Ways Of The Breakdancer Essay, Research Paper

B-Boy Breakin Moves Dictionary

AIRPLANES

Form of a windmills with your arms spread out straight to the sides as high as you can get them.

AIRSWIPES

You start with both hands and feet on the ground, facing upwards. Then you kick your legs up with your weight on one arm and spin over so that you land on your other arm before your legs land. If done correctly you should be able to spin you body completely around in a full rotation.

APPLEJACKS

A basic move to challenge another bboy to battle. You squat on both legs, then fall backward onto your hands and kick one leg into the air, as high as possible. Then you spring back onto both legs, and repeat.

BACKSPIN

A spin performed high on the back. All weight is balanced on the upper back, legs tucked close to the body. Spin is initiated through a circular swinging of the legs a kick position in the direction of the spin.

BACK SWIPE

The same thing as a airswipe except when your legs are in the air half way through, you change directions and go back to your starting position.

BARRELS

Windmills with arms rounded in front of you.

BATTLE

A challenge between an individual or group of bboys/bgirls.

BBOY

Bronx Boy, boogie boy, as in one who dances to the break.

BELLYMILL

Like a windmill but instead of turning around on your hands or head you turn over on your stomach.

BHUDDA

Similer to UFO move, except your knees are inside of arms which are kept straight, and legs are kept off of ground.

BITE

Stealing or taking someone else moves or style.

BOOMERANG

You start sitting on the ground, with your legs out in front of you in a V position. Then you stick your hand between your legs and lift yourself up, to where only your hands are touching the ground. Then turn around in circles.

BOSTON CRAB

Same as a crab but with legs spread as much as possible and body more upright.

BRONCO

You start on your feet. Then you fall to your hand only. Then kick your feet back and land on your feet again, then repeat all steps.

BROOKLYN ROCK (Battle Rock, UpRock)

Dancing with a variety of fighting movements. Consist of punching, throwing weapons or whatever. Usually used up against someone you battle.

BUNNY HOP

Kind of like flare except legs are kept straight up,spread apart in front of you. Then you hop up and down turning in a circle.

BURNED

Term that refers to an individual or group beaten in battle.

CANNONBALL

Done in a cannonball position with arms wrapped around knees.

COMBINATIONS

A combination is when two or more moves are executed right after each other.

CRAB

Same as position and movement as “turtle” but legs are bent like a frog.

CRABWALK

Same position as crab but you walk aroung in any direction.

CRAZY LEGS

Same thing as air swipes except more than one. You do air swipes over and over without pausing in between.

CREW

A Group of bboy’s down with each other.

CRICKETS

A spin performed almost identical to hand glide, except weight is temporarily transfered to pushing hand, while spinning hand lifts off floor, rotated, and replaced on floor. If done well, looks like continuous spinning motion.

DOUBLE 99

The same thing as a 2,000 (one hand 99), but when your about to fall off your one hand, switch hands, kick your legs to gain speed and continue to do a 2,000 (one hand 99), on each hand over and over without coming down.

DOWNROCK

A rythmic weaving of legs and feet in a continuous circular low around the axis of the hand that is carrying the dancers weight. Usually combined with freezes or hesitations, and is followed by other moves.

EGGBEATERS

Windmills with hands high on the hips.

ELBOW GLIDE

Same motion and postion as handspin except spinning on elbow with hand in stomach.

FIST GLIDE

Same motion and position as handpin except spinning on fist.

FLARE

Like a windmill in that your legs move around in big circles in the air, but instead of moving on your shoulders, you put your weight on your hands.

FLOAT

Balancing on his hands with his body horizontal except for his legs which are usually bent to help balance.

FOOTWORK

Same as “downrock”.

FRONT FLIP

A flip forward down in the air flipping yourself upside down and right side up again to your starting position.

GENIES

Windmills w/ your arms crossed over the chest.

GO DOWN

The action of a bboy engagin in a battle with the possibility that he could get burned.

HALO

A windmill except instead of rolling from shoulder to shoulder you spin on your head.

