This is the basic hiphop dance technique. It's called happy feet.

It looks simple at first, but you can also use it to show subtle and detailed movement in your performance. Shifting your weight drastically with a step or holding up your ankle to show control can add depth to it.

This is the basic technique that has been beloved by hiphop dancers since the good old days. Let's master it with no excuse.

Happy Feet is Basics

Depending on the dance school and instructors, they may include it as part of basic isolation practice. This happy feet is considered one of the most important steps in your journey to learn hiphop dance.

When you get used to the basic feet movement, you can start using your ankles. Eventually, you will find your original style. If you reach that level, this simple step will be transformed into the professional level, where you can use it in any dance event.

Easy to Practice

Steps like running man is fussy. You need to jump up and down. And they make loud noise at home if you practice on the second floor. In contrast, Happy feet is a lot more compact and not as loud.  You can practice it quietly in your room, so this step is highly recommend for beginners who do not want to commit to a class or have no space to practice.

Rhythm

In taking the hiphop rhythm, you go from down to up. Take a bigggg up. In that brief moment, your body becomes light and almost floats in the air. In that time frame, make the happy feet.

If you do that right, you can achieve the step without unnecessary force in your calf muscle. That's the trick. Feeling out the beat as your friend.

2 patterns to show off

There are two major patterns in how happy feet is presented. One using only your lower half of the body and make a very quick movement. Being sharp is the key. The second is using your  upper body with hands harmoniously with your feet to create one movement. The key here is dynamisms.

You might have your favorite. But since it's not a complicate, you will find it easy to practice and master both.

Happy Feet Practice

The gist of happy feet practice is to use your weight transfer smoothly. Heel heel, toe toe. I hope you won't fall off just by the swing.

There are many other basics in this dance genre. In knowing how to dance and ultimately reach the level you can be proud of, practicing the basic steps are essential. There is no need to get through all of them. Instead, carefully instilling one skill into your body and mastering one step at a time would be actually a success for the beginner dancers. If you master one step a day, that will be 30 steps in just 1 month. That is an astonishing accomplishment. Don't get too stressed. Let's keep on enjoying the practice!

Some of the videos of Happy Feet:

• Heel Toe by Mihran Kirakosian
• Happy Feet by TeamWest
• Happy Feet tutorial by Joseph. More house flavor.
• Rising Dance School (JP). More house flavor.

Imagine you are in a Broadway theater doing the solo dance performance. 1000s of people are watching you. Everybody's eyes are fixated with full admiration it's as if they've found a previous treasure. What kind of person are you in this image?

Having an excellent muscle and skill is obvious. What we don't talk often enough is the psychological trait.

The trait for bad dancers are easy to come up with - unconfident, nervous, sensitive... They would never make it to the theater performance.

To explore the full possibility, we want to explore the furtherest end of the positive trait. And that is narcissism.

Today, I will teach you how to adapt narcissist mentality so you can grow to be an exceptional dancer.

Are you a narcissist?

The term narcissism is thrown out a lot these days, especially in a negative way. I often hear "narcissistic boyfriend" or "5 signs you're dealing with narcissist". They really have bad reps. But, is it truly that bad?

In fact, compared to 5 years ago, the word narcissism appears 2-3 times more in the Internet. There's definitely a trend here.

Psychotherapist, Amy Morin from Psychology Today defines narcissism with 7 traits:

1. He makes it clear he knows everything.

2. He insists on being the exception to the rule.

3. He project an image of superiority.

4. He makes a great first impression, but quickly wears out his welcome.

5. He boosts his egos by implying others are inferior.

6. He assumes everyone adores him.

7. He puts his own feelings ahead of other people’s needs.

They all sound terrible, don't they? You probably know 1 or 2 people with those characteristics in your life. They drive you crazy all the time and just makes you feel miserable at the end of the day. You definitely don't want to be hanging out with them.

But, let's not jump into the conclusion yet. We shall explore the opposite of those traits. What would narcisist-zero person look like?

1. He make it clear He doesn't know anything.

2. He insist on being the obedience to the rule.

3. He projects an image of inferiority.

4. He makes a terrible first impression, but quickly rebuilds his welcome.

5. He reaffirms his inferiority complex by implying others are superior.

6. He assumes everyone hates him.

7. He puts others' feelings ahead of his own needs.

Except the last point, the traits 1-6 looks deadly. Now, this guy sounds timid, shy, negative, and even pathetic. There is no edge or liveliness or passion.

Which guy's performance would you be excited to see? Unless it's an entertainment piece, I know I wouldn't. Now comparing the both extremes, being narcissistic doesn't sound so bad, if you want to impress people with your dance.

Psychological characteristics for exceptional dancer

Now that we've covered what narcissist looks like, I want to talk in relation to an extraordinary dancer. What type of characteristic is needed to dance?

Makes it clear you know the song

Dancing is a tag of war between music and your body. You ride on music. But sometimes, the beats are too fast to catch up. Nailing fast pace beats needs healthy muscle build-up, and that takes time.

In the meantime, you need to learn how not to panic and be able to jump back into the music right after.

What experienced dancers do in choreography is even when they mess up the routine for a split second, they are quick to get back on their feet. Their face looks calm as if nothing has ever happened. They are the master of poker face. Most of us do not even realize there have been a mistake. It's almost like a glitch in a TV signal.

They can do this because they know the song back and forth. And they never lose track of the groove.

So next time you lose the beat or feel the music is too fast, calm down. Music can wait.

Insist on being an exception to the rule

No matter how great you master moonwalk, you'll be a second class Michael Jackson. While it's a great way to learn and get better at certain steps, you need to add your own twist to become original. You have to break the rule.

One skill that is so undermined among dancers is a use of facial expression. People are so busy focusing on the body movement that they look monotonic in their faces.

• Excitement
• Anger
• Sadness
• Content
• Playfulness

Those are the facial cues people instantly pick up. Even if you are dancing in a group, you will stand out as "that happy person that I enjoy so looking at!" The best part of it is it's really easy to learn it. You don't need 1000 hours of practice yet so many guys even the experienced ones are not utilizing it. Facial expression is a sure way to add a unique twist to your performance.

Project an image of superiority

Are you better than everyone else?

If the answer is yes and you have no practice hours to backup, you are only implementing yourself a big time bomb that doomsday when you realize you're a piece of crap and nobody cares about you. I'm being harsh because I was like that in the early days of my teenage days. Just full of nose.

The fact that you are here on Dancesensei tells me that you are not full of nose. You are genuinely looking for an inspiration and a way to get better. That's the great mentality to have in a long run. You will look back and be surprised how far you've come. You've actually become better at everyone else.

But when it comes to on-stage, things are different.

You have to feel absolutely special about yourself from the very beginning. You're commanding the audience attention. People are staring at you because you have something that they don't have. For 30 seconds, you have to be the best dancer in the world. At least, that's the illusion you want your audience to believe. That is the sweet magic of live stage performance. And you do that through an attitude of absolute superiority.

Make a great first impression

Former Apple evangelist, Guy Kawasaki tells that meeting investors is all about Tinder and not about Match.com. There is no long-term relationship building or rational calculation in investment business. It's all about the first impression of founders, ideas, and the way they talk. It's the Tinder world.

That concept also applies to dance evaluation.

The moment your live performance starts, people are judging you if you are worth their time. Remember no one is obligated to watch your performance. They have paid the ticket to watch your performance? It doesn't matter. If they conclude you are not worth their time in the first 10 seconds, checking Instagram feed becomes way more entertaining than your performance.

In YouTube, things get much worse. The click away option is so nearby. It takes only 5 seconds to decide your entertainment value.

How to give the best first impression? A lot have to do with your body language and how you carry yourself around the surrounding. Those takes time to master.

What you can start today is to wear the best outfit possible. Unique ones are even better. Give out the impression you're different and deserve their attention.

Boost your ego by implying others are inferior

I always wondered why bboy is so combative in the battle. They trash at each other all the time from kick, punch to air wank.

They themselves are enjoying the adrenaline rush in the heated moment. But why do we, as the audience, enjoy so much of them going at each other's throat. If it's just the airflare we want to see, let them play quiet by having a ballerina show.

The same goes for any kind of martial art - MMA, boxing, muay thai, jujutsu... A human battle is  just so enjoyable to watch.

The reason I have figured out now is they are trying to win their ego by domination. It is almost like the will of power to win over the other guy. And bystanders love to be the judge and observe that process.

At the end of the game, the winner takes it all. They command the title, respect, attention, and fame. This is the natural law of our animal kingdom. We love watching people fight for their ego.

In a competition setting, make sure you are commanding higher ego than other performers.

Assume everyone adores you

When I visited Maya pyramid in Mexico years ago, I was with a local tour guide. He described, the pyramid structure is precisely made so that when king claps the hands from high above, people on the ground hear it as if a bird is crying out loud. At the time, the experience came out magical for the ruled and they admired the king even more.

Today, this artificial admiration set up exists everywhere. Take Beyonce concert as an example. Everyone is looking up and dying to hear every word that comes out of their mouths. Cheer is almost guranteed. If you're standing there looking bored, that's your own fault for not riding the crowd. No matter how thankful Beyonce might say to her fans, she knows she's the one being adored.

The same goes for us. Most dance performance from small to big happens on the high up stage. And you have to think yourself as a source of everyone's admiration.

If you start adoring the audience instead, here's what will happen.

Do you remember highschool presentations? One kid is standing in front of the whole class. And he becomes so shy that he loses his speech. The whole room goes dead silent. You are sitting there feeling extremely uncomfortable too even though you have done nothing wrong. It's like the class's temperature has dropped to Alaska.

Your audience is there to sit back and adore you for the whole performance duration. If you don't give it, they will run away as quickly as possible.

Put your own feelings ahead

The millionaire comedian, Louis C.K., said in one interview that there are always 1000 that are not laughing at his joke. That's true even though they've paid expensive tickets to be there and his decades of experience and fame under his belt. Those guys always stick out to him in mind even today.

I'm sure he was partially joking. But the lesson is clear. As a performer, it's very tempting to get bogged down by those who do not understand your performance. If you have 10 person crowd, there will be at least 1 that's just not paying attention to you. He will look bored like there's no tomorrow. And the moment you catch that unprepared, you become nervous, unconfident, shy, and overly sensitive. You can no longer concentrate at what you are best.

The typical pitfall I see in dancers as a result is they become tricksters. Every 10 seconds, they need to throw in tricks to wow the audience. It's ok to have heightened moment. But many of them get never good at the actual dancing - the part about riding the music. They do the flip, walk walk walk. Flip, walk walk walk. It's like a little trainee dog. It becomes so boring and repetitive. Maybe you find it entertaining for the first time. After the third flip, you are already on your way out.

Instead, what a great dancer does is to express emotion with body movement. And hope that other people understand it through common music. Once you are given the permission to perform, it becomes all about your emotion.

Narcissist Switch

We've covered the psychological mindset of exceptional dancers today.

I'm not suggesting you turn into a narcissist 24/7. That would me you lose all your dance buddies. The key difference is learning to turn your narcissist switch on and off at your will. In stage performance, you only have a limited amount of time. In that short time frame, it's crucial to show 100% confidence and superiority. You will turn that switch on to be an absolute narcissistic megalomaniac. That is a sure first step to make yourself worthwhile watching for.

You are invited to a friend's birthday party.

The house is pumped up with base sound, and you've chugged in a few shots.  

Ok now, it's time for some action. Ready to get down on the floor. This is the perfect time to show off what you've been practicing on. Is there a perfect move to prepare for this time?

Yes there is. It's called Spongebob.

The move isn't too technical even if you have just started out, yet it gives out a strong and bursting impression. Your energy-hungry crowd will be happy to have you in their place.

Let's learn how to make this party move.

What about Squarepants?

Before going any further, do you wonder about the name? I know I do. My iconic childhood cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants.

I knew about hiphop Spongebob for a long time, but never paid attention to the name origin. As writing this blog post, I thought it would never been a more perfect time to look it up finally.

Google time...

More Google time...

Some More Google time...

Ok. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the name origin of hiphop Spongebob. But as far as Squarepants go, it's distinctly different.

Apparently, Spongebob Squarepants was originally titled as SpongeBoy Ahoy. It's only after the copyright infringement worry that they changed it to Spongebob. Thanks copyrights for the wonderful cartoon name.

So that means the cartoon and hiphop Spongebob has no relation. The cartoon is not named after the dance move.

Great.

Now that we've got our childhood curiosity aside, let's dive into the method.

Benefits of Spongebob Step

You might be wondering why practice Spongebob in the first place. Let me lay out some of its benefits.

1. Beginner Friendly
2. Great Transition
3. Shape Up Body

Beginner Friendly

Along with Runningman (although Spongebob is less well-known), this move is easy and straightforward. As long as you can jump and kick, you will get it. If you are an athletic type, you can get a good hang of it in 1 hour.

It's not only easy to learn this move. It's also easy to carry out in different places. Especially in darkness, you want to show off a big and dynamic movement. That makes it perfect for a party.

