A Year to Remember: 2010

There is a Chinese proverb that goes like this:

"光陰似箭，歲月如梭"

To simply put, this is how you say "time flies like an arrow".

Indeed, this year has so much memories that are worth reminiscing. For one, this is the year that my crew is born! At the beginning of the year, on January 23, the seven of us decided to make a crew in order to participate in a annual battle which Floor Lovers Illinois hosts every year: Il Break. To be honest, we never would have thought that this crew would become as "legit" as it turned out to be. Not only did we continue to exist as a crew after the event, we try our best to represent the Chicago Suburbs at many bboy scenes. With the shirt which Ink-Motionz kindly designed for the crew,we continue to pursue success in both academics and dance floor. After all, knowledge is potential ;) Of course, given the handicap of being spread out to 7 different schools", we are rather lacking when it comes to routines/commandos that requires certain degree of teamwork. But that never stopped us and our passion to express ourselves. We still manage to hold our grounds in the bboy scenes.

We didn't go all out recruit all the dope bboys.Instead, we did the complete opposite. We decide to keep the crew small and solely among the seven of us for now. Of course, this is not saying that we are close to recruitment. We are definitely open to the thought of recruiting crew mates. However, we will see when the time is right ^_^

This past year we went to many bboy scenes and battled at six events! To us, this is quite an accomplishment! Although we do have our ups and downs, we grow up together and mature as a crew. Nearly every single on of the events that we went to were accompanied with some kind of accidents. I am going to quickly summarize and find footage of each event. Those ups and downs only further strengthens our bonds.

Of course, the first event entail our very first crew battle! On April 10th, the Suburbaknightz participated in its first battle as a crew in IL Break 7. To our dismay, we found ourselves on the dance floor as the first battle =.= But hey, what can you do right? We anxiously answered the summon from the MC and mentally prepared ourselves for our very first crew battle. And here it is!

WE WON WOOT!!!!!!!!! To be honest, we never expected to even pass the first round ^_^. However, the bliss is short lasted. The Suburbaknightz retired at the second round against The South Chicago crew.

On April 16th, shortly after Il Break 7, bboy Satori helped organize a bboy event that took place in NNHS.He made it quite far! Mad props to bboy Satori for being able to battle despite all the accumulated stress/exhaustion from the organization of this event. You did well bro!

Bboy Justinian took on a monstrous challenge for the crew! On July 25th, he participated in Smoking Permitted 2. Not only did he do well, his first two rounds were against the infamous Adverse and Al Grande o.O. Footages can be found here:

Round 1 Adverse not in the footage, unfortunately

Round 2 Justinian vs Al Grande

Against some big names! Probably because of this event that our crew name is slowly getting recognition. Go Justinian!

On August 28th, the beginning of the semester, Floor Lovers Illinois decided to bring back an old bboy event called Schoolyard Brawl. It is a competition that allows bboy from different universities to unite and gather. In this event, Justinian and Blu-Jay teamed up and went on to the quarter finals! Farthest competition that the Suburbaknightz par take in! I myself also joined but under the name "Pretty Boy Swag" but get disqualified in the second round due to the failing execution of a routine/commando/whatever we were doing :P Ah well lol! In any case, good job knightz!

SK vs Arch Enemies

SK vs Self X


With Halloween nearby, Chicago hostd the Hellaween IV battle on October 23rd. Justinian, Satori, Akimbo decided to enter the battle while Ink-Motionz took on the job of recording the whole battle. In a big battle like this, the chance of winning could be said to be next to none...BUT that's not the whole point! The whole point was to have fun! And that's exactly what they did!


Last but not least, the Suburbaknightz made a final appearance of the year at World of Dance Chicago that took place on November 27th. This is the one and only event which the entire crew was present. With this rare chance to really enjoy ourselves together, of course we would go all out to enjoy the cyphers. Bboy Benny Ben once told Blu-Jay and I that nowadays bboys have it all backward. They should see cyphering as the primary reason they go to these events, then battling come second. With his words in mind, the Suburbaknightz did exactly that.

