Most b-boys, especially the older ones, consider foundation to be footwork, specifically six-step related footwork, and basic freezes. It's what most b-boys recommend to the inquisitive beginner to start off with. Mastery of foundation is considered the essence of a "true b-boy," and mastery of footwork techniques is what separates b-boys from other dancers. Or so they say. Most breakers I know personally, including myself, did NOT start off learning foundation footwork. The first move I learned was turtles, and many other people I know started with windmills or other basic power moves, or freezes, or a general understanding of rhythm. That's THEIR foundation, and I've noticed that every breaker who starts off on the "wrong" foot looks TOTALLY different from any other breaker or dancer.

Here's my contention: If every would-be breaker started off learning the six-step and other accepted b-boy foundation movements, they would all look relatively similar. This can be either good or bad, depending on your point of view. It's good because we'll all look like "b-boys" as opposed to ballet dancers, but it might not be so good because we'll all look like we're doing the same thing. I don't mean we'll all be clones; we're all different people, with different qualities and capabilities, and we'll all interpret the same dance differently. There's nothing at all wrong with that. BUT...what if everybody started off learning something different? What if a would-be breaker never learned footwork, but had an amazing capacity for rhythm and freezes? Or power moves? Or something we haven't even conceived of yet? Would that person still be considered a b-boy?

By learning and mastering basic footwork, you're understanding the FUNDAMENTALS of the dance once known as "rocking." The more you play with that style, the more your personality shines through. You eventually form your own unique interpretation of an established dance. You've thus chosen a convenient means of expressing your soul. That can't be bad...but it can be limiting. So then, you explore other movements. You learn power moves, you polish your toprocks, freezes, etc. But the fact remains: although every dancer interprets the dance ("rocking") differently, you still look relatively similar to every other dancer who does the same dance. Again, this is not a bad thing at all. It just depends on what YOU want. Dance is art...art is the expression of the soul...and the soul is without limits.

Say someone isn't too attracted to footwork, and wants to learn power moves and combos. We've seen it many times. They're often looked down upon and referred to as "urban gymnasts." But like it or not, they pushing the limits of the human body's capabilities, and they're pushing the boundaries of breaking. They're doing what they FEEL. They choose to focus on movements other than footwork, because they CAN. That's his foundation. Or, say someone has a natural talent for dancing and acting, and he's not too interested in footwork; say it's too "robotic" for him. But he has the most graceful movements and loads of character, and hits beautiful freezes. He takes advantage of his capabilities, and ignores the rules, because he CAN. And that's HIS foundation. There are plenty of situations we can come up with. If people are allowed to express themselves in the myriad ways that they truly want to, the result will be the creation of new forms of movement, and new dances...as opposed to new "styles," or interpretations.

With time, comes evolution. Many aspects of the dance originally known as "rocking" have been expanded upon, in many ways. Our freedom as b-boys continues to be regulated by those who were there since the birth of the dance, and by those influenced by those pioneers. People who break the rules are excommunicated. But the rules have been bent since the beginning, and they will continue to be bent, more and more, until what people are doing looks nothing like the vision shared by the founders of breaking. It's a beautiful thing.

Think about it: if people are allowed total artistic freedom, and are able to develop their own "foundations," some blessed individual may stumble upon a whole new DANCE, as opposed to a mere interpretation of an established dance form. Where would be if somebody, God forbid, had told Don Campbell he was doing the Funky Chicken wrong, and taught him the "correct" way? He broke the rules...but he's revered, and rightfully so, as one of the pioneers of street dance. There will be another Don Campbell...there will be another Bruce Lee...there will be another Charlie Parker.

If the powers that be dictate that a b-boy is defined by constricted criteria (i.e., six-step), then I am not a b-boy. With or without "foundation," I am still KUJO, and always will be. And no one on this planet will ever be better than me at being Kujo. Peace.

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Relations

++RiB++cAgE++

Relations... Not sexual, physical, how all power moves are very similar in physics, its all about getting to know your base move.

Okay, there are about 7 different main base move categories for power, these are the categories: (basically, anything else could be considered a variation by physics not visual appearance)

1)Turtles - All floats follow similar principals
2)Headspins - Elbowspins, backspins, handglides
3)Airtracks - Airflares, Airmills
4)Flares - virgin flares (close legged flares), elbow flares (all from hips)
5)Windmills - you know the variations
6)Broncos - Apple Jacks, swipes, kick ups
7)Suicides - umm, suicides?

I'm going to explain the type of force that allows people to perform these base moves, and how they get transferred to variations. You may only want to read the first paragraph about each base move if you think its better by trial and error.

1)Turtles, okay, this is all about placement and keeping kinetic energy going smoothly.

Basically once you have your balance, meaning you can stay on you hands with your legs extended behind you straight together. Then you must figure out how to move in a circle. You aren't going to be spinning on the center because that would mean your hands wouldn't provide momentum, and your hands are the only thing touching the ground, basically anything.
So, what do you do, well you've been told that if you move one hand back and then the other forwards you will begin to make circles, but you assume it follows the same principal of a tank, the way a tank will move its left track forwards and its right backwards.
Well, this is partly right, but you want your back end moving with the hand traveling backwards, once this hand has stopped momentum will keep your back moving, but it can't keep following the same path, so it begins to go the only way it can, sideways in circles. This will cause you to take your right hand off and move it up forwards, but you don't want your back to pick up again and start moving forward. You want your front to begin this awkward path, once going your head should be moving forwards and in a large circle while your legs are staying basically in one spot and then once your hands have switched your momentum switches, this is kinetic energy.

Now, for things like Crickets and Airturtles, this use kinetic energy but a very very little amount, and jackhammers use a different type. Airturtles and other elbowless floats, are just in the hands, your hands must move quick to keep both ends moving in large circle and never really coming to that stand still.
As for crickets, they are turtles with your hands in the handglide position, but it looks more like assisted hopping.

Jackhammers, are hopping and twisting, turning a fall into a twist and back into a rise and fall.

