Ken Swift On Battles

In breaking, it’s people trying to out skill each other using their personality, their body and the music. The battle has come along way, back in the days you didn’t stick your middle finger up on someone’s face or take their hat and throw it. In 1978, you get punched in the face or beat up by whoever you were at if you violated anybody like that, you would’ve definitely had a fight. You will probably get robbed, stabbed or shot. The classic battle I remember being a part of was about out skilling the opponent in the circle but not really giving them eye contact. When anybody went in and did something, someone would want to chop that person, chop the actual skill, not disrespect them and violate them. Because there was no cameras and no medias no scenes and no magazines. This was the community in the actual neighborhood where you lived. So, doing that to somebody and they will be like, ” Yo what’s wrong with you? what are you looking at me for, why are you disrespecting me?” The aggression is more to being a dancer that to out skill in a circle when whoever jumps in and others will try to beat whatever thrown before.

Ken Swift

Filed under: Battles, Battles, Ken, Swift

Maurizio On BBoy

You think that Toprocking is the introduction, but you make a big mistake! Because Toprocking is the dance, the real dance. It’s not the introduction. Footwork and Toprocking is the real dance. And the thing very important for B-Boys is that B-Boys gotta shock you. B-Boys come from nowhere. All moves. When you see the dancers make their moves and you understand what they gotta do next it’s like you lose the feeling with the dancers.

Maurizio

Filed under: BBoy, BBoy, Maurizio

Cros1 On Judging

The problem is these battles are so close that the decision usually can go either way with one slight mishap or slight edge. So no matter who you give it to someone else is going to think differently. You dont see us as judges bicker over who won or lost. There could be 3 to 5 judges and we dont sit there at the count of 3 and give our judgements and then since 2 of the judges out vote me Im not going to sit there and cry about it. I ask questions as to why they thought so. I will either get it or I wont. But I wont sit there and tell them there wrong. It is what it is. Its a matter of respect. We’ve all been there where we lost when we thought we won. But it makes you better in the long run no matter if you want to believe that or not. And some the W’s dont end up coming for a long time if ever. But its a nature of progression for a bboy to take that L and learn from it. And what we see right dead center of the stage and what you guys see out there in youtube/bboyworld land is completely different. Watching shaky grainy footage over seeing it and feeling it live front and center its just no other feeling you can catch digitally. Ya’ll can watch the battle over and over again were sitting there as it happens real life situations happen right on the spot and we make our decision right on the spot. You know how hard that is sometimes. Its crucial having some of the illest bboys in the world staring at you wondering if they won or not. No matter what is said and done though at the end of the day the bickering will never end. Bboying is gettting way complex and the battles are getting so close its not even funny. peace

Cros1

Filed under: Judging, Cros1, Judging

Buddha On Racism

Should never happen -check yourselves peeps – come correct or get out of the game !!!

Buddha

Filed under: Racism, Buddha, Racism

Tyquan On Racism

to all the crews that be doin that asian eye thing against an asian bboys/girls or an asian crew…yall need stop that shit for real…that shit aint no joke….and u think its a joke…it wouldnt be a joke no more after an asian kat laid u out thats not even a bboy by doin that dumb shit….so stop it already yall…and don’t ever try that shit on me for real! thats some fightin shit right there..im surprise none of these asian kats that got disrespected like that didnt stand up for that racist gesture. and to all u judges and promoters that dont disqualify kats for doin that…yall supporting racism as well..yall all corn balls to me as well…peace

Tyquan

Filed under: Racism, Racism, Tyquan

Ness On BBoy

ok
for starters, putting the word “bboy” in front of your name was never the case back in the days.
it wasnt even bboy, it was BEAT boy, but when you speak fast with a bronx accsent it sounds like bboy.
noone everr put the title infront of thier names in any elemnet (bboy, dj, mc)
the first people to do that was promoters
when promoters first started booking djs, it was the promoters who added the dj part to the front of thier namesso the people woulld know it was a dj playing at the venue. before hip hop, only bands, musicioans, and singers got pics and names on flyers and posters for parties and events, so this was the promoters way of letting everyone know it was a dj playing and not a singer for example. and the trend stuck by the early 80’s but only the dj did so, noone else.
it wasnt until the late 80’s that the most corniest most commercial rapper decided to put the title infront of the name and mc hammer was born. to alot of us al school cats it was corny just to hear his name before we even heard his music because he put mc in front of his name, years later he learned from old school nyc mcs who moved to cali (melle mel, caz, whipper wip etc) how corny it was to do that, so he eventualy droped the mc, and just droped records as hammer.
not sure who started putting the bboy in front of his name, but to this day i still think its corny.
when im hired, i always make sure the promoters dont put bboy in front of my name on flyers, and make sure the hostdont call me bboy alien ness.
whan people refer to me as a bboy, i always say im not a bboy, bboy is what i do.
besides
bboys dont exist anynore but thats another post.
on another note, another new trend in breaking is choosing your own name, especialy when it doesnt suit you. in my generation, your pears or a mentor gave you your name acording to how they say you, not how you see yourself, cause most times we see ourselves in a diffrent way then what we really are.
the only time peeps gave themselves names is when they used thier real names and just added a hip hop type word to it and always real names or initials
norman scot chose norm ski (its his name with a typical hip hop word attached to it.
my name is robert, befoe ness, freinds just called me robbiie d (d at the end of your name was popular back in the days)
hope that answered your question

Ness

Filed under: BBoy, BBoy, Ness

Teknyc On Trends

Karaoke breakin.

