his lap as he talked: “We use the term 'hucking' to refer to launching ourselves in the air. And it's a 'jam' as opposed to a competition. And I just threw the 'boom boom' in there for a little Japanese kitsch flavor.”

Basically, the Boom Boom Huckjam is a chance for Hawk to hang out and skate with a bunch of his professional skater friends, spreading the joys of hucking throughout the land. The tour is a culmination of Hawk's 26 years as a pro skater, giving credence to his status as the Tiger Woods of action sports.

Hawk started his journey as a skateboarding icon in the local community of Tierrasanta. His dad, Frank, was in the Navy, and the skinny kid found an outlet for his energy and high level of focus in skateboarding.

“It wasn't cliché California, because it wasn't like we got to go to the beach all the time,” recalled the 40-year-old Hawk. “But the fact that there was support for skateboarding back when it wasn't an acceptable activity for kids was pretty major. There were skate parks and my dad was supportive, if I had lived somewhere else, I wouldn't have that support.”

Since his days learning moves in the few local skate parks in the early '80s, Hawk has transformed himself into the face of action sports (skating, snowboarding, motocross and BMX). He has clothing lines and video games and all the accouterments of top-echelon sports celebrities.

But the accolades mean nothing without the cred, and Hawk has earned his street credibility through gold medals at the X-Games and achieving the previously unachievable in skating.

DETAILS Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam When: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Where: AEG Live Concerts on the Green, Qualcomm Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley Tickets: $24.75-$39 Phone: (619) 641-3100 Online: ticketmaster.com

The legendary Dogtown team sponsored him at age 12. He was pro by age 14. He owned his first house at age 17. During his 17 years as a pro skateboarder, Hawk entered 103 pro contests. He won 73 of them, and placed second in 19. He landed the first 900 (2.5 revolutions) in competition during the 1999 X-Games, and has climbed over every hurdle offered by his sport.

Every athlete has to make decisions in their career about when to hang it up. In the afterglow of the 900 at the X-Games, Hawk decided to step away from competition.

But the drive and focus that propelled the skater to the top of his sport kept his creative juices flowing, and Hawk couldn't stay still for long. Hence, the Boom Boom Huckjam.

“Basically, I stopped competing after '99 and I really enjoyed performing still,” said Hawk. “It felt like the only time I got to perform at big venues was on the coattails of some other big events: a concert tour or a halftime show. It was never focused on what we did. I felt like we had come far enough and had the merit to headline our own tour. I just decided I wanted to make a tour exclusively designed around arenas, hire some of the best talent and make a show out of it as opposed to competing.”

Starting in '02 with a one-off show in Las Vegas, the tour has grown into a 30-date annual tour. This year, the Huckjam features skaters Hawk, Jesse Fritsch, Kevin Staab, Neal Hendrix and Sergie Ventura; BMX-ers John Parker, Dennis McCoy and Kevin Robinson; and FMX-ers Sean Nielsen, Greg Garrison and Drake McElroy. Jason Ellis will be your master of ceremonies. Also featured this year are the scratch skills of Mike Relm.

A self-professed DJ nerd who never really skated growing up, Relm has been impressed with Hawk and his work ethic.

“Skating isn't like the Ice Capades, where everything is razor sharp and if you fall it's a rarity,” said Relm. “People fall. It is what it is. They are constantly pushing themselves. And when you do that, you'll fall because you're trying things you've never done before. And he does that at the show.

“He can say: 'I'm Tony Hawk. I'm going to do a perfect run right now.' Bam-bam-bam, do a perfect run and all the kids love him. But he'll do his run and he'll nail most of the tricks. But every once in a while, he'll try stuff and he doesn't quite make it. But he'll keep doing it. He'll even do it while the credits are rolling, until he lands the trick. It's crazy. I think that's great for the kids to see.”