2)Headspins, are all about finding your equilibrium, centre of gravity, and keeping it. You can use your hands to maintain or save it but that's basically it.

For a headspin, you must practice lying on your head, people who are very good at headspins have often told me that they usually just stay there watching t.v. or wiggling their hands around. This doesn't mean you have, HAVE to be able to do a headstand without hands, I can't hold a handless headstand for more than 2 and a half seconds, but I can headspin about 15 to 18 spins, on average. So, once able to headstand for months on end, you need to give yourself a spin and then do what you've been practicing for soo long, don't worry yourself, you're probably asking,

"but I was doing this with my hands, I'm not going to keep my hands on the ground while I spin am I?"

No you aren't, but the spin and momentum will keep you balanced on the total vertical, meaning, you can't balance a top without hands but you can get it to stay up for a long time if you spin it. This is exactly what a headspin is, you kick your legs so that your torso follows, usually no one is able to kick and spin a good 19 spins without tapping, tapping is keeping your balance by getting into the headstand and kicking again. You can do this if you feel yourself going too slow and your balance fading or if you are just tipping. Once spinning fast enough and have your equilibrium, stop tapping, keep your self symmetrical or just very well balanced.

Handglides are exactly this but on your hand, find your balance point, or don't even, just use your free hand to basically tap the whole time. Once you get going fast enough you can easily stay balanced in this position.

3)Airtracks, these have a few different ways to get the momentum, but the basic and easiest momentum to use and gather is the swipe and drill technique. Basically, you can get your legs or torso leaving first and individually forcing your body to follow, second you can kick your legs straight out and sort of twisted so that they drill you quickly.

To do the first you can just set up in about a space 3 times as wide as you, and about 1 foot longer on both sides as you. Fill this space with pads. Stand about a step and a foot away from the pads, take a step so that your free foot is forward.  (your main foot or side is the side you lead with, so the hand you place in your gut for handglides is on the Main side). Once your free foot is about a step in front of your main foot, and you are about a foot away from the pads, you can dive into them, do this and bring your hands into a mummy type position, so that they are close up to your chest.

Now to generate spin, after you start the dive, and your main foot has come off the ground, begin to twist your upper body towards your free side. So now you are facing sideways and your main foot is about to come off the ground while facing forwards, bring it off the ground and kick your free foot so that it straightens up like your main foot and comes behind on the main side of your main foot. I know, confusing, if you're main side is the left just replace free with right and main with left. That is the basic swipe and drill method airtrack. You should be able to pull at least one air track this way. Remember and airtrack is horizontal, so this is a dive forward. The airflare is basically a tilted air track, this means you have to spot your landing and can only use the swipe method of torque. You should be on your hands only, tilted inbetween vertical and horizontal. Keep your legs split and kick like a windmill/ flare type, you want to kick to gain leverage but want to twist to gain spin, this combined causes an airflare.

4)Flares are basically the only power move that involve this type of force. Its is continuous kinetic energy, all provide by your legs and lead with your hips.

You want your main foot to be keeping your main ass cheek off the ground and when you come onto your main hand you will use your free foot to keep your free ass cheek off the ground. Its like those compasses that fishers use to plot distances on maps, you want to swing up and around and then down and around and then up again.

5)Windmills, these make you into a human gyro. Take a top and instead of spinning it on the bottom spin it on the little handle, if started slanted then that's a windmill. Using base momentum to create speed and speed to create leverage.

It may come to some as a shock, but your legs don't do anything in the windmill but lock and look pretty. All they basically do is spin. Its all your shoulders and arms that keep you going faster and higher. If you push off harder you will go faster but you might also come down and crash your hips. So anything done to the shoulders is done exactly with the hips. Except its on the other side of the pole so it moves opposite the shoulders. Your hand pushing off, falling to your back and rising to your hand again is the initial momentum creator but that would make for sloppy slow and retarded looking windmills if you never did anything about it. Once your shoulders are moving more in handglide type circles than you will start to gain momentum from them and the hand will be only used to keep the body in the same alignment with the back.

The same goes for no handed variations, they need speed. Use your shoulders and head to create the smoothest possible momentum gyroptic. I never used to use my forehead for these variations and therefore I would lose a lot of momentum. Unless I had some good days where I was landing perfectly, but if you roll on your forehead you don't fall, you don't even leave the the ground and can actually gain speed from this. WHeW!

6)Broncos, this is basically a hopping, a back and forth force, using contraction and expansion to create a constant.

You will hop forwards onto your hands and then kick your legs back out. Yeah, slinky, that's what you're doing, you're coming in on an angle, but instead of flipping over and kicking out, (which by the way is a front handspring), you stay on that retarded angle, you kick back out and follow your legs, for those extremely high broncos its more a vertical jump and fall. Meaning you're jumping up and then turning down, landing and just barely keeping from flipping over. A swipe is the EXACT same thing, I don't care what you think, but the only difference is there is individual twisting and sideways hopping instead of forwards. A kick up is basically a Bronco started from your hands, and not going back, (which, incidentally is a rubberband, backwards bronco), so you start from you hands, contract and extract upwards and forwards, then push off of your hands following your legs.

7) This is a method of spreading momentum in a different direction other than down. Basically you are the bullet proof vest and the ground is the, very large bullet, slug actually. You have to absorb the fall. Your back will get hurt, no avoiding that, your back will hit first and what ever pain comes, comes. Then you must follow through with your hands and legs, but don't slam your legs or arms, try to do it softly but swiftly. And always keep your head up while doing this, as for front suicides... hmm... uh, take it like a man?