You can definitely say that the Suburbaknightz ran out of luck when it comes to battling. In the 2v2 bboy battles, the Suburbaknightz decided to join in two squads. One squad was consisted of Justinian and Akimbo, while the other was composed of Satori and myself. Squad 1 had the luck of facing off against the Chicago Tribe in the prelims, while Satori and myself faced against the winner of the entire competition: Shortybrick of Brickheadz.

SK 1 vs Chicago Tribe


SK 2 vs Shortybrick


Of course, Ink-Motionz also repped and battled at the All-Style battles! Man! he brings forth that smoothness and the unique style of combining popping, locking, and bboying altogether. Fresh! Though it was rather sad that he didn't make it to the top. But he repped hard anyway! Good job bro!

Ink-Motionz in action:


Looking back, we did quite a bit! What a year it has been knightz! Of course, this is only the official events that we were present in. We also had several chill sessions just so that we could catch up with each other. After all, a crew is not a crew without that tight bonds among us. For one, we had an amazing time cyphering in downtown Naperville. Heck, I even wrote a whole post for it. Not only did we make good use of a wonderful day, we even made some money that allowed us to get some refreshments at McDonalds afterward! What a great time~ Definitely miss the weather that permitted us to do that :P

Enough babbling. Go do whatever you guys want to do in order to celebrate an end to a year that is worth remembering.The Suburbaknightz wishes everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! UNTIL THEN~



Cheers!

N-dure

What is "Breakdancing"?

Many people often times are amazed by "breakdancing". With its many aerial and strength aspects, "breakdancing" captures the attention of almost anyone anywhere. When asked why, all the reasons that one may get can be simply summarized with three words: It is impressive. However, only people with sufficient background of the art form can truly see the beauty and uniqueness behind the flow of the each movement. Whether its the flow or the musicality that a "breakdancer" brings to the floor, it is all connected, in some way, to a dancer's "soul".

The problem at hand is the number of people that can actually appreciate such art form. Many who decides to be dedicated to this form of expression are often times motivated to search deep within the root of this dance and discover the history. However, many people who decides to pursue this hobby for materialistic/superficial reasons fail to perceive the importance of knowing what the art form actually is.

Growing up from a suburb area, it wasn't until recent years that I learned the true name of the dance which I used to call "breakdancing". The real name behind "breakdancing" is another term known as "bboying". The term "bboying" comes from the term "beat boy". The name is pretty self-explanatory. The term "beat boy" is named because a bboy dance to a specific beat. The pace of the beat can be exemplified through the majority of James Brown's music

I daresay that the majority of the general public are ignorant of the existence of a social movement known as "Hip Hop". Now, I am not an expert, nor do I know enough to really preach/teach about this social movement. However, I can differentiate between the fake and the real thing. An outsider would most likely say, "Of course I know what Hip Hop music is!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Can you tell me what it is then?"

"Well, duh, Hip Hop music! Artists like Jay-Z, Souljaboy, Usher, people like that!"


*facepalm*

So what is "Hip Hop"?

Well, I don't know the answer well enough to really say anything deep about it. Heck, I am still trying to figure out the answer myself. However, there are a few pointers that I learned by watching a documentary made by Benson Lee. Planet bboy, a wonderful documentary, pretty much summarized this profound term in a nutshell: It is a social movement that allows people to express themselves. Now if you are not cut out to be a dancer, you don't have to be one. The term "Hip Hop" covers four elements: Bboying, DJing, MCing, and Graffiti. You choose which path or paths you wish to take! Each of these elements have their roots and are somehow intertwined with each other. Each of these elements also have a social concept that makes each of these elements unique: The concept of battling.

As a bboy, I am still very green when it comes to battling. However, I can say that this concept makes this social movement so unique that no other forms of expression can rival the emotions that a battle can bring forth. The anticipation and the rush of energy a bboy will experience in battle is simply priceless. It's this feeling that makes a bboy want to further pursue the dance in order to perform better in battles.

When I first started out, I can honestly say that it was the pure energy and aerodynamic elements of power moves that drawn me toward this dance. However, as I grow older, I slowly came to realize that this dance has much more to offer. It is by far the best outlet of accumulate stress from every day life that I have ever come across. Now I am not hoping to be a professional bboy. I am not cut out to be that piece of log. However, I respect the art form and I respect the pioneers that used their time, effort, blood, and sweat to create a dance that is so profound and contains infinite possibility. Hopefully this post will brighten the shielded minds of those who thinks that the term "Hip Hop" is only a label to a type of music.

