the difference in battles now compared to bak in da 90s and early 2000s

[reMeks]

Okay, I take back what I said about Zulu Nation, because I realized you're right. I shouldn't dislike the whole Zulu Nation, but I still disagree with a few of the members. Blaming Zulu was a little rational.

My point is that a lot of people don't relax, they just impress judges with what they're told "wins battles," for example, too much teamwork. They practice what's going to get them points, but if that thing were something else, they'd be practicing that other thing instead. B-boying is becoming commercial, wether you want it to or not. There will always be a strong underground scene, but it's being influenced by TV and sponsored events.

[POEONE]

Originally Posted by RUSH

Remeks,
Dont rely on the internet for your history. Go and search for the knowledge. By the sound of it you have a very negative perception of what Zulu stands for and to be honest i dont blame you. Its something you have to either be apart of or around to understand. Getting your opinion of Zulu from forums and youtube wont do justice. Some of the cats you prolly dislike you might get along with in person. Alot of cats hate on Zulu cos they dont like Ness....majority of them cats never met Ness in their life and base their views of Ness from the net. ZULU is bigger than Alienness!!! now thats no diss to Ness and i like to think he'd agree wid me as theres a deeper spiritual meaning to Zulu nation and you shouldnt let your views of one person make up what you think Zulu is.

On another note Zulu Kingz never told dudes they had to dance a certain way.......cats just followed or asked for advice and cats gave it. And if they did say u HAD to dance a certain way then its up to that person to make their own decision....no ones holding a fukken gun to your head.

pz

Rush, good Explanation!!! Spoken like a true ZULU!!! Peace

[JETLIEM]

Originally Posted by POEONE

ToyZ, Im happy you like the DVD!!!!!!! I made it just for that purpose!!! To show all the stylez that are being done this day and age. Peace

yeah that dvd is sooo underrated!!

[Cardboard Kid]

Dudes and dudettes, you just gotta look. Yeah most bboys/bgirls out there are globalized dancers (for a lack of better terms), but there are those who are still trying to innovate, or keep it raw altogether. I'm still askin random people if they dance. If they do, I battle them and pay respect where due. I still try to make new moves out of nothing. I mostly fail though as either the move I'm trying to create turns out to be made by someone else (holloback 90's and 2000's - shit, too late), or are way to difficult for my skill level. Sometime you have to close your eyes to the wrold you see the find the one you seek.

[GeE-MiC]

I watched BOTY 99 today and i didnt see any attitude lol. I would say people CRASHED 10 times more in the 90's and majority of the bboys didnt finish there rounds they just get up and leave. NY 90's well thats a diff story, the essence never left!

[JesseJess]

difference compared to now and back then

Now people can dance

back then they did these random jerks or down rock in their tops whick looked stupid as fuck while everyone says OOOH OOOH OOOH OOOH!


lol juuuust kiiiidiiiin

[Flex-a-ill]

i understand the lack of rawness and love of the dance but in here in michigan almost every bboy and bgirl dance for the love it including me

[bboy_Stryfe]

maybe in certain part of the states its differnet but, in canada were unique as hell..lol

[SqrL]

Originally Posted by homeopt

There are two things going on, and you touched on one of them.

The first is NOSTALGIA. That's right, the phenomenon where everything in hindsight is better than it is now. It's funny to hear guys talk about the 'fun days' when hip-hop first started coalescing in the mid 70's in NYC.

Fun days ? Man, NYC was grimy as hell back then. Do you remember the South Bronx? It was the poorest county in the entire nation. Jimmy Carter came to look at it, just like Eisenhower did when he went to visit nuked out Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And to be honest, I think Hiroshima and Nagasaki looked better !

NYC was a cesspool in many areas. You couldn't travel to many areas in the Bronx or Brooklyn or even Queens without taking your life in jeopardy. Some of ya'll are young, so you may not remember pre-Disneyfied Time Square, or even Hells Kitchen in Manhattan. Manhattan is like a wonderworld right now, but even it used to be grimy as hell. NYC used to regularly catch approx 1800 homicides a year in the late 70's, topping out at 2100 circa 1986 when the crack wars were going on.

So, we have a tendency to reimagine the past by glorifying the positive aspects and conveniently skimming over the negative aspects.


