http://www.bboyinsiders.com Follow them into their life, thoughts and advices Sat, 19 May 2012 05:00:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/kevs-quick-guide/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/kevs-quick-guide/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:16:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
....to battling.

I know it's been said before but I'll just re-iterate it here because I see that many people still don't understand it. If ure at an event to battle there are a few very important things to keep in mind if u wanna get thru the qualifiers, both as showcase or as straight battles like World BBoy Classic.

The first, and most important, is to look like ure there to battle!!
Like really!!
Treat the judges or the audience as ur opponents and battle for ur life.
It's doesn't mean u need to be rowdy and all up in people's faces, but u need some fire.
I see so many people with their heads down and zero intensity. It's not gonna work. Ure not in the training hall. U need to show an almost desperate need to qualify.
Or u won't.

Secondly, we wanna see u know what ure doing. Even if ure at a basic level. Lie to us. Present ur movements with conviction. The simplest step done with the correct power can appear impressive. If u can't do a move, don't attempt it unless ure just using the opportunity for practice. Can't hit it 90% of the time? Leave it out!!

Thirdly, I'm watching u from before u even hit the floor. Ur body language tells me what time it is. Be in gear. Don't stand there gawping. Look like ur gonna punish someone, like u can't wait for them to finish so u can show them who the boss is. And even after uve finished, r u gonna shuffle back to the line or return like u killed everyone on the room? I know what I wanna see. 
Ur time starts the moment u step up to the line and doesn't end til the judges call a result. Seriously, people give so much information away in their body language. Were they happy with their run, did they do enough, did they mess up, r they confident, do they feel defeated etc.

Finally, I need to talk about form. For me it's very important. It really makes a big difference especially in a close call. I can tell straight away if someone understands their basics. If they have the condition to perform the things they r trying. Flares that scrape the floor; moves that are not under control and take u into the crowd; bad footwork shapes; no clarity in movements; rushed throwdowns with no finesse; no snap. There are so many giveaways. 
So even if u did a good run, the final decision may be based on how cleanly it was presented and how clear it was visually.
And if I'm judging, it's MY decision. Not ur fans and friends. They r not looking for what I'm looking for.
Here endeth the lesson.

K.

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/kevs-quick-guide/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/u-must-learn/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/u-must-learn/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:15:00 +0000 DJ Renegade

Think u know about these dances?
Really?
U been here a few years, done nothing, been nowhere and u think u have it all figured out?
Had a few workshops and took some pictures with ur favourite dancer and now ure an expert?
'Poe said this', 'Brian said that', 'Greg said...', 'Pete told me...'.
Without context these statements can mean anything. I have these lame discussions with noobs all the time. They actually think their opinion carries weight. It's a sad affair.
Can u imagine this attitude in any other field? U'd be laughed at. But for some reason, our dance is a free for all where even the most inept beginner feels that they have some deep insight into something they barely understand.
It's even worse when it comes to comments on judging. Then they really show their ignorance. Their opinion that so and so was robbed cos somehow they know more than Pete or Storm or Link or whoever.
Judging is subjective and people don't necessarily like what u like. Or what uve been told to like!
If u don't understand, JUST ASK! I know all these guys and they are all more than willing to fix ur lack of understanding. But don't look for one line sound bites. Try to understand what they are trying to convey.
Try to increase ur knowledgebase so u can know what ure talking about.
I've been here 30 years and I'm still learning. It never stops.
So don't think u have it all figured out when u just got here.

K.

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/21/u-must-learn/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/14/3-times-dope-2/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/14/3-times-dope-2/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:26:00 +0000 DJ Renegade

Soul Mavericks. 3x UK national champions.
This was a definite milestone in recent times for breaking in the UK.
For the third time in a row my crew won the UK Regional Conflict finals which qualifies them to represent the country at the World Finals in October. 
It was a tense day for me. I had 2 Maverick crews, a new female crew I'm teaching, Soul Superior, and my grand students Breaking Hearts, in the comp.
There was a lot of expectation for us to win and of course a lot of people would love to see us fail. 
All 4 crews performed superbly. It's not about winning or losing, of course we want to win, but more about getting out there and representing. Being fresh. Presenting ur skills. Showing ure part of this community and not just a tourist.
Both female crews did very well. Even as beginners, they performed in a way that made me proud. Heads up, dancing, battling, representing to the max. If they stick with it u'll be seeing a lot more of them soon.

