MaKiN’ iT bY bReAkIn’ iT

“Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows”

The point of this blog is to give a clear understanding on what b-boy is all about and the difference between underground vs mainstream breakdancing. This video contain many videos and pictures of breakdancing, as well as, a how to do certain moves part where people can learn some moves. Enjoy.

B-boying, which is known to many people as breakdancing, is a dance style based on creativity and self-expression. It is more than just a dance; it is a way of life and a tradition that has grown in the eyes of many young kids, teens, and adults. In the 1960’s, James Brown got on the floor and performed some now famous footwork when he gave a live performance of his single “The Good Foot.”

Many attribute the start of breakdancing to the moves of James Brown. The Good Foot, which was soon to be called B-Boy and shortly after that Breakdancing was very different from the b-boy we see today. In some ways it was simpler. There were no Head spins, windmill, or Backspins. The breakdancing that occurred in beginning of breakdancing consisted mainly of floor work. There may be some small variations on the Headspin and a Backspin, but basically, a Headspin is a head spin and a Backspin is a back spin. During the early 1970’s, New York’s first hip-hop DJ, DJ Kool Herc said during a show in the Bronx, B-Boys Go Down. It was a phrase not many people at the time understood. But the phrase was starting to become more familiar as the dancers would “break” on the floor and do what they had been doing on the streets. Different types of moves, such as popping, locking, and the robot, started to get recognized and made the b-boying culture evolve even more. Michael Jackson was one of the major b-boying figures who pushed the dance style when in the mid 1970’s he performed the robot dance during a television appearance. B-boying would get recognition in movies such as Flashdance, Wild Style, Beat Street, Breakin’, and others that incorporated b-boying so that the world could see this movement come to life. This media recognition helped popularize the famous b-boying dance. By 1977 various breakdancing crews were formed around New York City. One such crew was called the Rocksteady Crew. DJ Afrika Bambaataa helped launch breakdancing into a whole new realm of success. This new form of break dancing which emerged can be recognized from the old style of break dancing. The head spins, hand spins and flips were now becoming common practice. Today you can see break dancing making its way into the mainstream. Popular artists are introducing the break dancing elements into their hip hop and pop videos and more and more dance schools are offering it as a dance option since the dance has been further popularized. Breakdance has always been underground. It was not tuntil the early 1980’s when breakdancing gained media exposure through movies and shows that it came out of the underground. New moves were being developed. and it no longer became something done in the street corners in the Bronx. Once it gained that recognition, many dancers all around the world became interested in this culture and started to deveope there own styes and moves. B-boying was no longer about footwork and style, instead BREAKDANCING developed power moves such as the windmills and head spins. Although, bboying still remains underground in mainly places, it has gained more recongntioin into mainstream. There are more events and competitions that b-boys all around the world participate at. B-boying will always and forever remain underground. The underground will always be there. It is where all the new ideas come from, and by the time those ideas reach the mainstream in their watered-down, stereotyped form, the underground is already onto the next big thing. Therefore, it’s hard to define what underground is and is not, and it’s near impossible if you’re just in the mainstream.

Click here for video of breakdancing in the mainstream

For more history of b-boy click here

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This is a video on how to do the 6 step, which is the first footwork sequence that breakdancers follow, and it is also the move around which many sets are structure.

HOW TO PERFORM THE SIX STEP:

1. Sit down on the floor, with your stomach facing the ceiling, your shoulders directly behind you, and your feet twelve inches in front of your glutes. Push your weight into your hands and feet as you raise your pelvis off the ground until your shins are perpendicular to the floor. This is called crab position. Be sure to keep your body as parallel to the floor as possible.
2. Extend your right foot out directly in front of you, along the ground. Rotate the foot ninety degrees clockwise, so that only the outer arch of your foot is touching the ground. Sweep your foot inward, ending with your ankles crossed ninety degrees.
3. Without moving your right foot, tilt your left shoulder across your torso, raise your left hand to shoulder height, and step your left foot two feet to the left and behind its original position, tilting your left knee inward. All your weight should now be placed on your right arm.
4. Place your left hand at shoulder length to your other, as you sweep your right leg under your body and behind you, ending with your body in the push-up position, your legs spread two-times shoulder length.
5. Raising your right arm and turning your body to your right, sweep your left leg to where your right hand originally was, keeping your right foot planted.
6. Step your right foot into the crook of your knee, continuing to rotate your torso clockwise.
7. Sweep your left leg outward and place your left hand behind you, so that you have returned to crab position.
8. Continue repeating steps 2-7 so that you are making continuous counterclockwise circles.

