What is goooooood!
I am sorry for have been on hiatus for the last 2 months...ya I know I shouldn't have..but I have a very legitimate reason: I was studying for the MCAT..which I just finished as of Thursday, 6/21/2012. But now that's over with, I am back with full force! Though this post won't really be talking about some usual bboying stuff, this post will talk about some future directions for this blog.
As mentioned wayyyyyy before in the very beginning of this blog, this blog serves as a good way to valuate my crew and my bboying development in addition to a good tracker for our crew activity. However, besides the physical training apart, I also believes that a bboy should also be armed with some mental arsenal such as history, knowledges, tips, insights, etc. Therefore, this blog serves as a good collection of such gems. Although I cannot guarantee that what I post will be the absolute best things, but they will be things that I found to have been helpful throughout my bboy career.
For some reason today I randomly checked the stats for this blog and it has most DEFINITELY surpassed my expectations o.O Heck I even swapped up a few bucks because of it. I am very grateful for all the viewers support and hope that you guys would continue to show me some love ^_^ In return, I will try my best to accommodate you guys with my service XD
On a side note, my friend and I are thinking about starting a mini project of our own that may/should help out up and coming bboys. I will post some more details about it as soon as we figured out the groundwork.
New posts shall be coming sometime this week. After all, this is what you guys came here for right? xD But for now, PEACE OUT!
Cheers,
N-dure
Monday, June 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
IL Breakz 8 @ UIUC ARC MPR6 on April 7th, 2012!
Glad to be back after an extremely stressful week in preparation for IL BREAKZ 8. This is the jam that all of FLI has been waiting and working for all year long; this is the jam where bboys come and representing their names/crews in, as my mentor BennyBen said, the "corn town". But first and foremost, this jam marked the beginning of my crew. The Suburbaknightz crew had its debut previously on IL Breaks 7. Looking back, we have accomplished quite a lot in between ILB7 and ILB8. No, I do not mean accomplishments in terms of winning jams, but rather bonding through attending jams together, battling together, and having fun together.
As the treasurer/member of the organizing board for this jam, I have but one word to describe the feeling I during the jam: EXHAUSTING. Putting the paperwork aside, which, may I add, is unnecessarily complicated, long, and tedious, trying to get everything to go according to plan is simply next to impossible. With our guests arriving day/days before the event, it was still pretty impossible to push the jam forward as a whole entity.
One of the most agitating/annoying feedbacks or/and comments I have been getting regarding to the jam happens during workshops which one of our guests, bboy Physicx (Rivers Crew) was in charge of.
Just because he is known for his explosiveness and powerful dancing styles does NOT mean he has to teach those kind of techniques during his workshop. He had already emphasized that he firmly believes that foundation is more important than learning big moves. And with the modern bboy scenes' tendency to sacrifice foundation for big moves, it really isn't surprising that he would want to make sure that we learn proper foundation.
Secondly, people needs to have more patience.
I CONSTANTLY, and yes I mean CONSTANTLY, got people bothering me about how bboy Physicx could not have both a functional mic and music simultaneously at the beginning of the workshop due to the way the system was set up. The moment that I heard from the tech staff that he could not get both equipments to work, I immediately requested to speak with his superior in order to pursue the slight possibility that this issue could be addressed. Luckily, within ten minutes of time, the tech staff came up with a plausible solution and finally resolved the issue. But during those few minutes of waiting, I was CONSTANTLY bothered with complaints from the same individuals even though I already told them that I was trying my best to accommodate. Dear lord people, I was just as displeased as you were, perhaps even more so, and I DO HAVE A GODDAMN BRAIN so saying it once is more than enough. Phew, finally let that out.
Now, onto the bright side of the jam. This year, as aforementioned, we were very blessed to have big names in the house. The judges this year were Roland Bluntz (Battle Born), Physicx (Rivers), and Wicked (Phase II). The DJ lineup is composed of the legendary DJ Skeme Richards (Rock Steady) and DJ Edouble (Phase II). In addition, MC AMS (Self-X/FLI) truly made the jam entertaining with his mere presence. With such solid lineup, the jam was nothing more than action-packed amazing. Physicx and Roland Bluntz both hosted some very inspiring workshops that are bound to ignite some sparks of creativity under each participants.
This video entails the judges show case. Big shout out to Wicked. Despite his busted knee, he still went out and put out an amazing go on the floor!
