Bboying is an art.

I've known this for some time now, but a few weeks ago I really realized this. Many of u know all this, but Im sick of em "is power better that footwork" threads.

I was watching this document on movie-freaks and the freak said to the document makers :"Documents arent art, because you focus on the content, not on the Form. Im not saying you have bad editing, but Your focus is more in the content" And that really struck me.

Everyones seen thoes picasso pictures that are just stick-figures and ppl say anyone could do it. Well they actually cant. Picasso was an artist and he consentrated on the form, not the content. The form in thoes works is probably something incredible to some ppl who understand it.

Now the same thing can be applied to breaking. You have to have form in your sets to make them look complete. Your form has to have something to do with the music, usually the rythm, sometimes even the words. The music is your canvas, and its up to you what u draw on it, but the drawing has to have form. You cant draw picture that doenst fit the canvas can you?

It is all up to you what moves you want to do, if ur talented you can always make the form look good. Look at stuntman, his moves are something horrible (nothing personal) but his form is amazing!

What you do in bboying depends on ur skills, ambitions and preferance. If you hate to do toprocks, skip them, because it will not look good if you simply hate it. The same goes for all the parts of the dance. But never judge a book by its cover, always try everything new that comes in mind, try to understand things that u dont like, dont give up on it. If you learn stuff and finally understand it you might like doing it.

So it doesnt matter what you do, It matters how you do it! Keep rocking, feeling and loving, Peace.


Edit:

Ok, so there have been some missconseptions with some ppl of what I mean by this whole thread, so I'll add a few words.

First of all I do encourage anyone starting breaking to learn all the basics, or "the foundation" before trying to find your own path in breaking. This is simply because its unpractical if for example somone concentrating on powermoves cant do any footwork, because if he falls, his gonna have to do some sort of footwork to save his butt, and keep the flow going. And ofcourse some sort of toprock is nesessery to get the speed for things in power. This goes for anyone else, wether his putting his time to toprocks or footworks, well-rounded stuff or something totally new.
So for the sake of flow, especially as you are starting out, you have to learn the basic foundation. Just as you gotta learn how to use brushes, and how to mix paint before you can paint pictures.

Just so there wont be any more misconseptions about this!

I'm Not Just Powermover.I am BBOY

What’s up this is B-Boy Milky reppin the M.I.N.D 180 and Methods of Mayhem, here to give knowledge about real B-Boying shit. I got off with Power moves but I always felt the pulse of the beat, the music and it is No.1 Passion of my life. Basically, when I break, I’m living out every moment; day by day, beat by beat. As I said before, I started off as a power mover but I just couldn’t ignore the music. I can still feel the beat even when I’m sleeping. Whatever music I listen to, my body naturally moves to it, it’s not me thinking or pre-planning to hit the music. I got into this game by doing Air-Tracks, Halos, Swipes, Turtles (Power Moves) but I learned Foundation. Knowing Foundation is like building a house. You need Foundation, and put everything around it to make it stand strong. If you don’t have Foundation, the wind will blow your house away! That’s why B-Boy Born is so dope, you can do so many tricks but if you don’t have the Foundation, he will blow your house away! If you have Foundation, it makes you stronger inside, if you are strong inside; it’s hard for other people to penetrate you from the outside. It’s not just about knowing Foundation; you got to flip it around! There are many people that think that they know little bit about Foundation and just go straight up to tricks, but look at B-Boys like Born, C4, Keebz, Cuso and etc, they can go everywhere from top to bottom and you won’t understand what they are doing because they are in too deep about it. It’s like the matrix when the green letters and numbers come out, I feel what they are although I can’t translate what it is. Breaking is a dance before tricks or footworks. You got to be able to groove because it’s a dance. Once you get to learn the history and the meaning of the dance, the Foundation, you will be able to see the dance in different angles!

Bboy Milky Trailer :

What is "Style"?

What is "Style"?

Written by Remy (The Spartanic Rockers)

Style - [stail] - characteristic speciality to express, formulate something.

Nowadays when you go to a party you can see a lot of young and new dancers but there are hardly any new moves and ideas around. A lot of things are copied and taken over and sometimes you can even witness an imitation of a whole dance character (1:1- copy of a well known dancer) !But such imitation and copying is in discrepancy to the main purpose and thought of Breaking (and the Hip Hop culture in general): creativity. The idea is to bring new input into the scene by presenting your own ideas and creations and with your skills you help to develope the culture and to bring it to the next level.

In the past the engagement with the dance, the experimentation with and the creation and developing of your own moves worked in a way that you took some idea, some inspiration or something which already existed and you worked on it and changed it into your own creation and added your own flavour to it. The influences were coming from a lot of other dance styles and even also from (eastern) material art mov(i)es. Like that everybody was creating and shaping an own dance character on which every dancer worked and which was the key that people were recognizing a dancer again in the circle although they maybe hadn't known him personally. One was also speaking about the "style" of a dancer.

