Ken Swift 2008

[enticed2zeitgeist]

"Ken Swift" reminding us all that break "dancing" is dancing.

I love the way he moves and interprets the music. So comfortable. He rides the beat incredibly well. Gotta give props to the founders of it all. They may not have the flashy big tricks of the giants of today but the same goes for any field of study or art.

Breakin' used to be a huge part of my life and I just wanna say thanks and give immense props to the god fathers up the chain that shaped this art so beautifully. Thank you.

[digitaljimmy123]

@MTLOFG

ill wope your ass in breakdancing who cares about spelling

[digitaljimmy123]

@MTLOFG stfu mother fucker go suck a dick while your at it.. you dont know respect by killing me a kid.. im your fucken daddy

[digitaljimmy123]

he is whack... bboy the end will own the shit out of him !! hahah!

[seagerism]

don't look at the finger...look at the moon or you'll miss all it's heavenly glory

[ISA007BEY]

shoot im twenty and i dont do any of us youngster bboying i got my bboy skills from old skool vids. rock steady crew and the new york city breakers

[19daze98]

Ken Swift is my fav old skool Breaker but i get a bit bored of ppl sayin "o todays breakin' is Gymnastics" come on!! ..just coz u cant do flips n flares LOL.....its more dynamic yes but there are big differences between Gymnastics n Breakin'. Flares was done in the 80's also flips too....if yr flips are on beat it's called dancing!! or an acrobatic dance move. Lots of things do flips ;- skate boarding, ice skating, bmxin ...they dont get called gymnastics lol.

[freshbboyful]

cico dnt knoo nun boutt uprockinn

[tonyo524o524]

I totally agree. Keep it going.

[itsjosetapia]

ANYWAYS THIS CREATIVE TOPROCK, FOOTWORK MIXED WITH SOME FREEZES MAYBE A FLIP & THATS TRUE BBOY I DONT LIKE THE NEW SCHOOL SHIT ITS A BUNCH OF GYMNASTICS

[maytas19079]

Since the80's! he is still fresh! flow!

Respect!! wow!

[elemenist]

wats the beat at 3:03

[woodyfly]

He was on beat the entire time.... real bboying at its finest.

I can't count the amount of bboys who don't even hit the beat nowadays

[BboyBorn74Life]

True ass b boy right here inspired almost every other b boy now and he did it along with his friend crazy legs:) sickk LOL and but i wonder if all the ppl watching him know that he's "ken swift" LOOL or are they just like haha this guys gud? -.- lol >.<.

[wearesuarez]

for the people over seaz europeanz and all that batlle him in perzon instead of talking shit.....i bet you wouldnt.....only true bboyz understand there will never be another ken swift..........like i said pizz him off in a circle and you'll see

[bboySTOICone]

dang he is swift

steez verses power

steez will always win

[gonzabboy]

superman

[princeofdreamsgabr]

break dance was a name given by the media the original name for the dance is called rocking thats why you look old foundamental moves they call it uprock downrock

[80chekone]

We was beatboys not break dancers when it was young city boys not rocsteadycrew, HSI vs young city boys 1976 festival in douglas projects by west side high, we was top rockers, ito roc,shorty roc,jesus,larry,ratch,green eye louie,orlando aka rubber band then young city, kenswift,Deno,Andy,Frosty,luca­n,daisy etc that was beatboying much love to the old school chekone HSI 2010

[UniqueStyleKrew1]

name of the song @ 0:14?

[marco1974b]

Big Respect

[StreetLethalRacing]

Ken Swift is unreal. He's 41 in this video, and yet he's rocking like he is still 20 years old. Very inspirational man....!

[TrueSLAV]

Shiit so fresh.BBoying one of the greatest things human created.All hail Prince Ken Swift

[akennext]

Dude he's 42 years old here.... I've seen 42 yr olds who can barely make it back to the food trays at Old Country Buffet, this is some unreal shit yo.

[abbeykroeter]

Any younger b-boys that put down on someone as groundbreaking as Swift and other rock steady members plus some other NY breakers that started 27 to 30 years ago (or more), have got to be idiots. They will without doubt be pissed off 20 years from now when even younger punks put THEM down, and forget the respect that any pioneer deserves. Imagine someone from Boeing putting down the Wright brothers

[cptdekker]

Don´t mess with the Rock Steady´s!!!