++RiB++cAgE++
neilhalliday@home.com

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The Rules

Written by an Anonymous Chicago B-Boy

Dear B-boy.Com, I have to say something that has upset me since I've gone on the internet. I can't believe there are still b-boys and crews who represent b-boying without shoes, use helmets, and dance to non-hip hop music. Then they claim, they are "keeping it real". Are they really? There are certain rules that I have learned from my time as a b-boy and, no matter how difficult it is, I know I represent the true form. I'm a Chicago B-boy that follows Chicago and East Coast styles and philosophies. In Chicago, we obey the rules and look down upon those who don't follow them. We have tried to teach the ignorant, but there are those who can care less about the art and still represent wackness. Especially the House "breakers". There has been a resurgence of following the rules, but I hope that everyone will follow them soon. The rules are as follows:

1) Never use a helmet. Anyone can spin on a hard, smooth surface that applies no pressure upon ones head. It also gives an unfair advantage against those without helmets. Sure you can spin longer and faster, but many old schoolers never used helmets and often did headspins with bald heads. This showed which dancer was crazy and down enough with b-boying. It seems that this idea is no longer practice and in many areas helmets are encouraged. It might me okay to practice with a helmet, but don't bring them to a battle. Show me one old school movie where they are using a helmet. Every b-boy in Beat Street were doing head spins on just their fros. I prefer to follow the traditional way and rather not change them just to be flashy and crowd pleasing, when the true b-boys think I'm wack. What's more important, the way the crowd sees you or what other b-boys think? The rest of society has manipulated and exploited b-boys in the past. Why should I start caring on how they think of us now?

2) Never take off your shoes. What's the point of this? It just shows that you're too weak and can't take the added weight on your feet. Someone once told me Crazy Legs said "A b-boy with shoes is like an MC without a mic. You just can't hear him." I would really like to know if Crazy Legs really said this. But it is still good words to follow. I first learned this when I was starting out. It was more difficult to learn moves, but I got used to it and it paid off in the end. I've seen some veteren b-boys that still take off their shoes because they're just not used to having them on. You can't even go to a battle in Chicago without shoes. If you even try to step in the circle, you'll get dissed out for coming off wack.

3) This rule is the worse rule you can violate. Never b-boy to anything but hip-hop. B-boying is an art form with its roots in hip-hop. When you dance to something other than hip-hop, you begin to exploit and degrade it. It becomes just another dance or fad that could be done by anyone. You start to disrespect and misrepresent it, making it just another thing that the mainstream public has a chance to exploit. It no longer is hip-hop. I've been to parties that was advertised strictly for the b-boys. Then I show up and there are house, euro, etc., being played. Many House and club "breakers" don't follow this rule because they say they can't dance to the slower tempo of hip-hop. But you look at them and they absolutely have no style and mostly spend time spinning. I believe that Hip-hop b-boys benefit from hip-hop music because IT IS slower. This allows them more freestyle ability and time to be more creative, causing more styles. Would you waltz to heavy metal music? Would you sell Mexican food at a Chinese restaurant? If you want something faster, check out the old school break beats like "Planet Rock", "Apache", "Drummer's Beat", or "It's Just Begun". I'm not out for fame by writing this letter. But I am speaking from the heart. I love hip-hop and hip-hop will always be there in the end for me. But if you make b-boying too easy, you trivialize it and it becomes a fad. In no way am I trying to disrespect b-boys that use helmets or take off their shoes. That's how I was taught to believe here in Chicago. Maybe there are b-boys who haven't been taught our way, but I truly believe that there is a right way. I'm not sure why b-boys started using helmets or taking off their shoes, maybe just to make things easier. But who wants to take the easy road. I rather pay my dues. With all my heart I plead to b-boys not to dance to anything but hip-hop. You can house to house or rave at the clubs, but don't start representing b-boying in other forms. Respect the Old School and you represent true the New. Peace.

-An Anonymous Chicago B-boy Representing Chicago style for life!!!

taken from bboy.com

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Another View

Written by an Anonymous Bboy

First of all, I would like to say that I am in no way trying to disrespect anyone by writing this, I just want to share my humble point of view in regard to the article titled "The Rules." Please excuse me if I sound naive.

I totally agree with the idea that b-boying is an art form, and I in no way want to damage it or turn it into a fad. I also agree with the first two rules stated by the article, that b-boys probably should not wear helmets and should not take off their shoes.

However, I am not sure that I agree with the "B-boy only to hip-hop statement." I know that b-boying has all of its roots in hip-hop, and I don't want to take away from that at all. Of course you always have to respect the Old School. B-boys should not commercialize b-boying or anything like that. But I think that you can b-boy to other forms of music besides hip-hop, and combine b-boying with other forms of dance such as raving without disrespecting the Old School. In fact, that will just make things more interesting. If b-boys begin to battle ravers or dancers who b-boy and rave, then the creativity in the circle will be exploding.

Let me create an analogy:
Pick any of your favorite arcade fighting games: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, etc... All the characters in the games have different styles of fighting, but they still fight in the same ring. Imagine if the only character you could pick in street fighter was Blanka. How boring would that be? You would just see the same battles over and over with slight variations.

Now, combining dancing styles or b-boying to different types of music may not be for everyone. My point is that you can do these things without disrespection b-boying, in my humble opinion at least. If people get bogged down with the past and don't let things change and evolve, then we will get nowhere. Imagine if no one had ever believed that the world was round. Where would be be? I think that people need to be open to change, because that way b-boying will just become better. We won't be disrespecting b-boy by combining styles, we'll be enhancing it.

Finally, I don't think that there is any right or wrong way. I feel that you should just represent the way you want to represent. I mean, if you want to represent with a helmet, so be it, you'll just run into some flak for it. If you can put up with it, then do whatever you want. I'll end with this: "Respect the Old School and you represent true the New.": But get bogged down in the Old and you will hinder the growth of the New...Peace...

Anonymous

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10 Bboy Rules

Mr.Freeze of RSC

Show people respect.
Learn your B-Boy history.
Keep your moves on beat.
Learn all your foundations.
Don't just do Flaire and Headspins.
Always be ready to battle.
Always Up Rock before you go Down.
Always hold your freezes for at least 1.5 seconds.
Do not steal moves unless the inventor gave you permission to use his move.
Always represent B-Boys as a positive role model no matter where you go in this world

thanks to: Mr.Freeze's Site

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Ten Rules 2 Breakdancing

Bboy PaQ-Rock

10) Ground-work is a neccesity. Without that element, even with your style, without that magical touch, your dancing won't have that "flavor" to stay alive when battling with other breakers. Ground-work/Footwork.. is a spice that creates flame. An analogy i love to use is: Ground-Work is the Ranch dressing on top of the vegetarian salad.

