July 2010
2 posts
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I'm back and I didn't die
As you may have well noticed I haven’t posted in a month. I was in China for six weeks on a trip for work. I didn’t make time to practice while I was there because that country is too hot and I was on the clock 24/7.
I’m back. But here’s the bad news.
#1: I taped my Day 30 update before I left and my friend lost most of the footage. I’m going to post...
May 2010
12 posts
3 tags
Day 30: sore but moving forward
It’s been like three days since my last practice and I am still sore in my quads. This is the first time since I’ve started it’s been this bad.
Today, I just worked on my toprock for a little bit because my legs were hurting and I wasn’t feelin’ the music.
But I’m still moving forward.
Of course, day 30 is complete. That means its time for my new video...
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Day 29: breakin' at 10,000 feet
Right now, I’m on a trip for my full-time work. We’re at a camp up in the mountains of Colorado. I may be away from home, but the experiment must go on.
At the sight of the first Asian dude, I asked, “are you a b-boy?” I’ve discovered that for nearly every Asian dude I’ve met, they either….
a. are a b-boy themselves
b. watch b-boying videos
c. know...
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Day 28: B-boying helps with anger management
Today’s been a stressful day. I live in an apartment with four other guys. And some stuff went down where a few of us got mad at each other.
Since I’ve been b-boying for such a short period of time and don’t get mad often, I’ve never danced as an outlet when I get pissed off.
It works.
Instead of hitting the wall or a human being in the face, I just can throw my hands a little harder and toprock...
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Day 27: styling my six step
The trend over the past 27 days of practice has been to learn a little more every couple days. Every little bit I can do is more than the nothing I started out with. So cool.
Today, I focused on adding this cool walkaround move to add some style to my six step. Flashlegz busted it out in this video.
I’ve been dancing to the same music ever since my neighbors asked me stop dancing at home. It’s...
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Day 26: time to stop being professional
As I was b-boying the day away this morning there was something on my mind.
I’ve been trying to do this whole blogging thing all “professional.” As I write this, I’m really on day 26 but on the blog it’s only up to day 21. I did this so that if I got behind I could stay on a regular posting schedule. But I don’t care anymore.
From now on, I’m going to post on the day I actually practiced. This...
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Day 25: expanding my skills to pay the bills
I’ve been practicing outside ever since I hit a little bump in the road. I live in Flagstaff, Arizona and the weather is now officially awesome. And some lunchtime breakdancing makes it all the better.
I’m beginning to expand my toprock skills, and in my YouTube search I ran across a b-boy named Flashlegz. His footwork tutorial lays out some new stuff I’m practicing.
My favorite new move is a...
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Day 24: where all the b-boys at?
Today as I was cutting a rug (my way of saying breakdancing) outside to a little hip hop, a thought hit me: where all the b-boys at?
Right now there’s like five people reading my blog and I’ve made almost zero effort at connecting with the b-boy community. Well, it’s time to start.
Here’s why: I can only get so far by myself. And it feels like I’ve reached that point already.
If you’re a current...
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Day 23: linking toprock together
My main focus today was linking my toprock together so it can look as smooth as silk.
It didn’t happen.
I still think about it too much. In my head I’m like, “okay, after two more twists I’m going to hop back into crossover toprock and then I’m going to do a drop.” Is it like that for more experienced b-boys and b-girls? Or do ya’ll just feel it and move?
I developed this routine where I do...
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Day 22: again and again and again
Today I realized something. That I’m doing a lot of the same moves over and over again. For a second I thought, “Oh, I need to learn a ton of new moves.” But then I remembered that I’m only on day 22 of my 100 day experiment.
And to actually get really good at something you have to do it again and again and again. For years.
All that to say, I’ll still be...
April 2010
9 posts
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Day 21: I didn't want to but I did it
I filmed my day 20 update video last night at midnight. That’s the only time my friend and videographer Ethan was able to meet.
Today is a day I normally dance. And if I’m honest, today I didn’t want to. I mean – after rocking the house last night I figure I deserved a day’s rest.