Cheers~

N-dure of Suburbaknightz

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Can you guys believe it? It is that time of the year again! After the end of a very tiring and difficult semester, I find myself at loss of what to do during break. Needless to say, bboying comes to mind. But my body is still recovering from my first day of insanity... (so out of shape GAHH!!!)

Unfortunately, being back to motherland (TAIWAN), I am the farthest away from the rest of my crew. As much as I wish to session/train/catch up with the rest of the crew, family comes first. Due to the huge possibility that I most likely won't be returning to Taiwan next summer, I decided to visit my family during winter break. Although time is shorter, this visit back to my roots has proved to be rather different than before. I don't know if its the difference in age and maturity, or just stuff that I have experienced in this past year, everything I see here gives a unique and different feeling. I can't begin to describe it because I simply don't know what it is. It is like a feeling of sad and remorse, yet satisfied at the same time. Rather difficult to explain why, but I guess that's what makes life so interesting!

In any case, I believe that I will begin to update this blog on a rather frequent basis in the new year. why? BECAUSE THIS IS ON MY NEW YEAR RESOLUTION!!!!! Speaking of new years resolution...



Well, I am hoping to keep my promise to myself to keep the new year resolutions real! This is like the first time that I decided to set on some goals that I want to accomplish as New Year Resolution (late to American culture I know...) And here's my list!

1) Be more efficient and successful in my academics
2) Be the best possible boyfriend I can be to my lovely girlfriend ^_^
3) Be dedicated to bboying and my crew
4) Be smart and not spend too much time/money on my new hobby: Tamiya
5) Exercise frequently
6) Occassionally glowstring
7) Be there for my brothers from other mothers!
8) Update the blog

I know this list may sound like a lot, but most of these things really doesn't take that much effort to accomplish. But I know that these things are the things that occupies my mind 90% of the time in this past year. Therefore, I want to continue to do what I do well and improve what I did not do well in this past year! Time to make some improvements YEAHHH!!!! I just have to say, it is getting harder and harder to keep at the bboying scene. Perhaps it is due to the overusage of my joints in the earlier years, every time after session I always feel some excruciating pain running to my joints. Perhaps its a sign from above saying I should stop. But fuck it, I love bboying :P But little do I know that FLI would entail so much drama within the club. I just hope that I won't be part of that anytime soon!

My other concern is regarding my other favorite dance form known as glowstringing. Even though I was confident in my glowstringing skills back in high school, it is clearly no longer the case. After neglecting my need to touch my strings every now and then, my skills have deteriorated beyond imagination. I know that both bboying and glowstringing takes a considerable amount of time to practice. Giving the time limit that I have per day, it is impossible to divide my dedication equally among the two hobbies. Therefore, in this past year, I have decided to put bboying before glowstringing. Nonetheless, I wish to glowstringing at least 3 hours a week to slowly regain my confidence and skills in this art form. After all, this art form provides the confidence I needed in high school. I will never let that go.

I know that I don't update the blogs often enough to make this a legitimate blog. However, that is because I am lost at thought of what to blog. I don't have enough things to blog about on my own. So on the flight back to motherland, I have been thinking: What direction should I take this blog to? I would love to make this a regular part of me because this is the best way for me to relate and share with my crew members other than chatting with them through chatting clients. After many thoughts, I have come to the conclusion. Since the crew is about bboying, so should the primary focus of this blog. So from now on, I am going to not only update news regarding the crew, but I am also going to post bboy news/bboy materials as well as my thoughts on the matter. Hopefully you guys will enjoy it! I may or may not have what it takes to make this a popular blog. But the original purpose of this blog was never meant for it to be big. It was meant for the crew and people that are interested in who we are.