One Love!

[envystitt]

classic man. this is wat b-boying is all about man. not worrying about a move or power move as others say. just nice clean footwork with style.

[dieyoung888]

That's the PRINCE boooooyyyy

[richdome1]

klassic

[sincere383]

time you dont even know what your talkin bout this is just a session if ken were to battle physics he'd get stomped with kens top rocks alone...ken wouldnt even have to go full out

[KerryDSC]

To say Ken swift sucks is the ultimate disrespect to the founders of this dance and to those old school b boys who have laid down the foundations to what b boying has evolved into. I hope at his age I still have the drive and creativity to keep dancing well into my 40's as he as done. So timef1ysBye keep your mouth shut and give the man the respect he and the others like him have worked years to earn. Whats your contibution to life?? huh

[timeF1ysBye]

he sucks

[ltchitchi]

@timeF1ysBye

Ken Swift is now in his 40's

he was ahead of his time. You don't know nothing about bboying, aren't you ?

[JaboBabo]

go play tennis dude... you don't know what you're talking about

[SinHiro]

@timeF1ysBye Wow you're a fucking eboy......

[imsofackingkool]

BEAST!

[teamstuttgard]

This is bboying, end of story!

[Blacksungod]

Ken Swift is nasty!!!!!

[radioklubb]

Old Skool style at a Now Skool level!

[bmathers21]

classic at it's finest and bboying in its purest most uninfluenced form

[portLANdFILMS]

Holy mother fucker. <3

[jdeseodulce]

ne one know the song at 2:58

[HorusRising]

'Last Night Changed It All' by Ether Williams.

[otos4you]

my friends, this shit is 100% old school

[SoulOfTheBboy]

...so?

[space2think]

I need to get a hold of some of this old groove music. can anybody name all the tracks. I guess a few pointers to albums with songs like this would be nice, too. peace.

[DATcoolCOT]

hes old but hes still got it

[BOkchOybOy91]

how old his he exactly?

[DATcoolCOT]

probably turning 43 this year

[nehalkuul]

chk out storm

[orzelos]

Ken Swift inspires everyone!

[SuSSlik]

wow!! awesome steps!!! like I have just taken a workshop from Ken swift :D:D:D 3 rd times watching and thank Ken for this freestyle. I want to learn how to dance that simply and softly. He is like so relax in dancing. need to freestyle and I can make it :) Thanks!

[frostflow]

reality is, even physix could learn a thing or too from this man and video and the funny part is, im sure he would agree respectfully.

one love.. know the truth

[Johnny8109]

The best that ever did it .. His stuff here is not so impressive but all you youngsters , check out vids from the 90´s !

[135buggie]

JEAHHH NICE:HE Feel thr beat.. greetz

[jazzyPhaaa]

respect! :)

[shevegen]

Ok first, I think Ken Swift was GREAT when he was younger. Second, I agree partially with the comment below - let's look at his prime time, he was really swift. He moved with the flow. He was a real STREET artist AND a dancer. His style was very very fresh.

However, two things I must say.

First, I think he is out of shape, a bit too thick and probably too old now. This is no longer the "real" Ken Swift.

Second, I agree that today bboys have less style _BUT_ some DO have style, like Physicx.

[BboySouth]

Man I know some out of shape people that can make one of the dopest b-boy you may know worship them. Shape dont have nothing to do with it... (it's all about the soul) Ohh and Physicx CAN NOT UPROCK!!! He has power style but NO UPROCK!!!

[tonyo524o524]

Now this is true BBoying. Sorry to burst some of you youngsters bubbles, but what they're doing now is just choreographed gymnastics. I'll have to say damn good gymnastics, but gymnastics never the less. The day that flares entered break dancing was the day that break dancing took a turn. These youngsters have to rewind the tapes, and take a good look at Ken Swift here, and see what real bboying and uprocking started out like.

[DATcoolCOT]

he still did a lot of powers tho i think thats what caught ppls eyes

[WatsupFresh]

@tonyo524o524 Totally agree with you, but you misworded your paragraph, not ALL youngsters do only flaires. theres youngsters including myself that have a good knowledge on the roots of bboying and have great foundation. :)

[tonyo524o524]

@WatsupFresh Kool, Kool. No disrespect intended. It's glad to see that some of the younger generation still embraces the whole package. Do your thing son!

[WatsupFresh]

@tonyo524o524 No disrespect taken, I was glad to see that some bboys on the internet actually understand what bboying is.

[WyldTyler]

@tonyo524o524 i totally agree man i just came home from a session with him. and even tho im 15 i know hes one of the founding fathers of bboying.

[smurk143]

@tonyo524o524 so you're calling people like storm and Ivan not real bboys cause they use gymnastics? bboying is about expression to music, it's has also always been about creativity and comming up with fresh styles so leave room for evolution instead of setting boundries with your opinion.

[tonyo524o524]

@smurk143

I think my post speaks for itself, and I believe my point was made clearly. Not my fault you can't comprehend, but don't twist my words. In fact, reread my post!

[smurk143]

@tonyo524o524 "but what they're doing now is just choreographed gymnastics".

"The day that flares entered break dancing was the day that break dancing took a turn"..your words indeed

[tonyo524o524]

@smurk143 Exactly! Now as you so noted there is nothing in those comments that suggests that they are not good at what they do. In fact, my post oes on to say that they need to look at K Swift to see what bboying started like. Obviously that last statement would not apply to Ivan being that he has the uprocking part down to a science. But if you watch some gymnastics, you will see flares.

[tonyo524o524]

@smurk143 IE Back when I was a youngster, we battled crazy legs and freeze and Kuriyaki. Legs basically had a good windmill to a backspin, but he had the footwork and uprock mastered to a t. He was considered a king bboy.

[tonyo524o524]

@smurk143 So in closing to clear this up fot you, I'll say this. A true bboy has a strong uprocking foundation, and footwork in addition to the windmills and acrobatics. Without the uprocking and footwork, you only have half the battle.

[smurk143]

@tonyo524o524 I agree with you and for myself I even practise other styles like house, lockin and old school hip hop to further develop the dancer inside. When I judge sometime I also consider exactly what you stated above. But if you take for example a person like Kim Yun Soo. Honestly I don't want to see him dance, he's not feelin it, I'm not feelin it. Please do your power, your expression will be in there. The music also. I think these kind of bboys also have there place in the stance.

[tonyo524o524]

@smurk143 True!. LIKE i SAID i'M 43 (old school) So I'm not too familiar with a couple of the names you threw out with the exception of Ivan. I'll have to check them out. side note. I'll probably get flamed for this. :-) Ivan to me is the best that has ever did it. Not taking anything from peeps of my time, but things do evolve, and from what I have seen of Ivan, he took the old school, and the new school, and added some gymnastics (flips), and created the total package!

[Wild0NE2K10]

@tonyo524o524 I agree that a lot of the new cats like me have to get up and learn about not only the roots of the dance, but of all hip-hop in general, but in saying that everything evolves. Everyone has their own perception, there are going to be cats that still hold it down with the dancing element, cats who mix it up and cats who base it all on power. Everyone's going to continue to push limits, and evolve B-boying. Imo, it's all good as long as newer dancers like me give props where it's due

[Anjo606]

@tonyo524o524 Newbie bboy;" OMG i can roast your ass *does flare windmill headspin*"

ME: *straight up footwork top rock all style hitting each beat*

Winner? Me

[fabriziobil]

il king b.boyng respect!!

[GRANDMASTERJOE101]

mad respect ken dis is some real hard shit im bring bac summer 09 to

[mookeychase0907]

Who is the DJ damn, he's killin it!

[maro260781]

the prince rises once again!!!he's a legeng and some of you guys don't even respect the fact that this guy literally created the "style" in bboying!!! get one thing straight...don't forget to respect the true skool!

[Fabregas200788]

he is old for all this shit...

i respect Ken for all things he made for bboying but we have to say that he is not even in good condition...

peace unity <3 and having fun

[Jingotube]

very nice!!!!!

[keg61084]

Ken swift is still killing it!!!! that was sick!!

[bluegrey8080]

K E N S W I F T is a fuckin legend!

[fukysoul1]

still the master

[UrbanReign]

love his style, charisma and attitude, he maybe 42 but he's still got it!

[bboyhellaxis]

Ken Swift.. Still as fresh as ever!

[kingzof808]

I was there this video took place in kailua-kona, Hi. hes a real cool guy in person.

[elliot019]

He may be 42 but his movements make him look like 20 something.