I have to say, I am rather damn proud of my crew in this jam. We made it to the top 16 prelim selection out of 24 crews and then lost to our bros from the chicago tribe/cypher headz crew. There's no beef/hate in the battle. In fact, there's nothing but respect, peace, and love. Below are the footage of our battles:
PRELIM:
TOP 16:
In all honesty, for a commando which we JUST MADE and rehearsed for a day to turn out as well as it did during our preliminary round, I was both amazed/shocked by how well it turned out! Surely with more practice, the execution would be way better. But hey, like I mentioned, that commando was under 24 hours old LOL! In terms of battling, I think we did a solid job in demonstrating our foundation while throwing down some pretty legit rounds. However, we lost at the top 16 most likely (just my opinion) due to the difference in the difficulty of our moves of choice in addition to the dynamics of our overall rounds. But nonetheless, we did our best and had a great deal of fun, and in the end, that's what really matters!
My crew and I left early in order to celebrate my boy/crewmate Blu-Jay's 21st birthday! Needless to say, whatever happened in our private after party will stay strictly confidential ^_^ but this jam truly brought our crew even closer. Actually, now that I think of it, this is probably one of the bigger crew gathering! Six out of eight members were present on that day! With most of us attending different universities in pursuit of our academic growth, it is extremely difficult for all of us to have a chance to gather like we did on April 7th. I am very happy that we were blessed with such opportunity and am very glad that we took advantage of it. I miss you all already!
Now the only thing left is the paperwork that is involved. Hopefully I can finalize everything and get everyone who contributed to make the jam successful rewarded.
With curtain for this jam finally fallen, I now have to put a pause into training/sessioning until I am officially done with MCAT on June 21. Ironically, my bro Justinian will be taking it on the same day, time, and place with me. Guess we truly are repping on and off the floor! LET'S DO THIS!
But fear not, I will still be posting on this blog on a regular basis. In fact, bboy Minus-One and I are doing this mini project together that, if successful, can be quite informative for those that are interested in learning more about the dance in general. Well, enough talk for now. PEACE!
N-dure
As the treasurer/member of the organizing board for this jam, I have but one word to describe the feeling I during the jam: EXHAUSTING. Putting the paperwork aside, which, may I add, is unnecessarily complicated, long, and tedious, trying to get everything to go according to plan is simply next to impossible. With our guests arriving day/days before the event, it was still pretty impossible to push the jam forward as a whole entity.
One of the most agitating/annoying feedbacks or/and comments I have been getting regarding to the jam happens during workshops which one of our guests, bboy Physicx (Rivers Crew) was in charge of.
Secondly, people needs to have more patience.
I CONSTANTLY, and yes I mean CONSTANTLY, got people bothering me about how bboy Physicx could not have both a functional mic and music simultaneously at the beginning of the workshop due to the way the system was set up. The moment that I heard from the tech staff that he could not get both equipments to work, I immediately requested to speak with his superior in order to pursue the slight possibility that this issue could be addressed. Luckily, within ten minutes of time, the tech staff came up with a plausible solution and finally resolved the issue. But during those few minutes of waiting, I was CONSTANTLY bothered with complaints from the same individuals even though I already told them that I was trying my best to accommodate. Dear lord people, I was just as displeased as you were, perhaps even more so, and I DO HAVE A GODDAMN BRAIN so saying it once is more than enough. Phew, finally let that out.
Now, onto the bright side of the jam. This year, as aforementioned, we were very blessed to have big names in the house. The judges this year were Roland Bluntz (Battle Born), Physicx (Rivers), and Wicked (Phase II). The DJ lineup is composed of the legendary DJ Skeme Richards (Rock Steady) and DJ Edouble (Phase II). In addition, MC AMS (Self-X/FLI) truly made the jam entertaining with his mere presence. With such solid lineup, the jam was nothing more than action-packed amazing. Physicx and Roland Bluntz both hosted some very inspiring workshops that are bound to ignite some sparks of creativity under each participants.
This video entails the judges show case. Big shout out to Wicked. Despite his busted knee, he still went out and put out an amazing go on the floor!