Great Transition

Transitioning is one of the hardest things that haunts choreographer. It's hard to be creative. You cant simply walk to the next spot.

Being simple and dynamic makes it easy to incorporate into a different dance move.

Once you master it, you will have a very good understanding of side hop and transfer the weight on your leg axis. The movement could be as wide as you want, depending on how strong you kick. With this, you can easily move around the floor, making a transition and coordination easy in your choreography.

Shape Up Body

The moment you start practicing this, you will notice it right away. As much as it's simple to learn, Spongebob is not an easy piece physically. You are jumping side to side. Looking at that alone, it's not far different from bootcamp workout.

If you want to dance while losing weight and maintaining a healthy body, you want to pick a move that matches your goal.

As I wrote on a diet topic - "Is Dancing Aerobic or Anaerobic Exercise? Guideline to Losing Weight", some dance moves are more efficient than the other to burn your calories. What you want is an aerobic movement. Spongebob is.

How to Guide

As always, I've collected video tutorials I found online. You can find them in the bottom of the page. In the post, I will layout out more detailed practice tips and guide you to see the common pitfalls you should be aware of when you practice.

Experiment with 1 Leg

Did you know flamingo can stand in 1 leg for 4 hours?

They have some weird evolutionary strength working on their favor.

What about us? We humans can barely do 10 seconds.

But if you want to make your dance clean, you have to get used to it. You need to get used to treating each leg move separately.

In Spongebob, the function of your leg is only 2: hopping and kicking. Very simple.

I recommend starting from hopping. You can ignore the kick for now. Just try to hop 1 leg at a time. Make sure you can feel your entire body weight go side to side, not just leg. And, if you look more carefully, you'll notice it's going from outside to the center.

Likewise, you can try the back kick on the spot. Doing it slowly without hopping, you see it's nothing but 1 leg bending backward like a racehorse waiting to jump out of the starting line.

There's no need to put on music at this point.

This is the time to get details right.

Clean Up the Kicking

Once you've got the basic mechanic right, it's time to practice with music.

You can start from the slow and mellow music. And slowly migrate to the faster one.

This is when precision matters.

In a fast pace, your kicking legs tend to move too much and things start to look shaky and messy.

To fix this, try to pin your kneecap in one imaginary place (in the air) and move your calf only. You can think of it as leg isolation. Your knee is in the center of a clock and you are only trying to move the needle which is the calf.

Your Spongebob will look much sharper and properly on a beat.

Arrangement

Nailed down with all your favorite music?

Awesome.

It's time to add a twist. The above image focused the most basic back leg. But it doesn't mean that's all you can do with Spongebob.

Instead of kicking the leg from behind, bring it from the front. Your leg will be crossing in front of the other hopping leg.

Your dance will look more 3D, especially from the sideway.

Shuffle Music

So far, this description assumed hiphop style. Can we use this in other dance genres?

Yes. You certainly can.

Of all, I highly recommend you try out Shuffle.

Moves in Shuffle incorporates from all over ranging hiphop to house. You can check out the ShuffleBot from Party Rock Anthem. Not too bad for a big-square-headed robot huh. He's doing a fine Spongebob on 16 beats EDM.

Our technique described so far will still be the same here. The catch is it's faster. Much faster. You will need to hop in a smaller width and kick more compact (isolation becomes even more important).

Keep your move clean and go from hiphop to shuffle.

Cautions

There're a few things I want to warn you first when practicing Spongebob.

Difference form Party Machine

Party Machine is another popular technique in hiphop. These two look similar but different in a fundamental way. First, check out this gif.

Can you spot the difference?

Did you spot the difference?

Are you really really really ready?

The reason I am being annoying is that I want you to spot the difference yourself first. In that way, the new material will be still around your head the next time you practice. It's a good habit to have when browsing through YouTube.

Ok. Here's the thing.

In Party Machine, when you kick, you are hopping from inside to outside. You are using the momentum of kick to transition outward.

In Spongebob, the transition's the other way around. You are trying to kick your butt with your heel. When you kick in, your body tightens up in the center at the same time. That's why you hop in towards the center, not outside.

The difference sounds miniscule. But in practice, you use them differently to give a different vibe in your move. It's more of the difference in the groove rather than technicality.

Out vs In.

Open vs Close.

Toe vs Heel.

Visualize it however you'd like.

Whichever one you practice first, one of the grooves feels more natural than the other. Knowing both and being able to alternate the two will expand your dance repertoires.

Environment Constraint

Take this section at your discretion.

One of the most challenging things in my early days is to find a place to practice. My house wasn't big. And when I practiced in my room in the 2nd floor, the noise was too much. It was a constant battle with my family.

Compared to other steps, you will be making a fuss in Spongebob. You are basically jumping constantly. This is a perfect fit for outdoor or studio practice. But if you are an indoor practice type, this will make too much noise.

Instead, you want to consider practicing Club Step, Happy Feet, Cabbage Patch. They are less prone to opening a hole in your floor.

Basic to Advance

The mechanic of Spongebob is solid and simple. But like Club Step, there is a big room to play around with your speed and leg arrangement. And the step is transferable to almost any music. Its dynamism is definitely fun at a club.

Everyone starts somewhere. Once you get master one thing, it will take you to many directions that were previously unknown.

Keep up the great work, Spongebob Swagpants!

Video Links

• Sharp arm swing. Probably the best video out there. Mihran Kirakosian
• Good detailed description on leg move. Howcast.
• Another video by Howcast. He says Spongebob but it's actually Party Machine.
• Video by MahaloDance. It's also Party Machine.
• 2 guys having fun with shuffle Spongebob. In the end, you can see the insane speed in action.
• A guy on shuffle music. You can see Spongebob with rotation.

The other day, I was watching my new favorite dancer Koharu Sugawara. She was performing on Say My Name with astonishing 8 million views! By far, it's her most popular video. Overwhelmed by her emotional jab, I wanted to share my sensation with the fellow YouTube audience. So, I crawled down. That's when I saw this brilliant satire:

"One day I'm gonna be like her..." -me on sofa eating fries.

Tell me about it. I do it. You do it. We all have the desire to get better, but we don't practice. Humans are nothing but lazy animals.

We know. And we cant help it.

But what if I tell you a way to convert the time spent watching videos into a practice experience so that you actually get better? It's all while remaining the same couch potato in your house.

Here are the 7:

1. Repeat Repeat Repeat

Imagine you are at the movie theatre. It's your favorite spiderman movie. It's full of actions - Peter Parker flying through the New York skyscrapers, spider webs stopping the subway train, fighting against the Sandman that is 6 feet tall... What a liberating experience... You are so absorbed into the story, the whole 2 hours of sitting feels like only 5 minutes.

That's basically what's happening in your head every time you watch dance videos. Great dancing is a form of storytelling, and you are being narrated. Passive, yet immersive experience.

Now, imagine this time instead that you are an aspiring young actor. You want to study expression. Of course, you love movies. But when you want to get better at acting, what do you do? You break down the movie and watch it scene by scene, dialogue by dialogue, actor by actor.

Well, that's exactly what you should do, as an aspiring dancer. Cut short of the dance video and rewatch them. It's divide and conquer strategy.

And let me tell you; it will suck. Storytelling is a story because you watch the whole episode in one go. Once you start dividing the video, it becomes a conscious effort. And there's something cold about it. Your right side brain will tell you, don't take away the magical cool experience.

Luckily, dance videos are short. They are 2 - 5 minutes. You can run through it once, twice or maybe three times. That can take out maximum 15 minutes of your watchtime. That's nothing compared to 2-hour movie. Only then, after you've got a good amount of wow factor and be impressed enough, move on. Rewatch the same video except this time, stop the video every so often. I recommend 10 seconds. In dancing, many things can happen during that period. Put it on 10 seconds, go back, and 10 seconds again. If you are ambitious, go for 5.

Sliding back and forth will soon get tedious. You can use Listeonrepeat. It's a YouTube player where you can play a particular scene on repeat over and over without any hands on it.

If you have set up this habit, you're ready to move onto the next technique.

2. Name Calling

I am generation zero when it comes to Pokemon. My first ever Pokemon was Bulbasaur. As you know, his type was grass. When it came to fight against Misty, a water type gym, it was an easy win. Hydro Pump? No problem. Bulbasaur could handle it easily. But, when it came to Blaine, my Bulbasaur was no match. Fire beats grass. I needed to catch water type Pokemon. I needed to know all Pokemon types to win the game.

The same thing happens to dancing.

If you look closely to a great dancer, on the other hand, you will notice he is demonstrating multiple traditional moves in his choreography. He's mastered multiple dance types. To attain a master body, you will first need to be able to recognize and remember the different types.

You might counterargue in favor of originality. Amateur creative type claims you should be able to create something out of nothing. Watch those guys for 2 minutes, and you will see he is just repeating the same move over and over. You will get bored of this guy you never bother to watch him again.

Instead, originality comes from mixing in traditional moves in your taste. It's like DJ performance. DJs are left on creating his own unique mix, but he has to first know all the music samples in his head.

Try calling out all the names this particular dancer is performing.

Here's a list of techniques I found online. They mostly have videos attached so you can have them for a reference.

• Breakdance
• Hiphop
• Popping (Michael Jackson)
• Locking

3. One Part at a Time

Have you seen a magic show where the magicians revealed the trick at the end? Those spoiler shows. The trick is often how the trick happens when the audience is focusing on the particular hand. You miss it because magicians are professional at directing your eyes through his words and gesture. Your vision is literally under his illusion.

The same thing happens in dance.

Dancers employ all these little trick to direct your eyes to where actions are happening. And they will give us a climax with surprise and crowd goes wow.

The entire move is so well integrated, you won't notice it easily. it might be possible to remember the little trick he's done here and there, but all other moves come out as one impressive but fuzzy flow.

This is why you need to take his body apart. Throughout the video, try to focus on one part, and one part only. Ignore everything else. Focus on eyes, face, arms, shoulders, hips, chest, legs, etc.

It's harder than it sounds. When crowds cheer, you naturally follow the trick the dancer employs. Or, it might be the same arm movement, but in a different body position. Be diligent. Once you get this fixation habit, you will be able to point out dancer's strength and weakness.

You might say,

• "This guy is good at tutting, but his legs haven't been moving much".
• "She is full of energy and the floor is full of positive vibe. I can learn from how she expresses that with her face".
• "Wow. The whole crowd went mayhem. And all he did was to tilt his heck slightly".

Dancing starts to look a lot more digestible.

4. Find Your Favorite Move

Let's step back from the technicality for a second.

I want to ask you one question.

Can you tell me why you like dancing? It looks cool? Sure but... Any more than that?

Sounds philosophical, but it is an important question. But you cant master what you don't know.

Here's the gist.

The more concrete and detailed you have with your source of inspiration, the more solid you can plan out your practice. Any particular move that tickles your heart and vibrate your heart deep inside?

• "I like a split right after a big jump".
• "I like moving crab walks with the swagger face acting like nothing is happening"

If you like his particular move, practice that. If you like a turn, try that. And, be best at it. I mean BEST. The number one. All the world-class dancers have signature moves. They help us remember those guys. Having 2-3 moves of yours and combine them altogether? You will be unstoppable.

5. Watch with Ears

Have you been to a jazz bar? A wine glass on one hand, and you are enjoying the melancholy music that fill out our venue. Now, close your eyes. What do you hear? A vocal might come out first in your head. But once absorbed enough, you will become aware of all the pieces:  drum, bass, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, piano, and so on. All those 8 instruments make up one cohesive beauty.

Music is our king. Yet, we only know his facade.

Most of the time, dancers execute the base beats, while waiting for catchy sections to show off big moves. And we tend to like high pitches. For pop, that is often the vocals. But, the more experienced they become, they start to experiment with a deeper sound that is often hidden. It can be a subtle snare or stable guitar in the background.

Try to catch exactly which instrument he's making that move to. He might be picking up multiple instruments at the same time. Can you visualize yourself listening to that same beat?

As you get better at it, you will be able to spot bad habits of dancers. They could be following every high tone and get repetitive quickly. Or a move has kept on going even after the instrument has stopped ringing. To be fair, when dancing, it's extra hard to listen with quality. Let alone when you are under audience pressure.  You need to be forgiving. That's why you are practicing now; to get better with music on the floor.

Train your ears with all your might.

6. Look at Clothes

You've come a long way. This is a bonus point. First, take a look at the image.

It's the same stage, same genre, same performers, yet each gives out completely different vibes. It starts from classic funk gents, moves onto swag like urban street, and goes last into athletic youth casuals. They are all lock performance given to the Urban Dance Camp students. Yet, this many variations can give. Personally, I like the first classic the most. What about you? As far as the YouTube view goes, the last one's got the most (amazing 9 million!).

The same goes for any type of performance art. Performers pay a close attention to how he appears in front of the audience. The first impression goes a long way. And clothes/fashion are an important element in setting the tone and impression on the stage.

It goes without saying, I'm not about only talking about the clothes. Do you like hats?  Baseball? Gatsby? Fedora? Toque?