Soul Mavericks had a sticky start facing what was probably the other strongest crew of the line up in the first round. It was a crew of Bulgarians and Dizzy from MDC!! They were international level and no joke.
Luckily, they were beaten 2 votes to 1.

Apart from that, both Mavericks crews brought fire with Mavericks X making the semi's and losing to La Familia who were beaten in the final by Soul Mavericks. An interesting fact that I think many UK crews should pay heed to, is that Mavericks will still be going to IBE to qualify and to put final touches on the preparation for October. Basically IBE acts as a qualifier for Champs where 3 crews will advance to the World Finals.

Spin gets MVP for getting to the finals in solo and team battles and repping hard as a ninja all day. 
For me he is still the UK solo champion.

K.

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2011/07/14/3-times-dope-2/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/12/28/2010-in-not-so-brief/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/12/28/2010-in-not-so-brief/#comments Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:24:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
Phew!!
That was a busy one!

2010 has been another great year for me.
I did a LOT of djing and a fair amount of judging.
Covered many of the usuals but I've also observed a few things that are new.
I can't cover every event but some have stuck in my head...

At the beginning of the year Juste Debout added toprock as one of the categories at this major dance event.
I had the privilege of djing this milestone.
The winner, and deservedly so, was Y Not.
In my opinion he has been very instrumental in bringing toprock back into focus.

World BBoy Classic was dope.
The dutch seem to come up with these dope concepts all day!!
I was one of the judges and the competition was fierce.
Winners were Thesis and Keebz.
I was honoured to see Lamine KILLING it all day.
Showing everyone that older dancers can still compete at this high level.
(Along with Ness, Poe and others who also still rep).

Focus opened a dance school in Finland.
Called Saiffa, it's a step in the right direction for producing the next generation.
Flomo are one of the only true school crews in the world. They have stuck to their style throughout the years.
Not following trends, but making them.
They also have 2 of my favourite bgirls of all time. Taya and AT.
Hatsolo is also one of my favourite bboys. Raw character that only few dancers have these days.

IBE?
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig.
'Nuff said.
This is THE mammoth event of the year.
Too many things to cover.
Judged the UK qualifiers with Lamine and Kwikstep.
Unanimous calls every battle except maybe one.
Heard so much BS after.
IF U DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW JUDGING IS DONE, JUST ASK!!!
Don't make shit up cos ure ignorant.

UK Champs!!
For the first time in 8 years a UK crew made it through the first round!
This may not mean anything to any of you, but for us it is a 'making history' achievement.
Not only that but it is the crew I gave birth to and train/ed.
Soul Mavericks.
I am so proud.
We still have a long way to go but things are definitely changing.
Overall winners were Vagabonds, making a great return, and Flying Buddha in the solos.

Battle of the Year moved venue, and country, to Montpelier, France.
12,000 people at a bboy event!! Insane!
Had a great time.
Dj'ed for the solo competition, which Thesis won.
Jinjo won the crews.

Redbull BC One was the last big event of the year.
Looks like Redbull are here to stay.
Absolutely crazy on a production level.
It was on the level of a TV program.
Interesting battles with a few surprises.
Neguin was crowned winner. Killed it all day.

I finished off the year by being voted best BBoy DJ of 2010 on BBoyWorld.
Thank you to all those that voted for me and recognise my hard work.

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/12/28/2010-in-not-so-brief/feed/ 1 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/13/a-world-premiere/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/13/a-world-premiere/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:47:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
I have just returned from France.
There was a dance event in Valenciennes, near Lille, called Dance Evolution. Organised by Hot Clan crew it was a competition that consisted of 2v2 Hip Hop, 2v2 Popping and 5v5 Breaking.
Hosts were Youval and Maleek.
DJ's, myself and DLeek.

