This is the first event Im going to be judging out of my home state, New Jersey, and I'm really excited to see how the poppers in Baltimore will get down in battles!!
Like the prior event, Step Up of Get Smoked, I will write a review and hopefully some footage of the event so keep checking the blog!
One thing that often slips people's minds, mainly the beginners, is that dancing is HARD. Even the simplest of steps requires a certain level of skill and physicality. I can recall a conversation I had with a "dancer" who laughed in my face by the end of it. I told him, "man, dancing is training. You gotta be physically fit, technically sharp, and mentally stable. It is hardcore training." He laughed. His ignorance surprised me, and since then I've tried to keep away from him. But that is not the point of this post...
Many dancers have physical boundaries to overcome to begin with. I, for example, have terrible knees, to the point where I am supposed to be in physical therapy three times a week. However, that is expensive, and I can replicate the same exercise with relative ease. On top of those immediate barriers, comes the lack of physicality/reaching the proper physical ability to improve your dance. That means eating healthy, staying flexible, and systematically working out each body part for your dance. I recently watched a video describing a similar topic and it mentioned the training habits of several famous dancers, such as Gucchon and other Japanese poppers doing 100s of squats, pushups, and crunches in each class. Or Madd Chadd's ability to high jump over 7 feet.
This all makes me feel like I am lacking a major component, not only physically, but in my dance as well. A dancer's instrument is the body, and it is the dancer's responsibility to keep it tuned and in perfect condition.
Ok so I will be starting a poppin class EVERY THURSDAY @ PMT Dance Studio in NYC from 1st of April!!
This is a great opportunity and a dream come true so I will work my butt off to teach my students and let them have the best class they ever had.
If any of you ar interested in learning poppin, def come to my class!!!
Here is the my course description:
Solid Poppin Foundation - Do you want hard hits, sharp movements, and clean poppin technique? If so this class is definitely for you! This class will be focusing on hitting, popping and isolation drills to cultivate necessary techniques for the beginners and for experienced poppers who wish to improve or solidify their poppin foundation. There will also be a routine using movements associated with poppin styles such as Boogaloo, Waving, Botting etc. The instructor will help you achieve clean angles, the understanding of movements and the way to incorporate the moves into you freestyle.
For more info, go to: PMT Dance Studio and check out "TEACHER PROFILES"-SUGALOO
Recently, most of the members competed in Step Up Or Get Smoked!--as mentioned in earlier posts--and everyone did well. However, there comes a time when one has to accept the performance, take it into consideration, and resume training even harder than before. With the SATs over and this beautiful March weather shining, it is the perfect time for me to resume this rigorous process. Therefore, I like to look at a certain philosophy that I can apply to what has happened recently, and how to improve. I thought, what better way to examine a battle than taking something from fighting, since I personally believe fighting and dancing are incredibly similar. These wise words come from Bruce Lee's "Tao of Jeet Kune Do"
"The six diseases: 1. The desire for victory.
2. The desire to resort to technical cunning.
3. The desire to display all that has been learned.
4. The desire to awe the enemy.
5. The desire to play a passive role.
6. The desire to get rid of whatever disease one is affected by."
DID YALL COME TO THE EVENT?????? I HOPE SO CUZ IF U DIDN'T, U'VE MISSED AN AWESOME BATTLE EVENT!!!!!!!
As I've explained on the earlier post, we've had 3 styles
The event started off with the House Section. This section had less competitors than expected, thus, some non-House dancers (including our member Karlo "Mr Panda"lol) registered to fill the spot.
people were having fun with this section since we were able to see serious battles and some battles we can laugh at lol
The Winner of this section was Glytch from Intermix/Groove Kings crew!!! His unique groove and creative dance moves entertained the judges and the audience through out the battle, Mad props.
I don't have the footage again so plz wait till I find them on YouTube lol
Next was Hip Hop
Now a lot of trouble happened in this section.
1.The judges of Hip Hop section decided that since Hip Hop is too broadly defined, they've made a rule restricting some dance styles,specifically Break Dance. This caused some controversy between some of the competitors and the judges throughout the event. Thanks to Spex, we were able to make things settled.
2.The judges had tie decisions continuously because I believe the music they had for this section was not really for battling.
3.The judge announced THE INCORRECT NAME OF THE CHAMP AT THE FINALS!!!!
So yea, there were lots of drama lol
Although the battle was SICK
Many raw and fresh talent went head to head against each other and the crowd was going CRAAAAAAZZZYYYY!!!!!
The winner of HIP HOP was Dezmin"Alph Alpha" Staley from SOUL'D crew!!! His combined style of Hip Hop Party groove and sharp and precise poppin move shined on the battle field and smoked some of the coolest hip hop dancers in NJ! MAD props
Don't have the Champs Battle footage but here is one of the battles
The Final Section Was POPIN!!!!!
I was able to judge the poppin section but lets just say that I regret doing it cuz there were too many dope poppers to battle that night!!!
From Philly we had BOOG from 360
From NY we had Killa Watts from Part Time Models
From D.C we had C-lo,Wu Bott and Jett Jaguar from Regulators
and from NJ we had What The Funk?! Crew and Boogie Mind from the Boogie Bots who competed at ABDC season 2!!
