In 2002 an Asian nation, South Korea shook the bboyworld. A crew by the name of Expressions entered Battle of the Year and won it, beating Vagabonds in the final. From that day, everyone knew that South Korea would be a force to be reckoned with.
One of the first prominent bboys from Korea was Ducky, who combined unique style with power. The first generation of crews around that time focussed mainly on power. They typically trained 8 hours a day, 5 times a week and thus a bboying nation of power heads was born. The Koreans would later be criticised for "not dancing". It is unknown whether these power heads could dance, but simply chose not to.
However, despite the power dominated scene, two well-rounded bboys in particular developed their game to encompass all aspects of the dance, these were Hong 10 (Expression/Hells Angels/Drifters crew) and Physics (Rivers crew). It would be fair to say that along with Ducky, they formed the backbone of the Bboy Agency's Project Soul; a Korean All Star outfit which would compete at the UK Champs and reach the finals in every year of entering! Interestingly the three aforementioned dancers have continued to shape the Korean scene, forcing all bboys to become well-rounded in their bboying.
Other prominent crews from Korea include, Gamblers, Obowang/Extreme Crew and Last for One. The Pacific scene is not dominated by Korea, one must remember that when bboying died out in the late 80's, it was countries such as Japan and Germany who kept the art going underground. These two countries in particular would re-shape bboying; the Japanese with creativity, originality and complex footwork and the Germans with Power. A Japanese crew which was strong during the 90's was Spartanic Rockers, beating Style Elements in the UK Champs in 1998. Similar style crews exist today in Japan such as Ichigeki, Mortal Kombat, New Blakizm, I Love Footwork, Air Real and Waseda Breakers.
Australia and other smaller Pacific Islands also have a scene, although less of a force than Korea, their standard is on a par with the UK. Some would argue the reason for a lack of development in these countries is because of the lack of exposure, the size of the country and the level of affluence. It should be noted that in Korea, military service is compulsary and many say this, along with a competitive education and job market is the reason for Bboys dedication in the early years.
A relatively new scene is also growing in Hong Kong and Taiwan, admittedly these BBoys are highly influenced by the Korean's to the extent of being called "Biters" on frequent occasions. However, we must all recognise that everyone has to start somewhere. And without taking from the scene, you cannot give back. This philosophy is not understood by many bboys worldwide, and many just feel as though their moves are being stolen by other dancers. This is indeed disrespectful and should be avoided, one way of improving the scene is to take something, interpret it in your own way and improve on it. For a perfect example of this, everyone should watch the trailer of Kim Yun Soo (The END)!
Links:
www.bboyagency.com
www.hiphoper.com
www.breakdance.co.kr
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