9) Balance yourself. Too much power moves/ too much footwork, isn't neccessarily a bad thing. but a true bboy has divided skills in all parts of the breakdancing repertoire molded into his own style. To put it into simpler terms, mix your style. Bust out with a "six-step/ flare" combination now and then. A "windmill -freeze" wouldn't hurt the judging panel either. Mix and Match. Power Moves and Footwork are meant to be merged, take full advantage of that fact.

8) Collect. After each battle, regard-less if you were burnt or you served, always collect knowledge from how you performed and even from how your opponent performed. Battles DO make a name for yourself, but next to that, battles should also be used as training grounds, in terms of you learning. Learning from mistakes.

7) I disagree with the "Helmet Rule". Wearing a helmet when head-spinning doesn't make you a fake. I've seen breakers who wear helmets burn the shit out of the best top-notch breakers out there. Wearing helmets or NOT wearing helmets.. means jack-shit. Besides.. a "headspin" is ONE move.. compared to the hundreds of other moves in the breakdancing dictionary. Just because you cannot perform a headspin without a helmet, doesn't mean you "suck?" I've seen helmet-wearers initiate the best windmills or the most stylish air-flares.. Helmets are just an aid, people shouldn't judge a breaker and call them a "sorry" dancer, just because he?she wears a helmet.

6) Respect. Your mother always told you to treat others, the way you want to be treated. And to respect everybody around you. Well.. same goes for the breakdancing culture. people may dance differently, others may have a funky-looking up-rock. Doesn't matter. Despite how other breakers dance, you should always respect their skill. Old School, New School.. We are all in this together, and there is no reason why ANYBODY should be making fun of others. Breakers who don't have respect for one another are a disgrace.

5) Flowing with the music. Another important element you may need to get the crowd going. Techno, Hip Hop, Rap, Country!?! Ya know.. doesn't matter. Every breakdance routine should always connect with the music. Even if you have Barry Mandelow's soft and slow melodies on the radio, your routine should still match with the music, even if it means to do a super slow six-step and whatnot.

4) Creativity. I don't know how many of you out there read my articles. But if you notice.. i heavily stress that creativity is a necessity when it comes to breakdancing. Learn to Imaginate! I say it before, I say it again.. "Copying can take you so near to notorious ill-fame, Correctitude can only bring you so far, but Style is what separates you from the whole crowd, and it shows who YOU are as a breakdancer."

3) Never imitate. Imitating the skill of others will just get you bitch-slapped. It's awright to analyze and innovate moves ... but it's not OK to just mimic every single move that another dancer does. Sure you have topnotch breakdancers who create the upmost stylish techs ever.. but who's to say you can't to do the same..? By choosing to learn the craft, you put yourself in a position to create your own style (in terms of techs, and whatnot.) And that's a job you have to uphold in order to be recognized.

2) Getting use to Battlegrounds. You walk into the mall and come across another breakdancer who challenges you.. the floor is a smooth and white porcelain. Another scenario.. maybe you're walking in an alleyway with your boys, and come across this other crew who challenges you. The alleyway street is rough and rocky. You might even meet up with another bboy/bgirl atop a house (on the roof?).. who knows. Regardless of where you are, you always have to be prepared to battle.. The ground on which you battle on is a huge factor as to you wanting to battle. You might be terrified to get scarred up when doing a windmill on the rough streets, or how can you possibly smooth out a backspin on grass? Therefore.. you have to practice on all types of terrain and get the feel of all battlegrounds.

1) You are a breakdancer. You don't dance to impress girls and things to that effect.. (although some of us do that.) And it's pretty normal. I see dancers who dance just to gain attention and popularity. But behind all that bullshit. You have to trace yourself back and realize that you are part of a beautiful culture. Breakdancing is an art.. Breakdancers are the artists..Always represent the breakdancing class in a positive way. Represent yourself.. not as "the kid who has the dope dancing skills".. but rather the "breakdancer, who can be the best he/she can be".

PaQ-Rock

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Helmets and Shoes

BboY ka_boom

Here's my take on helmets or no helmets and shoes or no shoes.

Some people use a helmet while doing headspins, halos, windmills, flares, etc. as to not hurt their skull. Smart idea but only use a helmet in practise by yourself. Maybe if its just your crew practising use it then too. But the only reason you should use a helmet is to protect your head while learning those moves that put you at risk of falling and smashing your head. But why do people bring helmets to battles and events? If you really don't feel secure enough to bust out a move without your trusty helmet leave it at home and practise with it there until you got it down pat. Its unfair to others who have actually taken the time to perfect their moves or got enough balls to do them unprotected. Plus it just looks plain wack if you got a big old ugly helmet on. Like Ken Swift said, if you really wanna use a helmet in public then do it with style. Cut off the top of the helmet and hide it in the top of your baseball hat or something, then you might get respect for the effort. I had to start to learn to headspin on carpet and I did it without a tuque(winter hat) or anything. I sometimes wear a tuque on hard linoleum for when I do quick freezes and my head comes to the floor quickly. So helmets stay at home and are for learning purposes only.

Now for the shoes topic. Some people take off their shoes when they break to do certain freezes and windmill easier. Now thats just wack. It looks better with your threads on and its unfair to people that have actually taken the time to practise and get their moves down with shoes. If you can't do a move without shoes then don't bust it out in public. I don't really think you should start to practise a move without shoes cause once you get it down without them and you try it with them it'll throw you off. The only time I EVER break without shoes is when I'm in my house on carpet and can't wear them. Even then I only do footwork so it doesn't really effect much. So shoes are to kept on the feet at all times.