The day of the event consisted of qualifiers for Hip Hop and Popping. Breaking was by invite only and 8 crews were chosen(Norway, Spain, Poland, Slovakia and the rest from France).
I entered the popping with Sacha from Lille. I've known her for a while and we always play around battling each other for fun.
She didn't have a partner and wanted to enter and I suggested we do it together as a joke. She said yes!!
We signed up and the battle was on.

I have never entered a popping battle before.
Even though I have been popping on and off(mostly off) since 1982 this was new territory for me.
Jamming in a cypher or having an exchange with someone for a few rounds is a completely different prospect.
Add to that the fact I haven't had much time to practice recently because of all the travelling.
On top of that, we were in France. The average level in France is very high in all dance styles. So many heavy hitters come out of that country. It's no joke.
Then I found out that for the qualifier we had to battle. It wasn't showcase style.
Gulp!!
There were about 20 popping pairs of which 8 would be chosen, so I figured it would be a very short performance then I'd get back to DJing. You would not believe the shock on my face when they read out our names!!!
Anyway. Long story short, we qualified and then battled our way to the semis where we lost to Pepito and Lemzo. I think people were very surprised a)that I entered and b)that I did so well.
I'm happy.

Popping battles are way different to breaking.
In a breaking battle there is hardly any time to think. You have a much better idea of what you're gonna do. Freestyling is minimised(in general).
In popping it feels like you're out there for aaaaages. There's loads of time to think. To decipher the song. Choose which style(s) you're gonna display. Look in the opponents face. Be distracted. Then u get back to your side and completely forget what you did! This could all be down to lack of experience but I loved it. I do know one thing though. I didn't get to show half of the things I can do. More surprises to come.

Anywhooo, Team Schmetta won the breaking; C-pef Krew won the Hip Hop; Djidawi and Faouzi won the popping(very close final).

A big THANK YOU to Babette, Rachid and Sagy.
Organisationwise, everything was on point for me.

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/13/a-world-premiere/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/09/inside-the-circle/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/09/inside-the-circle/#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:40:00 +0000 DJ Renegade


Hello reader.
And welcome.

You've probably reached this blog through a new portal called bboyinsiders.com
It's a fresh idea by BBoy Amjad, of 7$ and Circle Kingz/Princz.
Basically, it's a way to keep abreast of what's happening in the bboy world firsthand from some of the key players in the game.
I think it's a great idea. Many of us have been on this scene for a looooooooooong time and have amassed quite a bit of knowledge. In Hip Hop, we use the term 'Each One, Teach One' and this is an interesting application of the concept.
I am honoured to be included in the list.
I travel a hell of a lot to events around the globe and am quite opinionated.
I hope you'll get a few laughs from some of my blogs.
I'll comment/blog on other dances and dance events as well because I don't just DJ at bboy jams.

Anyway, nice meeting u. Stay a while.

K

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/09/09/inside-the-circle/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/01/13/new-year-new-day/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/01/13/new-year-new-day/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:25:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
OK, OK. I admit it. 2009 was a washout for my updates. I have so many half written blogs it's crazy. Covering 30 or so events from last year and my reflections on observations.
It's harder than I thought. Things just get busy and u get sidetracked.
I'll try to 'Make It Happen' this year.
At least a lil more than last.

It was a great year though. Things have changed so much in the last few years. The amount of events and dancers. The quality of both. The emergence of 'dance' competitions on television and the stench of exploitation. Busy times!!
I start with a quick jaunt to Switzerland this weekend then Finland the following.

*As an aside, I started training a popping group recently. These guys are gonna be amazing. I'm hoping they put the UK back on the map as Soul Mavericks did with breaking. It's gonna be hard but they are definitely up to the challenge.
I need a name. The working title at the moment is 'Monsters Inc.', cos that's what they are.

Kev

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2010/01/13/new-year-new-day/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/whats-in-a-name/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/whats-in-a-name/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:29:00 +0000 DJ Renegade He was wondering why most dancers etc on this scene have psuedo names.
Whereas most French dancers keep their original names.
Why Renegade? Why JustDoIt? Why Mouse?
It was a question that had come up before, but from the other perspective.
I've been asked on occasion 'How come French dancers use their real names?'
I had thought about it but never took the time to ask anyone who might know so the answer eluded me.