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this post is in no way a dis to anyone, it’s simply an observation of one of the trends in our dance today.
i call it Karaoke breakin. this is when a breaker hits EVERY beat, lyric, horn,snare in the record. some might call that “Beat Riding”. now, anything in excess is bad, if you dont rock to the beat, than you’re not dancing, & if you hit every single beat you’re trying too much & it looks forced & far from natural & it leaves no room for the element of surprise. you should always be with the tempo of the song, but those very obvious hits should come out of nowhere & out of the flow of your solo. it should not look like karaoke, where you follow the little red ball on top of the lyrics so you can be in tune with the record. use this as advice or disregard it all together.
pz..

Teknyc

Filed under: Trends, Teknyc, Trends

Moshen On Biting

un fuckinbelievible … seriously bboys and bgirls.. .this shit has to stop… wake the fuck up already.. bboying and hip hop as a culture is about expressing yourself, celebrating YOUR individuality… thats how this whole culture started (and the only thing that will keep it alive forever!).. everything from the way you walked, how you rocked your cap and kicks, and how you did your thing on the dance floor… its about discovering and celebrating WHO YOU ARE … bboying is a vehicle in which we show our soul to the world… the “moves” you create are the words of your novel / life story… the pages of your biography… this is why we create our own shit.. this is why you dont bite… not because somebody said not too… but because it goes against the whole magic of what makes this culture so fucking precious… and the fact that 75% percent of dancers now of days cant see this and have to question it unbelievible to me… this shit is turning into fucking Karaoke… people are afraid to “write their own songs” ..they would rather be a “singer” than an artist…. and all this talk about how every move has been done is even worse… has every joke been told?… every book been written?.. there are only so many keys on a piano, does that mean every song has been played..?… this shit is fucking infinite.. we are all unique and original as humans, look at our finger prints for fuck sake… im sorry for going off like an ass hole … but it hurts me to see our culture being so misunderstood… its time to log the fuck off, grow some balls, go into the garage, turn up the fucking music and find out who you really are… peace..m

Moshen

Filed under: Biting, Biting, Moshen

Ness On Judging

ok, so i be reading around the forums, and i see a lot of the same thing, mostly questions to peeps like me, poe1, or even other popular bboys.
the questions are always more or less the same…
“so when are you going to come to [ insert your city or country here]?”or “yo are you going to come to [insert your local event name here]?”
and even “why don’t you bring your workshop to [you get the idea by now]
ok this makes it obvious to me at least that a lot of peeps still don’t understand how the game works. so ill explain it.
when you see your favorite breaker or popular breaker at an event in you country they aren’t from, or doing a workshop, they were flown in and paid by that promoter who threw that event.
with the exception of maybe crazy legs (who i don’t know to go to events just to dance anyways), no breaker i know really can afford to constantly go out and about globetrotting.
its not the dancer you should be asking because EVERY DANCER wants to travel to your country or city and judge and do workshops. really.
its always up to the promoters.
its not for you to ask the dancer when, but ask the promoters of the jam, and in the case of judging, i think you should DEMAND for judges you know, not feel, are qualified.
that’s all.

Ness

Filed under: Judging, Judging, Ness

Poe1 On Foundation

I’m just checking out what y’all are writing. Here’s how most of us older cats started. when i first got into breaking. the first move i learned was what we call Russian kicks.This move taught me my center of balance. then i learned some shuffles.this taught me how to exchange my weight from side to side. then i learned how to knee spin.I learned this move fast because i already knew how to balance and shift my weight. Then came along a move called a leg sweep (coffee grinder). This taught me how to hop over my leg while the other swept under. this move also taught me to get both legs of the ground. From that move i learned how to do baby swipes. Then later baby swipes turned into long swipes. Then the same hand movements that swipes has can teach you how to do Startracks (airflares). Its the same hand placements but with out your legs touching the ground. You see foundation for me is everything we do. All moves will help another move develop. I always tell people to try and learn everything. Each move will help you. A back spin bridge showed me how to go to backspin head spin. a shoulder walk to baby freeze showed me how to hold my self up so i could get to that second continuation (windmills). It was how we learned and created most of the moves y’all do today. This was how the blueprint was made for y’all. So this is what we see when some one is breaking. I can tell if you don’t have something down or if you do. Each move will help you get into another move which in turn will help you flow better. Well i just thought i could help a little for y’all to understand what foundation really is and how we need it in everything we do.Peace

I read his post. I just wanted him to relate that he can use what he already knows to help him with his dynamics (powermoves). If he has a good whip when he does baby freezes and chair freezes. Then he’s going to have a fast whip in his windmill, flares etc.. If he has powerful footwork or sweeps, then he’s going to have a good whip to get into swipes and other combos. But if he doesn’t do these moves with power then he is not going to be able to get dynamics that easy. But i don’t know how he breaks. So i hope if these words can help a little he can put the two together. A lot of people separate the two (Powermoves and Footwork). But in reality they are one. Everything you must do fast and must have a whip. But remember the speed will come in time. Also if your having trouble with flares, try starting them from footwork. When you are in your footwork position and you sweep the leg from the front you will end up with your legs going in the air like if you are doing baby swipes. This motion is the same for flares. All you got to do is extend your legs and whip them towards the front. Well bro all I’m gonna say is never give up on anything you want to learn. Some people learn faster then others. But anything you keep trying is eventually gonna happen. Peace and God Bless.

Poe1

Filed under: Foundation, Foundation, Poe1