-ka_boom, June.29/2000
 

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Three Elements of Bboy-ism

Bboy PaQ Rock

I met this kid about 8 weeks ago, who got interested in the whole breakdancing craze. The first time he put his eyes on a breakdancer, he was amazed and thought that the way he moved was dope. He imagined how many girls, and for that matter, how many "people" he could impress with such skill (breakdancing). Yearning for that fame and popularity, he immediately started his training in breakdancing, rushing to initiate each move in the breakdancing repertoire. He entered the first phase, which was building his foundation. The six step was his biggest issue. He had heard that it was the core of all the dances, so he worked on his six step. Thinking that the six step was NOT going to impress anybody, he rushed on to learn the famous windmill.. (Let's backup for a second here.. the kid practices the six-step for a day?. He hasn't even followed the routine of forming a foundation, and the chump already wants the learn the windmill? Psh..! That is messed up!). So after he perfects (Chyea Riiiight) "HIS" sixtep (the one he practiced a day on), he moves on to mastering the difficult windmill. His first attempt was horrible, his balance was awful.. he had no posture at all whatsoever and majority of all times, his ass would always land hard on the ground. He thought to himself, "What the hell? It looks so easy when other people do it, why can't I do it?" (This kid is playing himself for a fool if he thinks breakdancing is this easy.) He tries for a second time, and the same thing happens. He tries again, and again, and again.. but after his 50th try, he always ends up in the same scenario. He finally decides to bail out on the windmill and chooses to learn another move, the flare. (This kid is f*cked? if he can't get the windmill, how in the hell is he going to get the flare? The flare is ten times harder. I respect him for trying, but.. the kid is a pure dumbass.. stubborn as they get.) Not conquering the windmill kinda got the kid down!

He felt like a failure, but nevertheless, he kept on, and started his training on the flare. Learning how to initiate the flare was harder then what he had expected it to be (Ya think?!). He realized then that he would not be able to perfect it, so he moves on to yet another breakdancing move. He keeps on shifting, from the windmill, to the flare, to the kipup, to the halo, and finally to the art known as popping (where he sprained his wrist). 8 weeks from when he first decided to learn to breakdance and after experiencing his injury (his wrist), he fully gave up on breakdancing.. and decided that he could find another way to impress girls and gain that fame that he longed for. --This kid has NO heart at all, and is what I call a disgrace to the bboying culture, as a matter of fact is he was never a member to begin with. Breakdancing is made up of elements.. elements that YOU must carry to be a true breakdancer. The road to learning how to breakdance is a very long and strenuous path.. but with the right elements on hand, handling the art of breakdancing can be easy as baking a cake. Here is my perspection on the ingredients individuals need to master the culture known as breakdancing.

Passion is a necessity in life. It is needed in all lifestyles, and without passion.. the world and everything it offers would so much be like a hollow peice of log, in the sense that, without THAT passion.. there is no core to anything & everything that we, has humans and inhabitants of this world, do on Earth. The kid in the story had NO passion for breakdancing at ALL whatsoever. The only reason he chose to breakdance was so he could attain the state of being popular.. and so that he could get girls. With that type of attitude and with no passion in the art.. there is NO way that you will ever succeed in figuring out the answer to the mystery known as breakdancing. You have got to have passion.. passion is feeling, passion is believing, passion is loving, and most importantly, passion is "wanting it". Crazy as it may sound but, you have to feel breakdancing.. you have to believe in the dance, you have to love it, and you have to, on top of everything else, you have to WANT it.. not for the sake of others, but for you. Passion, a simple word, but an extraordinary motivator.

Determination. "Flares and Windmills may break my bones, but determination will fix em' up". Determination baby.. it is a natural and probably one of the most NEEDED assets that you will ever need if you are a true bboy. Learning how to breakdance has it's perks.. but at the same time, it has gambling involved. You are sacrifice your bones by wanting to breakdance.. but, DO NOT let that stop you. Yes, you may break a bone now and then, you may fracture you knee once or twice.. but the more the injury, the greater the dancer you turn out to be. The greatest bboys and bgirls out there never made it flawlessly, all of em experienced some pain on their way to the top. That's OK though, breakdancing is all about breaking bones.. I mean, why else would the call it "break" dancing if not for that you may have to break bones in this art? Ya know? But with determination anything is possible.. even learning how to breakdance. Without the determination, you'll most likely end up like the kid in the story.
The most important element ( in my perspection) in breakdancing that you will EVER! need.. is the ability to imaginate. Creativity is the most popular weapon when it comes to breakdancing. Not only does it divide personification, but it also represents your character to the whole bboying community. I cannot stress as to how important style is. Biters are a full disgrace to the society and biters could BITE my ass to uphold their damn name, cuz imitating skill is wack. Seperate yourself from everybody else, do something extraordianry, if you can't do that.. you can always CHANGE something ordinary into something extraordinary. Never copy. Like I always say " Copying can take you to notorious ill-fame, Correctitude can bring you of so far, but Style is what matters, and it shows who YOU are as a breakdancer." With that note in mind. PaQ Rock is OUT! Peace Out Ya'll.

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Battling: Essential to the Bboy

BboY ManGO

I think one of the most important aspects of bboying is battling. I do not consider anyone who calls themself a bboy/bgirl truly what they say they are unless they have been a spectator or a participant in a battle. That is what separates a true bboy from a wack-ass wanna-be who tries to learn moves off the run dmc vs. Jason Nevins video.
Battling is a tradition and a part of "bboy heritage." Ever since breakdancing started in the Bronx in the early 70’s, the act of two crews pitting their skills against each other has always been a spectacle. Just look at the annual international Battle of the Year competition in Germany. Battling has evolved to the point where crews all over the world are taking on each other, and I think that’s dope. You can tell that the art of bboying has developed and progressed massively when peeps across the globe be showing skillz.
Personally, I love battling. Even if I’m just watching a battle, if the crews are really enthusiastic and show a lot of talent and charisma, I seriously get into it. It’s really sweet when someone busts an impossible freeze and the whole crowd goes,"OOOHHHH!!!!" Participating in the battle is definitely a learning experience; it gives you an opportunity to put everything you’ve learned and show it off. It also lets you observe other breakers’ style and skill. Everybody has their own unique style and it brings out flava and variety to the scene. Battles also encourage you to be creative and try new things because anything goes in when you’re in the middle of the circle. You use whatever you got: footwork, power moves, freezes, tandems, etc., keeping in mind that it’s not always the one with the most skill who wins, it’s the most originality.
Some weak-ass peeps refuse to battle because they’re afraid of getting burned. Whatever yo ! Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but that ain’t what matters. The important thing is what u learn from the battle and have a good time.