This is easier to understand now after the talk with Lamine.
Culturally, most of the 'street' dancers in France are from immigrant backgrounds. Algeria, Morocco, etc.
It seems that many of their parents would be offended if they chose to be known by another name than was given to them.
On the other hand, in the 'west' there is a tradition that stretches waaaay back, of having an alias or nickname. Sometimes to the degree that it's used more than ones original name.
Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong, Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, Norma Jeane Baker (Marilyn Monroe) immediately spring to mind.
Interestingly, many Brazilian dancers keep their original name also...Pelezihno, Neguin, Bidu. I need to find out why.
A discussion for another day.

K

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/whats-in-a-name/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/aob/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/aob/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:15:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
A definitive work has just been published.
The first, and only of it's kind ever done.

It's a book on the strategies of battling as applied to the art of breaking.
Written by, in my opinion, one of the foremost experts in the field and student of the art, Alien Ness.
Ness has a deep history in the game which I won't go into here, but suffice to say, the guy knows what he's talking about.
He's been putting in work for many a year and is living proof that u can keep building and contributing as long as u want.

As a mixture between a pamphlet and a book, the Art of Battle(AOB) is filled with reams of information that, in this day and age of staged battles, are extremely relevant and useful.
Invaluable to both competitors and judges, it covers many of the main issues of battling and an insight into how said battles may be viewed.
Many people don't understand the science of staged battles, how to approach them, how they are judged, how to increase one's chance of winning etc.
As an example many dancers don't realise that almost all judges use a round per round system.
Some still think that battles are judged as a 'whole'.
This book makes an attempt to look at all of this and find some type of resolution.
Whether it succeeds or not I'll leave for the buyer to decide, but trust me...u won't be disappointed.

The book is divided into 4 main parts, but really it's just one long structure.
It's written in a very free-flow/stream of conciousness manner as if he's having a conversation with the reader or holding a seminar.
For me, in a subject of this nature, it is the perfect approach.
We are, afterall, dealing with scientific art and artistic science.
We are artists, but to enable judging to be consistent and make any sense we need to look at it scientifically.

U can tell he put a lot of thought and work into this book. It's filled with so many tips we take for granted but often sleep on. ie "In a crew competition, maintain an orderly line that's clear from the dance floor."
Seems obvious, right?
Now take a look at as many battles on youtube or dvd/video that u can find and see how many times this 'rule' is broken!!

Another example: "Never steal rounds".
Huh? Many crews do this. But as Ness states; no stolen runs are ever judged by any judge he has ever met. He can also add any I have met as well. It's a waste of energy and a blatant waste of what could potentially be a good round. Either by spoiling the original run or 'throwing away' a good one.
Imagine a situation where Cico does that and hits a nice 25 round '90 that won't be counted!!
Save that stuff for the cypher battles.

This information is all within the first few pages!! Believe me, ure on to a good one here.

Cop it: http://www.artofbattle.com/

K

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/08/05/aob/feed/ 0 http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/07/14/soul-mavericks/ http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/07/14/soul-mavericks/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000 DJ Renegade
It's 2009. Soul Mavericks is now 4 years old!!
I formed the crew in 2005.
The UK scene was HURTING!

At the time there were a number of reasons for making the crew, but the main ones were a chat I had with Storm and Raphael in Denmark and another with Poe 1, also in Denmark, on another occasion.
They basically advised that if I felt the scene was so bad in the UK, I should do something about it!

When I returned from Denmark I started to ask around who was interested in going to the next level.
I could see we had some good potential here but a severe lack of direction and instruction.

I asked Mouse if he would lead the team and he agreed. He was my brother's old breaking partner and a real light shining through the darkness.
With him on my side confidence was assured.