But ya know what? I practiced anyway. Here’s why: because there’s never been a time where after I danced I said,...
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Day 20: I'm ready for the video
I’ll be filming my day 20 update video soon. Here’s some of the new moves you should expect to see:
Some footwork: sidestep. shimmy sidestep. crossover variation. kicksteps.
Check out the tutorial I learned from.
A pose: baby freeze.
This dude helped.
And floorwork: six-step variations like the CC’s backspin (is this considered floorwork?)
I learned the six-step...
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Day 19: practice actually works
Today is one of those practices where my body is drenched in sweat and I’m reminded of how much more fun b-boying is than weight lifting. And I’ll do anything I can do to avoid a sleeveless shirt bicep competition two to three times a week.
I can tell a difference in my dancing. When I hear a song, I’m listening for the beat, and here’s the crazy part – sometimes I actually hear it. Nineteen...
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Day 18: a little bump in the road
Today started out like any other day, a few YouTube tutorials with a whole lot of footwork.
And then came a knock at the door.
One of my neighbors who lives below me was there to greet me. The first words out of his mouth: “we need to talk.”
It turns out that when I dance in my apartment on the third floor, it vibrates their ceiling fans and doors in their apartment on the second floor. ...
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Day 17: pieces of the b-boy puzzle
Footwork. Floorwork. Freezes. All pieces of the b-boy puzzle.
I was feeling footwork and floorwork today. There was a couple days where I got bored because I was doing the same moves, but since I’ve learned some new footwork and variations of the floorwork I already know, practice has been for real.
Today I worked on six-step variations that I learned in this tutorial from a dude named Tim...
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Day 16: I heart footwork
B-boying is tight. Just finished a practice session where I focused on all the new footwork I learned this past weekend from Dillon Le. I didn’t even try any floorwork or freezes today because I’m still sore from this past weekend’s practice. Still.
It seems like there’s an ongoing debate in the b-boy community about the names of certain moves. So I’m not sure what the names are of everything...
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Day 15: crash course in b-boy fundamentals
Tonight, I got to practice with Dillon Le, a real b-boy whose been breaking for a couple years.
Best. Practice. Ever.
Learning from a real person dancing on the same cardboard as you is a 1000000000 times better than learning from YouTube tutorials. Any b-boys in Flagstaff, Arizona, hit me up and we’ll chill. Facebook or email me, either one is cool.
Side note: I learned that when you dance...
March 2010
5 posts
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Day 14: backspin party
Today I practiced on an outdoor basketball court, a much different experience than the 1970’s carpet of my apartment floor. Of all the floors I’ve danced on so far, my top pick is smooth wood because I can move like Hong 10 (kind of) and glide like Lilou (I’m kidding).
And it really makes a difference when you’re learning to backspin. After like 57 backspins on concrete with a brown (once was...
Day 13: practice without a timer
Today was the first Saturday practice I’ve done. Usually, I dance on weekday mornings right before I leave my apartment for the day. Saturdays are wide open for me so the only thing I planned on doing today was breakdancing.
This felt great, because I could b-boy slow. And when I take my time dancing I can really think about the moves that I’m doing instead of the next thing on my schedule.
...
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Day 12: starting the drills
Now that I have a foundation of toprock, six-step, three-step, and a few drops, it’s time to start learning new moves.
I’m a big fan of going slow. What I mean by that is most people try and do everything in one day and then end up tearing a muscle and stopping before ever really even getting started.
According to my accelerated math skills, I have about 87 more days of practice before I hit my...
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Day 11: the rhythm will come
Today was my first practice after posting my first video update. I got two comments from people. The first one was from this dude in Argentina who said that I needed to work on rhythm and the second was a dude who started breaking a month ago and told me I should work on the foundational freezes next. Good advice.
On day 12, I’ll start with some freezes, like the baby, turtle, chair, and hang...
February 2010
3 posts
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Day 10: lost in progress
Today, I got lost as I was dancing. That lost where you forget about everything else around you and you’re just so focused in the moment. It’s deep.
I want more of that feeling. I think for people who dance everyday, that’s one of their motivators.
