Time to battle..

431626_182095638570600_987358884_n

The time has come, Red Bull BC One 10 year anniversary is going down November 30th. It has been a busy year filled with great memories and some major steps in my life as well. To finish it off it is time to battle at the champions edition of the Red Bull BC One. What a great way to celebrate 10 years. It is an honor to be a part of one of the 8 returning champs. You can’t forget the winners of this years qualifiers either, each one of them worked their way to this position. That’s whats going to make this event such a big accomplishment for the winner. Honestly, I would love to go home champion once again but it will all come down to that day and who is on. I’m definitely trying to be on that day and will give it 110% to make history.

Last year was a big learning experience for myself. Being a champion and traveling to 25 countries that year was plenty. There was not enough time to prepare, and at the same time riding the high of winning. This feeling can definitely soften the hunger mentality a bit. Especially the battle approach. Going into it with a few back injuries and just too many distractions, it was all too much. It kept me from bringing the best one could bring. This is where passing up a battle could of benefited me more, but the fighter in me told me different.

This year was very similar to last year. The difference this time is no back injuries. Manage to change some bad habits i.e. not stretching, dehydration, and dieting. Still though, as a bboy you always have some kind of pain somewhere. So don’t think any one of us is walking in 100%. I’m sure we all suffer from minor to major pains. My approach this year to the battle was to take it back to what was done in 2011. Not exactly the same, of course some minor tweaks to it but it has been a good week of 100 rounds. To be honest about it, it is still a work in progress. Something that will continue, even after BC One. I’m going in there hungry, I am as ready as I can be now. 18 years of experience so it’s time to let loose!

Tune in next week November 30th on the live stream at www.redbullbcone.com

For all my west coast peoples! its going to start at 2am on the 30th! Korea is about 15-16 hours ahead.

Peace out
Rox

Free: Break’N Reality

BR

In 2011 the first BBoy Reality Show was shot all around the world. Following 3 bboys Neguin, Lilou and myself through different periods in the year. It was a great learning experience for myself. Never really been into being on the screen or big screen at that. Definitely you learn to appreciate the ability to go in front of a camera and be able to express yourself. It is something that I will forever cherish because it captured something rare and pure in my life. It was a dream come true and it happened when I least expected it to.

Its been two years and now Red Bull has released the full season in 18 separate episodes. So feel free to check em out and tune in.

Every where I’ve traveled people have asked about this show. So now here you have to watch for free. So check it out and share!
Also feel free to ask about the episodes in the comments. I will add another blog answering questions. Here’s the link to the Youtube channel Red Bull Music

Pz
Rox

Renegade Rockers 30 years

457730_485266834832281_2007268490_o

This last weekend my crew, the Renegade Rockers celebrated our 30 year anniversary. The crew was created by two bboys from different crews. OC Silva who at the time was down with Stunt City Rockers and Gizmo who was down with The Eternal Breaking Crew. The two groups joined forces and began to establish themselves through the dance scene in the bay area. That was just the start of what would help redefine the crew with its 90′s generation of recruitments. The 90′s was a new era and the Renegades were at the forefront of the bboy community. These new talents included Wicket, Jazzy Jay, Swae, Manny Styles, Politix, Blue and many more guys that helped reestablish the crew name on a world wide scale. This was the generation of the crew that was a part of an epic battle that is considered to be a game changing battle for the bboy/bgirl community world wide. Renegades against Style Elements at the 1996 Radiotron. Watching the video of this battle was a big eye opener for myself and both crews involved inspiring me to elevate my dance to the next level. It was the battle of a new generation of bboys that hadn’t been seen on an international level.
The 2000′s was a new start for the new crew members as many of the 90′s members stopped being as active in the scene. This group started with Finnesse, D-Rock, OJ (RIP), Epic, Golden Child, Ground Level, Deon, and myself. From this group we began to bring the crew name back into the battle circuit and the scene. This led to the recruitments of new talent such as Kid David, Flexum, Poison, Iron Monkey just to name a few. The rest is history, for me it has been an absolute honor to be a part of this crew and to have helped carry on the legacy.
Major shout out to all the guys!
Thanks to everyone who came and supported and made this a special event for us!
As part of this special date we also got together again with Style Elements and did a Renegades vs Style Elements rematch. Here is the video and enjoy!

Thanks
Rox

7 to Smoke 90′s Edition

IMG_7742

7 to smoke battles are hard battles fit for guys that can go rounds. This last weekend 7 to smoke 90′s edition went down in Houston at Break Free. It featured only bboys that started in the 90′s and began to establish their names in the late 90s. Lil John, Lego, Marlon, Ruen, Keebz, Rebirth, Beast and myself. This was a tough battle and a good tester to see where I am at right now. It was an honor to be a part of this battle going head to head with these guys in a one on one format. All of the guys involved have done great things in the scene and have been dancing for no less the 15 years. It goes to show the diversity in the approach of each individual. That is what we all preach, and now you visually have an example of what we are talking about.