Now all these names u see some of the best poppers from their states, and so as u can guess, this section had one of the DOPEST BATTLES OF THE NIGHT !!!!!
All the battles were on fire and were really difficult to judge. We were really glad to have Spex, one of the oldest and experienced dancer from NY to judge with us that night. Therefore, I feel like we able to judge the battles fair and reasonable.
The Champ of this intense section was Jett Jaguar from the Regulators!!!
His musicality and creativity outmatched the rest of the skilled dancers and took the title of becoming the best popper at Step Up or Get Smoked 2010
Here are one of the hottest battle of the night, Jett Jaguar VS Boogie Mind!
Congrats to all the Champs and a great job to all those who competed!!!
Cant wait to attend the next Step Up or Get Smoked!!!!
Now I kno that ppl have different opinion on this but I feel one of the best shoes for poppers are the Classic Wayne or Earl Hush Puppies.
The reason for sayin this is cuz
1. They fit comfortably 2. Its INCREDIBLY LIGHT!!! Feels like u aren't wearing shoes! 3. Has a black soft plastic kinda stuff on the bottom which makes it easy to slide, stand on the side of the shoe, and spin.
Although it is the best
The sad truth is......
They barely make em these days=HARD TO FIND!!!
Therefore,I would like to tell you few ways of getting them!!!!
Option 1: OUTLETS
Go to Hush Puppies Home Page and search for a store or outlet near you. If its not near you, call them or try the next option.
Option 2: ebay
You may feel uncomfortable wearing second hand shoes, but actually, ebay offers new shoes too. When searching for Hush Puppies that poppers use, type in "Hush Puppies Suede" in the search box, so ebay will automatically display the shoes you are looking for.
You may NOT find the right size or the color you want right away, however, the price is much cheaper.
The best way to find the one you want is to go to ebay and check for shoes CONSTANTLY.
Option 3: Buy through poppers/ex-poppers.
There are some poppers/ex-poppers that sells Hush Puppies. This may take a while since the best way to find them is meet as many popper as possible by going to an event and social media sites.
I know a guy who sells hush puppies so if u are really desperate, you can contact me by commenting on this blog :D
Option 4: Alternative
Ok so as you noticed, finding Hush Puppies are not easy. However, If u really want comfortable shoes for poppin, there is an alternative way.
Buying Hush Puppies look-a-like from Korea!!!! lol
But do not be aware, even though its not a genuine Hush Puppies, the quality is Top Rated or maybe even better. In fact, world famous poppers like crazy kyo, Poppin J(K-OGS) use it!!
The price is higher than other options, however, you will be able to chose the right size and color
Now to shop, choose the shoes you like then click on them. Once you click, the payment chart will come up in Korean, HOWEVER, if u scroll down a little, you will see PRODUCT FEATURES where you can find PAYPAL. This way you can buy them online like any U.S product:) by the way, you can also show other poppin products like hats and shirts on this site too!
So There you go!! Some ways u can buy one of the best shoes for poppers!!!
Yes the event I'm helping to organize and judge is happening this Saturday, March 6 from 8pm!!!!
Its called
"Step Up or Get Smoked 2010"!!!!!
As u can tell from the name, this battle competition expects u to bring the best u can do or else get smoked(defeated) by the opponent!!!
The event will be held at Creative Image Studio Address are displayed on the side link of this blog :)
This time Step Up or Get Smoked will hold 3 different street style competitions.
First House
Second Hip Hop
Finally Poppin
Incredibly, many skilled competitors are expected to attend this event, including my crew mates, E.T,Karlo,Poppin iLL,Ray Mak,Samgician,and TKO
I have high expectation to see the best battles of the day in poppin section since it have more competitors than the other two. Also dancers will be coming from all over east coast such as D.C, Philly,NY,and NJ.
Come and see how What The Funk?!Crew gets down and witness the best dancer of these styles! Support and be part of the REAL UNDERGROUND HIP HOP CULTURE!!!
Last sunday I went to attend this event called "The Get Down:Poppin Edition" that took place in midtown Philly.
I never been to philly nor have I heard of any poppers from there so I had no interest in attending the event. However, I found out that my good friends Jet Jaguar and C-lo(Regulators), poppin Tito and snap2(Floor Lords) were attending so I changed my mind and got in the car.
Since I didnt know any Philly poppers nor the judges of the event, I had no high expectations. All I was interested in was to get down with my boys, represent What The Funk?! Crew, and show some different feels of poppin to philly poppers.
The overall event were as I and my friend expected. Not well organized, breaks were too long,misterious smoke coming out from nowhere, weird judging and problems continuously happened.
Although it wasn't one of the "good" events that I have attended, some of the competitors were really dope.
To name a few, Boog,Sk8,Bink,and Jon.
I forgot to get a footage of these dancers gettin down but these guyz had some skills and flavor they can offer to the battle ground.
Since I focus on a style call "boogaloo"I specially enjoyed watching Skate's boogaloo.
The way he danced clearly proved that he understood the knowledge and the foundation of the style and I was quite impressed to see such a high skilled dancer out in Philly. If u were ever to visit the state of phildelphia, I suggest u find these dancers and session with them.