Learn from the master stylers, and find your best fit. Most of all, have fun!

7. Upgrade Your Mindset

What we've talked about today is active watching. The beauty of videos nowadays is you can watch them from anywhere. You don't need a space for practice. Want to lie on your couch and eat chips? Be my guest. All I am asking is to turn on your brain. Instead of passively consuming videos, you want to watch them to gain something. It's nothing technical. It's a change in your mindset. This mindset is your irresistible desire to get better.

I bet all of you readers spend a great time watching dance videos already. 2 hours a day? 5 hours a day? Since you spend the same amount of time on YouTube, we can do it much more productively just by paying a little attention. I'm not asking you to convert 100% of watch time into a conscious watching. But maybe 20%. 20% is enough to set you off to learn skills much faster.

And, when you can understand the intention of each dancer, you will start to appreciate dancing even more. It's like fisherman being able to see through tunas in the deep depth of the ocean.

Let's upgrade yourself.

2 years ago, I was having a vacation in Cape Town, South Africa. The city was surrounded by the blue ocean where you can see sharks, and a cliff like mountain where you can easily hike up from the city. The scenery was just magnificent.

One night, we were drinking and having fun in the backyard of the hostel. That was when Chainsmokers just came out. Hop on my favorite - All We Know, and entertained the crowd with some moves. People were cheering, beer on one hand, stars covering our heads. What a wonderful night, I thought. Then, it happened. This girl from the Netherlands started saying about black people and about their talents. She believed that blacks have innate ability when it comes to dancing.

It was positive racism. Hooray black people.

At the time, I was slightly offended as a non-black dancer. Second, I knew intuitively from my dance experience that this was not true. I grew up with many black dancers. Some are good some are bad. Just like any other guys. Come to think of it, it's offending for the blacks too who've put so much effort into their practice.

But, no amount of telling could convince her.

So today, I want to approach this from an empirical way. I will have a look at the best dancers and see how many of them are black.

What do you think? Are black people actually better at dancing?

What do people think?

First, is this bias actually there for everybody?

While doing a brief study on science literature. I found this study - "‘Cross-cultural’ practices: interpreting non-African-American participation in hip-hop dance" from 2010:

Most dancers see hip-hop as African American in its origins. But while novices often speak of an inherent or learned authenticity among blacks, experts rarely express racialized views of the dance's contemporary practice. Experts' views are shaped by personal ability, exposure to dancers whose ability is not racially patterned, and exposure to others who accept their skill.

It is basically saying, the more foreign you are from the dance scene, the more they view black people as inborn dancers. They have innate talents so to speak. This finding aligns with my initial speculation.

It also says that this stereotype does not hold true for practicing dancers. Obviously. Just ask a random black person on a street to show you a moonwalk. He would just run away from you. That's what ethnic bias is essential. When you put into a practice, you know how ridiculous that sounds.

Since this black-people = great-dancer myth only holds for the general public, we can fight this by exposing what's happening in the scene.

The fight is on: Public Bias vs Real Dancers.

Research Criteria

If it was 5 years ago, I would have finished this here by concluding "because my experience says so".

But wait a minute. Who cares about your stupid experience? You might say. And you're right. No amount of arrogant convincing is enough to challenge the intellectual readers' minds.

Luckily, I grew up.  An old man has picked up a little trick here and there in his sleeve. I learned how to do a little researching and math trick.

If all great dancers today are racially diverse, we win. We can say dancing is for everyone, and anyone can be equally good. If they are all black, we lose. We lose against the stereotype. Of course, there's nothing wrong with individual black persons being amazing at dancing. We are only talking about the collective.

Let's go slay the public bias.

Who are the black people?

First of all, we have to define who black people are. I know, it's politically sensitive. I don't like labeling people by racial colors. But if the wrong stereotype exists, you have to spot them somehow. This will rely on my eye judgment. When the face appears in the video, and he/she looks darker than Barak Obama, that person is black. Obama is only half white, and I will overgeneralize definitely. But most people are fine calling him a black president so I will go with that popular opinion.

I dumped all else into "Others" categories to keep our list tidy. They can be East Asian, Arabic, Latino, etc.

Street Dance Only

When I Googled "are black dancers actually better", many results were about how few black people exist in ballet. That's a separate issue we won't tackle here today. People conceptualize dancing into broadly 4 categories: streetdance, ballet, latin and ethnic tradition. This blog focuses on the street dancing like hiphop. And I'm sure, it is what my Dutch friend was talking about too.

Worldwide

The issue at hand is about dancer's racial diversity in America and Europe. And most videos I've watched before are held at these places. Having said that, some of the dancers counted might come from other places. That's ok. We live in an online age where everybody can look up any dancer. It is more of the exposure issue. What kind of people are we seeing as dancers? How much are we seeing them? If they are that good to appear in front of global audience, they are fair representatives of great dancers of our humanity.

Research Findings

To find the best dancers in the broadest fields, I will use 3 categories: YouTube choreography dancers, international championships, and American TV.

YouTube Choreographers

How many hours do you spend time watching YouTube?

Surely, it's a platform we cant live without now. Getting a dance inspiration from there is no exception. If you are not checking out dancers on YouTube, you're not learning.

So this is the place we first have a look.

I used the term "dance choreography", and look up videos in Incognito. I removed the ones with "new" tags to focus on the quality and popularity factor alone. Also, the list only includes 1 video per channel to prevent the bias sampling from that particular studio location (Kyle Hanagami, Tim Milgram, and Matt Steffanina are definitely the popular choreography channels right now. But I counted 1 video from each studio. But you guys should still check them out. They are amazing.)

Relying on the YouTube algorithm, I picked up videos from the top 10. Most videos go by 1 choreography performed by multiple dancers multiple times.

Here's the breakdown of ethnicity.

Black: 30

White: 69

Others: 79

Most of the studios turned out to be based in Los Angeles. (others are Paris, Seoul, and Algeria, but rare). And they were all hiphop genre, choreographed to top chart pop songs.

Even though LA is overrepresented, those guys on the videos are what YouTube algorithms and consumers (pretty much everyone) think of as best dancers. The sample is good representatives for our purpose.

What do you think? There're a lot more white than black. Others account for a fair number as well. There were many Latino and East/SouthEast Asian in that group. Before rushing to the conclusion, let us proceed to the other two methods.

International Champions

This section steps away from the beginners' category, and dives into the underground. These people are the experts of the experts. As far as skills and techniques go, nobody comes even close to these guys.

The champions are from Summer Dance Forever (Amsterdam), Juste Debout (Paris), and Redbull BC (International). Genres range from hiphop, breaking, locking, and popping.

I tracked back champions from 10 years ago (except Summer Dance Festival, which started in 2013). Their candidates also lean heavily from Europe. But they are also arguably the most famous and respected street dance competitions where anyone regardless of your nationality can enter.

Results

Black: 54

White: 13

Others: 46

A number of blacks are overwhelming. That was true in most genres except ub a breakdance category. Redbull BC winner was scattered in the ethnic representations. A great majority of black counts come from Summer Dance Forever and Juste Debout, where a majority of winning dancers were French.

An interesting note; a great number of Japanese and South Koreans is counted in the others' category. There might be something cool going on down in the far east.

American TV Shows

The championship gears towards underground dance battles. Now, let's talk about the mainstream. This is all Americans.

The shows have to be about street dance and semi-professional. No "Dance Moms" or "Dancing with the Stars" reality shows. We want sweating hardcore dancers. I also skipped on So You Think You Can Dance, even though it's a great show. They focus too much on contemporary.

I ended up picking America's Best Dance Crew as our representative. The show ran form 2009 to 2015, and there were 8 seasons. It's all street dance with a mix of hiphop, funk, and breakdance.

Results

Black: 6

White: 11

Others: 36

The number looks similar to our first choreography search, except we have many more in others. Most of them were East and South East Asians. It could be because black people go for individual expressivity and those Asian folks are better in circles and in coordination. After all, a crew dance is all about precise syncing down to every second.

Time for Conclusion!

Ok, it's time to count them all. Ranging from championships, to popular video choreography, ending in the mainstream TV. Are black people actually better at dancing?

Results

Black: 90

White: 93

Others: 161

How would you interpret this number? First of all, there are way more black dancers than I initially thought. Considering they only represent 12% in US population (whites are 72%), it's a BIG number.

So my Dutch friend was right after all. Blacks are over represented in dance space. This is what happens if you actually punch in the numbers. I have to swallow a bitter pill.

But wait a minute, it's not that many compared to "others" groups. It is not like black dancers dominate the entire scene. if you see the dance crew of 10, you'd expect 3 black, 3 white, 4 others. Kinda mixed huh?

Let me elaborate the findings in more specifics.

Diversity in Dance Studios

As seen from the YouTube choreography case, people who go to dance studios are fair representatives of that community. They have more or less all kinds of racial groups.

Studios are the first place people look into when they become curious and want to learn about dancing. That means the ethnic bias is not stopping people from getting their first foot on the door. Dance studio is for everybody: from students, after work office guys, professionals. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor. I am actually quite happy about this finding.

Career Dancers

Things start to look different at the national and international competitions. At the top level, those guys are more or less full-time dancers. They practice day and night, and make living out of it. I'm sure these people make enough money through workshops doing global tour as well.

Those guys are almost all non-whites.

If you want to make a career out of anything, you need to be exceptional and put in an insane amount of work from childhood. The role model you have in childhood matters a lot. Social pressure is another. I believe it is the same reason why so many professional basketball athletes are black. If all white kids want to become the president of the United States, the president would be likely white. If all black kids want to become professional basketball players, basketball players would be almost always black.

Breakdance as Mainstream

As someone who's started off with breakdancing, I can sympathize with this point.

When it comes to hiphop, house, locking, and popping, black people dominate. It's especially true in an individual free-style improv. The only exception here is breakdancing.

My speculation is that breakdancing has become enough popularity to attract all kinds of races from around the world. It is now mainstream. That's what pushes people from different backgrounds to participate, creating an ethnically heterogeneous community. Who can resist that temptation of a guy spinning in their head?

Streetdance for Racial Minority

What do you think of Vietnamese? Pho?

Wrong! Think of them as exceptional dancers!

Throughout the research, I found so many South East Asians. That was especially the case in the videos filmed in US. That's astounding considering they, as a racial group, only account for less than 5% of the total American population. They are like invisible superman dancers that's keeping the dance scene afloat and vibrant. This piece of knowledge is definitely a gap in our culture. We need to start building this positive stereotype.

Lastly, regardless of which racial groups dancers belong to, it seems that streetdance will always remain popular for ethnic minorities in whichever nation. I believe that has something to do with its counter mainstream attitude. The root has no reference to race explicitly but implicitly builds up in potential dancers' psych.

Except these People

Except brown people. I could count only 1 person in the entire process. That seems weird thinking they represent as big of a racial group. Do they hate dancing?

That's not true. I was in a South Asian dance group back in university. Being the only non-brown in the group of 32 people, I was breathing their culture. And, it was such a surprise to me, how vibrant their dance community is. What was surprising was their heat was completely invisible to outsiders. It was not rare to find dancers who started practicing since 7 or 8, similar to how parents send their kids to ballet school.

The only difference is they take pride in their traditional dance. Their degree of dedication is not comparable to any other major ethnic groups. So, they end up not coming out much to the street dance scene.

Respect to Black Culture

Before closing the post, I need to pay extra respect to the black community.

You can name all kinds of street dancing from hiphop, house, popping, locking, waacking... In all street style genres, the forerunners like Elite Force, The Lockers, Electric Boogaloos are almost all black. There's no innate ability that turned them into the formidable dancers. Instead, it's the black culture that was particularly unique in 1970s, 80s, and 90s in US, that made them revolutionary. We need to pay deep respect for those originators.

Now, time has shifted a little. Originated in small neighborhoods of America, the dances have spread out across the globe from France to China making it an international phenomenon.

Today, the scene is becoming diverse more than ever. It's everybody's thing now. We need to push this new reality into the mainstream. Personally, I would love to see everyone participating equally regardless of your racial background.

I'm talking to you the majority white:p

What pops up in your head when it comes to dancing in the 70s?

If you search 1970s in Wikipedia, you will get funk in the music section. The notable artist includes James Brown. It was that big. Funk in dance category was no exception.

Now rest assured, I am not here to give you a history lesson. We are not dinosaur. But the impact of funk on our dancing is still relevant today. A lot of its essential moves are incorporated into our modern culture. A good example is Uptown Funk  of Bruno Mars. Funk dance still stands.

In fact, thanks to Bruno, once dying bleed of funkers are reviving. The trend is coming back to us today.

If you can demonstrate your proficiency in one of locking moves, your dancer's respect shoots up the roof, turning you from a shallow trend follower into a deep authentic dancer.

Shall we dive in?

Pacing - Locking Fundamental

The pioneers of locking genre is attributed to The Lockers. The group was formed in 1971. Yes, that is way before I was born. Along the numerous public performance from Saturday Night Live to Soul Train, they also established names for many of the locking techniques.