I have to say, I am rather damn proud of my crew in this jam. We made it to the top 16 prelim selection out of 24 crews and then lost to our bros from the chicago tribe/cypher headz crew. There's no beef/hate in the battle. In fact, there's nothing but respect, peace, and love. Below are the footage of our battles:
PRELIM:
TOP 16:
In all honesty, for a commando which we JUST MADE and rehearsed for a day to turn out as well as it did during our preliminary round, I was both amazed/shocked by how well it turned out! Surely with more practice, the execution would be way better. But hey, like I mentioned, that commando was under 24 hours old LOL! In terms of battling, I think we did a solid job in demonstrating our foundation while throwing down some pretty legit rounds. However, we lost at the top 16 most likely (just my opinion) due to the difference in the difficulty of our moves of choice in addition to the dynamics of our overall rounds. But nonetheless, we did our best and had a great deal of fun, and in the end, that's what really matters!
My crew and I left early in order to celebrate my boy/crewmate Blu-Jay's 21st birthday! Needless to say, whatever happened in our private after party will stay strictly confidential ^_^ but this jam truly brought our crew even closer. Actually, now that I think of it, this is probably one of the bigger crew gathering! Six out of eight members were present on that day! With most of us attending different universities in pursuit of our academic growth, it is extremely difficult for all of us to have a chance to gather like we did on April 7th. I am very happy that we were blessed with such opportunity and am very glad that we took advantage of it. I miss you all already!
Now the only thing left is the paperwork that is involved. Hopefully I can finalize everything and get everyone who contributed to make the jam successful rewarded.
But fear not, I will still be posting on this blog on a regular basis. In fact, bboy Minus-One and I are doing this mini project together that, if successful, can be quite informative for those that are interested in learning more about the dance in general. Well, enough talk for now. PEACE!
N-dure
Friday, February 24, 2012
Suburbaknights @ School of Hard Rocks 3v3
What is up y'all! It has been a month or so since my last post. To live up to my new year's resolutions (one post a month..AT LEAST), I am here to provide a quick overview of a very recent jam that I went to last weekend called School of Hard Rocks at Loyola University in the windy city Chicago. This battle stands a rather important presence for many reasons.
However, the most notable of the reasons being that it serves as a indicator of where we are prior to a series of jams/battles that are coming around the corner. Below is our battle footage:
Due to the amount of crews that signed up for the 3v3, 20 crews to be exact, the judges decided to run the format of preliminary. In other words, the top 8 crews out of the 20 will proceed to the second round utilizing the format of elimination.
This battle is also significant because this is the debut battle for our newest addition to the crew: Rex Chau! Welcome aboard bro! That commando you came up with is so dope! As testimony, just look at the judges face when we did it!
As you may have guessed, because there's only one footage, it is clear that we did not make it past the preliminaries. Am I a bit disheartened? I would be lying if I said I am not. But it doesn't matter to the extent that I am severely disappointed. I had so much fun representing my crew all over the ciphers and I put myself forward as a test of skills. If this is level where I am at, then this is it. This just means that there are still many more areas where we, as a crew, can improve on. On a more positive note, this could probably be a good thing. Because prior to the battle all of us were pretty anxious that we couldn't go out to cipher our hearts out until after we learned that we were not part of the top 8. So either way, it's really for the better ^_^ After all, this is all about having fun!
And to our surprise, guess who we met at this jam :P
Yup! El nino, the RedBull BC Chicago qualifier champion! Got a chance to talk to him in person and found out that he is a very chill and approachable individual who are very humble. Respect bro, keep doing what you do!
In addition, we also got a chance to meet up with DJ Edouble and Wicked from the legendary Phase II crew. It's like meeting with old friends really. We chilled a little bit during the breaks and just talk about how excited we are to have both of them on board with us for IL Breaks 8.
Here's Kmel, another judge in charge of this jam.
Unfortunately, I didn't really have the chance to talk to him in person. One of my biggest regrets in my bboy career being that Kmel "shot an arrow" at me during this jam while he was rocking it out on the floor and my lack of courage to dance on the same floor as him...I did not feel like I was worthy enough at the time...there are tons of people way better than me at rocking at the jam as well...I feared that other people may start hating on if me I went out there...*sigh* note to self: don't be afraid.