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This move was first used in the 1970’s by a member of the Black Kao Crew, a prominent breakdance crew in Queens, New York at that time. From then on, it became a widely popular move. Windmills are sometimes called Kao’s , because where it came from.

HOW TO WINDMILL:

1. Lie on your front with your legs spread. Arch your back and raise your legs as far behind you as you can.
2. Simultaneously roll onto your left shoulder and raise your right leg as high as possible, so that you end on your side with your right leg directly in the air and your left leg parallel but not touching the ground.
3. Swing your left leg under your right as you roll onto your back, so that you end on your back with your legs spread and both in the air.
4. Simultaneously roll onto your right side, lifting your left leg in the air as high as possible, and your right leg parallel to the ground.
5. Swing your right leg under your left as you roll onto your front, ending with your legs raised behind you as far as possible.

Once you’ve practiced these basic movements, you’re ready to try complete Windmills. The below directions are for performing counterclockwise Windmills.

1. Kneeling on the ground, plant your left elbow firmly into your stomach and hold your right arm a foot in front of your face. Lean forward, placing your hands on the ground and keeping your elbow in your stomach, so that your weight is mostly distributed into your left forearm. Straighten your knees, and spread your legs outward and behind you. This is the setup position.
2. Keeping your hands on the ground, raise your left leg as far as you can behind you and bend your left knee. Your face should be pushed downward, close to the ground.
3. Kick your right leg up and to the right as hard as you can, then swing your left leg parallel to the ground under your right leg. As your left leg is swinging, push off the ground with your hands and roll over your left shoulder. The momentum of your legs will continue to pull you over your shoulder and onto your upper-back. Slightly tuck your chin into your chest during this motion.
4. With your arms still in their original positions and your legs in the air, swing your right leg as hard as you can under your left, rotating your upper body from your upper-back to your right shoulder. Swing your hands to the right as the ground approaches, preparing to plant your left elbow back in to your stomach as you continue to rotate.
5. As your legs continue to swing, rotate from your shoulder onto your hands. You should end in a similar pose to the setup position, with your legs raised in the air behind you and your head close to touching the ground.. Push off from the ground as hard as you can so that your lower body is raised as high in the air as possible. Swing your left leg under your right, and rotate your upper body from your hands, to your shoulder, and onto your upper-back.
6. Continue rotating your weight from your arms, to left shoulder, to upper-back, to right shoulder, to arms, alternately swinging your legs under each other. As your swing your legs, swing them harder and harder, so that you gain momentum and increase speed.

To learn more about windmills and other different moves click here

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B-boy summit that took place in 2000, involved many crews from all around. For more video that took place in that summit and information check out cypherstyles site

Not only is breakdancing hot in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Chicago, but also in countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan. These new dancers are appearing at national competitions like the B-Boy Summit in Los Angeles, the B-Boy Pro-Am in Miami and the Freestyle Sessions in Houston, Seattle and Chicago. And of course, the dance is all the rave in the suburbs.

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Just a couple known b-boy crews…

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With compelling characters and vibrant dance sequences, PLANET B-BOY is set in the International world of b-boying – the urban dance more commonly known as “breakdancing.” Weaving between the vivid backdrops of Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Las Vegas, spectacular choreography frames the intimate stories of dancers who struggle for their dreams despite being misunderstood by larger society and their own families. An American dancer in Vegas looks for his big break; a Korean son seeks his father’s approval; a twelve-year-old boy in France confronts his family’s racism – all the b-boys’ lives collide in Germany where their skills are put to the ultimate test: the “Battle of the Year” finals, with crews from 18 nations vying for the title of World Champion.

A great way to learn more about what the break dance life is all about and what many performers do for a living is by watching a movie like this. There is an underground culture of performing arts that often goes overlooked or under appreciated. The artists that dedicate their entire lives to the art form of break dance often come from insufficient lifestyles and impoverished conditions. But when they do perform, whether it lasts for ten minutes or thirty seconds, they have the power to mesmerize the soul of any individual.

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Get to know one of hip-hop great B-boys to ever hit the floor. Crazy Legs is what he goes by. He is one of the founding fathers of the Rock Steady Crew, and he played a major role in bringing the breakdancing culture for Hispanics. Here is an interview with Crazy Legs as he talks about his life and his role in breakdancing.