Figure 1. just some background music to play! i was listening to this while typing so makes sense for u to listen to it while reading!

It’s really hard to put together a good choreography—it takes a lot of time, effort, and yelling!  I’m really happy to see everybody always smashing every show.  I am very very confident when I say that doing these performances has shown many people in Boston what some of these styles are about.  I think even just 3-4 years ago, audiences at BU were hard-pressed to see the difference between hip hop, popping, locking, waacking.  For sure you guys are exposing people to some realness!! keep doing it! you’re all doing great!  it’s sort of like: “PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS HOW WE KILL IT!”  what’s coolest is that when there’s no shows to prepare for, the open practice is 100% full as fuck everybody workin hard on their own stuff. then when there’s big shows coming up, the open practices are still packed!! everybody just does late-night show rehearsals on the side WOW —- then after the show is done the open session is even more fuller than usual because evrybody so hungry to get back to honing their skills! everybody in these crews so on point! killin it in the cyphers! killin it on stage! killin it in battles!

damn dude everybody keep working hard! if you love it, then fight for it!! every practice i go to, everybody is so dope!!!!

oops first song finished playing… here’s the next one i click it’s like russian roulette hope its dope!!

wow its kinda sexy sounding. but dont look at that dude’s face and think about sex at the same time!! big mistake!  anyways for everybody that hits up the open session—-always feel proud of what you’re doing. i know we’re all mad busy with our lives but we gotta always remember TO MAKE TIME TO LIVE!!! sometimes when i feel the busiest i know that’s when i have to practice the most—because we’re probably all only going to get busier right? so if we can’t MAKE TIME to do what we love now…then when will we ever???

wow man you know what i just realized? you’re probably still listening to the first track cuz you read faster than i can type!! whatever man i take my time with it! you can’t rush this kind of stuff!

WE THE STRONGEST!!!! 100 proof? 200 proof? BULLETPROOF

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Figure 1. made a quick video. might be kinda shitty—only had a few hours to watch 2 hrs footage and piece some of it together. but if i don’t make something now, then i know i never will get to it!!

yo yo yo this one was doooope! found a spot at harvard square to get down for almost 3 hours!! a lot of fun! a lot of people stopped by to watch and a few people even got down with us too

definitely a different vibe this time—damn son made the playlist and it was very high energy everybody having a good time. this time it felt like we were sharing our stuff with each other, but also opening it up to spectators too and i think they definitely felt the energy! just took a look at the school schedule—looks like it’s pretty hectic until thanksgiving but we’ll definitely get another one of these in before then! probably gonna stop blogging about this cypher so please just hit somebody up on facebook or something if you’re interested in info for upcoming locations

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Figure 1. OH YEAH WOO HU

Hey guy here’s the info for #2.  Hit me up if you’re interested and I’ll send you the formal invite which contains the details and the exact meetup spot in Harvard Square

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Figure 1. SOUL RELEASE OH YES. here’s some stuff thrown together from some dope footage that jenn shot!!

the first thing that i realized—these faces have never met up together outside of a jam!  everybody rolled through and we danced to a 2 hour pre-made playlist. set after set after set it was sooooo dope. EVERYBODY WAS ON FIRE!!!! man the vibe was totally different from a cypher at a battle—people did not give a fuck and just did whatever they want . people weren’t studying each other moves, people weren’t holding back—we were just feelin it and having fun!

afterwards we got to sit around and talk about what we want to do next, and our thoughts about how we can help our city’s scene. we’ve decided the location and date of the next soul release—it’s gonna be outdoors and dope!  if this is the kind of thing that you’re looking for hit me up and i can fill you in on the details.  the reason why i don’t want to just post up all the details is because i’m not interested in people who just want to come to show off or prove themselves—this is for the heads who want something more than that!

flash drove up from rhode island (having recently returned from a year in florida!).  he had mentioned that there is a smaller dance community where he was living, so i didn’t know if he had to opportunity to get good practice while he was down there.  damn yo flash was killin it though!!!

another stand out for me was justin—-when he hits the floor he makes an instant connection with me and i feel everything he’s trying to do. to imagine that he learned from SCRATCH as a freshman last year at bulletproof funk—and now this he feels the music and shows it to me. DOPE

james also had a couple sets that i still remember and they were icey iccccceeeeeeeee—so CRISPY. like PEW PEW! POW SAP! NYC LOOK OUT! congratulations by the way, james just got a job offer out there so he’s moving in october

alright, i just realized that i have awesome things in my mind about every person who attended, so i’m just gonna stop writing because its making me too hype. i’m supposed to be chillin after my exam

ALRIGHT SO THAT”S ALL I CARE TO WRITE RIGHT NOW. ALRIGHT NOW? TONIGHT I”M GOING TO WATCH A MAGICIAN SHOW AT BU.  I WILL PROBABLY UPDATE THIS POST LATER TO GIVE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW IT TURNED OUT AND HOW IT WAS DIFFERENT THAN I EXPECTED. UNTIL THEN!

