Jump Monkey Blog

10) Ground-work is a neccessity. 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.

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.

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) 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. 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 mght even meet up with another bboy/bgirl on top of 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’.

IF YOU’VE BEEN breakin’ / freestylin’ for more than a few months then you’re probably aware of the debate over which style of dancing is superior, Power moves or Freestyle. The debate goes something like this: Dancers 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, and B-Boys who concentrate primarily on Power moves say that what they do is more difficult than footwork. What they fail to realize is that by ignoring an entire aspect of ‘breakin’, they are limiting their potential as b-boys or b-girls.

Free 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 moves are all about taking the limits of the human body to another level. It’s about defying the laws of physics. This is an aspect of breakin’ where you have a variety of standard moves which have to be practiced constantly for weeks, months, even years, to perfect. People do horrible things to their bodies just learning 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 cliché. 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 lifestyle. 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, and other than to improve what they already have.

But how many b-boys and b-girls have dared 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, one 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 break dance, 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 the techniques, and learn by watching, but they never learn 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-boy doesn’t get to the top with a monkey-see monkey-do attitude. They go to the top by distorting the preconceived notions of what break dancing is, thus creating their own unique style and signature moves, making a name for themselves.

Unfortunately, many of the top b-boys in the world are to busy making self-promotional videos for profit, doing show, etc. to contribute to the up and coming 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.

I have read many articles over the internet and have listened to people using the trendy words: Old School/New School. This trend was initiated in the mid Eighties, when KOOL MOE DEE and LL Cool J had a lyrical battle over the airwaves. KOOL MOE DE is one of my favorite rap artists, but I have disagreed with him then and I disagree with the current trend in dancing. KRS ONE said in one of his tracks, ‘I’m still Number One’ from the 1988 ‘By All Means Necessary’ album. ‘Rap’ is still a new art and no one’s from the Old School, because ‘Rap’ is still a brand new tool. ‘ I say no one’s from the Old School, because ‘Rap’ on a whole, isn’t even a hundred years old. Fifty years down the line you can start this, because we will be the Old School Artists. ‘These dances are only twenty plus years old.’ So, now we have people saying this dance is Old School and this dance is New School, or they are Old School Poppers and New School Poppers. First, just look at the dances people are calling Old School: Lockin’, Poppin’, and Breakin’; these forms are still in their developmental stages (when it comes to creating and running a production).

Closely take a look at the word ‘Old’. Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has listed: Mature, Having lived or existed for a long time, Made long ago, not new. These dances have not yet reached it’s maturity level. We are still struggling for existence and presently developing these dances to be an acceptable art form.

Poppin’, Breakin’ and Lockin’ are not club style dances, so why compare them to House, Hip Hop or any current club dance style. These dances are performing or competition dances. Breakers only use clubs, because it’s hard to find places to dance with music and get honors within our communities.

House and Hip-Hop dance are more for the clubs. Yes, there are some dancers who have elevated their dancing to a higher level, by combining movement from other art forms, but the general dancers in clubs are dancing with the opposite sex. You cannot do this with Lockin’, Poppin’ or Breakin’; can you imagine a guy walking up to a lady saying, ‘ lets dance, I mean, lets break together.’ This is one of the biggest problems we have with other dancers, we take up too much space to display are skills. These dances belong in performances like ‘Jam on the Groove.’ I may go to a club from time to time and break it down, but this is not the best place to display your skills. Club dancing is trendy and we should not solely rely on club for our survival.

It takes a Popper, Breaker or locker many years to perfect these art forms, just like jazz, ballet or gymnastics. Why should we stop dancing, we practice for years to learn these art forms? No one is going to tell a ballet or jazz dancer after three to five years of training, that their dance is played out and do you think their going to stop dancing? NO!, they are going to continue, because they put a lot of time and energy into learning their art form. We feel the same way, why should any of us stop dancing? Yes, I went through so many played out stages, but I kept doing what I like. Because, my heart is in Breakin’. People tell me, ‘yeah, you’re a good breaker, but the dance is played out’ or ‘are you still doing that dance, that’s old.’ No one can start busting windmills or glide after a couple days of practice. For movies and videos, they tried using professional dancers and found out it would take too long for a trained jazz or ballet dancer to learn how to flair and don’t even talk about windmills. Thoroughly look at the dance called ballet. Does a ballet dancer stop dancing after they reach 21? NO! Their dancing career is just starting. You have ballet dancers over the age of fifty years still performing. The older dancers do more than just dance. They have more ‘levels of maturity.’ They are more involved in running the production and usually teach other dancers. Ballet is one of the dances that fits the description of an Old School dance, more than lockin’, poppin’ or breakin’. This dance has been around for a long time and has reached it’s maturity level. Now ballet dancers focus more on production and drama, but the movements in ballet are basically the same.