We also were fortunate enough to attend workshops prior to the jam hosted by bgirl Asia One of the Mighty Zulu Kingz. Her workshop was very similar to my mentor's, bboy Benny Ben's. which makes sense since they rep the same crew. She takes the concepts of foundation further and even pointed out where we can potentially imbue the foundation with our own flavor. A very insightful workshop. My inability to have a camera ready when bboy Blujay and I talked to her after the workshop really makes me SMH really hard....but I guess it can't be helped :\
Remember how I said this jam is rather important for several reasons? Well, putting aside the two aforementioned reasons, here is the last one: It serves as a reminder of why I was attracted to the culture of Hip Hop in the first place. What is it you say? Well, it is about making bonds with other people who shares the same passion for dance. I can truly be myself on the dance floor and not feel awkward because there are tons of people around me who feels the same way. The indirect companionship provided by people known or unknown to you is like a form of trust that you wouldn't realize you would get and take comfort from. But fact is, I did in this jam and I will continue to do so for as long as I can.
Cheers,
N-dure
However, the most notable of the reasons being that it serves as a indicator of where we are prior to a series of jams/battles that are coming around the corner. Below is our battle footage:
Due to the amount of crews that signed up for the 3v3, 20 crews to be exact, the judges decided to run the format of preliminary. In other words, the top 8 crews out of the 20 will proceed to the second round utilizing the format of elimination.
This battle is also significant because this is the debut battle for our newest addition to the crew: Rex Chau! Welcome aboard bro! That commando you came up with is so dope! As testimony, just look at the judges face when we did it!
As you may have guessed, because there's only one footage, it is clear that we did not make it past the preliminaries. Am I a bit disheartened? I would be lying if I said I am not. But it doesn't matter to the extent that I am severely disappointed. I had so much fun representing my crew all over the ciphers and I put myself forward as a test of skills. If this is level where I am at, then this is it. This just means that there are still many more areas where we, as a crew, can improve on. On a more positive note, this could probably be a good thing. Because prior to the battle all of us were pretty anxious that we couldn't go out to cipher our hearts out until after we learned that we were not part of the top 8. So either way, it's really for the better ^_^ After all, this is all about having fun!
And to our surprise, guess who we met at this jam :P
In addition, we also got a chance to meet up with DJ Edouble and Wicked from the legendary Phase II crew. It's like meeting with old friends really. We chilled a little bit during the breaks and just talk about how excited we are to have both of them on board with us for IL Breaks 8.
Here's Kmel, another judge in charge of this jam.
We also were fortunate enough to attend workshops prior to the jam hosted by bgirl Asia One of the Mighty Zulu Kingz. Her workshop was very similar to my mentor's, bboy Benny Ben's. which makes sense since they rep the same crew. She takes the concepts of foundation further and even pointed out where we can potentially imbue the foundation with our own flavor. A very insightful workshop. My inability to have a camera ready when bboy Blujay and I talked to her after the workshop really makes me SMH really hard....but I guess it can't be helped :\
Remember how I said this jam is rather important for several reasons? Well, putting aside the two aforementioned reasons, here is the last one: It serves as a reminder of why I was attracted to the culture of Hip Hop in the first place. What is it you say? Well, it is about making bonds with other people who shares the same passion for dance. I can truly be myself on the dance floor and not feel awkward because there are tons of people around me who feels the same way. The indirect companionship provided by people known or unknown to you is like a form of trust that you wouldn't realize you would get and take comfort from. But fact is, I did in this jam and I will continue to do so for as long as I can.
Cheers,
N-dure
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Preparing for the Battle Section 2: Point of Focus
Now it has been a long time since I last take an excerpt from the book titled "The Art of Battle" by Alien Ness of the Mighty Zulu Kings. I really don't know why I just decided to stop doing so even after I look back at all the previous posts I made in between this one and the last one that centered its content on it. But in any case, since I figured that out, now I must fix it!
As the title suggests, today's topic is the point of focus. What is it and what does it have to do with bboying? Well, it has everything to do with bboying. Another way to say point of focus is directionality. As many of you know, a bboy battle often features two sides (can be more than two): your crew and your opponent. Because the nature of the battle is aggressive, everything you do is in attempt to "burn" or "out do" your opponent. In other words, EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL AND SHOULD BE DIRECTED TOWARD YOUR OPPONENT. However, how can one say that a gesture is done toward your opponent if you are not even facing him or her? Let's take a good look at this image below:
What do you think? That freeze, if held, would be sick IF he (I think?) does it in a manner that would allow him to look at his opponent at the same time. Many up and coming bboys are, surprisingly, not aware of this small yet vital detail and often times just simply go ridiculously crazy with his throwdowns without giving it much thoughts. Yes, it would be ill if you can pull out of your throwdowns with a clean-cut freeze. But it could be even BETTER if you can be precious about it and face your opponent while doing the freeze. By doing so, it not only shows solid foundation and knowledge about the culture, but also demonstrate mastery over one's own body flow and motion.