Cros, you touched on the 2nd aspect which is true for not just bboying but many aspects of culture and that is the shrinking of the world with the internet and 24 hour cable with hundreds of channels. Regionalism is not as striking as it used to be. I remember when I used to vacation in Florida back in the day and would hear all kinds of music that never made it up to NYC except via tape that your 3rd cousin shipped to you if you were lucky. Doo Doo Brown ?!? That stuff never got play in NYC. Granted, back in the 80's, NYC was the center of the hip-hop world and there was a certain arrogance that tuned out regional music, but even now, when we look at music and bboying worldwide, we see a greater level of homogenization than occured locally back in the 80's.

So yes, bboying is perhaps less individual and not quite as unique as it was back in the 80's and 90's, but so is everything else. Just as with anything else, there will always be those who innovate and lead the way. Typically, these people account for 1% of the population. The rest are followers. That will not change.

I suggest that we all try to appreciate rather than deprecate what we have. That is surely a recipe for killing a culture.

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm a young head i guess, but i was surrounded by old school bboys when i first got started. I've heard the great tales and have been part of the developing scene.

I've met several "types" of bboys- the ones who do it for the glory of being known and those who do it cuz they love it. The roles have been swapped tho. Those that do it for glory try to copy this "raw" image people always talk about. they're assertive and call people to show how "authentic" they are. it's like the more of an asshole you are- the more of a bboy you are. at least that's been the flavor in the Northern VA scene.

Then you got the people that do it cuz they love it- and they're more laid back. There isnt that "rawness" where you have to call everyone and their mom out to try to dominate.

This aint NYC in the 80's/90's. It's not a street dance so much anymore- no crews are walking down the streets defending their territory or some shit like that. We have nice smooth floored studios and do performances at college. It's not the same. Kids get into it these days cuz the sheer fact it's dope and addictive. i gotta laugh when i see these "raw" modern bboys at jams who walk back to the car their parents paid for acting like they're such bad asses only to drive home to their white bread house in Tysons, VA.

And yah- all the styles have bled into each other which is frustrating. people look the same it's harder and harder to stand out cuz we're all watching the same damn footage!

i aunno. culture and style is not stagnant. things change and evolve. just cuz it aint what people reminisce of the scene- doesnt mean it's totally whack. it would be weird if things just froze. who knows what the next stage will bring in the evolution of breakin....

[groundbreaka]

Originally Posted by ihop

I hate when bboys tend to thnk like this, you need to relize that the bboys you metion ealier are inspriation to newer generation. You even said it yourself.

Don't know why people like you hate on the mid and newer generations.

Yeahh I hate wen people get mad cuz hong 10 and born and other popular newskool cats made a name for themselves. Its not their fault a lot of people like them, they deserve the same respect as 90's bboys. But anywayz

I think that the higher the skill level, the less attitude and aggression the bboy is likely to show. Wen newer bboys come in they show much more aggression and passion in the absence of pure skill, but an advanced bboy can ROOOAST somebody without the slightest show of emotion, I think that's cooler actually lol. So maybe there is less "rawness" nowadays because the skill levels are way higher than in tha 90's and people let their MOVES talk for them

[formburnunit]

My opinion between now and back in the 90's when I first started is that there are too many jams now for money and trophies. I'd prefer b-boying to be half art and half sport not like 85% sport and 15% art the way it seems nowadays with tournaments left and right.

I agree with how the internet killed a lot of the raw vibe as well. I think the best solution is to cut down on the number of tournaments all over the world being held for money and trophies because the internet is going to stay filled with video footage from all over the place.

Cutting down on the number of tournaments for money will probably never happen either though 'cause it's kinda like letting a kid run wild in a candy store. Yeah, there's lots of candy all over the place and it's fun for like 30 minutes or so but after a while your stomach is gonna start hurting 'cause of the lack of substance. Same thing with b-boying. Tournaments for money are cool 'cause it's a decent test of performance under pressure but there's not enough counter balance of just raw breaking, raw creativity and just that raw spirit of things that was around more back in the days.

Despite these criticiscms I still love b-boying culture. One of the best things to happen for my entire life was to become a b-boy. I still see more positive aspects about how b-boying can enhance people's lives than negative. Peace......

[GeE-MiC]

Originally Posted by groundbreaka

Yeahh I hate wen people get mad cuz hong 10 and born and other popular newskool cats made a name for themselves. Its not their fault a lot of people like them, they deserve the same respect as 90's bboys. But anywayz

I think that the higher the skill level, the less attitude and aggression the bboy is likely to show. Wen newer bboys come in they show much more aggression and passion in the absence of pure skill, but an advanced bboy can ROOOAST somebody without the slightest show of emotion, I think that's cooler actually lol. So maybe there is less "rawness" nowadays because the skill levels are way higher than in tha 90's and people let their MOVES talk for them

word.