Of all of locking moves, pacing is one of the most important move (arguably, the second most after lock). It comes from Latin passus to mean stretch. As the word describes, your will be stretching out your arm. The fundamentals of pacing is your arms + groove.

(For those who are more visual, I collected a list of YouTube tutorials in the bottom. They are mostly old and short unfortunately. My focus is a detailed breakdown and practice tips)

Arms

Arms cannot be further divided into forearms, elbows, and hands.

I will touch on a different combinations your arms can reach out to below. Just be aware there is more creative room for you to play with. For now, we will assume the most basic ones: onehand-side.

There are 3 key positions you have to remember.

1. Relaxed Standing
2. Elbow Pulled Up
3. Arm Spread Out

They are pretty simple on its own. I bet anyone reading this can do them. Let me elaborate it a fine detail.

First, you start with the default relaxed position. Your hands are on the side hanging down. Let the gravity do the work. It will be easier with your knees slightly bent for the next movement, but your upper body is exactly the same as when you are standing.

Then, you bring up your hand to your chest. A little trick here is to start your carry-up movement from your elbow instead of hands. Now, your hands will be stationary in front of your chest, while the elbow is on the side, horizontal to your shoulder.

Now, push it outward away from your body. That means right if you are using the right hand; left in the other.

Once your hand is in the maximum reach, your hand can follow back the path it came, until you are back to the default relaxed position again.

Throughout, your hand remains closed slightly and mostly relaxed. The shape is similar to the one when you are about to knock someone's door. The wrist should stay relaxed guided by the momentum.

Practice Tip

This one cycle happens in 1 beat. You will likely find it fast for most music. On top of that, its side movement is foreign to many of us and feels awkward in the beginning. A tip on the practice is repetition. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. You have to bake pacing into your muscle.

There is one thing you have to pay a close attention for - angles. As your forearm muscle starts to get tired, it tends to be whiny about how hard it is to fight against the gravity. Your arm starts to tilt downwards like a retarded airplane. That's no good.  You want to keep your arms up in alignment with your shoulders to make pacing look sharp.

One way to combat that is to stick a target marker on the wall that is at your shoulder height. And, do pacing towards that target. You can always glance your side to check if your hand is properly aimed.

This is the hardest step. Once you master the hand, the rest is easy.

Chest

Let's talk about the groove.

According to Human Body Dynamics, your arm and hands represent less than 5% of your total mass. It is a tiny number compared to your trunk (chest, back, abdomen), which carries 50.8%. While it is hard to move your back and abdomen, the chest is relatively easy. This is what differentiates between a simple dry routine and weighty groovy dancing.

You can experience the chest move easily. First make sure you are relaxed. And inhale as much as possible. And exhale them. You can feel your chest go up and down naturally. Groove is that movement. Simple right? Not yet. It is pretty tricky when you do this with other move and with music.

In pacing, your chest will follow along your hand's movement. When your elbow carries up your hand upwards initially, your chest should go up too. Maintain that while the hand pushes outwards. And, when you go back to the default relaxed position, the chest will go down as well. Breath in, breath out, hand up, hand down.

The bonus point for you if your legs can go up and down along with your chest.

The groove will give dynamism to your dance. OR I say you will look more like a dancer instead of a robot mechanically shifting its gears.

6 Variations in Pacing

So far so good? I bet you have found the basic pacing straightforward and easy. Almost too easy. And you are exactly right.

The power of pacing comes not from its flushyness but from its flexibility.

Here, I will touch on to the 6 variations you can play with. The list is by no means exhaustive. But I think these hand movements are so fundamental that once you master them, you will find it a piece of cake to mix it with any step or genre, easily creating your original move. This is how dancers expand their repertoires.

1. Onehand-Side

As I've already described, onehand-side is the most basic of all. The mechanic applies to all the rest.

Because your hand goes sideway, it goes well in a combined routine with a partner. As much as locking is funk, fun tagging with a friend amplifies the entertainment value.

2. Onehand-Front

You must have seen jabbing in boxing. He punches an opponent as quickly as possible and brings it back also as quickly as possible to get ready for a defence.

Onehand-front pacing is the same. You push out your hand forward as quickly as possible. The only difference is you are using the back of your hand instead of the fist (maybe some ancient Kung Fu uses hand's back:)).

Assuming that your audience is in the front, you can mix this with a turn using every personal sphere you have. The last thing you want to do is bore your people with a never-ending 2 dimensional movement.

3. Onehand-Top

When you accidentally bump into a grizzly bear at a national park, what do you do?

You make yourself look bigger. That is to portray yourself as a fierce being to scare the incoming bear. It works on a bear. It works on humans too.

Let me elaborate. Through dancing, you are communicating your emotion. By pulling up your hand directly upwards towards the ceiling, you will look taller and powerful for the audience. You need to turn yourself into a formidable dancer to reach out into their hearts.

4. Onehand-Bottom

Shake the ground, and your will generate an earthquake.

This falls onto the rather rare moves, but certainly adds a unique kick in your routine. It is as if you are punching the floor like Karate punch. From the relaxed position, you carry out your hand once, and drop it along with your knees (therefore waist).

It is important that you make your knee bending visible. Your whole body is dropping and it makes your whole movement heavier.

5. Doublehand-Side

So far, I have explained pacing using one hand only. But, bringing 2 hands double the energy. I only recommend this after you are comfortable doing pacing for both left and right hands.

Visualizing it as a T shape might help.  Doing it slowly, 2 hands are not as difficult. But with music, things get harder because of the syncing problem. Usually your dominant hand comes out stronger and sharper. Assuming you are a righty, your right hand comes out and comes back way faster and the left has no time to catch up. After 5 laps, the hands go out of sync, and you will feel frustrated with your slower hand for not moving as you wish. This is the biggest reason amateur lockers only do a single-hand pacing.

The obvious solution is to practice your left (non-dominant) hand viciously. It is ok to practice it one hand at a time. In the meanwhile, you can cover up your weakness by mixing double and single in a performance.

When you have enough confidence with both hands, you should go over all 1-4 with double.

6. Doublehand-Low

This is my favourite. You are still pushing out to the sideways, but you do it with knees bent and upper body hunched.

It looks like an inverse T.  Or metaphorically, I like to see it as a Ninja sandwiched by 2 enemies drawing 2 swords low enough so that he will cripple enemies' legs while escaping their attacks.

No? You don't get it?

That's ok. You will get it one day....

This move is best when combined with the regular Doublehand-Side. When you mix the two, you will be expanding your dance sphere much bigger and it will look very dynamic.

Tips for the Advanced

Momentum is Your Friend

How confident are you with your stamina?

Pacing is easy in theory, but it is hard in practice. Each cycle of hand movement (relaxed, expanded, relaxed) completes in 1 beat. Imagine that for 32 beats in less than 30 seconds. Add legs to that, and you will quickly exhaust yourself.

To get used to it, take an advantage of your momentum. I mentioned earlier to use your elbows to guide your hand movement. You should level up and start using your shoulders.

In physics, there's a concept called Conservation of Momentum. It has something to do with mass and velocity. But for our context it is enough to know the earlier your pacing starts from, the less tiring you get. That means you should start your move from your shoulder, elbow and to your hands. You can imagine your arm as a line of whip you are trying to control.

Try it yourself. It works.

An added benefit is your reach becomes much longer when your shoulder leans towards the direction of your pacing.

Pierce the Beats

What is equally important to reserve your stamina is to increase your speed.

The way to make it look nice is to wait for the beat as long as possible in a relaxed position. Only when the beat is about to go off, catch it as fast as possible. And put those badass arms right back into a default relaxed position as if nothing has happened. It is like Samurai pulling out the sword so fast you won't be able to see when he's moved his hand.

That will make your move snappy, and you will look like you are actually dancing to the song instead of demonstrating a monotone choreography. I know it is nuance, but you will start to understand it, once pacing becomes a second nature to your muscle memory.

Make Legs Work

You can do pacing on the spot. As long as you put in the hands and chest (and maybe a bit of knee groove), you look like a real locker.

But let's be honest, no one wants to stare at a tree.  You will get bored yourself. We need to talk about the steps.

You can follow the basic hiphop step videos. One of my favourites is Mihran Kirakosian. He is a hiphop dancer, but as far as leg movement goes, it is suffice for us.  In this 3 simple dance move video, the first 2 moves are easy to incorporate it into pacing. You only need to add pacing hands to it. One step equals to one hand movement.

Pacing in a Big Picture

So you might ask about this pacing; how does it all fit together into locking? Locking is actually dance that incorporates quite a lot of basic moves. It is the snappiness and creative combination of steps and movements that differentiate great dancer from the mediocre.

I cant stress enough of the importance of repetition. You don't need a brain in this practice. Shut if off for 10 minutes. Put on some songs. And repeat the hand movement like a madman. When your biceps start to hurt from the repetitive carry-up of your hands, you know you are doing it right.

All the best locking dancers have gone through this. And now, they can do it so fast and so effortlessly, they can put a smiley confident face on while moving around the stage. It is nothing but a craftsmanship.

Do you feel envious? Don't worry. That will be the new funk-locking you in a few months.

YouTube Tutorial Resource

I've collected locking video tutorial on pacing. Unfortunately there are not many. This is for your reference.

• Video by Trenirovka. It's in Russian, but he covers many variations of pacing.
• This one's in Japanese by RisingSchool. He uses right hand only, but shows the clean angle.
• This one is in English by udhaydance. He does describe the up and down concept. But I'm not too happy with his skill.

Let's start with a simple question...

How confident are you in performing your dancing in front of other people?

No matter how much experience you have, the feeling of popup showcase can be daunting.  It's true even if the people assure they won't laugh at you.

What is this nagging anxiety? Showcasing is simply a public practice of what you have been doing for the past months. Yet, the emotional weight is real.

Today, I’m going to walk you through the psychological method of how to realize your symptom and to counterattack this monster.  Let's dive in...

You are not alone

First of all, what are we dealing with here?

Here's a little bit of the background information.

In 2011, The Journal of Behavioral Science reported 70% of Americans have experienced some kinds of imposter syndrome in their lives. That number amounts to 10-15 people in a typical dance class. I set up a checklist you can take later down below to check if you fall under one of them. But the number is overwhelming. Feel free to assume you fall under this spell as well for the time being.

So what is this common syndrome we all face?

Imposter Syndrome Defined

If you want to slay the dragon, you have to understand his nature first.

The term imposter syndrome was defined by Dr Clance and Imes in 1978. It was used to describe someone who cannot internalize their accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud.

In other words, there's a disconnect between your real ability and your self-perception.

Why Should Dancers Care?

Ok, this sounds all good and educational, but why should I care? You might ask.

The fact is it can impact you in every way, starting from the practice to the performance. It is particularly true if you are thriving to be one of the top dancers.

Here are some of the examples imposter syndrome can haunt you real bad.

Make Stage Performance Monotone

You fear your audience. Here's how it goes.

What happens if they find out how fake I am.. 100s of eyes are on you, judging. Every second, they are looking for the fraud in you. What am I doing here.. I am not even good to start with. I want to get off the stage as soon as possible...

There will be a never-ending spiral of negative talk.

If you are an audience, how can you enjoy such scared chicken performance?

In fact, that trembling fear shows up in your face and every move you do. Your arm looks smaller. Your turn makes a circle extra second faster. There is no energy in you.

Pickup Dance Technique Faster

Getting a feedback is a key to get better.

When is the last time you ask someone to critique your movement?

It sounds counterintuitive for the imposter to have difficulty asking. But this is all because of the fear. They always aim for the perfection, and getting any type of negative feedback form someone else crushes their ego, personality, and everything.

Instead, some of the great feedback seekers know they have strength as well as weakness. They can approach the problems more rationally. They know any feedback is helpful to move forward.

You want to be asking for feedback as many times as possible. If you have an opportunity to perform, do it! And then, ask your friends how you have done. The more you get them, the faster get better. That is what differentiates fast learners over guys who never get anywhere.

Advance Unique Strength

Have you thought about what kind of motivation you have when dance practicing?

Imagine these 2 subtle but different ways of thinkings:

1. "I suck at this move. I should practice this so other guys don't make fun of me"

2. "I like this move. I want to practice to be the best so I can surprise my friends"

The first thought is based on the imposter fear, and you are trying to catch up with someone else. Overcoming your weakness is good, but a practice based on external motivation is bad. You have to internalize it first.

Dancing is art. As an artist, you have to have one thing that you can be proud of and what others people find admirable. That's what makes your move worth watching.

Stack Up as Lifeskill

Have you had a presentation you just wanted to run away so badly? Your hands full of sweat, mouth dry like a Sahara desert.

On the other hand, there is this guy who is witty, sharp and natural. How can he stay so authentic in front of so many people?

You guessed it. That's the imposter's doing. Causing you a rushed anxiety in public.

At any type of job, you have to deal with humans beings. It might be your boss, customers, coworkers, etc. You are already spending so much time on your burning passion called dancing. Why not take advantage of time?