So, for the past ten days, I’ve been working on the most basic b-boy moves.
Crossover toprock.
Six-step.
Indian step toprock.
Three-step.
And...
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Day 9: I don't even remember
I forgot to write my post after my last practice session.
The only things I remember: It was hard. Getting back into a rhythm after a break (Christmas in my case) takes a few days. This is fun.
Tip of the day: If you’re blogging about breakdancing for 100 days, write each post as soon as you finish a day of practice.
Follow the experiment on Twitter. And friend me on Facebook.
January 2010
13 posts
My favorite b-boy song
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Day 8: the off day
Today I couldn’t do anything. I started out working on my toprock, then my six-step, then I could barely move. My body is not sore or anything, I am just tired.
This teaches us a lesson: sometimes there will be an off day. And that’s okay.
After laying on the ground for about 15 minutes, I watched this video to cheer me up.
Tip of the day: Get a good night’s rest before the day of...
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Day 7: best workout. ever.
Sweat is dripping onto my shirt as I write this post. Cool.
The other day a friend of mine said that “breakdancers know their bodies so well” in relation to body control. Agreed. Moving my body to do a six-step in beat with the music is more difficult (not to mention, more fun) than bench press.
Last week, I learned how to do Indian Step Toprock standing in one spot. Now, I can do it moving...
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Day 6: footwork in da house
After an hour of hard practice, I am finally able to do the Indian Step Toprock for more than five seconds. It’s like when you first start doing something new and you think you’ll never be able to actually do it, then you do. Like learning how to ride a bike or to not fall off a skateboard. That’s how I feel right now.
As I write this, my body is covered in sweat because b-boying is a legit...
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Day 5: this is hard, but worth it
This is harder than I expected. B-boys: Mad respect for you practicing day in and day out, ya’ll are for real.
I’m encouraged that even the best b-boys were beginners at one time, that means even I got a chance.
Today I worked on the foundational moves like the six-step, toprock, and three-step. I still have zero style and rhythm at this point, but I’m sure those will develop over time.
One...
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Day 4: people aren't impressed, yet
Last week I was in Tucson for a couple of days at a retreat for my job. At one point, we came across a huge tile floor and of course I started doing what few b-boy moves I know in hopes of impressing my peers. They weren’t impressed. They just kind of watched. Ya know, that kind of watching to be nice but it’s not really cool type of watching.
I learned a few things. One of them being that...
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Day 3: you'd laugh at my windmill
Today was exhausting. Last night I got about four hours of sleep because I stayed up till 5am working on a project. Every move was harder when I practiced because my body was weak.
Regardless, I still had tons of fun dancing. Since I could barely do a handstand, most of the time I worked on doing footwork in sync with the songs I was listening to. Being on beat is something that cannot really...
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Day 2: onto the basics
After watching some sick muay thai knockouts with my roommate on YouTube, I moved the table from our living room and began day two of my b-boy experiment.
I like the idea of getting a cardio workout from this whole thing, so I’m going to keep my “dancing around for 30 minutes while doing handstands in between” as a part of my routine. In addition to handstands, I like to throw in some freezes,...
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Day 1: the beginning of the experiment
Breaking is different than lifting weights at the gym. In fact, it’s a lot more fun and you’re able to do something cool-looking with your strength. My only motivation for going to the gym is to look good in a medium shirt. Not good enough. On the other hand, exercising to be able to do a windmill in a dance circle is tight.
Today, my workout plan was really simple: Put on some hip hop music...
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Links
Toprock tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxQgpQGWAuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZHszfU65Es
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhMHci0-Dk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rce8qsQRa7I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNJsu7sMGL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNfkwGCkbQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzUZecePmmk
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About
Hi, I’m Brian Sun. I’ve always wanted to be a b-boy. In high school, my friends and I watched videos over and over again of windmills, flares, and headspins. However, the life of a b-boy was a dream to me as I never had the courage to actually do it.
Now I’m 25 years old and still fascinated with the world of b-boying. Apparently, only posers use the term “breakdancing” so I will use...