PeAcE BboY ManGO
rick@lightspeed.bc.ca

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Momentum

BboY Sparkz

The Briefing:
This is a question that is most commonly asked by Break Dancers and Gymnasts. You go about reading tons of articles on how to flare and do windmills and crap and in the back of your head you are saying to yourself, "Yep! Uh Huh! I can do that, I think I know what he is saying." Then you reach the part of the article that says don't worry about building up muscle or kicking too hard because momentum will keep you in the air and it will take most of the stress off your arms, Then you are like "What the hell is this guy smoking? Okay, I would love for this to be true but what the hell is momentum? Is it some little fairy that comes along and holds my ass off the ground while I am flaring? Ahhhhhhhh" It is at that point you are ready to pick up your computer monitor and chuck it across the room because you are now stupider then you were before you read that article. No fear, Sparkz is here. I will try to briefly explain in this article what momentum is, how it works, how you can use it and what type of moves it is involved in. I am gong to try and make it as easy to follow as possible and try not to get to technical cause personally I ate when b-boyz write up long articles on a certain move and the article turns out to be sh*t. Sure it is good but it is in their technical terms and no learners can follow. Anywayz lets get started.

What Is Momentum?
Momentum is basically an invisible force that keeps an object moving. It is a very important element in break dancing and is often overlooked. There is the saying "An Object In Motion, Tends To Stay In Motion" this is referring to momentum because it is the force that will keep an object in motion. A good example would be bouncing a ball. Now there are two forces involved for a ball to bounce, There is momentum and gravity. When you bounce the ball, momentum pushes the ball up. When the momentum gets weaker and eventually dies then gravity takes effect and pulls the ball back down, Once again it will bounce and once again momentum will pull that ball up. It is a force that can counter attack gravity for a short little while. Tsk. Tsk.
There are basically two types of momentum. There is Line Momentum and Circular Momentum. They both are pretty self explanatory. Line momentum is more like a kick forward, backward, off to the side, it is the force that pushes an object in one direction. It can be in any direction but it will only travel in a straight line. This can be a problem for some moves and very useful for others. One of the best moves that uses line momentum is and flip. Front flip, handsprings, roundoffs, cartwheels. You kick or throw your body and line momentum will push you the rest of the way. When you do a cartwheel, all you have to do is jump up into it and your legs will come over automatically, Well this is momentum pulling you.
The next type of momentum is Circular Momentum and is used a lot too. It is the type of force that can change direction rapidly and you will not loose power from say a kick or something. It is a force that moves an object in a circular fashion. A good example of circular momentum is the windmill, a flare and a headspin. The all involve momentum pushing you in a circular fashion. You can achieve this type of momentum by swinging your leg or swinging an object in a circular manner.

Relations:
Now and then you will hear of people that are having troubles doing moves like front handsprings and flares and stuff. Now a common problem you will hear b-boyz tell you that you have too much vertical momentum when you are doing your handsprings and you should only have horizontal momentum. Now that you know a bit about the forces of momentum and the two types, try to figure out how you would avoid this problem. It is all common sense now. You know that horizontal momentum is what you are aiming for and you know that horizontal means parallel to the ground and vertical is straight up and down. Since you don't want vertical momentum then you try and get rid of it. To get vertical momentum you would have to do something like the bouncing ball and you would have to jump or somehow get your body moving upwards. There's your problem right there and you now know how to fix it. So what do you do?? Don't jump! Instead run an kinda dive forward so you push your body forward and not up, Now you have initiated horizontal momentum and cut back on the vertical momentum. It is that easy. Just try to realate to momentum and what they are talking about. Another thing, try to identify the momentum you are using. In handsprings you are using line momentum because you are traveling in a straight path and you can't change direction. If you want to feel momentum then do a roundoff if you can and you should feel like something is pushing you backwards when you land. What do you think that is? You got it, that's your old friend momentum.

Common Problems:
Now I am going to use the flare for an example. Now the problem why people can't get the flare is because they use both types of momentum and that wont work. It is strictly Circular Momentum, The reason most people fall on their asses is because you cannot use line momentum and circular momentum together, You have to use one or the other. Now the first problem with the flare is the start. The flare is basically a swinging move. Now most b-boys can get the start where they swing their left leg around and then they kick their right leg up. Uh oh!!! Here's the first mistake, The b-boy started using circular momentum but when he kicked his right leg up he kicked it straight which is using line momentum and what happens is he kicks it and he gets high but the momentum dies and he falls. You have to keep the momentum going. Remember with line momentum you can't change direction so it isn't useful with the flare. With circular momentum you can keep the power flowing and you can change direction. I know I am probably confusing you a lot by now but bear with me. What you can do to fix a problem like this is just change from line momentum to circular momentum to keep it flowing nicely. So when you swing your left leg around towards the front, Don't kick your right leg straight up, try to swing it over your left leg in a circular momentum so when you lift your left leg you still have the momentum in your right leg and you can swing it down and under your left. If it is still confusing then watch a clip of some guy doing a flare, Watch each leg, you will notice when they appear to stop for a brief second in the air that they are actually drawing little circles before the leg swings down. This is because you want to keep momentum going while that leg is held up so circular momentum is the key.

