The B-boy Experiment

This video is so sick.

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:55:52 -0700

This video is so sick.

I'm back and I didn't die

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:26:45 -0700

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 what’s left but I’m not going to re-tape it since I’m rusty.

#2: I went out for Day 31 yesterday and POP. When I was busting out some toprock I learned from B-boy Byu I tore something (x-rays haven’t come back yet) in my knee. I’m on crutches and banned from b-boying indefinitely.

I know what you’re thinking. This sucks. Yeah, I think so, too. But life goes on.

I plan on continuing the experiment when I’m able, but in the meantime, say wassup or send me some for real videos.

Day 30: sore but moving forward

Sat, 22 May 2010 18:14:00 -0700

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 update. I’m going overseas for about a month soon, so I’ll do what I can to get the video up before I leave.

In the upcoming video, I’ll be busting out….

*Some new toprock I learned

*This sweet jumping floor move I don’t know the name of

*Suzy Q’s (where I walk around in my six step push up position)

Feel free to leave me any tips and/or music suggestions. Ya’ll are for real.

Tip of the day: Stretch so your quads don’t get sore.

Day 29: breakin' at 10,000 feet

Fri, 21 May 2010 15:17:17 -0700

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 someone who b-boys

In this case, the answer was “c.” Jeremy introduced me to a b-girl named Ginny. She showed me this sick move (the neither of us know the name of) that I’m adding to my floorwork skills (which I’ll show you in my day 30 update).

While we were practicing together, I passed out from dehydration. Just kidding.

Tip of the day: Drink lots of water if you’re practicing at a high altitude.

This kid is for real.

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:39:52 -0700

This kid is for real.

Day 28: B-boying helps with anger management

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:31:00 -0700

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 that much faster.

Day 28 = a success.

Tip of the day: Instead of punching someone when you’re mad, dance.

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Day 27: styling my six step

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:29:00 -0700

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 about that time for me to expand my musical selection. Any suggestions?

Tip of the day: Kick it old school.

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I heard the baby is okay.

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:28:58 -0700

I heard the baby is okay.

Day 26: time to stop being professional

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:25:00 -0700

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 means if I practice one day a week I’ll post one time. If I practice three days in a week then I’ll post three times.

This may not be pretty or scheduled but whatever. This’ll be cool because it’s a real time deal where you’ll be able to follow the experiment until the end.

Tip of the day: I like you.

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Day 25: expanding my skills to pay the bills

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:20:00 -0700

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 hop between toprock steps. I think it looks really, really cool. It makes me look like I actually know what I’m doing.

One of the songs I dance to is called “Crossover” by this legit rapper named LeCrae. And today’s tip comes from his lyrics.

Tip of the day: Life’s way more than ice and rims.

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Day 24: where all the b-boys at?

Thu, 06 May 2010 16:00:00 -0700

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 reader, comment below with the best b-boy websites, blogs, events, crews, tutorials, forums, photos, I want it all.

Tip of the day: Don’t be the lone ranger b-boy.

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Video

Tue, 04 May 2010 15:32:51 -0700

Day 23: linking toprock together

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:06:00 -0700

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 all the toprock I know in one direction, then I do each one in circles, then I link them all together. By the way, is everything we do standing called toprock? Or footwork? Or both?

I’m trying to learn hip twists again. I can never hit the beat when I learn them, and it makes me think that I’m missing a step. Can anyone send me a link to a good tutorial?

Tip of the day: Ask questions about b-boying to people who know more than you do.

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Day 22: again and again and again

Sun, 02 May 2010 12:59:00 -0700

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 adding moves as time goes on but it’s just as important that I refine the skills I’m already working on.

Tip of the day: You don’t have to learn a new move everyday.

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Day 21: I didn't want to but I did it

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:00:00 -0700

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, “I can’t believe I just practiced. That was so stupid.” And I don’t think I will ever say that.

This is what I like to a call “motivation to keep going when you get really tired and you want to not exercise one day and then it gets easier to not go the next day and then you give up and quit and feel horrible about yourself and start over again when new year’s resolutions come around and then the whole cycle repeats again.”

I didn’t want to but I did it. And it was worth every second.

Tip of the day: Cliché but true, don’t give up and keep practicing.

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Video

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:21:26 -0700

Day 20: I'm ready for the video

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:02:00 -0700

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 variations from Tim Ferriss and the backspin from the Ninja.

After a quality practice today where I went over all the new moves I’ve learned, I’m stoked to show you my progress.

As always, if you have any tips then comment. I’m not going to start crying if you say I need to work on something. So be honest. For real.

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Day 19: practice actually works

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:33:00 -0700

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 days ago I just kinda moved around when it felt good.

A lot happens in your mind when you feel like you’ve gotten better at something. I’m excited to show you my day 20 update video, it’ll mainly show a lot of footwork I’ve learned, and a few other moves like the backspin and baby freeze.

Tip of the day: Practice actually works, so keep doing it.

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Day 18: a little bump in the road

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:28:00 -0700

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. Oops.

The conversation went smoothly, neither of us started yelling or hitting each other. The agreement we came to is that I can dance on Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00am-4:00pm while all of them are gone or I just have to dance somewhere else.

Because I’m a schedule geek who spends hours poring over how to maximize my productivity, I’m not going to change the time I dance – I’m just going to go dance somewhere else.

I need to acquire some cardboard to dance outside and/or find a new location where I can play music on Grooveshark, and watch YouTube tutorials.

This is a major inconvenience but it’s better than your neighbors being mad at you all the time.

The experiment must go on.

Tip of the day: Do not practice on the third floor of your apartment complex.

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Day 17: pieces of the b-boy puzzle

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:13:00 -0700

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 Ferriss.

I keep practicing my footwork that I learned from Dillon Le and B-boy Byu.

I’ve still got a lot to learn. Right now, I can’t link my footwork together. I just do crossover toprock for like 10 seconds, then hip twists, then sidestep, without putting them all together. When people are able to go in and out of different types of footwork while staying on beat, it’s fun to watch.

Rhythm is a recurring theme amongst people who saw my first update video, and the best advice I’ve gotten is to hit the beat. For some songs, the bass beat isn’t obvious to me, so I just kind of run with it. Right now I just dance to the same songs over and over again. I’m always open to new songs with quality beats – so leave some in the comments if you have any suggestions.

Tip of the day: Make a list of ten songs with a bass beat that is easy to hear.

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