After all that blabbing, I think it is a good time to end. I am hoping that my decision regarding this blog will turn out for the better. Oh I almost forgot! This crew is almost one year old!! Wah! So much have happened! Definitely gonna make a blog post about that when the time is right! Also, I am starting to work on a Suburbaknightz Crew 1 year trailer! Please look forward to it! For now, be safe and don't do anything stupid that you will regret. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Years!!

- N-dure

World of Dance Chicago!

What is up people! Just came back from an awesome event known as the World of Dance! Not only does this jam features bboy battles, it also features choreography as well as many other styles of dances that are known to the mankind.

After a few weeks off of bboying due to schoolwork, I looked very much toward this jam! Some big names and some nasty bboys gathered there at Copernicus Theatre tonight, including Ground Syndrome, Self X, Chicago Tribe, Crooks, and many other well known bboys. The bboy battle was hosted by none other than the Man of God. Surprisingly, he's also a pretty darn good DJ that dropped some nasty beats for poppers, jerkers, krumpers, and other styles of dance.

After some serious decision making, Akimbo, Justinian, Satori, and myself decided to participate in the 2v2 bboy battles. We knew we probably would not go far with all these nasty bboys present, but it would provide some good experience as well as set a standard as to where we stand among these bboys. However, luck was not on either team's side. Akimbo and Justinian had to face off against the Chicago Tribe in first round while Satori and I faced off against a solo member of Brickheadz. Nonetheless, each of us represented and received props during each of our turns. It was to no one's surprise that both teams got eliminated.

Later on, Ink-motionz decided to be part of the all styles battle. The first round was a showcase of all the participants. Ink-motionz killed the the beat in the most disgusting sense while he was on the dance floor. However, he did not get past the selection. We were rather surprised. But hey, there is nothing you can do...

Unfortunately, Satori fell ill and was permitted to rest in the VIP room. The rest of us decided to check out the choreography section of the jam for a little bit before formulating a plan to return home. After a while, we decided to check on Satori. But not long after, a text from Ink-Motionz saying "POREOTICS!" immediately summoned us back down to the lower level in order to see the performance of ABDC season 5 champions. Swear to god, TV never does justice to the dancers movements. I was simply amazed beyond my wildest imagination.

Shortly after the Poreotics performed, we decided to take off. We learned that the solo member of the Brickheadz won the bboy battle. Man...what a guy. Simply cannot believe he won on his own in a 2v2 bboy battle. But nonetheless...mad props to him!

Although we had some complications upon arrival of my house, this complication allowed the crew to chill together for a little bit more. This was the first and last time that the whole crew got together since the beginning of Thanksgiving break. Tomorrow, each of us will return to our respective college and get ready to embrace the end of the semester. Until then, knightz! Keep working hard at school and don't forget to practice every now and then! We will see each other again in 2 weeks!


N-dure

FULL SUBURBAKNIGHTZ CREW GATHERING!!!!

Waddup all! Man, just came back from an extremely awesome hangout with the whole Suburbaknightz Crew today. The day began when akimbo picked up ink motionz and myself from our respective houses, then we stopped by Chipotle to grab some quick bite and discussed how the movie "Inception" is pretty much over hyped. We discussed several parts of the plot where there are logical flaws as well as some of the stuff that we didnt like about the movie. But don't get us wrong, "Inception" is probably one of the better releases of all the movie in the past few months~

With our stomache filled with delicious burrito materials, we headed toward NNHS entrance, where we planned to meet up. Upon arrival, Justinian and Smash were already sitting down by the stairs waiting for us. we quickly did a quick catchup and discussed how Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty Collectors Edition was totally worth the 100 dollars ^_^. Then it wasn't until ten or fifteen minutes later when Blu-Jay and Satori showed up in their cars. With the full crew at the entrance, we proceeded toward Naperville downtown as planned in order to have an outdoor session. Even though the weather was perfect, the location of our spot was absolutely amazing. It is by a river and is within a park sort of place. Not only was the water fountain provided, the wind caused by the placement of the river next to us really did help relief us from the afternoon heat. However, we didn't mind the heat at all. We simply pumped up the music, pulling out some sets in public, and had some great time sessioning.