*edit #1

in my head, i was imagining a heavier more zoned-out kind of feel for the cypher. but it was actually very casual, fun, and light. it ended up feeling like people meeting up together to hang out and joke around but at the same time watch some amazing shit and be able to dance.

you know that vibe where you practice with your friends and you can make fun of their stuff cuz you know them well and you know their dance well—another thing that surprised me was that this cypher had that same vibe except with people who don’t practice together!! very cool, very open, nice atmosphere

okay back to work! maybe another update later. but probably not. will post some info about soul release v2 soon! i think this idea may add something to the scene—not sure yet, but this first experiment turned out good so we will put more effort into it!

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The Motivation: Without a doubt, Boston has one of the strongest battle-scenes on the East Coast. This has really helped us grow as dancers to always continue to push our skills; but at the same time, it creates a certain distance between us even while we’re off of the dance floor.

The Push: The goal of this experiment is to bring balance to our scene; to create a low-tension environment where we can get together and vibe off of each others energy with with no holding back, no boundaries of how you should move, and no reputations on the line. I also want everybody to get to know each other better!

The Format: A monthly cypher held at a different location each time, with a different playlist each time. We’ll bring the cypher to different indoor and outdoor locations throughout Boston to keep a fresh, new perspective each time. I hope that the more we release into this cypher, the more we can get out of it in return.

The Music: The first playlist will be poppin’ music. If this idea turns out to be something that we like and gains momentum, then we can push this to become an all-styles cypher with an all-styles playlist.

The Catch: Different people will want to channel different kinds of energy into this cypher–anything and everything is welcome whether you want to experiment, polish, explode, groove, or test your creativity. The only thing I ask is that you participate, focus, and truly be yourself.

So this is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for a few months now.  I’ve been to some out-of-state jams in the past, and it’s immediately obvious that every scene has a different vibe.  Some cities are more battle-oriented, some are more laid back, some are underdeveloped, some scenes are strong and well-rounded.   I talked to Act-1 recently and he told me all about his young days and what the scene was like back then and how it’s changed now—for the better and for the worse in some ways.  At the end of the conversation, act asked me “what are your going to do for the scene?”

since then, i’ve been thinking about the question—my immediate feeling was that i should pay some sort of homage to my city’s OGs and that manifested as a video trailer for megatron.  this was basically a “thank you” for tron and shallow and other boston OGs who’ve always made me feel welcome.

i’ve always felt happy that this group—bulletproof funk has been able to provide a practice spot on the boston side of the river and a lot of people have been able to learn and train

i still felt like something is missing though—and i realized it when i was thinking back on some battles.  boston has a small, but highly skilled newschool poppin’ scene. we”re skilled because we all battle so much, but i think we’re also a small scene because…we only know battling.  once u reach a certain level in your skill, and have spent a certain amount of time in the scene, you’ve battled everybody in every combination.

this may be a common history for a lot of newschool poppers in boston:

1)exposed to the dance somehow

2)experiment and try to learn on your own

3)watch your first battle, first exposure to the boston scene

4)practice, begin to reach out to people in the scene

5)first time hitting a cypher at an event

6)first time entering a battle

7)first time beating SOMEbody in a battle

8)practice a lot, attend every battle and compete at every battle

9)first time you feel robbed at a jam

10)have finally battled everybody in the scene

11)start to “skip” battles—-attend the event, but don’t sign up to compete (we all love the scene still, but for some reason we’re less interested in battling here). hit the cypher to show what you got and that you’re not falling off, basically mainly saying that you’ve reached this step 11 haha

12)attend first out of state battle

13)only battle out of state

???

i thought a lot about why this happens, and it’s because the scene is strong and always has been strong. it’s your own skills that were weak at first and then grew. as your skills grow, you take more interest in your own skills and the satisfaction that practice brings you, but you become less and less involved in the scene.

what makes the scene stronger? in my experience, new faces in the battle scene is what brings excitement, surprising upsets in battles brings excitement, new formats for battles brings excitement.

the scene—the scene—the scene—the scene—”what are you going to do for the scene?”

i have to change the setting

…..