Once you master the ability to overcome this, you will have an easier life whether it'd with your boss, friends, family, etc. You will thank your past self forever.

NOT FUN!!

It comes down to this at the end of the day.

You approach dancing in a regular routine. Start from the warmup, stretch, basics, choreography run-throughs...

But let me ask this. When is the last time you danced with your buddies for fun?

Dancing is not just a random set of tricks. Dancing is a social activity.

You look at people's eyes and try to communicate your feelings with the music to someone else. You can think of the passionate salsa dancers for a moment. There's indescribable magic in the atmosphere only those in the eye contacts can tell. It is like a live concert - the heat between the rock stars and audience.

Imposter syndrome disturbs you at every step of the way from having this magical experience. Nobody is asking for a perfection. They are asking for your emotions.

Do you have it?

To check if you have imposter syndrome, I have made a simple checklist. It has been inspired and modified from PsychTests so that it fits specifically to dancers.

1. I'm keeping a dance practice secret from my friends and family.
2. It's hard for me to accept compliments or praise. People are just being polite.
3. In the dance class, I always compare myself with others and think how much they are better than me.
4. When I watch myself in the video, I feel disappointed in my ability.
5. YouTube dancers are complementary out of my league.

If you have answered yes to more than 3, you have imposter syndrome with a high chance.

What can you do?

Now you know what the problem is, it is time to fight back!

Here's a list of steps you can take to combat. Prepare to draw your swords!

Ignore YouTube

As you saw in the last question of the checklist,

YouTube is a fabulous place for learning. Those world-class dancers show you the door to what is possible. They are pushing the frontier whether you are doing hiphop, locking, popping, or breaking. You will pick up many techniques. Copy the move if necessary. And it can be a great source of your inspiration.

Yet, be careful. Those guys will crush you. The ideal figure you project yourself onto. Often, they have been dancing for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Some of them even may be professional and practice 24/7. If you are starting out, you should never compare yourself with them. It's like the Instagram illusion. You are only seeing the fragments of their lives.

Instead, when it comes to measuring your progress, focus on the feedback from the real people around you. They can be your studio mates or even good old friends. Focus on impressing them.  Treat YouTube as a textbook - dry and informative.

Film Regularly

How often do you film yourself dancing?

One of the best popper, Kite, once said in an interview who he has learned from. His answer was "no one. My only teacher was a myself". It is true. He uploaded 100s of videos when he was still unknown.

Checking out your half-baked can be a daunting task. You have to watch through this crappy dancer. But that's the best medicine you've got.

After rewatching, you will pick up here and there the move you like. You will go "Oh, this part isn't so bad. It's actually kinda cool". That's when you know what to be proud of. It might be only 2 seconds of 1 minute shooting. But, that's the first step. Remember, your job here is to rationally assess your good from the bad.

Record Your Progress

I recently found a new favourite quote from Jordan Peterson. It's such a wise advice for anyone who is trying to thrive for the better that I want to share it.

In his book 12 Rules of Life, he says:

"Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today".

It is such a brilliant quote. It catches you every time you start feeling insecure about yourself. After all, our world is filled with people who are more successful than us. Of course, this wisdom works with your imposter syndrome.

Now that you have started filming regularly, your next job is to take a note of your move. And the next is the key. You need to revisit your note regularly. Techniques you are trying to master? Drop it down. Make your turn extra faster? Write it.

Not many people go this far. But, this is the only way to understand your progress. It actually feels like you are getting better and better. Don't worry. This will soon become habitual.

Relax. Dancing is Hard!

Are you kidding? You are dancing for the GOD's SAKE!

The task you are carrying is not meant to be easy. Moving hands and legs at a lighting speed is one thing. Some people might be able to do that with a sheer athletic skill. But put that on top of music rhythm, and no one can.

This is the reason dancers are respected characteristic anywhere you go. Even in Native American society, their social gathering revolves around dancing, called Powwow. Young boys look up those in the heated circle, thinking they would one day move like the head dancer.

Only towards the end of the journey, you will gain the respect everyone admires. For now, keep your heads up and be patient.

Make a Tiny but Firm Step

Say, you are the hasty type who would load yourself all the challenges from the day 1. I hear you. It's exciting to overcome your weakness and accomplish something astonishing.

But before going to apply for the next America's Got Talents, you should take a step-by-step approach.

Have you performed it in front of your friends? If the answer is no, that's a good place to start. As you do it, keep in check of your mind set. Are you feeling excessively nervous? Worry not. There's no shortage of drink time entertainment for the wasted folks. You can count me on that.

Only after, you can go to a public performance. School talent show, disco crowd, local festival, dancer's event, etc. Of those, a dancer's event puts the highest pressure on you because they tend to be also judgemental: the expectation is high.

Only then, feel free to go onto your dream national championship;)

Consult with a Mirror

It sounds strange. I know. You are self-talking.

The concept is actually well established in psychology. It's part of a umbrella term called affirmation.

This is something I do everywhere. The method is simple. Every time you have something big coming up like a performance, go to the bathroom, and stare at yourself in the mirror. You don't have to speak up actually. Just with your internal voice, tell yourself. "You are worth it!" "You can do it!!". The point is to get rid of your clouded anxious thoughts, and help put back the focus on what's right in front - you.

Remember, that imposter syndrome is all from your negative self-judgement.

Believe in Yourself

Why did I want to write on this topic in length?

That's because I was once an imposter myself too. Only after years of mental practice and meditative talking, I gained the self confidence and started to see myself as is. Neutral and no facade.

Now this is your time.

The fact that you are reading this blog post means you are better than the average folks. Most will never make any initiative. That fact alone is enough to pat yourself on the shoulder. Any skill attainment is painful. It may destroy your souls sometimes. It is time like that, you need to be in touch with your deep confidence. Keep reminding yourself how much you have come so far in the journey.

Late night practice, being a lonesome wolf.

You will be an unstoppable dancer in no time.

I just finished an anthropology book "The Secret of Our Success" by Joseph Henrich. His claim was this. We, humans, are not smarter than chimpanzee because of our rational thinking. We are smarter because of our ability to identify the prestigious man and successfully imitate him.

It was an interesting concept I thought. There are many negative stigmas around copying other people as something against our originality. But our whole humanity relies on that ability.

This concept applies to dancing as well. The quickest path to learn dancing is to find a good dancer and imitate his move successfully. It is especially true if you are just starting out.

No one can write a book without first building your vocabularies to express your thought.

So today, I will talk about how to identify a successful dancer and copy him well.

Creativity Myth

The biggest fear of copying someone else is other people finding that out. They will call you fake and unauthentic. But that is not true for 3 reasons.

1. Performance Art is Never the Same
2. Break down into the Subsets
3. You are a Curator

Performance Art is Never the Same

Dance is a performance art. Unlike Olympic skating, there are no predetermined scores for each move.

The move A does not imply impression B.

There are so many factors involved in the process of forming audience impression. They can come from your facial expression, the length of your legs, the song you're dancing on, the mood of your performance clothes, etc.

The bottom line is no matter how well you copy another dancer, your performance will never be the same.

_{(Source: Wade Robson)}

Breakdown into the Subsets

How many dance move can you recall? As far as I know, Michael Jackson's moonwalk or MC hammers running man. Sure, you can copy those moves as much as you want. Everyone recognizes that, and it is good in its own sense to cheer the crowds. For all the other moves, you will not be able to copy the entire move of someone else's from the bottom to top.

What you will end up is a subset of moves from that person. You will end up configuring the copying and mixing the moves at your own taste regardless.

Imagine you are copying not only from 1 but 3 at the same time. You combine the best of the 3 dancers. At the end of the day, you will come up with your own combination of moves. That's the power of creativity.

You are a Curator

When I was in school, I had a summer job at an art gallery. My boss was an artist as well as a curator. His job was to implement select art pieces and change the interior decoration to give the exhibition a theme. Up until that point, I always thought art is only about the creator. But that was my new insight into creativity.

Dancing is similar. There are many existing moves, but your job is to put them all into one coherent piece for that music. That will become your originality.

7 Ways to Copycat a Dancer

1. Leverage the Video

You might think of learning to dance equals to going to a class or finding a teacher. That is not a wrong approach. But videos are such powerful tools, you should definitely use it.

The biggest advantage of YouTube videos over actual people you can pose and watch it over and over. It's not to mention you can find a dancer of your favorite style from all around the world. In a big international event, most organizer employes a professional videographer nowadays. You should be able to find any dancer who is active in the scene easily.

For more on this topic from the lesson perspective, read my previous article on "Use YouTube videos to your advantage".

2. Follow Dancers Not Genres

When you search "locking" on youtube, the top result comes up with the video by Urban Dance Camp. If you look at the side, you will notice that the recommendations are all from videos uploaded by Urban Dance Camp. They have many quality performance videos, but it is important to take a notice of the performers themselves. Since most videos are uploaded by the studio production, not by the dancers, dancers become pushed out from the YouTube algorithm suggestions.

Usually, in the title or in the description, video uploaders give credits to the performers. In this case, that is Hilty and Bosch. Now, it is time to search them. The search results show more than 100,000. This second video dates 11 years ago!

The videos don't need to be the latest. In fact, you will find it easier to follow the old videos where those dancers were already great yet still clumsy compared to the ones now. It is as long as the quality is high enough to see the detail (I prefer ones with minimum 480px quality).

3. Name Each Move

You cannot imitate all moves at once. Identify the subset of his moves and learn. A good rule of thumb is 3 seconds. Yes, it is this short. Dance performance is a combination of complex moves. That time frame is enough to isolate the subset to practice on.

If it is a famous dance step, you can name it so. If there is a unique twist the dancer is adding to, you say it like "Hilty's toplock" for example.

You will expand the repertoires faster from identifying which moves you can do and cannot do. It will become your new mental mindmap. It will also help you from not getting into the pitfall of over repeating yourself unconsciously.

Write down the time of the video as well. You will be able to easily reference back later.

4. Write Down Methods on a Paper

Our default mode of media interaction is passive consumption. We just like to sit back and relax. Once it sucks you in, you are gone forever. That is why separate videos from the physical practice as much as possible.

This is a technique people use at a workout. They bring a check sheet to complete a set. Imagine you have to check the how-to videos on your smartphones every 10 push-ups? It will take forever to complete the set.

Double checking the video for the specific move is ok. But in my experience, there are too many distractions on the YouTube. On top of that, you are already exhausted and there is so much excuse to sit around. You will end up not practicing at all.

In order to avoid, bring down a piece of paper with the names of moves you are trying to practice to the dance floor. You will be able to review them thoroughly instead of relying on your memory.

5. Find a Reflection

You feel so great watching videos. It feels like you have learned so much.

But that doesn't mean you have mastered the move. Visualization is not enough. Use a mirror for the quick feedback. You will notice the gap in your reflection and what you see in your head. Another method to confirm your move is filming. It is rather tedious. But this is 10 times better than nothing.

By seeing yourself, you will pick up the fine vibe and groove that the dancer employs.

Nothing is stopping you from experimenting. If the dancer is performing with the left hand, try it with the right.

6. Swap the Music

You should start with no music. Just count. Only when you get comfortable with the move, put on the original song. You might be surprised how fast the routine goes. There is no need to panic. Be patient and feel free to go back without the music and slowly pick up the pace.

In the next step, put on a different song and try out the move. If you can do it both fast and slow, you have internalized the mechanism of the movement with your own feeling. The move is now yours.

7. Play Pictionary

Have you played a game Pictionary? Your friend draws a picture and you're supposed to guess what it is.

If you have a group of dance friends with the same genre or passion, you can play this game. You make the move, and your friends guess who that is. If they get it wrong, that's ok. You can explain the move, show the video, and figure out the difference together.

That is a proper learning process. It's good for the motivation as well.

Enjoy your next dance pictionary session:)

What it means to be a Successful Dancer

There is a difference between dancing and random move. No one should be scared of making the wrong move or looking stupid. But there are many "originality advocates" in the improvised street dance scene. They do any move and call themselves "creative dancers". That is ridiculous.

An important distinction here is body awareness. Are you aware of how you look? Is it the same dancing as you have visualized it in your head? Are you happy with your own move? Those advocates never see their own dance and are only happy in their imaginary world.

Finding a good dancer whether he is real or virtual is the first step in learning. Only after that, you can start digesting his experience. By increasing your dance vocabulary, you will be able to create an astonishing performance. You will be happy and the audience will be happy. That is the true art of dancing.

A worrying thought, isn't it?

You are following tutorial videos, but you can’t help wondering if you will ever become a popper like them.

What makes your pop much smaller than the instructors?

You are all doing the same move. Stand on feet, arms straight, on the beat, and pop. You know, the usual fresno lessons.

But something is missing. You are not carrying the heavy sound effect they carry. Their body seems to vibrate so much more. How do you know if you are doing pop right?

Good question. The problem is, you do not really have an answer.

Most of the training, you feel like you are stumbling around in the dark. You are not sure what is working and what is not. It feels like a long never-ending tunnel.