Several things happened during the outdoor session. First, we actually made $14.50 by sessioning! Apparently last time the other crew members sessioned there, they left a hat out and people just began to donate money as they practiced. At the end of the day, they got around eight dollars. So we decided to do the same. To our surprise, we made some good cash! Even though we each get roughly two dollars if we split the money evenly, it is enough to get us a McDouble and another food item from McDonald's one dollar menu. And that was exactly what we did with the money after the outdoor session! :3

Then a man with a cute poodle came across us and told us that he had experience with bboying. He quickly showed us what he knows, and to our disbelief, he was actually pretty darn good for someone who is 40 years old! However, I was told by the naperville knights that he has cancer :< but he seems to be doing pretty darn well. Keep up the fighting man!

It wasn't until today that I realize Smash is such a gentleman! A little girl showed special interests in dancing but too shy to approach us openly. Her mother said that she loves dancing. So the whole crew spent a little bit of our time to encourage the girl to show some moves for us! But probably because she is around two years old, she was still too shy to make any move. Then Smash, a pimp and a gentleman that he is, grabbed her tiny hands and led her on to some simple dance steps! Man, talk about spreading "hip hop"!



After we had our outdoor session, we headed over to Justinian's house because his family was holding a BBQ dinner in order to celebrate Justinian's biggest paycheck yet! Man, his dad made some extremely delicious chicken, corn, pork, yam, and many more! We were feasting our eyes on the beauty of Starcraft 2's extraordinary cinematics while munching on some food to supply our bodies with ample amount of proteins. Man...nothing beats delicious food after a good outdoor session :D

Then bboy Rank and his friend Jesse decided to show up around six o'clock at Justin's house. We weren't really planning on sessioning until Justin's parents and his guests requested us to dance! It all began with a popping battle between Ink Motionz and Rank's buddy Jesse. It was a rather intense battle. It definitely got us hyped up! After the popping battle, we just went into a series of exchange in terms of sets in the form of a jam circle. It was really fun! I got some nice baby mill tips from Rank, and I will work on it on my free time. Each of us contributed greatly to the jam circles with our own styles, tips on the moves, and most of all, the atmosphere. It had been a really damn long time since I felt so relaxed and had such great fun with people.

On the way back, there were nothing else in our minds but reminiscing how fun and compact today truly was. We definitely needs to schedule another session just like this before everyone is off to college. For now though, good job knightz! We repped hard today and we will keep doing so in our own way :3

Epic Fail

Hey Guys!

It's been a while since the last post, but here we are, 2 weeks after our last post and...

it's been a super busy week T T

However, all that business is compensated by our epic fails in excursions with the chillest of friends, in the chillest of countries.

First epic fail:

We took a group picture of us sessioning... here are the pictures





Finally we had a decent picture





So many other epic fails i can't think of, but it's alright since friends who embrace such the epicness of "epic fails", (and not the fail part of "epic fails"), are ones you can keep.

Be on the look out for a compilation of our sessions

Bboy Blujay

The Change of Plan

A series of event has happened that caused a lot of events to occur. Well, first and foremost, I have landed a research job in the Genomics Central Research Center in Taipei! It is directly funded by the Taiwanese government. So this place is quite prestigious. So this early morning, Blu-Jay and I took the train and headed up north at 6:30 AM.

Around 8:30 AM, my mom and I said good bye to Blu-Jay at the train station. From then on, we got on the taipei subway and toured around for about an hour before we finally arrived at the front gate of the research ground. It was quite a bumpy ride on the bus....the Taiwanese bus drivers are pretty darn reckless. On top of that, the Taiwanese roads are pretty bumpy due to the constant constructions. Therefore, it was quite an unpleasant experience to say at the very least. Nonetheless, we made it...

Thankfully, the research facility definitely lives up to its reputation as the national central research ground. Each buildings house different fields of science research equipments as well as work forces. I myself am assigned to work under the Genomics Research Center, which definitely am related to my major. So this will be quite an experience for the future!

I have met with the person that will be in charge of me. He is quite a scholar. He got his PhD in the famous Cambridge University. so hopefully I will be able to learn while working under him. He kindly showed me around the lab. And to be honest, I was quite astounded by the similarity between this working ground and that of a graduate student in UIUC. In all honesty, the set ups are quite similar, with only one big difference: the costs of the machineries used in this place is definitely way beyond the ones that our school provides. A random test tube can cost up to 80,000 NTD! Like honestly...what the hell?! I sure hope I don't break anything here....