How Can I Use It?
Before you start a new move or are having troubles then think about it in the head and try to see if the problem relies with momentum. In most cases it is a physics based problem. Try to see what you are doing wrong. Think about what you want to do. If I want to move forward then obviously you aren't going to kick behind you cause that will pull you back. It just takes common sense. I hope this has helped a bit and I wish all of you good luck and I hope you have a better understanding of momentum.
Sparkz
www.breakersfusion.com

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The Dance

SwirlRoc

A headspin is generally considered a "breakdancing move". A headspin is definately a "move" that can be done while breakdancing. A headspin is not breakdancing though. Spinning on your head is not a dance or danceform at all. It is simply a move you can throw in to look cool or display your skill or power. If you jump straight down into a headspin, stop and walk away, you did not breakdance.

People watch TV and see just a headspin or just a flare, or whatever and say "that's breakdancing". Remember this is 'Joe public' saying this stuff, not the founders of the danceform.

In dance theory, breakdancing is very similar to swingdancing & that's why I used that example. To swingdance you move your feet back-n-forth in a simple step/shuffle fashion like (one, two, three, rockstep) to keep 'time' with the music. This is the basic swingdance and is the foundation of all swingdancing because you simply MUST keep time to the music or you end up looking stupid. That is how real dancing goes. In swing you do spins, turns, tosses, and lots more other flashy moves that would blow your mind, but the dancers always are doing the footwork and keeping to the beat of the music. They have to have foundation to be smooth & look good doing the dance... just like a good breakdancer does. If a swingdancer jumped out on a dancefloor and just did a fast spin of their partner and walked off, they would definately get laughed at. That's not dancing.

This is why the foundation of breakdancing is the footwork.. because you have to stay with the beat while you do all your wild moves. Using your feet to keep time with a beat makes perfect sense, although some people may be able to bounce off their heads to the beat too. I have seen people headspin & windmill to the beat as far back as early 80's and it does look better (more like dancing) than just simply spinning around.
A good dancer will have the footwork mastered and look great while doing it... doesn't matter swing or breaking. If you have weak footwork then you look like a weak dancer and probably have lots of trouble keeping to the beat.
Breaking is different yeah.. you have freezes and battle moves. Falling on your ass or face is not so bad looking if it was an intentional freeze, but otherwise it is just sloppy dancing.
In what I call 'street battles' (used to happen a lot back in the day), it was more like a contest of who could do the hardest and craziest tricks. Your dancing wasn't judged so much as your strength, coordination, and bravery. These battles were fun, but unfortunately are probably the reason why many of the newer breakers lack the foundation of real breakdancing. We (old dancers) and the media didn't do a perfect job of setting good examples for beginning breakers back then. Of course the powermoves were glorified and looked coolest on TV, so everybody was saying "hey teach me to do that".
Well that's water under the bridge. Just trust us old dancers that breaking wasn't the wild free-for-all that it appeared to be on TV. It started as a true danceform and the roots are all there if you look.
Even if you hate them, thank RSC(Rock Steady Crew) for preserving the roots.
I doubt that I could explain dancing & moves any better than that, so I hope it's all clear now. I'm not the ultimate expert on breaking by any means, but I am old, and I do know what dancing is.

peace once again..
SwirlRoc

this article was a post on the FreeStyle Session.com message board.

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What Is A Pioneer?

Fabel and Buddha

I hope you don't mind Fabel that I reposted this. I think its an important discussion to have out on the table.

Peace!

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Oldest B-Boys...Truth is truth
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Peace!
First of all, I'd like to give respect to all the elders who have helped and contributed to the dance known as breaking.

I understand that there are older generations of dancers who may not get down competitively anymore. They dance on occasion and remind us of the true essence and original flavor which made the foundation. Whether they compete or not is irrelevant the fact is that many of them drew the blueprint and paid their dues. Among these elders, there are some who can be credited for contributing much to this dance form. This is most evident when they actually dance at events or elsewhere in public. On the other hand, there are certain elders who claim that they are "pioneers", yet they don't necessarily show and prove to the same degree as those elders mentioned above. I can understand it if certain individuals are in a situation now, perhaps physically or emotionally, where they can no longer perform, nevertheless, those who can should make an effort to share more of themselves.This is probably one of the best ways to pass on our culture, or in other words, you can show me better than you can tell me.

I am not from the first generation but had the privilege to see dancers in the mid to late 70's representing breaking in it's original form. In addition, brothers like DXT, would occassionally dance at the Roxy, in the early 80's and represented this same early b-boy flavor. There is also a documentary called "The History of Hip Hop" which features Zulu King, Little Keith b-boying in a park while Zulu Kings, Pow Wow and MC G.L.O.B.E. (both of Soul Sonic Force) were rhyming. This little clip also features b-boying at it's prime. Others who still represent this flavor are Frosty Freeze, Lil Lep, Wayne Blizz, Zip, Sharkey, JoeJoe, Crazy Legs, Ken Swift, Flip Rock, Powerful Pex, Flex, and a few others. Judging by my earliest memories of breaking (around 1976 or 77), I can identify the true art of b-boy/girling, when I see it.

I'm sure people can argue that there might have been different interpretations of the dance in different areas, however most of these b-boys who I've mentioned would agree that there was a distinct style which set it off for the generations to come. You should all know that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of people trying to b-boy/girl since the early 70's, and just because you happened to dance at the time, doesn't make you a "pioneer" or a contributor to the dance. There are certain people who have been over-rated and given pioneer status without having contributed much, if anything, at all. It's a shame that many younger people are being fooled into believing in these false pioneers without having people or resources to cross reference with. When someone claims him/herself a pioneer, you should ask them about their qualifications and history, then ask other people who were dancing at the time, whether they can vouch for them or not. If everyone was honest, in this world, this procedure would be unnecessary, but as we all know, there are those who would even lie to gain some credibility or find a way to write themselves into the history books.