[wirelessDan]

Much respect to this man here, he's still got it! The epitome of a b-boy!!!!! Without this man, none of us would be breaking today. You have to respect that.

He's 42 years old, his body's past it's limits. he can't do long sets, but what he can still do with his body.....respect!

[NateZen]

Nasty, i see the stiffness in the knees tho when u compare with his older footage.

Still the illest

[Flashback01]

Damn, now this is kickin it old school.

Lovin his musicality, his style, his finesse. Dope, clean-ass tops and footwork...that's Ken Swift for ya.

[bboypedrim]

FRESH.

he is not the prince is the king

[eggrolla]

madd respect for style and flava from such an agee =]

[Ricksonkimura]

This is a 42 year old man! Ken Swift is in good shape.

[hokleoj]

Yeh respect. Now its time to get skooled by the bboys you raised.

[smallz2k]

Put ure wig on !!

[BboyBir0]

a legend..

[mobius69ers]

talk about hitting beats and symbols. mad respect.

[9elroy1]

Woow, 'i see some Flava' !

[kadfsass32]

Yo mad love for ken swift & the rock steady crew! his style is dope man!!!

[joerockski]

people need to show a lil more respect. know your history this man invented a lot of the stuff people take for granted and without him, legs frosty etc. being in flashdance theres a good chance none of us would be b-boyin today. PEACE

[portLANdFILMS]

How old is he ?!

[VienOkC]

He's 42 years young!!

[j009aguar13]

yea i'd bang him

[QuikYeh]

He a bit rusty, but he can still roast all them haters out there

[LilphlipBBoi952]

hes not even tryin

[bboyStuntZ]

His sets are dope but too short

[GIM00N]

respect to one of the legendary bboys

[RenoKwan]

wow ken ur taking power moves to the next level with those sets !

[lionheartninja]

sets were short but had bboy inscribed in every move

[sosterneto]

R E S P E C T

[yongeeh]

My friggin hero.

[ceviche666]

True B-Boy..Uprock, footwork before power moves. Reminds when cats used to actually dance on beat. I can't do it no more but it does my heart good to see Ken keepin original art form alive. Peace

[bboyStuntZ]

There are cats that still dance on beat nowadays.

[dhqkfxks]

do you even know who Ken Swift is or what he did ?

[Faris92]

more than u expect peace bro

[dhqkfxks]

later dwag

[rlawjdxo90]

dang please have some respect for the OG bboys man, Ken Swift is the man who brought bboying to what it is now and without him there is no cat called LILOU

[djleggs]

dope dope...if you notice in this footage my man kenny is throwing a lil ode to frosty freeze (rip) and doze etc. some elements of alike danceflavors by these partners/friends he peppers into his dance own one time right here...bboyin's just a big soup of style flavor soul, individuality and then of course the actual dance steps..its really a lifestyle all around a universe on its own...peace to the king of diversity ken swift rock rock on

[trinidad204]

ken swift is still the best!!

[Ricksonkimura]

Is this the 42 year old Ken Swift? The man is in good shape!

[Filipeanut1]

yeah he really is thats my break teacher right there.

[Ricksonkimura]

Tell Ken he looks diesel now. I remember him as a skinny kid with Rock Steady.

[Ereck180]

After all these years,he still got it!!

[greenket]

haha ur right. I said "it its little bit longer" cuz he's too damn good! i wana see him dance longer :)

[b4b39A]

name of the song @ 06:04 ?

[gmpianoman]

brother green(the disco king)by roy ayers

[b4b39A]

thx, been lookin 4 it 4 a long time

=)

[gmpianoman]

no prob man

[greenket]

i take that back nvm

[greenket]

I like his style, but why his set so short!! if its little bit longer, it'll be perfect.

[strikt2basik]

i disagree, if his runs were any longer he wouldnt hav ur addtention... the one thing bboys 4get about is that its not wat u do but how u do it, time doesnt matter if u rock the beat rite... Ken Swift is known as the greatest student 2 the art form of bboyin

[Joules8]

refreshing.

[SfkPatson]

dam dope!

[aqtmeto]

a lot ^^

[greenket]

how old is he

[perrupa]

Can't remember his exact age but remember that he was in his young teens in the early 80s and then do some math. When I met him in NY in 2007 trust me, the man is young at heart and still fresh as hell