They’re skates, but you don’t strap them on, you ride them, each foot on top of one. They let kids do some wild tricks, but stability is a question mark.

Some kids at Venice Beach are adopting this new style of skate thanks to a local retailer, Action Water Sports, which sells more of these Freeline Skates than any other store around the world. That’s saying something, given that they’re sold in 26 countries. Apparently, they’re big in Japan.

The skates look like squares of metal with two wheels attached. One skate goes under each foot and the skater moves forward while facing sideways, like on a skateboard. By turning toes in and out and kicking backwards, the skater can propel himself forward.

It sounds like it might be challenging, but it’s not all that difficult, said Renee Tuzee, chief executive of Freeline Skates Inc., the San Diego company that came up with the design.

“It’s surprisingly like a bicycle,” Tuzee said. “On a bike, you need momentum to stay upright. Suddenly you get it and you’re flying downhill.”

Action Water Sports in Marina del Rey is the first retailer to carry Freeline Skates in the Los Angeles beach market, although Sports Chalet Inc. carries them in five stores in outlying regions of the county. The skates retail for $135 a pair, and Freeline Skates has sold about 30,000 units worldwide since 2005. The company has six employees, up from just two inventor Ryan Farrelly and his business partner last year.

Because the skater’s feet aren’t strapped to the skate, Freelines allow for a new breed of tricks. They include the “throwback,” where the skater glides on one foot while spinning and passing the other skate around his back; the “flinger,” where the skater flips one skate up and catches it with his hand, continuing to propel himself by moving his free leg back and forth; and the “stomp,” where the skater glides on one foot, then drops his other skate to the ground and lands on it.

Tuzee is grateful for Action’s success in retailing the Freelines. “What happens in California reverberates around the world,” she said.