But nowadays regarding Breaking the word "style" is more and more set equal to steps and gimmicks and seperated from the acrobatical moves of the dance. People distinguish between so called "powermoves" and "styles". This is nothing but wrong!Apart from the fact that the so called "powermoves" actually aren't requiring that much power when they are well done because they base mainly on drive and technique, "style" isn't just footwork and dancing finesse but it is the whole expression of a dancer. Because everbody is actually expressing his own personal character through the dance and thus gives his personal note to every move. And because of that the same move (also a "powermove") looks different when done by different persons. Likewise it doesn't seem to make any sense if the acrobatical and the dancing elements of Breaking are seperated because the whole picture and appearance of a dancer with all details and every single move is how people will keep him in mind and also recognize him again.

Unfortunately a lot of stuff done in the circles and on the dancefloors are looking nearly the same nowadays. A wider variation and thus an augmented quest for something different and own would be really desirable. Also because this would help the development and level of Breaking as there would be much more inspiration around.

To develop an own "style" without adapting other dancers stuff is a hard way. But the ones who are imitating instead of innovating will always be steps behind because during the time they try to copy a move, the others are already on new skills and drills. And apart from the fact that with "biting" one can never be the best, one gets recognition only for a short time and one will be forgotten fast again, one rather rips off than really helps the culture. But if you are doing your own stuff nobody can be better in that as it is something different and new which is nobody else doing and with that you are also inspiring again other dancers for doing things that might inspire you again!

About Foundation

Foundation is the combination of the mental approach, philosophies, the attitude, the rhythm, style and character combined with the move. Foundation is not moves, people think that " Oh I got Foundation" and they throw a little sweep and do a swipes and do a little thing you know chair freeze and says I got Foundation, but Foundation isn't a move. Foundation is the ability to understand, making connection with the song and expressing the attitude and putting the flavor on to the move. You don't put the flavor to the move then it's not Foundation. So Foundation to me is the attitude in the move combined, the whole package. People think Foundation is just moves. Foundation moves are the actual first moves the Bboys did in the 70's. There are moves that can be considered as Foundation moves, but no move can be a Foundation move unless it has style on it because if you do a move with no style and no flavor, that's just whack! That's not Foundation, Foundation is the combination of the attitude, the understanding of the song and then putting that on top of the Top Rock, on top of the move and on top of who you are. That's what Foundation is.

About TOPROCK

TOPROCK:

Do not confuse 'toprock' with 'uprock'. They are two different dances!!! People confuse this all the time. Uprock has its own foundation.Toprock is the essence of the dance. The time where you follow the rhythm and at the same time prepare to do a move. It consists mainly of steps done in a repeated pattern or freestyle. After such steps are created they are then done to the music, following the beat or rhythm. In toprock there is a certain 'groove'. All dances have a groove, or a way of moving your body to the music. For b-boys/b-girls the groove is a bouncy forward motion. One important aspect of toprck is your 'step'. Meaning, the way you step with your foot. You should put your body weight into your step and step with confidence and conviction. Most steps made up into toprock came from imitating James Brown, tap dancers, and other influencial characters of the time. Steps were also taken from other dance styles like the hustle, salsa, and lindy hop. When these steps are taken from other dances they are manipulated to look like toprock, meaning you just add a bboy groove to it.To completely understand toprock you must listen to the music! This is a dance so what we do starts with the music. People always ask me, 'ynot, how can I make my toprock better?'I tell them, 'just listen, the key to dancing is in the music.'

Here is the example of Toprock:

"FOOTWORK" TIPs

Just a few points that have helped me to greatly improve my footwork over the past months (these are not hard and fast rules, but they will help you to notice the difference in appearance of various styles):

1. keep you hips under your center of gravity (i.e. your belly button). this means you will have to keep one foot underneath you at most times by alternating)

2. if your hips are slightly elevated (with your center of gravity still over your feet),your movement will be faster. this means that you should try to support your self on the upper-portion of your palm (where your callouses are), or on your finger-tips (be careful of your thumbs). you can develop good footwork on flat palms, but it's harder.

3. your supporting foot (under your hips) should, for all practical purposes, almost never be on its heel. stay on the ball of the foot.

4. beware of excessive arm-flailing unless its part of your style.

5. try to keep a relaxed face (ex: easy roc). this is just a personal pet-peeve, but it can make a difference.

6. don't just go for speed. change the tempo, and don't forget that it's possible to return to toprock briefly and then reenter footwork.

7. when you're learning, force yourself to freeze after every three (or whatever)revolutions of your six-step. good freezes are oftentimes what separate the real breakers from the wanna-bes who copy you and also grant you time to think of your next move. Hope this helps, and work the style. Make sure that your "Bboying" doesn't turn into a routine a gymnast with no rhythm could imitate. there are, of course, some damn good gymnasts with rhythm, so watch the insults ;). Lastly, learn to love practice as must as performing. Breaking is a labor of love, and make sure your motives match that mentality.

Here is the example of Footwork: