A good amount of my early years in bboying was spent in Blaze's garage in Piscataway, New Jersey. He had sessions there all the time and the place would be bumpin' in the summer with pool parties, BBQ parties, chilling, and sessioning all intermingled. This was around July of '07 during what we called, The Poland Spring BC One. As you can tell, it was a parody of Red Bull's BC One. It was just really a test of how much we've improved throughout the year. I thought that I improved a lot since I competed in Clark's Jam. It's embarrassing to look back on old footage of yourself. You just look at it and go "what the fuck was I thinking when I did that?" and just laugh at it. 

I thought that there was a big improvement from Clark's Jam til then. I couldn't catch a beat for my life and I'm starting to grasp the concept of feeling the music. I never really understood it until I started bboying. Musicality is the most difficult thing to me. It's the essence of bboying and it's something that I still struggle with to this day.

I could have and should have put in more work back then, but I still wasn't in the scene as much as I could have been. I still didn't understand it and wasn't submerged in the culture yet. I still looked at it as just another excuse to hang out with friends and just fuck around a lot. I never really practiced and it really showed in the way that I got down. I didn't start to really practice and pay my dues until Spring '09 of college.

Trigga Tron. Skill de Ill. Chronicling my advancements in bboying. If you don't like what you see, then stop watching.

I had no idea I was getting cocked by all of them until I looked at the camera. HAHA.

EsDie in the mothafuckin' building.

I blogged about this on my other xanga, but I wanted to post it again on this xanga. It's long as fuck. So I don't expect anyone to read it.

I wanted to talk about bboying and what its done for me throughout the last five years of my life. First off, you're gonna think that because I've been rockin' for about five years, I'd be some dope nasty bboy by now. But, you're wrong and I'm not. I haven't even taken this shit seriously until the last year or so. I kind of just looked at this as a hobby of sorts or an excuse to hang out with my friends, but little did I know that it was so much more to me than that.

I always wanted to learn how to bboy, since my freshman year of high school. But, nobody was willing to teach me. I still remember the first time I saw someone get down: It was my first homecoming dance during my freshman year of high school. It was also my first time meeting the Malamugs. I saw Jo getting down and so was Khai and Jan Wes, and it totally blew my mind. I've never seen anything like that before because I was a pretty sheltered kid. I was so intrigued by what was going on that I went to all of them to ask me to teach, but none were willing. Dylan Malamug saw me and being the kind-hearted dude he was decided to try to teach  me something that night and gave up after I couldn't grasp the concept. I also remember meeting Kev that night as well, except I didn't see him getting down. He was just looking for his brothers to take them home.

Over the next couple of years, I would scour the web looking for tips and info on how to bboy and was somewhat of a poser I guess. I had no fucking idea what I was doing and the crowd I was around didn't really help me out as a bboy either. No one really knew what they were doing in my crowd and just complicated things even more. The guy that was trying to teach me couldn't do a full six-step and would always go into a three-step, so that threw off my terminology and the basic concepts for me. I didn't discover youtube until my Junior year, so I couldn't really verify the legitimacy of what my friend was attempting to teach me.

I still remember this day very well, but I wished that I still had pictures of it. This was the first time that I met Ill Skillz and I'll never forget the day that I met the guys that would shape my life for the next five years. I had to do a project for my Graphic Design class towards the end of my sophomore year and I was still obsessed with bboying. I was asking around for some bboys and ran into Jo again. He said that he knew some people and could help me out so long as I would hook them up with the pictures. That was the day that I met Phil in his yellow baseball player-like outfit with his yellow knee-high socks and yellow VIETNAM shirt. I also met Jep that day with his long hair and glasses. I would eventually meet Wa, Givs, Blaze, Pham, Gian, and Julz and re-acquaint myself with Kev and D later on. Way later on I would meet Clark at one of his infamous basement jams. But, that day I saw shit that I haven't ever seen because the guy teaching me didn't know as much about bboying as he thought. I still remember Phil trying out much-mills, Jep's Pike, Jo's elbow airchair, and Jan Wes's forearm hollowback. After that day, I made a connect to the bboy world, met some new friends, and was completely amazed.

I didn't really start getting down with them until my Junior year and I didn't really start going to sessions and practicing until the summer of my Junior year. I still remember the initial craze of bboying in Piscataway High School. EVERYONE, did it. It kind of reminds me of that Common joint, I Used to Love H.E.R.,

"I did her, not just to say I did it/ But I'm committed, but so many niggas hit it./ That she's just not the same lettin' all these groupies do her."

What hip-hop was to Common in that track, bboying is to me now. I'm not going to lie, I started off as one of those groupies, doing it just to do it. But, I stuck to it because of the vibe I got from the crew and the fun I had at all the sessions. Those times rockin' at Phils crib, Julz's basement, and Blaze's garage, and that one night in Bebot's basement are irreplaceable. There will always be times that I will never forget, which leads into my next train of thought: My influences.

I guess you could say my first influence was Dylan Malamug. I don't have any old school footage of him though. But, this was the nigga that put me on that bboying tip in the first place.

My next would have to be Jo, Khai, and Wes. I still remember Khai's dark hammers and crickets and Wes's boomerang flip. I don't have any footage of them either. But, Jo has been a big part in contributing to my bboying. I still remember him drilling me in the six-step with K Wong in the mean halls of Piscataway High School after school. He's the reason why the six-step is such a revered part of my bboy vocabulary. He would drill my ass in just the six step and nothing else until my hands were calloused and red. I still remember looking up to him because of his windmills and that one time he did a jumping elbow air chair on concrete at the Fatima Fair. He's the reason I always wanted elbow airchairs. This is the oldest footage that I could find of Jo that I have. He's the filipino guy in the SDI white-tee. He's gotten a lot nastier since then.

http://centaur.xanga.com/videos/1f1561127780/

That was also the first time I ever really battled at a jam. That was at Clark's Jam. I forget what year though.

This is some more recent footage of Jo battling Illroc at SVA in NYC

The next big influence would have to be Kev aka BBoy Rambo. He's called Rambo because when that nigga battles, he's out for first blood and doesn't stop til you're done. I have always admired the way this cat dances. I love his tops more than anything he has in his arsenal. I also remembered that he's the one who taught me how to toprock as well. I came to him one day and asked him if he could help me out and I still remember him teaching me to Cherri Dennis's I Love You. Out of everyone in the crew, I would have to say that he's by far my favorite bboy. This is the oldest clip I could find of him. He's battling his brother Jo at Blaze's garage.

http://centaur.xanga.com/videos/4972e1127787/

This is some more recent footage of Rambo at SVA in NYC

If my BBoying resembles anyone's in the crew the most, it would have to be Givs. I think he doesn't get as much credit as he should because I personally think he's a really dope bboy. This cat has so much creativity and I've always admired the way his shit just flows when he bboys. Everything is just connected in the way that he rocks. I think that I've subconsciously modeled most of my sets after his style.

http://centaur.xanga.com/videos/a3a2e1127789/

Next, I would have to say Phil, because he's always driving me to do better. He's always getting on my ass and pushing me past limits that I didn't know I could pass. This is some of the oldest footage I could find of my good friend Phil.          

The rest of my crew did influence me, but not as much the people that were previously mentioned. Jep, Julz, Blaze, Pham, Clark, and Wa. I could only find some old school footage of them.

There isn't too much footage of how dope Julz is, so I'm going to have to put up two videos. He's the one with the hood and Jep is in the jersey.

http://centaur.xanga.com/videos/e7d771127790/

In this one, Julz is the last one to go in our group of three. We went up against our own crew at another one of Clark's Jams.

http://centaur.xanga.com/videos/6e2841127791/

This is some older footage of Jep back in the day battling Rawknyce from NBK.


This is some of Blaze's older works before he started to dive into Choreo. Even though I don't see him get down as much anymore, he's still pretty dope when he does. He's the cat in the yellow and Jep is the one in the red.


I don't have any footage of Pham getting down, but he was the one that got me into the abstract type of bboying for a little bit. I couldn't find any footage of Clark getting down back in the day, but I did find a trailer of the Jams that he would throw. I used to watch this clip endlessly. See if you can spot Jep aka Prototype, Phil aka Megaman, and Kev aka Rambo in this video. Fayth and Wingz are in this video as well, they're also some people who contributed to my bboying. I'll get into that later though. Wingz is the bboy in the blue shirt that says Jersey Bboy on it, he's the first bboy getting down in the vid, and Fayth is the one in the grey t-shirt with the bandanna. They get their formal introductions at the end of the video though.



I did happen to find some footage of Wa getting down though. Wa's always been the supportive one that'll kick your ass if you ever decided to give up. This is SUPER old school and is always fun to look back on.



I also found some extremely old school footage of the crew from way back when. This is the jam at Westfield where we met Yeesus and where I met Firestorm. Yeesus battled with us in the video I posted of Julz at Clark's Jam. This was also the first time I saw IZM and heard of Wingz. The crew was telling me how IZM and Wingz were drilling them on certain bboy moves and techniques. Since then, I've always remembered those names.



Those are some of the influences within my crew. Up until just recently I remained pretty reclusive and just stuck to the crew and didn't really wander far from them. It wasn't until the Spring Semester of my Sophomore year of college that I started to really take bboying seriously. I realized it during a tough time when I was starting lose a certain person that I cared deeply about and confided in heavily. Once that person start to slowly leave my life I was going mad and I had to find an outlet for all this stress and aggression. I really didn't know where to turn, so I hung out with my crew more and the more I did, the more I realized that bboying had slowly stopped becoming a hobby for me. It was more than that. I realized that throughout the years it was the only thing that I stuck to doing and that it had slowly started to become a lifestyle for me.

When I started to realize that it was becoming a lifestyle for me, that's when I got a phonecall from Wingz. I'll always remember this day because it had a profound effect on myself as a person and as a bboy. I don't Wingz ever realized it, but I had really admired him and greatly looked up to him as a bboy. Since the first time I heard his name and the guys were showing me what they had learned from him, I always wanted to meet him. Then I saw footage of him at Clark's Jam and thought that he was a really dope bboy and I tried to mimic him, but couldn't. He was on a whole other level than me. I always kind of followed his bboying and I can honestly say that he's my favorite bboy and I take his criticism very seriously. A lot of peoples' favorite bboys are power heads or Koreans or some crazy ass dude that gets serious footage put out on the web of them, but mine is a what I'd like to believe a Legend in New Jersey. He's one of the dopest footwork heads out there and he's one of the reasons why I love footwork so much. This cat is nasty when it comes to footwork, plain and simple.





I just found those clips of Wingz from his older days. He's gotten a whole lot doper since then. I haven't seen the cat in a minute, but when I do see him next, I'm sure that he'll astound and amaze me with something new like he always does. I still remember watching and rewinding clips of him from Clark's Jam in the video that I posted before. This guy is my favorite bboy next to bboy Rambo from SDI.

But, I digress from the story. That day, Wingz hit me up. This is the first time I had ever talked to him before and he randomly calls me asking to rock with him. I had madd shit to do that night for my classes, but I couldn't pass up a chance to rock with my fucking bboy idol. So I took him up on the offer and I did not regret it at all. That cat just dropped some serious knowledge on me about bboying in NJ and bboying in general. He also showed me around North Jersey as well and even dropped me off at my crib after our adventure.

At the session that he took me to I saw IZM and Rock with Finesse there. That was probably one of the most productive sessions that I've ever been to. Just the critique that I got from IZM and Wingz was really helpful as a bboy. They've been in the game for so long that they were able to see things that I couldn't see in my bboying.

Since I started rocking, I was never really taught or coached by anyone. It's true that the crew taught me how to bboy, but it was only the essentials to bboying. Then, they left me to my own devices. There is a reason for that though. Mainly because they wanted me to find my own path and discover bboying the way that they did. That, and I'm sure that it was hard as hell teaching me because I was so stubborn. But, until I met Wingz, Bedz, and Bitz, I never really had anyone guiding me in a direction.

This is footage of Bedz, Bitz, and Lil' Tony from my crew's, Skillz de Ill, jam, Ill Skilled Kings 2. And the second clip is a trailer that Sweet from Rock Wit Finesse made.





I met Fayth after that jam and I remember watching his battle against Domkey from Clark's Jam and thinking that he was a pretty dope bboy too and I got to finally meet him and rock with him for a bit. I was drunk when I was rocking with him, but I still remember it though. I won't forget that night either. Crazy ass night. But the next day was when he really started to have an effect on me. He just dropped a lot of knowledge on me as well. The entire time we were driving back from Hoboken and when we were in Hoboken, he was just talking to me about bboying and it's philosophy. He also broke down topping for me, too and showed me some new shit that I'm still trying to fuck with. But, one thing I won't forget that he told me was his boy's theory on bboys. There's the Nerd, the Jock, and the Artist. The nerd is the one who only sticks to that one type of bboying. Bboy Cico is a nerd because he only sticks to power and doesn't stray from it. The Nerd knows all the ins and outs of his one type of bboying and doesn't stray from it into other styles. The Jock is the one bboy who goes to every jam and is out to just win it. He doesn't try to have fun and is too serious about it. He's just out to win and nothing else. We all know at least one bboy like that or who was like that at one point. And then there's the Artist. The Artist is the type of bboy that just dances and tries to create masterpieces with his dancemoves. His dances for the sake of dancing and does it for the beauty of it. It's something we all hope to become in this dance. That'll always stay with me.
This is the only footage I could find of Fayth online. This is more of his most recent stuff.



Aside from the before-mentioned people, there have been other bboys that have helped me throughout the years. Friends that I've met along the long and arduous road of bboying. A couple of them are Cyrus and Illroc from 2KTactics. I see them all the time at the SERC sessions at Rutgers. They've helped me out quite a bit.

This is a video of them and Steve Stylez killing it at Ill Skilled Kings 2. Cyrus is the Filipino kid, Illroc is the Black guy, and Steve Stylez is the guy that looks like a pretty ass model. The second clip is of Illroc, Cyrus, and my crewmember Jeffreeze killing it at a cypher at Redemption in Philly.





Another cat that I have to give thanks to is fucking Firestorm. He always shows madd love and keeps me on my toes and brings me up when I'm down. Despite all of the homosexual things that he does and attempts to do, he's a contributing factor to the bboy that I am today. He's grown a lot as a bboy and we've still yet to battle. This cat never fails to make me laugh

Firestorm's the first one to start the battle off.



I owe so much to these people because they've shaped the bboy that I've become as well as the person that I've become. They've all had a very heavy impact on the way that I bboy right now. Thank you guys, for all that you've done.

I just wanted to end this with a really hype battle.


Bboying, I used to love you and I still do. Trust me, when I say that I'll stay committed, even after I hit it.



With Love,
Trigga Tron <3
XOXO