Maybe you came here to find some answers. Maybe you are hoping I will tell you the problem with those videos.

But I won't.

There is just so much muscle anatomy that comes into play that it takes a long time to understand the full nuances those tutorials carry.

What I can do is to lay out common pitfalls and right expectations. So you can keep coming back to the guide as you develop your skills, and adjust your steering.

Here is a big fat guideline of how to pop.

Table of Contents

1. What is Pop
2. Dancer's Benefits
3. Pop by Body Parts
4. Max Out, Zero Down
5. What if You Can't Really Do It

What is pop?

Popping is about hitting your muscle on a particular rhythm. Acky, one of the legendary poppers, said you would pop with a visualization of an instrument. You are using your whole body as a drum just like vocals, guitars, etc. That makes pop extremely versatile in expressing your musicality.

Poppers achieve this magic by flexing their muscle and relaxing instantaneously. That action looks so sharp that it gives an illusion their whole body is beating the music.

Although popping genre came out with funk era of the 80s, the rising popularity of EDM pop like ChainSmokers has made popping relevant. We cannot ignore the still relevant Dubstep either. Pop is capable of expressing that heavy electric blasting tone as well as rapid ticking sound well.

Dancer's Benefits

Finally Call Yourself a Popper

Can you tell the difference between popping and robot dance? The answer lies in the fact that robot is a style of movement, whereas pop is the action you are hitting your muscle. Of course poppers move around too. They can do robot move, and still be poppers. On the other hand, robot dancers are not called poppers unless they master the pop. In the dance scene, popping is often used as an umbrella term that captures broad categories of dancers.

Pop is the foundation of popping genre that sits below styles. There are boogaloo, robot, waving, and tutting of which poppers accompany in their move. Without popping their muscles, they become boogalar, robot dancer, waver, tutter, etc. That is fine if that is the style you are going for. It becomes a problem if you decide to enter the popping battle. There is no chance you will ever win a single round without a single pop.

This also means that if you are incorporating pop, you do not need to follow any of those styles. You can invent your own type of steps, and still win a popping contest as long as muscle hit is there. That is the flexibility of popping genre.

Internal Rhythm and Groove

You will be tested your rhythmical sense with pop. As demonstrated above, pop is good for expressing drum-like beats. The conventional role of a drum is to set the baseline of the music. Pop is similar. It works as the central force to bind your various steps into one single piece.

A typical song is organized into 8 beats. Without organization, music becomes noise. Even though you may catch scratch sound or skip several beats, your musicality is always following the imaginary base.

Having the internal rhythm is good. It gives you the groove necessary to give an order in your dance routine. Otherwise, your choreography becomes a set of random movements. A good metaphor is a metronome. Pianists use it to assist themselves to get back on a track of music.

To see more about internal rhythm, check out this Cothkoo's routine from 5:38. It is so bold of them to go into the routine without music. Cothokoo can do it because they are both confident in their ability of internal rhythms.

Lasts Forever

How long are you planning to dance? If you are like me, it is too depressing to practice on skills that only peaks shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the lifestyle of professional athletes tells us that our maximum physical capability has a short span of the 20s. Street dancing is no exception. Your anaerobic muscle simply cannot keep up.

To the contrary, pop muscle is different. It seems to build on top of the other. Popin' Pete, the founding father of popping, in his 50s. Even though the sharpness of his steps has stagnated over the years (please keep this between me and you), his pop muscle is stronger than ever. Just like good Whiskey, aging works like magic dust on your muscle, making it better and better.

Pop by Body Parts

Pop is about your muscles. For beginners, it is important to understand which muscle should be working. Please trace down each part carefully with your own hand before getting into specific training.

Arms

There are 3 kinds of arm muscles: triceps, biceps, and forearms.

Triceps

It is the muscle that is back of your arms just underneath the shoulders.

First, let's confirm which muscle you will be using. From the relaxed position, put your hand on the back of the other arm, and slowly extend that arm straight. You will feel the lump as you try to extend the arm further beyond.

This muscle can be practiced by holding your arms straight in the air. And, twist both of your elbows up towards the ceiling. Relax instantly after.

You will be using triceps pop, when hands are extended straight. The direction can be forward, backward, upward. The most basic form of fresno comes with triceps practice. This part is the strongest of all arm pop.

_{(Source: Dance Style Poppin’)}

Biceps

If you have exercised dumbbell lifting, this is the muscle you have been using. You see the lump easily with arm wrestling too.

Practicing this muscle is straightforward. You can do it by holding out your arms horizontally to your shoulders, and bend your arms at 90 degrees. Then flex your muscle and relax. Again, flex and relax.

You will be using biceps in a position where your arms are bent, like when tutting or puppetting. This pop is quite adaptable to most movements.

_{(Source: Dance Style Poppin’)}

Forearms

Along with biceps, you will be frequently using forearms. They go hand in hand.

The muscle can be further divided into the bottom and upper parts of your forearms.

You can experience this muscle by holding your hand in a relaxed position, and slowly bending your wrist upwards. As it reaches towards the end, you will feel the top of your forearm flex. Likewise, you can bend the wrist downward to feel the bottom of your forearm tense.

Even though they have smaller power compared to triceps and biceps, I find forearms useful in ticking, as it is easier to control in fine detail.

_{(Source: Dance Style Poppin’)}

Training Methods

For different practices in each of the 3 muscles, check out this Kid Boogie's tutorial. My suggestion on top of his is to slow down more in the beginning. Pop only once every 8 beats for example. Also, make sure you cover awkward position. Here is some challenge for you:

• Hit triceps with your hands reaching the ceiling.
• Hit biceps with your arms pulled backward.
• Hit forearms with your hands flipped upside.

The more versatile your hit position of arms become, the more variety of poses and movements you can pursue.

Tips

In the beginning, it is tempting to use your shoulders to magnify your pop effect. But, that is a bad habit. Your dance styles will be always messy and disturbed by the moving shoulders. Instead, you should be building the arm muscle for the power.

Another thing to watch out for is musicality. Even if you have good hearing, the mere act of flexing muscle tends to push you faster than the music. You have to hit on the beat. Listen to the music carefully, and stay on beats.

Neck

You will find neck pop counterintuitive at first since the muscle around your neck is accustomed to supporting only the weight of the head and not to draw in instantaneous force. Nevertheless, if you can pull off the neck, pop energy from your legs will be contained within your body. That will give you deep pop leaving the audience with heavy explosive sensation.

There are 4 directions you can go with the neck. For each side, you can practice it by pressing your hand against the head and not letting your head move. Keep pushing. You will feel the tension in your neck resisting that force. That tension is your neck pop.

Front neck (platysma muscle) is from your chin all the way down to the clavicle. You can visualize it with dog barking woof.

Side neck (sternocleidomastoid muscle) runs from beneath of your ears all the way down to bones.

Back neck (Upper Trapezius) runs from right behind your skull down to shoulders.

Training Methods

Once you get used to building the tension with your hand, let's find the click point.

Each side should be done separately as each has distinct muscle function. For the front, attach your head to the chest. For the side, attach your head to the shoulders. For the back, attach your head to the back. As your head reaches the limit, you should find the click point.

_{(Source: Dance Style Poppin’)}

Tips

Most poppers seem to incorporate only one side at a time. For example, they hit the right neck as they boogaloo swing into the right side, and hit the back neck as they fresno. Please adapt it with your own swag.

Also, it is the problem that I can share with people with bad postures. After I spend a whole day working in an office or studying at a desk, the back and side of my neck become so stiff that neck pop barely works. If that is your case, try massaging your neck a little bit before practice. It will make neck pop easier.

Legs

Most explanations of leg pop are simplified. The mechanism is in fact straightforward, but it has to be practiced with caution since it can hurt your knees in the long run.

Generally, there is backward and forward. Although these are the 99% of pops you see out there, there are other types like sticking out leg pop and rotation leg pop.

Backward

You will be using backward legs as you step, walk, and move. The mechanism is similar to the natural body movement.

This muscle is not as well defined as the other pops. It ranges from thigh especially on top of your knee bones and muscle just underneath your hip on the back (adductor longus muscle). Your calf (gastrocnemius muscle) will come into play as well, but it comes naturally with your improvement. So I would not worry about it too much.

To experience the thigh, bend your body and try pulling your kneepan upwards. If you feel it twitching upwards a little, that is the knee muscle you are supposed to be popping.

For the hip, stand up straight and try straightening your leg from the bent position. You will feel the abductor muscle becoming tense. It is important to differentiate it from squeezing your buttock. Try focusing on one leg at time, as they should be separate muscle.

It is the most common leg pop employed by poppers, designed by founding popping group, electric boogaloos. It is quite versatile to incorporate it into your steps.

_{(Source: VincaniTV)}

Forward

Some dancers like to mix in forward legs. While this body composition makes it hard to walk around, you will be able to show heavy weight deep pop. It is often accompanied by robot style, where your legs are more stationary.

To experience, you stand out in the straight position and lean your weight on one leg. Then pop out your leg by bending your knee suddenly. The feeling is you are dropping your waist down, clicking it with your knee. The functioning muscle is similar to the backward pop.

Training Methods

You will be doing 4 positions in a set:

1. Stand on left leg: pop, pop
2. Stand on both legs: pop, pop
3. Stand on right leg: pop, pop
4. Stand on both legs: pop, pop
5. Repeat

First stand on a shoulder length, and follow that 4 positions repeatedly. The whole set should complete in 8 counts. When standing, you are popping both of your legs.

In the whole process, your height never changes. Your head is looking straight without moving up or down. That is the sign you are relying on the muscle pop properly rather than bouncing.

Once you get used to it, try leg popping while walking. Put your whole weight on the stepping foot either forward or backward. Keep a good posture especially around your waist and shoulders. It is awkward in the beginning, but you should be able to do it as long as you are aware of weight position. This will help you pop using the entire floor.

Tips

There are 2 points you should be cautious about.

First of all, please do not stick up your waist. You will look like a humping monkey! Many beginners do that because they want to make their pop look bigger. Hip seems to be an easy place to flex for everyone (I am not sure why:P). To prevent it, you might find it easier to pop with the whole weight on one leg. It is okay to skip popping both legs simultaneously until your pop muscle builds.

Second, leg pop can hurt your knee joint badly if you slum it. As you gain experience, your thigh muscle learns to prevent your knees from straightening completely. Until then, you need to let the power come from the arms, and not the legs. Experiment doing leg pop with your legs wide opened. It is opened to the extent you can almost touch the floor with hands. You will find it impossible to slum your legs. That much amount of power is necessary for the leg pop.

_{(Source: VincaniTV)}

Other Muscles

We have talked about arms, neck, and legs. Those are the 3 fundamentals every popper must do, as is taught in Popping Pete workshop. Regardless of your style, it is a good idea to practice those 3 if you want to be popping.

Having said that, you can technically pop anywhere that comes with muscles. Even though most well-known dancers use their chests and stomachs, they are secondary and supporting in its role as the power source. The main power always comes from your arms, followed by neck and legs. Please read the followings for your optional training.

Chest

You might visualize chest pop as the move where you put your hand on top and bring out your chest (I think of the scene from Step Up 2).

But that is chest pop in hiphop genre, which is equivalent to popping your back muscle. Instead, chest pop in popping is about flexing your chest muscle instantly and relaxing. There is no moving shoulder or back. Many people misunderstand this difference.

Pop happens at the top of your chest (pectoralis major muscle). You can experience this by holding out your right hand straight in the air. And swing it rapidly towards the left. You can feel your chest twitch.

To practice, hold your wrist in front, and try to push your arms against each other. Once you flex enough to feel your muscle tense, relax. Then, flex and relax, flex and relax. I like this method, since grabbing your wrist makes it hard to cheat on with your arm pop.

Chest pop is useful in animation style where you want to show your funky trunk in a standing position.

_{(RisingDanceSchool)}

Stomach

Along with neck, this is one of the most counterintuitive pop. It took me a long time to understand.

Stomach pop is actually the top 2 parts of 6 packs just below the rib (rectus abdominis muscle).

To experience, stand up straight and breath in air slowly. You will feel your stomach move up if you concentrate. Now, inhale instantly and push up your muscle. That movement is stomach pop.

One practice method I learned from my old teacher is to have someone push your lower back right behind your stomach. By resisting the force, you will be naturally using stomach muscle.

Once you gain the knack, this pop is quite handy in lending you the power. It looks like your pop is coming from within your internal body.

_{(Source: RisingDanceSchool)}

Max Out, Max Down

Pop is different from workout even though they are both the muscle we are talking about. Although I used the term flexing throughout the post for convenience, the right mindset is controlling your nerve. You are sending the signal to the muscle for a better control.

The advantage is you can attain hard pop regardless of your muscle mass. It does not matter if you are a skinny girl. It is about flexing and relaxing your muscle instantly. Your body goes from 100% to 0%, 100% to 0% and so on.

To do that, being relaxed by default is the key to succeess. It is harder than it sounds. As practice goes, you tend to stay flexed and tense. It is important to shake off and calm your muscle at every hit. Pick a slow song to give enough rest period in-between beats. Massaging out your muscle is effective too.

Having said the importance of relaxing, you need to bring your 100% power as well. If you are not sweating from your pop practice, that means you are slacking off with only 30% or 50% of power.

It is the same as running. To be able to run longer, you have to reach your limit first. Likewise, your pop will never be big without full initiative. It is 100% and 0%.

I know, it sounds a lot to comprehend. I suggest you practice pop in two parts. The first half is all about popping as strong as possible. Give in all you have got. Just like warm up, you have to wake up your muscle. The muscle will acknowledge the potential of how far it can extend. Then, only in the second half, you will focus on relaxed, cleaner, on-beat training.

What if You Can't Really Do It

There is no need to be discouraged. It is not a skill that you can master after one day of practice. It does not matter how hard you try. The truth is it took me 3 years to see the impact of my pop. It is then I am finally able to impress people with the hit alone. Until then, it was more like bubbling.

Does that mean you should stop popping until you master pop?

No, not at all.

You can still amplify the effect with dime stop. And, with the small pop, you can practice and perform the moves with animation, boogaloo, glides, etc. By the time your muscle becomes strong, you will combine those techniques with pop, and blow people's mind.

One thing I like about pop training is its quietness. You can literally do it anywhere even in the crowd like at a shopping mall. People will hardly notice you.

Pop here, and pop there.

The most important thing is to have fun. Take a long run game on this, just like a workout. Eventually, it will come back to you with a big payoff.

How often do you watch your own practice?

Looking back at yourself in the video feels really terrible. It is just so much better in your head.

But to get better, you need to face the reality. No one is born with Michael Jackson swag.

It sucked, but in the end it made me a better dancer.

The real learning happens when things are hard. I dragged my feet to the floor and worked on my move repeatedly, trying hard to ignore the doubt I am never a good fit.

Performing knowing you look like crap takes certain courage. It is easy to shy away from dancing altogether. The worse is to give up, after blaming on your poor talents.

Let me give you a relief here. The hardest part of your dance journey is the beginning phase. It is when you are transitioning from the layman to the title of a dancer.

It is like learning a bicycle. You fall many times in the beginning, but once you figure out the knack, it is impossible to forget no matter how old you become.

Once you have built the foundation, you will look extraordinary.

Today I want to share the motivation tips that helped me through in the early days.

1. Appreciate the Small Wins

You must remember the time you have cracked a joke at a party. You do not have to be a professional comedian to make someone smile. It just feels nice to get a positive reaction from your close friends.

Dancing is the same.

Show your friends and family what you have learned. There is always an entertainment value. I am sure they will give you encouraging response. There is something nice about people enjoying music so much that makes us smile.

Of course, you can aim for the 100 million view YouTube videos, but for now let's appreciate the little happiness.

2. Build on Your Small Wins

Once you know the taste of friendly cheers, you will want to move to the next step. Focus on the small wins to keep you motivated and practicing.

How about signing up for a school performance? Cheering the crowd at a small nightclub?

The goal is to retain the psychological rewards from your ability in doing the stuff most people cannot.

The more small wins you accumulate, the more confident you will become in each time you decide to practice dancing.

3. Get Inspired

In my early years, YouTube was still a new kid on the block. That was an era, you would be lucky to find 360p quality. All videos were posted by amateurs. But there were always 1 or 2 dancers everyone watched and followed. Now after 10 years, there are countless number of dancers on YouTube and they are constantly uploading new quality videos.

Regardless of genres, pick your favorite top. Write down why you like them.

When you connect the dots, you will be willing to keep up with the practice.

4. Look Back on Yourself

Have you been filming your practice? If not, start filming today. It's the best approach to see how far you have come through.

Videos are so cheap to save now; filming does not have to be only for the special moment. Film it anyway, delete it later.

I usually use my MacBook Air's Photo Booth for filming. With a modern computer, you will be able to save 100 hours of practice easily (about 36GB).

What the heck, get a tripod and start filming infinite amount of hours on Google Photo.

Once it spins off over the long period, only pick one favorite video for the month and delete the rest. Then, you will be able to follow your growth and be proud.

5. Look Back on Other People

Just as you progress, the famous dancers evolve as well. Seeing other people's struggle with the styles, and break out of their shells are nothing but a human story.

On YouTube, search for your favorite dancers. If they are world class, they must have at least 5 years of media exposure. YouTube doesn't give you an older than time filter. But you can just enter the year you want to look into on the search bar. Something like "hiphop dance 2010". Read into the YouTube comments as well.

There must be a time where nobody has given them credits, and how they grow to be the fearless monsters. If they can, why can't you?

6. Go Back to Your Root

You must have that moment you decided you wanted to start learning dance. As we get carried away with busy life and tough practice, that hot feeling quickly fades away.

Was it a movie? Music video? Street performance? Festival Stage?

Once you recall that time, the passion and dream slowly come back to you. You will want to pat yourself for taking the first step.

7. Try Out Different Genres

Do you always focus on mastering one style of dance? If so, it is time to explore.

Every genre has its own moods, tempo, and body positioning even if the song is the same.

Doing upbeat electric house all the time? Go with mellow funk popping. Doing happy face locking all the time? Go with dark Drake hiphop.

Aside from broadening your perspectives, you will be surprised to realize how transferable your skills are.

8. Welcome Failure

Do you believe in doing the clean move is the success to improve your dancing?

If so, I worry about your chance to expand beyond your comfort zone. Executing a move perfectly is good to impress people, but we are talking about practice here.

Actually, looking crap is good. That means you are adding your own arrangement, and reaching out your boundary. You have to embrace your challenging attitude and ignore those who laugh at you sometimes.

The more you fail, the more you will succeed.

9. Laugh at Your Bad Day

No matter how hard you practice, you cant avoid having a good and bad day. Your move looks uncreative and repetitive. You feel your legs weak on a certain day. That is okay. We are not robots after all.

Many things affect your dance condition. Not only the physical constraint, but your stress level can impact your musicality. Here is the good news: the opposite is also true. You will be rockin rollin on other days.

The worst is hurting yourself from forcing out. When you are not feeling it on that day, simply walk away, promising yourself to come back tomorrow.

10. Buy New Outfits

It sounds materialistic, but let's face it. It boosts your motivation. Imagine someone gives you a slick classic suede puma for your dance practice? You will be singing into the studio with a big smile on your face.

It can be shoes, t-shirts, pants, etc. Pick your favorite brands.

I find myself absolutely cannot practice without a hat or headcover. Having a superstitious item works as a trigger to start today's practice. If you lack those, it is time to hit the shops. At the end of the day, they will be good backups for your stage performance as well.

11. Switch Your Practice Methods

Are you only practicing in a dance studio? Then the type of your practice is directed towards steps and choreography. Although those are great at increasing the variety of your steps, dance practice involves many types of training. To name a few:

• Isolation
• Freestyle
• Drilling
• Rhythm Execution
• Imitation

Every training has its pros and cons: body control, artistic creativity, dynamism, musicality, spatial memory, etc. There must be also your favorite ones and the not-so favorite. If you get bored at one type, try out other training methods. Shake it up!

12. Play the Long Game

All the great people I have met have positioned dance as their lifestyle. They sometimes disappear, but always come back in a few months.

At the end of the day, dancing is about having fun. You want to be enjoying.

Busy with school exams? Started a new job?

Fine. Nobody would blame you for living a busy life. Take weeks or even months off without dancing, as long as you come back to it later. Otherwise, you will be missing out the enormous pride you will have accumulated in years ahead through such an amazing hobby.

We Are in the Same Boat

These are the 12 things I always come back to. We all face discouragements, whether it is internal or external. There is no iron man in the real life.

If you are reading this blog, your motivation is already proven. You just need to keep at it.

Believe in yourself.

Last Note on Motivation

Some of you may start dancing to lose weight. That is perfectly a fine reason. Dancing can be both aerobic and anaerobic exercise after all.  

A bonus item for you would be to record your weight frequently and visualize your progress easily. This digital scale by penpho lets you connect with Apple Watch and Fitbit and makes visualization of your weight easy. Recommended for anyone who has difficulty keeping up with the motivation.

You must have heard of this step. Even Seen it. The long-running popularity of this step is one of the winner legacies from the 80s' along with moonwalk, windmill, and wave.

There are many movements that dance beginners can learn easily in hiphop.

Even at this site, we cover many steps from different genres, but running man is the first to be learned by those who are trying to learn hiphop.

This is relatively an easy step. You can practice at home, and even beginners should have fun learning this technique. At the same time, you can arrange it with many other steps.

Regardless of kids or adults, you can learn the step and the trick by the following method.

Everyone Knows

When a certain dance move becomes a social phenomenon from its massive popularity, it is called fad dance.

Reason for the Long-Run Popularity

Running man is quite a famous one. It even has a Wikipedia page. According to the encyclopedia, it was first popularized by Janet Jackson in 1989, and later used by MC Hammer. Even as recent as 2016, running man challenge was popularized.

*Korean TV show Running Man, which dominates the Google search results as of 2017, has nothing to do with our Running Man.

Its long history of popularity has a reason. It is easy to practice, and anyone can do it from young to old. It could look quite comical too depending on how you do it.

_{(Source: Giphy)}

Party Trick

If you tell even 1 of your friends that you started dancing, it is guaranteed that he will surely tell people in public, that you are a dancer. It is a public call out to your improvised performance. It can be at a house party, open space bar, Christmas party, corporate social night, etc.

For that request, I usually get with simple wave and moonwalk. The key to make everyone happy is a trick that everyone knows. Running man will certainly uprise the atmosphere.

How

Practice Method

How to do running man is really simple. As the name goes, you should look like you are running. You run on the spot. Stand facing the front, lift up your right leg, and drop it to the front as you slide back the left leg. Repeat with the other leg. If you have played hopscotch in childhood, the rhythm of steps is similar, except you open your legs vertically instead of horizontally.

Hands can be natural like you are running. When practicing first, you do not need to think hard about it.

You should repeat this on the spot for 1 song.

Point Form Summary

1. Lift up your right leg
2. Drop it in front, as you slide left leg backward
3. Repeat

Application: Play With Hands

Puller - front & back

The hands are positioned in the front and are pulled back, starting from the elbow. This is the most popular form of running man that you see on TV.

_{(Source: Howcast)}

Catcher - up & down

You put your hands high as if you are grabbing something in the air, and pull it downward. This is the rare style, and you will be able to stand out.

_{(Source: RealDancers)}

Chicken Hands - side & down

Have you played the chicken dance? It is exactly like that. Your hands start from the bent position and are pushed straight downward.

_{(Source: RisingDanceSchoolCh)}

Ninja Pose (static)

This is the classic move. Simply hold one hand in the front and put the other behind. Only switch the hand when switching your leg.

_{(Source: DanceKizombaTV)}

Tips: Stay in One Spot

If you drop down your leg straight from your body, you will slip backward gradually. That would look less powerful, and make incorporating running man into a more advanced technique like turning difficult.

It is better to visualize it as a step forward. If you are aiming for dynamic impression, step even further. Your body naturally falls low, and the up/down will be a good visual contrast.

Running Man is Versatile

Among the basic steps of hiphop, there are many techniques that use this 16 beat rhythm such as charleston and brooklyn, and there are many elements that you can learn from running man. It is simple and straightforward move to begin with too.

It can be said about dancing in general, but hiphop is fun. To move your body with music is exhilarating. We live in a stressful society. Everyone needs to relax somewhere. If you feel the need to go wild, this site is for you. Feel free to come and visit anytime.

You feel like doing the same move over and over. What is missing?

Imitation is an important part of human education. Babies spend their entire baby life imitating parents from their language to facial expression.

As we grow up, however we forget how to do this, under the false claim of authenticity.

It is a powerful technique nonetheless. When you start out dancing, you generally follow the tutorials of basic steps. But you can hardly call yourself a dancer just with that. It is true even if you repeat them a million times. You have to combine them. No instructor gives you the specific instruction. To step up from the beginner to intermediate level, an imitation will give you a great advantage in overcoming the learning plateau. This is where you build your originality and style.

Today, I will cover the benefits of imitation for dancers, and later talk about the tips and methods to boost your dance skill.

What It Means to Imitate in Dancing

Imitation follows 3 steps: observe, analyze, and experiment.

1. Observe: Look at the move of other dancers either in reality or through videos.
2. Analyze: Pick a specific set of movement and memorize.
3. Experiment: Do the move yourself, first slowly and later with music.

The 2 and 3 go back and forth. The steps you have analyzed may not go as smoothly as expected in the experiment. No need to panic. Simply go back and rewatch the move. Trial and error. For this perspective, modeling after videos will be easier since the playback feature will let you watch it 100 times without feeling guilty.

Benefit of Imitation

Increase Move Repertoires

Throughout your dance lifecycle, there are times you feel you are doing the same steps over and over. There is no creativity, and boredom come to your mind. You need to absorb new moves or generate new ones by combining the existing. That is when imitation helps.

By following experienced dancers, you will gain the years of accumulated knowledge at an instance. As long as your physical can keep up, the variety of moves you can do will increase dramatically.

Memorize Choreography Faster

Have you watched So You Think You Can Dance? The performance happens every week, and the participants must pick a different genre in that period. You only get 7 days to memorize and refine the choreography. It is insane.

Aside from the dance foundation, The dancers are asked for the ability to digest the routine as quickly as possible. It is another word for imitation skill. Only once they have learned the movement, they can work on other elements such as mood, sharpness, facial, etc.

With this skill, you will be also able to take on the performance request quickly and with confidence. The showcase notice of 7 days will be a piece of cake.

Relation with Body Awareness

In normal life, we only walk, sit, and stand. People rarely pay attention to how far up your elbow goes. And without targeted training, it is difficult to know how the specific parts of your body move. By mirroring another dancer's move from the face down to the toes, you will gain a detailed understanding of how each part of your body functions and can be used to express the music.

Recommended Methods

Remember by 8 Counts

Most modern songs happen in a multiplication of 8 counts. When you browse through the video or someone's move, it is easy to get swamped by emotion. The entire video is often too long to absorb without getting you overwhelmed. No matter how impressive the dancer is, it is important to keep your analytical brain awake to digest the choreography.

By counting 8 beats, you can keep your attention on the task. It also helps in breaking down complex move in smaller and more digestible pieces. The whole continuation becomes more manageable. Depending on how dense the performance is, you might need to count it by 4.

Divide and Conquer

Magicians play the trick by directing your attention away from the spoiler point. The dance performance is similar. Performers control your eye flow to the place the move looks the most impressive. If you are watching dancing, your focus is constantly moving up and down.

When learning to imitate, you need to observe every part of the body. Focus your attention on the lower body first. Then do the upper.

The lower body is just legs. It is more physically challenging rather than detail oriented because you have to keep up with the speed and the position. Start with counts only, and get comfortable with the beats. Then move onto the song, which can be original or the slower.

The upper body has more areas to look out for. There are faces, shoulders, chest, hips, hands, and fingers. An extra point goes if you can see their facial expression as well (Yes, mood is a part of dancing). Carefully analyze the move.

Tips

Use your Time Efficiently

If you are like most dancers, you are consuming hours of dance videos either at home or on commute. Instead of passively enjoying the performance passage, make a simple note on the seconds of the videos when you encounter something impressive. It makes it easier to come back in the experiment stage.

Pick the Right Model

If you are learning from YouTube dancers, try to pick dancers who are slightly better than you. Famous dancers are amazing to gaze at. As long as they are the types who execute basic moves well, that would be okay. Problems come when you go after the super unique type dancers.

Although all moves can be traced back to basic moves of that genre, the degree of originality implemented by that dancer varies.

If he mixes the move with his strong taste and style, it will be difficult. You might find it discouraging from the impossible task.

In contrast, intermediate dancers are just moving out of the basics (assuming they have good foundations). You will be able to digest it better especially if you are starting out.

Remember Dance Is Art

The difference between sports and dancing is the presence of an artistic expression. You have to infuse taste into your move. While imitation is a good way to expand your vocabulary and learn the move beyond your current level, it can put negative impact on your artistic expression in the beginning.

That is why it is important to repeat the imitating move until it gets stored in your muscle memory. It can take 3-7 days of drilling depending on a person. After that, you can add your own originality however much you desire. At that point, the move has truly become yours.

Move On

Sometimes you have imitated the move, but it still looks nothing like of his. There is no need to be disappointed. That dancer has been refining that move for years and has it sugar coated with groove and nuances. You will get there someday.

It is important to understand the purpose of this exercise. You are focusing on the movement. It is okay to move on to the next move and come back to this later on. You will feel the improvement as long as you do other dance foundation: isolation and musicality.

Imitation Steps Up Your Game of Dancing

We have covered various merits of imitation for dancers.

Imitation sounds like a copycat, but it is an important learning method. As long as you remember to put your own style on top of the learned move, you will never lose your originality. The best of all, anyone can start this exercise even on a bus. Let's pick your favorite dancers and start incorporating their steps into yours!

Everyone needs to look after your own body. Losing weight and getting into a fine shape is everyone's ideal lifestyle for many.

Dancing seems like a popular choice here. It surely is a fun exercise that involves heavy sweating. We can be proud of the new hobby as well. But, attending blindly to a dance class will not achieve your goal faster.

It is important to understand the effects different types of dancing has on our body in relation to the energy system.

Everyone knows about aerobic training, but how does it apply to dancing? When does dance become anaerobic?

Today I will talk about the aerobic and anaerobic nature of different dance genres, and the way we can maximize our goal of achieving a healthy body.

2 Types of Exercises

Aerobic

Aerobic activity puts light pressure for an extended period of time on the body. Your body makes the energy from mixing the oxygen with glucose or fat from the blood. The exercise is moderate enough that talking with people is possible. Examples include walking and jogging.

The training was first developed by astronauts to train their cardiopulmonary endurance. But the benefit known for everyday people is its weight loss potential. It burns fat. The caveat is the effect only kicks in after 20 minutes.

Anaerobic

Anaerobic activity puts heavy pressure on the instantaneous period of time. The requirement is so strong and fast that aerobic mode cannot keep up. Your muscle eats the glucose stored inside without any oxygen. The peak lasts for only about 2 minutes with lots of pain. Muscle ache is common. An example is sprint and gym workout.

The biggest benefit is muscle building. It tears down the muscle tissue, and in the recovery process, the muscle becomes stronger. It also has a positive impact on losing weight. After the anaerobic exercise, your body releases various hormones, which will increase your metabolism. Your energy usage increases for a period of time.

Mix

A sport is rarely one or the other. It usually shifts back and forth. For example, when you start jogging, it feels easy in the beginning. You can still make a small talk with your friends. As time passes, your face turns red and it becomes hardly breathable. Talking with a friend feels like a luxury. At that point, it has transitioned from aerobic to anaerobic exercise.

Dance can be aerobic and anaerobic

If you type in dance & (your city), I bet there are wide varieties of results: youth and elderly, theatrical and underground, improvised and performance, etc. People use dance meaning 2 completely different things.

So I focus on the dance you can start today by signing up at the studios. There are 3 types:

1. Urban
2. Ballroom
3. Fitness

Urban

Characteristics

Urban dance follows one instructor in front of mirrors. It is often called street dance. People may be working on a big performance, but there are many drop-in classes offered as well.

Examples

Hiphop, House, Jazz, Locking, Breakdance, Tap.

Breathability

Depending on the instructors, but you will likely come out flooded in sweat dying for water. It is an intense activity that executes fast routine into compact 30-60 seconds. Unless the class is for kids or specifically for grown-ups, it is definitely anaerobic.

Ballroom

Characteristics

Ballroom is usually social, involving 2 dancers. The class is often divided between girls and boys since each side has a different step. The first half is done separately, and they come and dance together in the second half. The speed of the music is often moderate.

Examples

Salsa, Cha Cha, Tango, Swing.

Breathability

Most ballroom dance involves stand up position, and the move does not go hard. Unless you are a man and an expert or a woman and dancing with an expert, your body placement is relatively stable. It can be both aerobic and anaerobic, depending on the music and lead. For beginners, it is safe to assume it is aerobic exercise.

Fitness

Characteristics

The classes fall under the Dance category in fitness clubs. It often incorporates various dance genres from urban to cultural. Since the focus is on losing weight and shaping up, it moves every line of your body in every direction. It requires less technicality and is more beginner friendly. Pop songs are the popular choice for.

Examples

Cardio, Zumba, Capoeira.

Breathability

Even if it is advised as "Intense", the fitness dance fitness dance is an aerobic activity. The purpose is to burn fat. The exercise is non-stop with little break, and you will be sweating the whole time. The type of sweat is different from hard to breath urban dance one. As you get used to the movement, the exercise becomes generally easier.

Dancing to Lose Weight

Best Combination

If your end goal is to lose your weight, it is important you figure out different types of dancing to achieve your goal. It is popular misconception that only aerobic is useful in losing weight. While aerobic exercise burns your fat directly, the anaerobic builds muscle. That will increase your metabolism in the end. The best workout menu is the mixture.

Ideal Training Menu

Given that you are confident in your skill, ballroom dance seems to fit our purpose the most. You can play fast and slow.

For others, it is recommended to alternate between fitness and urban dance. The rapidity of urban dance gives adequate pressure to your muscle"). But muscle only grows during the recovery period. You need to rest from the urban dance. So on the next day, go for a less intense fitness dance. In this period, focus on breathing. You could go for the social reasons too. Being able to talk is important for the aerobic purpose.

It will be good in switching the mood, keeping up with motivation. Experiencing different genres of dance is good in increasing your body awareness as well.

Consider DVD

If all you need is aerobic exercise, following DVD at home is a good alternative as well. The goal here is to sweat, not to get better at dancing. Working out at home is always time efficient, and does not ask for the place you live.

YouTube is good too, but there are not many long ones. It often comes with multiple ads in the middle. You want to do aerobic activity in one go so DVD is a better option.

Only if you want to ask for technicality or a boost in motivation, go for a lesson.

Dance as Lifestyle

As we covered, dancing can take in many forms. If you are lucky and live in the big city, it will be easy to find any type of dance studios and fitness clubs. Small town people can always go for the home option.

The best benefit of dancing is it is fun. The music and atmosphere raise so much energy. You can run outside and do a push up for the same exercise effect. But dancing gives you so much more. It stimulates not only your muscle but also your eyes and ears. You will feel so refreshed afterward. Let's aim for the healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally.

Last Note on Weight Loss

Keeping up with your motivation is the hardest obstacle to lose weight. We give up all the time. One of the most effective way is to record your weight frequently and measure the progress. This digital scale by penpho lets you connect with Apple Watch and Fitbit and makes visualization of your weight easy. Recommended for anyone who wants to step up the game.

Breakdance has potential to turn your life into creative and lively one, borrowing the words from the 67 year old break dancer. But it is not only psychology. There is a side benefit in break dancing to our physical body through muscle building.

It turns out that breakdance is a natural fit to some of the workout methods, and train the specific parts of your muscle.

Today, I will introduce the different parts of muscles that are affected by break dancing. If you are someone who goes to work out already, you can use this to your advantage in how to use dancing as your complimentary strategy.

Muscle and Health Benefit

First I want to touch on what it means to build your muscle and its potential benefits to your health.

Benefit 1: Dieting

The anaerobic nature of muscle building exercise releases human growth hormone called anabolic peptide. That in turn increases your metabolism energy, which helps burn your body fat.

Compared to aerobic exercise like running, this anaerobic workout burns energy even while sleeping. It will be more effective while you are on a diet.

Benefit 2: Mood Maintenance

Other than the growth hormone, your body releases various chemicals, including serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, etc. They are responsible for your pleasure and happiness.

Benefit 3: Attractive

Of course, muscle has big impacts on your appearance. For men, the larger muscle around pectoralis major, that pumps up your chest. The activity itself also releases testosterone, which boosts your attractiveness. For women, upper arms would be shaped. It also helps in keeping your posture straight, where you to look more confident.

Breakdance and Muscle

Breakdance's Natural Fit

While most dance genres involve stand up position, breakdance takes advantage of 4 areas. First it starts at the top just like any other dance. Then they transition into the floor move. Power move is used as an accent. Finally they finish the session with a freeze. People can move back and forth between the four, but this is the most common breakdance flow.

Compared to standing, the floor move, power move, and freezes are way more demanding of your physical strength. It will build solid muscle as you train those techniques.

Examples

You build your muscle by applying pressure in an anaerobic mode. That workout condition fits naturally to break dancing. I want to demonstrate it from the 2 of the basic moves: six steps and chair freeze.

Six steps puts your weight on your knees. When you swap in and out, your weight will lie on one of your knees. That requires strength. Depending on the style, you might persuade six steps that are more dynamics and far reaching. In that case, you will be relying more on your forearms and fingertips to support your whole body.

Chair freeze requires holding your entire body on one your. It is not only that. It also asks your back and inner muscle to pull your legs up in the air.

Advancement in Breakin = Stronger Muscle

The above examples are basic moves that are relatively easy. As long as you are physically fit, it is possible to do it even without prior breakin experience.

But there are more advanced techniques like windmill, thomas, air flare, etc. They require complex body coordination, fullying utilizing inner muscle, arm strength and leg control.

The higher levels of breakdance skills you master through, the stronger your muscle becomes.

Affected Muscle

Here is a list of muscles that are affected the most in technical terms.

• Floor Move: quadriceps muscle
• Power Move: triceps brachii muscle, adductor muscle
• Freeze: abdominal oblique muscle, latissimus dorsi muscle

Breakdance and Long Term Health

Muscle is correlated with long term health regulating your metabolism and hormone balance. You can achieve those health benefits through breakdancing.

If you already do a workout, it will be complementary to your training. Break dancing gives you not only joy and excitement but also the buildup in your muscle. Let's spice up your life with break dancing.