HANDCUFFS

Windmills like nutcrackers but with hands behind back in cuffed position.

HAND GLIDE

The bboy is in the float position, except with only one hand supporting him. The other hand pushes him so that he spins around.

HEADSLIDE

A head slide is a slide done inverted while resting on your head.

HEADSPIN

You spin on your head. You use your arms and legs to initiate the spin.

HELICOPTER

With one leg under him and the other one outstreched, the outstreched leg moves around in a circle on a horozontal plane while remaining straight, passing under the other leg and going around in front.

HESITITATIONS (FREEZE)

A stop, or freeze, in a circular motion of down rock.

HOLLOWBACK

A kind of pose, It is a handstand with your legs bent towards your back.

KIP-UP

Rising from flat on his back to his feet by rolling backward and kicking his feet in the air, his upper body follows and he lands on his feet.

LOCKING

A kind of freestyle involving a lot of complex weaving arm movements.

MUNCHMILLS

The same thing as a windmill except you keep your legs all the way crossed and folded.

KNEE SPIN

All weight is balanced on the knee touching the floor. The other leg is raised in altitude. Spin is intitiated through a push off with hands. Speed is increase after the flow of motion is established by pulling the hind leg into the body.

NECKMOVE

Only one turn in a windmill.

NUTCRACKERS

Windmills w/ hands covering your crotch area.

PERFECTIONS

A bboys best move, the move that takes your opponent out.

POPLOCK

A form of Hip-Hop that is often performed by bboys to add variety to their performance.The dancer uses strict controlled “pops” of their body parts to give the illusion of a constant waving motion.Also the dancer will also move their feet in certain ways to give the illusion that they’re floating.

ROUTINES

Connected and/or executed movements done in a practiced sequence.

RUBBER BAND

The bboy kip-ups and falls to his back to kip-up again repeatedly.

SCRAMBLE

Same as “downrock”.

SLIDES

Pulling yourself across the floor. The name of the slide tells what part of the body you are sliding on.

SPIDER

This is considered to be a flexibility move. Both thighs are placed behind the bboys back, knees are on top of the shoulders at ears, calves are in front. Weight is balanced on either hands, feet, or a combination of both.

STREET DANCER

Overall term refferring to break, boogie, and freestyle dancers.

SUICIDE

The bboy does a front flip and lands flat on his back without hurting himself.

SUMOS

Windmills grabbing your knees.

SUPERMANS

Windmills on your chest and arms reaching out to the front.

SWIRLS

Similer to the handglide, except you spin on your forearm, not hand.

T-FLARE

Same as flare but with legs together.

TOMBSTONES

Legs closed and body in an “L” position. No hands are used.

TOPROCK

Your basic upright footwork. Can be based on many different influences and is different in each individual. Often is used as the lead in a sequence of movements, and as fill between sets of downrocking and power moves to give yourself a chance to recover before continuing.

TURTLE

A complete spin of the body performed in the float possition. Spinning is accomplished by shifting weight from one arm to another, and placing hand without body weight on it progressively in a circle, then the same with the other hand.

TWO LEGGED APPLEJACKS

Same as applejacks, except instead of kicking up one leg, you kick both.

UFO

A spin similer to the turtle, except body is upright, in a crouch, arms are straight, and knees to outside of arms, and legs not touching ground.

UPROCK

Uprock is a dancing fight, in which the dancers are very close but do not actually touch. It looks like a kung fu battle, but with more continues movement and more rhythm.

WACKED or WACK

When someone performs a move incorrectly.

WINDMILL

The bboy rolls from shoulder to shoulder, spinning his legs around in the air continuosly.

WORM

The bboy lies on his stomach and creates a wave moving from front to back so as to look like a worm crawling.

1990

The dancer goes into a handstand and spins around as much as he can by rocking from hand to hand then moving to one hand rotations before coming back down to his feet.

2,000

You go into a one-handed handstand, spin around as much as possible, and land on feet again.