…..

i start my rotations next year and may not have much time to practice anymore, so i got a little scared that this may be my last year to be serious about what i love to do. besides levelling up my own skill, how can i make a lasting impact to enhance what we have here? no, how can i nudge the scene to help itself? the scene is a network of relationships—the problem is that we only really know each other from battles (unless you are same crew as somebody). and when we go to battles we go to smoke and we’re all family but there’s a bit of fuck you i’m gonna smoke you. that doesn’t sound so fun haha—it”s because we only understand each other in terms of skill. we don’t really know each other as people.

i think the first step is to get to know each other’s dance in a non-battle setting. the next step is to try to get to know each other’s person

i hope that this travelling cypher idea can spark something—spark the same realization that i had.  that even though we say we are, we’re not truly united as a city. and there’s no way that we ever could be until we spend some time getting to know the person behind the dance—behind the mask

just like everything in life—if you’re missing something you have to fill the space. this time it was less obvious to me what i was missing, but i know that this is something that i want for myself and what i want for boston. i’m not sure that this cypher thing is going to be able to provide that fresh thing. but it’s my first try i guess. if it doesn’t work, i’ll try something else.  this first cypher is going to be built by some people who are also itnerested in the idea.

by the way, it’s gonna be fuckin dope

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cant sit on the ground with legs straight
cant kneel (this made my elementary school pictures look absurd because i was always leaning forward looking like some sort of camera slut that looked bigger than the other kids)
cant touch my knees when my legs straight
cant clasp hands above my head when my arms straight
tend to turn entire body to look at something rather than just turn head

lots of other things that i couldnt do. sucky thing is is that i started stretching in college and it actually got worse. the problem was that instead of stretching, i was mega-stretching until it hurt a lot (turns out this doesnt work good) so isntead of getting stretchier, my muscles just got more buffer and stiffer and scared of me.

my girlfriend is soon-to-be physical therapist finishing up her 6 year bs/dpt degree so she try to help me now to stretch

first i learned that proper stretching is when u feel the stretch in the muscle that is good enough. when it starts to hurt, that is too much. when it hurts a lot that is mega-too much.

so she gave me a stretching regimen this summer and i’ve been doing it every day it takes me about 1.5 hours a day holy shit thank god for last.fm and youtube starcraft replays

once i start doing the good stretchy stretch i started actually get much more flexible for first time in my life. i feel like a baby bamboo

now here’s some things that i can do

can barely touch my upper ankle when legs straight
can touch hands above head when arms straight
some other stuff basically i am more flexy like little girl

also now when i’m dancing it feels much more awesome feels like i have more space. if u can imagine what i mean it makes sense. its sort of like if u took a window-shop mannequin and a person they take up the same amount of space. but a real person can feel more space. because mannequin not flexy like little girl

that is my philosophy on stretching

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-ak

Post a question in the comments section and who you are asking.

I’ll forward the question along and then post a compilation of answers sometime later (if I ever get enough questions/answers to post).  I don’t really think anybody reads this blog, and those that do don’t usually post comments so I’m not expecting for this to go anywhere.  But please prove me wrong, it’d make me really happy.  You can post anonymously if you’d like to, I have no way to see who posts what if you choose a name that I don’t recognize.

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Figure 1. Sam Shin master of the unlikely.

Anyways! Interview!

Dave:

sam, tell me about how you started with dancing?

Sam:

I started dancing when I was like 7 years old?? Back then (I guess now too), all the korean pop stars had some dancing in their performance. So dancing was something really close to me. I would imitate those stars on TV and stuff. But when I really got into dance was when I saw Michael Jackson (So TYPICAL haha). This was probably like towards the end of middle school. I downloaded all his videos and watched them many times. But I wasn’t really into dancing like I am now. I would party dance in high school balls and dances, but nothing so serious.