Next step was seeing who else was serious.
I had had my eye on quite a few dancers who were on the brink of giving up or were going nowhere with their own crews.
It was offered as a type of sabbatical. "Take a year off from your crew and if this doesn't work out, you are free to return to whatever you were doing before."
The only stipulations were that they could only rep one crew and they would train as hard as I made them. No excuses.
If I could do the drills, they could too.
Gabs, Bugs and Lee from FDC joined.
K(Banner) and Lazy James from Foundations Crew joined.
AJ and Yujin from Having Fun joined.
Cake from Ghetto Lowlifes joined.
Maze and Ghost joined.

Also at the time I discovered that Hooch was offering a training spot to the scene that was completely free for use.
It was called Breakstation. No one was using it!!!
I asked him to put his trust in me and I would provide the goods for UK Champs.
No way we were gonna win but we weren't gonna embarrass the UK. We had just over 8 weeks to get ready with 1/2 the crew being beginners!
Looking back, the idea was completely insane.
Training was HARD!! None of them had ever trained like that before. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
We usually started after hours, 10pm, until 2 or 3am in the morning.
I had a full-time job at the time so I basically got about 3-4 hours sleep went to work, then did the same thing again the next night.
It wasn't just a place to train. I physically taught and advised them on everything I had learnt from various sources and stuff I had made myself.
We're talking concepts, vocabulary, moves, tricks, transitions, musicality, foundation, uprock, toprock, downrock. U name it, we covered it.
It was fast-track.
To think inside, roundside, upside, downside and outside the box.

Scene-wise there was quite a bit of resistance.
Even to this day I hear untrue stories about our formation and the effect it had on our scene.
Mainly I think people were scared and were happy with the status quo of mediocrity we had here.
Many of the naysayers have either disappeared or have remained at exactly the same level(or copying shit we were doing 3 years ago hahaha).
Haters came out the woodwork. If only they knew it was their hate that kept me on it even when I was completely exhausted!!
Hahahah. Idiots.

UK Champs 2005 was a trip. 1st major battle for newly formed crew. 1st round against Pockemon! WTF!!
The guys were completely scared. This was one of the best crews in the world.
But we would not go lightly. Personally I think we took the first few rounds until Pockemon realised we weren't rolling over.
I remember afterward Rudolf commenting on how close it was.
To this day people tell me that was the day UK got it's mojo back since Second To None times.

After Champs, I extended training to anyone who wanted to improve.
We were joined by La Familia, NT, Flowzaic who were my all female crew, Broken Jazz who I had spent time training previously, and one or two other dancers that were around.
I shared the same info with them as I had with my own crew. Forget Each-One-Teach-One. This was Each-One-Teach-Twenty.
As anyone who was around at the time can testify, the level went thru the roof.
The guys I was training were either winning or placing high in any UK comp we entered.

Sadly, Breakstation was closed down shortly after.
We had a good run and a lot of development had been made.

We also lost a couple but gained a lot more dancers since that time.

We have repped in France, Spain, Estonia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Korea, USA, Finland, China, Hong Kong; and have battled the likes of Pockemon, Mortal Kombat, Flomo, Rock Force, FoundNation, 36 Chambers, Hustle Kids, FDM, East Side BBoys, KLP, RuffNecks, MonsTribe, Legiteam Obstruxxion, Submission.

SM Roll Call; past, present and future:

AJ, Angel, Angry Abdul, Azrawk, Banner, Big Ben, Blend, Bugz, Cake, Coop Dog, Dr Gabs, Ghost, Lazy James, Lee, Maze, Mid-Air, Mouse, Reckless-Lee, Roxy, R-Qi-Tek, Sam-I-Am, Sunni, Tyrant, Watch Diss, Yu-Genius, Zero.

SM Family: Darkstar, Debo, Fase, GG, Genesis, Ill, Jort Steady, Jurr, Killaman, Lil Bob, Lil Crooked, Moysex, Oby, Olly, Puyan, Reveal, Socto, Spin, Steady, Storm, SunSun, Ther, Wild Willy, FDM, Renegades, Rugged Solutions.

All have helped or contributed to our history and as such my appreciation goes out to them.

K

]]> http://www.bboyinsiders.com/2009/07/14/soul-mavericks/feed/ 0