Enjoy
Pz
Rox

Peace to Outbreak – RoxRite Video Diary

Diary

This last weekend The BBoy Spot hosted it’s last Outbreak in the USA. I can’t believe it has been 10 years already. It’s funny because the same weekend, 10 years ago I won my first international battle. It is interesting to see what has been accomplished in the last decade. I heard about Outbreak for the first in 2005, Drock and myself were planning on going to battle but in the end it fell through. The following year, Kid David and myself went to battle and attend the event. Since then we always tried to make our way there as often as we could. Outbreak was always a good experience. From just catching wreck in the circles to the battles. There was always some top level battlers and that’s what made it a hard jam. It was well balanced in terms of cyphers and competition. It really provided a platform for bboys like myself here in the US to highlight their skill. While other events are more concerned with the staging, Outbreak was kept in a circle, so you could just feel the vibe of battling in a cypher. It was small with hardly any space for routines. That’s the point you don’t go to a battle expecting a 20 by 20 floor. Outbreak definitely helped highlight some of what I represented. I want to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to show my ability. This last one was epic, one for the books. I am glad to have been there and glad to be apart of the celebration! From battling with Nasty Ray to winning the event twice with Kid David and the battle with Focus. All great memories from Outbreak! Thank you to the BBoy Spot, Biggest and Baddest and Mex!

Much Respect
Rox

shout out to Bobbi Vie , Nasty Ray, and Tim Pethel

Music By Archnemesis

Bboy Menno interview

Menno

During the week at the Red Bull Dance Academy, there was the opportunity to link up and build with some talented individuals. I ended up catching up with Menno and asked him a few questions regarding his story, battle approach, dance approach and any advice for young bboys. It is up to us to spread the message or at least a good one for bboys/bgirls to learn from. The same week we ended up going to UK together where he took home his 2nd UK bboy championships title a feat that only 2 other bboys have done. Much respect to Menno fohit among the time doing the interview. Make sure to check out his blog www.mennovangorp.tumblr.com

So check it out and if there is anyone you would like to see interviewed drop a comment.

Pz
Rox

Red Bull BC One Champions Portraits

 

Since this year the Red Bull BC One is celebrating its 10th year anniversary, to make it special all the Champions will come back for another shot. Who will be the one? we wont know until November 30th. For now they are releasing a portrait video for every past champion. So far they have released all the winners up to 2010. This week they released the portrait of myself. We still got a ways to go but the preparation has already began. The end goal is to go into this battle feeling as good as possible. Check it out and feel free to share.

Basic Freeze Tutorial

Here is a small tutorial put together for developing bboys. After judging many events through the last few years, I noticed the same freezes being done around the world. How? If there is so many freezes in the dance and so many that havent been done. The freeze is an original bboy move, from the most recognized freezes the chair. Which I consider to be one of the most important freezes in breaking. That reason being that the position you are in is extreme on the body. Learning how to get in and out of it will open up your style and physical understanding on how to use your body from and open position to a closed position. Same for when you start going to the handstand position, or elbow or head. They are all different dynamics of freeze transitions.

I kept the tutorial very basic so you can just see a small combo of a basic freezes. I didnt want to show you how to use the freezes but rather just see them and then you yourself finding ways to use them. Also you can add your own twist to each freeze.

The ending part of the clip I want to be clear on. It will take sometime for you to feel comfortable being on your weak hand. Something you will have to play with for a bit. It is definitely worth it, the more natural you look on both hands the better you will become at using transitions in your moves.

Enjoy

pz

Rox

Yo! MTV Raps mini doc…

Ran across this little documentary online about the Influence Yo! MTV Raps had when it was airing on tv. Back when MTV actually played music. This brought back memories to when I was a kid growing up in Sonoma County. Having a older brother who was in High School in the early 90′s definitely opened my ears to music. He used to have a bit of everything and this is when Hip Hop music entered my life. He would come home with Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, Paris, Black Sheep, De La Soul, Naughty by Nature, I mean the list goes on and on. I would always take his CD’s and scam through them to see what songs I liked. I was around 10 years old when all this new music started to come into my life. I also remember being influenced by the clothing I would see in the videos. Before I wore dickies, chucks, and flannels. I was wearing baggy jeans with hoodies and whatever clothes I would take from my brother. Just what made me feel like what I saw. It wasnt til the late 90′s that started to get more into the bboy style fashion. This is before companies started making “Urban” apparel. Now it is a market and I still trip out that I actually got to live that before it became what it is now.

 

Red Bull BC One Champions Edition

 

So for the 10 year anniversary of the Red Bull BC. They are inviting the previous 8 champions to go head to head with 6 regional champions and 2 wild card guests. The line up looks intense and I am looking forward to getting another shot at the Red Bull BC One. This time around I plan on making some major changes in my dance and training. It is about to get real serious these next couple of months. Last year I was hurt and it was disappointing not being able to do exactly what I wanted in the battles. From lower back to upper back muscle pains, I am working on not having none of that so that I feel confident going into this one. If there was ever a battle that would be worth it all it is this one.

From Omar to Mounir this is the one I will have to give my all too. No second chances so follow along for the journey! 4 months away and the journey has started.

 

Peep the video.

Pz

Rox