By saying Old School in itself sounds played out or over the hill. There are a substantial amount of words we can use. I prefer the word Ken Smith used (a member of the Rock Steady Crew) in one of his articles. He used the term first generation, second generation and so on. This is more self explanatory and informs people how long a dancer has been representing their style. I have a lot of respect for other styles of dance. We should all come together and support each other. The production ‘Jam on the Groove’ shows different types of dance styles and how they can collaborate with each other. No one should detour us from our goal. Fight to have these dances acceptable as legitiment art forms.

I’ve seen some breakers’ skillz and they are real good, I can’t deny that at all. Their behavior and decisions they make often make me realize how true this statement is and how much it comes into play in the world of B-boying. In order to be a respectable B-boy, you first have to be a respectable person.’

On March 3, 1999 a club located in Ybor City,’ Pleasure Dome ‘ banned break dancing in their club… Some B-boys arrived and kicked everybody off the dance floor and told them to back up because they were going to make a circle. Then when an older couple or a pretty girl with glow sticks drifts in the circle, they push them back. If this isn’t enough to piss someone off the B-boys were also kicking people standing around the circle. Now instead of asking those B-boys to leave, they banned breakin in their club. So apparently the breakers went to the next club on the street. The same thing happened. So all the other club owners banned breakin at some Ybor club owners meeting or something. Now break dancing has a bad rap there, and all the breakers are blaming the club owners. I think if they would have just kicked out the kids that were causing problems that would of ended it. I’m sure this will or has happened where you live.

Let’s say you are a club owner, you just spent a big chunk of change on your permits, bought a building, lights, sound, security, D.J., bartender, waitresses, flyers, promotions, and advertisements on radio or TV. Now you’re broke and ready to open, hoping to make some money. It’s Friday night people arrive, start to dance and make their way to the bar. When they go back to dance some B-boys arrive and tell everybody to get off the dance floor so they can make a circle. The people leave because the break-dancers literally kicked them or pushed them off the floor. Now you just lost money. What do you do? Here is a wake up call for ya. The clubs are trying to make money. People come in, dance, make their way to the bar and buy drinks. The alcohol is where the club owners make their money. Now if you the ‘B-boy’ arrive and kick them off the dance floor they leave and don’t buy any more drinks. Now the club owners hate you the B-boy and break dancing in general. You just ruined it for the next brakers that go there to dance.

And how do I put this all together with B-boying? B-boys don’t practice everyday and work hard so they can go to their favorite club and be told that breaking is banned. All that practice and hard work was for nothing. I’m not saying clubs are the only place where you can break, but it is a good place to meet up with your peeps, listen to music, show off your moves and get good feedback. Nothing keeps you more motivated then the sound of an audience cheering after you just pulled off that move you’ve been practicing all week.

Evolve (and know as a breaker) that you do not own the club, or the floor.

The original B – Boy Generation consist of classic breakers, Boogaloo (Poppers), Lockers, Rockers, Mc’s, Beatboxers, Dj’s and Graffiti Writers. Some have been around, Until 1978, When a defined name entitled ‘Hip Hop’ was derived by African Bambaatta. Hip Hop united all of these different elements. Rocking was developed in the late 60’s before these dancers were even united under ‘Hip Hop’.

If we did not have Rockers back in the late 60’s we would not have the breakdancers you see today, Breaking now reappears in the streets and the clubs all over the world as it did in the late 80’s. From the beginning , Up rock ‘jerks’,'Burns’, and ‘Freestyle’ were and are the three main movements used in this dance art form, and is still being used in today’s breakin’. The modified Uprock in Breakin is called Toprock.

Where breakin’ is solo the ‘Uprock’ dance involves two or more dancers, single or as a team, performing what is called a dance Battle. When Uprocking , you must use a combination of different body movements, along with hand gestures and footwork while keeping the pace with the music. Uprock, unlike breaking, which involves spins or power moves, is more in sync with the ‘ break’ of a record. Uprocking the down rock part soon evolved to become ‘B – Boyin”, which the Bronx took to the next level with spins. Each crew contributes there own dance style to Rocking, They add just the right amount of flavor that keeps us in beat with the Hip – Hop dance scene.