But towards the end of high school, I encountered poppin!!
My first inspiration was popping Hyun Joon (SOO TYPICAL)
And then after learning more about popping I bought this DVD in Japan called “Dance Style Poppin” which had Acky, Tetsu-G Yuki and Seen teaching. Basically all the craziest OGs in Japan. But back then, I didn’t know who they were, so I just thought they looked funny. They were basically some middle aged men dressed like Gangsters. But when I saw them dancing, I was like … OMG. I gotta learn this boogaloo thing man!! So bam, that’s how I started learning Boogalooing and popping. Ever since then, boogaloo has been my favorite style. But recently, I’m trying to learn more styles and genres because I started to learn to love dancing in general. Dancing has become so important in my life. It brings me up when I’m down and it just gives me so much energy! And dancing also helps me enjoy music more.

So this is basically my story of dancing. I think it’s really boring, nothing original… But yeah I love dancing and I’m really glad I met dancing! Thank you Taeji Boys and Michael Jackson RIP. Electric Boogaloos, K-OGS, Yori, Loco Yoko, Kite, Gucchon and Acky.

Dave:

how did you get involved with bulletproof funk?

Sam:

I feel very proud to tell you that I was one of the original members of Bulletproof funk. I think the original members were Dave, Greg, Alex (Kao), Jenn, and me?? Was it?? I can’t remember. but how I met these peolpe are pretty funny.

I think I had in my interests section on facebook “Popping” and greg was such a stalker that he found me on facebook even before the school started LOL. we would be like yo you pop, how long u been popping, oh like 6 months, yo we should meet up and dance together! And then the school started and Greg introduced me to Dave “the ghost of machine” Shi. we would meet up and practice in the GSU dance studio and sometimes at the studio that 3D taught. Basically, Greg and Dave got me into the boston dance scene, and I really thank them for it cuz its been a great part of my college life and I met a lot of Great dancers and friends through it.

But yeah, the biggest problem with us was that we couldn’t reserve on campus practice space so we decided to register ourselves as an official group. We collected signatures from us and some of my friends that didnt even dance just to be barely able to apply for the new group registration and we (or Dave) gave a speech in front of some student group leaders and we got approved! And ever since then, we would offer practice space for any street dancers, do some shows, and just try to enjoy what we do. And I really think we’ve come a long way, both in individual skills and group structure. Some younger members gotta realize how lucky we are to have our practice space with mirrors regularly every week. I’m not trying to get credits but we all have to have gratitude for what we have and the opportunities to enjoy what we love to do freely. I think that will also help us level up as a person and as a dancer.

But yeah our group still has a long way to go, and I trust the younger members will take good care of this group cuz I know they love the group. I trust them and I hope this group gets better and better. I cant really define what is better, but as long as the new eboard puts their heart into managing this group, I know it will get better in one way or another.

In conclusion, I’m really glad I got to be part of this wonderful group. Otherwise, I would’ve had to join something like FUSION… HAHA JK!

Dave:

how is a japanese dancer different from an american dancer?

Sam:

Japanese dancers predominantly have their foundations in boogaloo or electric boogaloo style as the electric boogaloos were the ones that spread popping in japan. But I think American dancers have all different styles and I think thats good!!

Dave:

has your perspective on dancing changed or matured at all over the past 4 years at BU?

Sam:

hmmm yes! before i think i was focusing too much on impressing people. But now I think im focusing more on having fun and enjoying myself!

Dave:

what’s your favorite style besides poppin?

Sam:

right now im really into hip hop as in new york style old style hip hop!

Dave:

any video clips that you can share?

Sam:

i would like to share some of acky’s videos. def one of my favs

Dave:

wowwwww—i have an interesting story (i’m sure many people have had the same experience). but when i used to watch video clips of popping a long time ago i didn’t understand the big deal. when acky came to boston for the battle unity and respect i learned what the big deal was lol. now if somebody ever shows me a video on youtube of somebody like acky my mind sort of automatically superimposes a mega-powerful hit on his body and i imagine all his little animation shit

so sam, you’re about to graduate from boston university! congratulations! what are your plans?

Sam:

Im still looking for a job!! I want to be a popper businessman!!

Dave:

u could be a CBO chief boogaloo officer

if you had unlimited resources what sort of dance space would you create and what would you use it for?

Sam:

hmmm I dont know I think I will just make a big ass practice space where we can blast music all we want. Also I wanna make a club that plays popping music!!

Dave:

any final thoughts? about yourself, about the group, or about dance?

Sam:

I just cant thank enough for everything that happened to me while im in the group. It gave me a lot of opportunities to grow as a person and a dancer. I wanna thank you and Greg for getting me involved in Boston’s dance scene. I just hope the next generations continue to keep this group a fun group!

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Some new posts coming soon!

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