Finally, I believe it is pointless to try to take claims as being the "oldest b-boy" active or inactive when the real goal should be to either practice the dance correctly or learn the complex history regarding it's roots.
peace,
Fabel
Tools Of War

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What is a pioneer !
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First I want to say that I agree with most of your post.

I for one have certainly never called myself a pioneer but I have certainly danced from the mid 70's and been involved with a crew that dominated the canadian scene in the 80's. I beleive people can contribute to this scene in many ways which includes important things like being a positive role model and supporting their own local scene which will have its own local flavor.

There is important history in this culture all over the world which also exist outside of New York.

People will have different definitions as to what a pioneer is and this will always make this a bit problematic. I agree that specific events, dance skills and a crews known history that can be confirmed are all the types of things that speak louder than words.

I think some of these debates all grew out of a general attitude of disrespect for other individuals. I have never met you fabel and I have respect for your comments and your history. I don't expect automatic respect from you simply becuase of my age and years dancing as you don't really know me. ( At least I'm pretty sure we have never talked or met). I don't expect respect since we have never had the talk and you have never seen the things I have been involved in from the early 80's. But what I do expect is that people should not automatically disrespect people simply because of their own ignorance. Mr freeze is a prime example of this. I can certainly line up a number of old schoolers in canada and the UK along with some people like Flip Rock, Mr Wave and Pex who can vouch for CFM contributions to the scene. We have most of our early shows recorded. (We sent a tape of our Crew to NYCB in 1984 which apparently they all bugged out on together) Does all that make us pioneers - probably not - Did we do high profile shows, create moves and routines,give back to our community and act as role models. Absolutely.

Do we deserve more respect than some of the childish comments that sometimes float around this board - Absolutely. On top of all this our old crew members still dance and dedicate time and guidance to not only the new CFM but also the larger Canadian Scene.

I think people get hung up on titles like Pioneers.

If people are comfortable with who they are and what they do - they will eventually get the respect from those people that count. I beleive that most people who have taken the time to get to know me respect me. But comments that in any way try and deny the importance of other bboy scenes and individuals around the world are not only inappropriate but probably a destructive vibe to this worldwide scene.( This is obviously my personel opinion)

There will always be individuals that do more or less than others for bboying both historically and in the future.

Who will sit in judgement as to what a contribution was or will be?

I'm not clear as who this should be done by !

Cheers
originally posted by Buddha from CFM on the FreeStyleSession.com forum.

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Power Moves vs. Styles
Written By Krayz E Kujo

If you've been breakin'/b-boyin' for more than a few months then you're probably aware of the debate over which style of breakdancing is superior, power moves or styles/footwork. The debate goes something like this: B-boys who concentrate primarily on power moves say that what they do is more difficult than footwork, and B-boys who concentrate on footwork say that power people can't dance and have no creativity, and that they are just a bunch of wannabe gymnasts. What both camps fail to realize is that by ignoring an entire aspect of breakin', they are limiting their potential as b-boys. Yet there are, however few, b-boys who combine the best of both worlds.

Style is dope because it defines who you are as a dancer. It allows your personality to shine through; it allows people to see who you really are underneath all that gear. It lets you create a character, an aura about yourself that makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd. It can make you instantly recognizable in a circle. It is (or should be) pure originality.

Power is all about taking the limits of the human body to another level. It is about defying the laws of physics. This is an aspect of breakin' where you have a variety of standard moves which must be practiced constantly for weeks, months, even years, to perfect. People do horrible things to their bodies just learn a single move or combination. Originality rarely comes into play; b-boys just learn techniques from other b-boys and from videos.

Style is all about invention and self-expression, power is all about perfection of techniques. After all these years that breakin' has existed, these standards have become sort of cliche. I see the same moves and combos at every event, party, and club that I go to with very little variation. I see all kinds of individual styles, but they are each becoming less and less distinct as more and more people take up b-boyin' as a way of life. The majority of b-boys I have seen seem to be stuck in some sort of rut. They don't seem to know what else to do, what else to practice, other than to improve what they already have.

But how many b-boys have dared to try something totally different? Has anyone ever considered using style and footwork to push past the limits of the human body? Or using power moves as a means of self-expression and individuality? Power is perfection, but how many b-boys have come up with styles and tricks that take months, even years to perfect? Style is invention and self-expression, but how many b-boys use power as a means of self-expression, and how many b-boys have invented completely new moves, some of which become part of the standard repertoire?

The conventional styles of b-boyin' have come close to reaching their limits. Many of the hardest combinations, once thought impossible, have been done. Many of the most creative, bizarre, and crowd-pleasing styles have been done (and copied). This is partly because many people, when they first begin to breakdance, learn by watching. They watch people at clubs and parties, and they studiously watch videos, and then they go home and practice what they saw. Many of these people have no one to teach them techniques, and learn by watching, but they never learn any theory, i.e., what it means to be a b-boy.

My advice to aspiring b-boys: Don't do everything you see. Once you've learned the basics, CREATE. Don't do what you see in videos, do what you DON'T see. For many people, the hardest thing to do is create. The top b-boys didn't get to the top with a monkey-see, monkey-do attitude (although they probably started out with that attitude). They got to the top by distorting the preconceived notions of what breakdancing is, thus creating their own unique styles and signature moves, making a name for themselves.

Unfortunately, many of the top b-boys in the world are too busy making self-promotional videos for profit, doing shows, etc. to contribute to the up-and-coming generation of b-boys and b-girls. If approached by eager young b-boys asking to learn a move or technique, they ask for a fee. This is unfortunate, because many of them exemplify the qualities I discussed, i.e., fusing style and power moves, but refuse to pass them on.

I predict that with the coming generation of b-boys and b-girls, the dividing line between highly creative dancers and less creative dancers will grow thicker and thicker. We will see b-boys of tremendous creativity, while the rest continue to imitate, because they will not have been educated. I plan to do my part, and I hope to see other influential b-boys do the same.

Peace.

Krayz E Kujo
Just Another Slave To The Rhythm
Soul Control

taken from bboy.com

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