However, one thing to keep in mind while doing the aforementioned point is the positioning of the judges.
This pictures pretty much says it all. Due to the poor quality of the picture, I will say the caption here myself. The picture says, "Address the ball? I can't even see the ball!"
Really, enough said. Even if you do all the crazy witty foot techs and what not, if the judges can't see it, it doesn't count for anything. Therefore, while you should maintain eye contact and pinpoint everything you do toward your opponent (and focus your moves in that direction), you should also keep in mind that whatever you do, the judges have to see it as well.
So what if you are in a sticky situation where you have to sacrifice one for the other? Well, to be honest, I really don't think there's a clear difference on which one would be the better of the two. If I really have to choose, I would probably choose to sacrifice the viewing of the judges. Even if they can't see it, if the freeze/or whatever you do is going to make the crowd go wild, then the judges will realize the crowds reaction and act accordingly. However, if you just do it in a way that only the judges can see it but you misplaced your focus somewhere else, then the judges might misinterpret it and blame you for the lack of focus and, consequently, may cost you the battle.
How would one train for the point of focus? It is simple, really. Just keep practicing what you do, but make choose a direction and make sure whatever you do, you end up facing that direction. Sometimes, a move's flexibility on direction may be limited by various reasons. When that happens, know your capacity and accommodate accordingly. If my icy ice to chair can only spin for 270 degrees (3/4 of a full circle) instead of a full circle, then I must adjust where I must face right before I initiate my icy ice, etc.
Hope you guys take some information from this post. Happy learning and keep practicing!
Cheers,
N-dure
As the title suggests, today's topic is the point of focus. What is it and what does it have to do with bboying? Well, it has everything to do with bboying. Another way to say point of focus is directionality. As many of you know, a bboy battle often features two sides (can be more than two): your crew and your opponent. Because the nature of the battle is aggressive, everything you do is in attempt to "burn" or "out do" your opponent. In other words, EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL AND SHOULD BE DIRECTED TOWARD YOUR OPPONENT. However, how can one say that a gesture is done toward your opponent if you are not even facing him or her? Let's take a good look at this image below:
What do you think? That freeze, if held, would be sick IF he (I think?) does it in a manner that would allow him to look at his opponent at the same time. Many up and coming bboys are, surprisingly, not aware of this small yet vital detail and often times just simply go ridiculously crazy with his throwdowns without giving it much thoughts. Yes, it would be ill if you can pull out of your throwdowns with a clean-cut freeze. But it could be even BETTER if you can be precious about it and face your opponent while doing the freeze. By doing so, it not only shows solid foundation and knowledge about the culture, but also demonstrate mastery over one's own body flow and motion.
However, one thing to keep in mind while doing the aforementioned point is the positioning of the judges.
Really, enough said. Even if you do all the crazy witty foot techs and what not, if the judges can't see it, it doesn't count for anything. Therefore, while you should maintain eye contact and pinpoint everything you do toward your opponent (and focus your moves in that direction), you should also keep in mind that whatever you do, the judges have to see it as well.
So what if you are in a sticky situation where you have to sacrifice one for the other? Well, to be honest, I really don't think there's a clear difference on which one would be the better of the two. If I really have to choose, I would probably choose to sacrifice the viewing of the judges. Even if they can't see it, if the freeze/or whatever you do is going to make the crowd go wild, then the judges will realize the crowds reaction and act accordingly. However, if you just do it in a way that only the judges can see it but you misplaced your focus somewhere else, then the judges might misinterpret it and blame you for the lack of focus and, consequently, may cost you the battle.
How would one train for the point of focus? It is simple, really. Just keep practicing what you do, but make choose a direction and make sure whatever you do, you end up facing that direction. Sometimes, a move's flexibility on direction may be limited by various reasons. When that happens, know your capacity and accommodate accordingly. If my icy ice to chair can only spin for 270 degrees (3/4 of a full circle) instead of a full circle, then I must adjust where I must face right before I initiate my icy ice, etc.
Hope you guys take some information from this post. Happy learning and keep practicing!
Cheers,
N-dure
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)