With that said, it is easy to assume that I will be spending the majority of my time in the city of Taipei. On weekends, I will be returning to Miaoli to spend some time with my parents. But this upcoming weekend, I think bboy Blu-jay, my roommate, and myself will be going to the beach in taipei together! Hopefully that is something to be looking forward to ^_^

The living arrangements will be quite random. I will be living with my cousins who just got married. In fact, she just gave birth to a cute little nephew not too long ago. So i will be living in their apartment. Thankfully, it is somewhat "close" to where I will be working. So hopefully that will work out...and not awkward >.<

Well, that's about it for now! I am currently using the Wi FI in the McDonalds to get this post on the blog. More to come later tonight when I finally settles down!

Day one session with Special guest Bboy Blu-jay

Bboy Blu-Jay here.

So today was the first day i sessioned with bboy N-dure at his house in taiwan, and my second day staying there. Let me tell you off the bat: MIAO LI IS AWESOME. Hakka food is the best. I MEAN THE BEST.



So today me and N-dure here worked on a few things we've been meaning to practice some power. But due to his injury, and the fattening of my stomach from all the good food...

What have we been working on? For me it's the floaters: crickets and darkhammers. N-dure with some 2000s and masterswipes.

At least... these are our attempts:



Hopefully we'll get better during this one month of vacation and be able to better ourselves in becoming bboys.

Homework before Bboying! and luckily, we have no homework

Bboy Blu-Jay

Blu-Jay finally arrived!

Yup, that video summed up pretty much everything. More to come!!! (btw, Blu-Jay is in a massive food coma/orgasm)

The Origin of The Suburbaknightz Crew

Hey all! This is bboy N-dure of the Suburbaknightz Crew. With much discussion with bboy Blu-Jay, we decided to make a blog in order to dedicate it to the crew and the crew members! This will be the place for us to post videos or share some interesting life experiences. In other words, this will be, hopefully, the ultimate archive of the Suburbaknightz! Well, what blog doesn't start out with a little introduction? :P With that in mind, let's begin our journey with the history of the Suburbaknightz.

It all started out as a little idea in preparation for the annual jam known as the IL BREAK 7. It was hosted by the bboy club unique to the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign known as Floor Lovers Illinois, or FLI for short. Needless to say, Blu-Jay and I started to formulate a battle plan in order to participate in this event. However, because the battle was in 5 vs 5 crew format, we were short in numbers.

Then the idea of bringing back our old high school bboy buddies that we still keep in touch with struck both of us. Through several phone calls and facebook posts/messages, we were finally able to get the nominees together during winter break.With 5 simultaneous agrees, the Suburbaknightz Crew was born. The crew members are bboy Akimbo, bboy Ink Motionz, bboy Justinian, bboy Satori, bboy Smash, bboy Blu-Jay, and myself.

A crew definitely needs a crew T-shirt to represent! Thankfully, our very own Ink Motionz was able to put his artistic talent to use! He skillfully designed the crew shirts, which we worn to IL BREAK 7!. Gotta say, you got mad talents bro! I foresee a huge success in your future since it is your major XD Anyways, after several complications over the shirts, we were able to get the shirts delivered on time for the battle.

On April 10, 2010, the Suburbaknightz battled for the first time as a crew. It was a fast paced, close call for all of us. The crew that we battled were known as Sudden Impact. Although they did not look like much of an opponent, they were definitely way better off than us in terms of fundamentals. However, with the crew working together, we were able to emerge victorious!Blow is the video recording of the actual battle! Some of us could definitely do a lot better. However, with the inexperience with battling as well as nervousness got the best of us during this battle.

As exciting as we were, we were utterly defeated in the second round >.< to South Chicago. They were definitely better than us in any aspect. But hey! We are very proud of our achievements ^_^

With the goal achieved, we are now preparing ourselves in preparation for th upcoming jams. Each of us have our unique styles and are constantly improving our skills or make new combinations or moves. We hope to achieve more!