[muffinturtle]

Mad props man. I REALLY REALLY need to focus on footwork because I know how dope it is when it gets good. IMO it's by the far the most important aspect of bboying.. I envy those who can just get down and pull dope shit out of their asses on the spot without having to worry about dumb things like tripping over their feet, uber sloppiness, and the feeling of not knowing what to do next resulting in either stopping or doing yet another six step..

It's fucked up though because when I practice too much, my inner knuckles end up bleeding and so I have to wait a few days for them to heal before practicing again. And then I end up sucking again. Whatever it's all good, I'll do anything to have dope footwork that I know I can control.. again, great thread Man of Condfiden. Footwork is like the ultimate.

[RingerINC]

Originally Posted by Man of Confiden I'm runnin out of ideas for the tips section...i add em as they come to me! Anybody got anythang they wanna see up there? Or any suggestions for the layout of the guide in general haha?

I just kinda thought of one with creativity.

A good idea to inventing some of your own steps is to think about the different positions that you can be in during footwork. Pushup, crab, bridge, kneedrop, cc, etc. And think of different ways to link each of these positions. Create simple motions that you can use to either link different steps together or create your own little steps.

[Man of Confiden]

Aight added! Thanks ringer, and thanks to everybody for da support! Lets keep this thang goin fo sho !

[B-boy Jp]

Nice guide. I got some thoughts on it thogh, "The Extend" bit for example just like it looks bad takin tiny steps i believe it looks much worse if you taken bigmassive steps, these will also just slow you down and make footowork look choppy. Its a ying yang issue really but you should be able to tell what you are doing wrong anyway.

[Man of Confiden]

ahh yea the over extension bit! I guess I better put in a note about that haha...its all about findin that nice shade of grey.

[zeshenone]

extension is needed but it has to be very controlled and at the right times. it's just as bad as doing your footwork crouched all the time. what i'm talking about specifically, though, is BODY form. this is very important. footwork, at the basic level, is still moving in a circle. this means a lot of things come into factor that really affect how it looks that many beginners overlook. this includes, body position and weight shift.

i'll use six step as an example. it's a circular movement. this means that for optimum balance and mobility, you have to move your body along with your feet, like a compass. when your legs are pointing one way, your head has to be on the opposite end, always at 180 degrees from each other. this is why a lot of newbies start turning and facing weird directions in their six step. because when they get their legs to the front, their whole body hasn't moved at all and now they're in this super awkward crouched position that makes the steps very hard to do. so its imporant to remember to KEEP shifting your upper weight and leaning your upper body in the direction OPPOSITE of your feet. going CCW, when you're going into step 1 and step 2 of the six step and your legs are all to the right of the body, all your weight should be on your left arm, and your head to be leaning to the left. coming around to the front, you shift your weight back a little, and then when you switching into step 4, a very quick weight shift is needed and you have to make sure your entire weight is indeed shifted to your right arm. practicing maintaining good form is what leads to FAST and CLEAN footwork, because sometimes it's A WHOLE LOT easier to move your legs when your upper body is in the right position.

and remember, control, precision, and form is the key. so whatever movement you do, never THROW yourself into it, it's always subtle to a degree, quick and light.

[Man of Confiden]

DAmn that wuz a hella good post Zeshenone...i'm diggin that! Thanks for droppin some knowledge here...its wut i made this thread for. Thanks to everyone for droppin their knowledge here, cuz yall are basically the co-creators of this guide. I jus got it started dats all.

EDIT: I jus linked the post...cuz there's no way i culd summed that up effectively without missin sumthin lol

[ExZeLiuR]

Eye contact is an under-rated biggie. Especially in a battling situation, you wanna make eye-contact to the person/crew you're battling. If you look at the floor and watch yourself do your own moves, not only does this show a lack of confidence in your coordination, but it can also allow the other b-boy/b-girl/crew to capitalize on your weakness of coordination and therefore show you up with a better attitude.

Kinda like a basketball player: Basketball players don't look at their hands when they're playing because it's not the ball bouncing that's their target, but rather the basket that they must get the ball in. You can tell that a person looking at the ball bouncing on that hand is not as good as one who knows their target and looks up while dribbling the ball.

Obviously when you're starting out you wanna make sure that the footwork you're doing is clean, so you'll look down. But once you become more fluid and natural with your footwork movements, try focusing your attention on something in front of you, i.e. a pole, a picture on the wall, a specific spot on the distant ground, etc. It'll be hard to do so at first, and the tendency to look down will be frequent. But if you keep this in mind and keep working at it, your footwork will be that much cleaner because you're not looking down here, and to the side there, and such, but rather at one specific target.

In practice, it is evidently not the prime concentration. But in a battle, you're not battling your set to be clean, you're battling your opponent, so make that apparent. By looking at them you give them the vibe that when you're dancing, it's all natural to you; that you wanna see their reaction to the sickness you pour on the floor. Ultimately it will also decide the winner/loser in a tight situation.

Edit: Clearly I didn't read through the first post thoroughly, because what I just posted was already noted. My bad.

[Man of Confiden]

Hey no problem man, thanks for takin the time tho! Actually i really liked that metaphor with the basketball player n' everythang, so i'm gonna add that in. Thats a nice way to put it too....wish i thought of it haha!

[B-boy Jp]

man Of Confin. Check out my 3 step guide i got some pointers there you might want to add if not already.

[Man of Confiden]

aight i'll go get on that, thx jp!

EDIT: Oh i almost forgot about the whole "stay in shape" thing! Ha that wuz a good tip from ur guide JP. And ExZeliur inspired me to make a "Battle Tips" section when it comes to footwork. So if anyone has some good battle advice for footwork hit me up asap. I'm gonna get to work on this after i get home from martial arts. So hopefully i got some more thangs to add when i get bak !

[Man of Confiden]

Bump, and added one or two things to the guide! Battle section will be up shortly...and i dont have a lot of tips for battles cuzx i've yet to be in a serious one. I'm goin to a jam in a week or two so i'll add in some of my experiences when i get bak. But until then, hit me up if u got anythang.

[ExZeLiuR]

Here's a few battling tips:

Have an arsenal of moves ready: Especially when you're hitting up your first battle, you wanna make sure that you have a few sets in your arsenal that you've been working on. If you repeat these sets over and over during practice, not only will you look much cleaner when you're battling, but your form will improve because of the repeated practicing of those sets. Don't expect to walk in there and think that you've practiced enough, and that you can freestyle your flow and come out victorious. If you walk in there without an action plan you will NOT win. Check out other b-boys on YouTube or some other video site. You'll notice a few of their sets are repeated because they can easily fall back on those.

RESPOND!: Dyzee told me this, and I think this is an absolutely CRITICAL point in battling: Respond to your opponent's set. If he busts out a quick six-step, followed by other quick footwork techs, drops down to a chair freeze and BAM, an airchair, you can't just go in there and bust some toprocking and then an invert! Think about it this way, if you were to say, "Yo, how you doin', man?" and I were to reply "SHORYUKEN!", not only does it have absolutely no relevance to the question being asked, but there was no point for you to say that. For sure when you're starting out you can't do much, and that is understandable. But once you get more battle experience and practice time down, the next time you see that guy busting out that same set that knocked you off the last battle, you can respond with faster footwork, more unique techs, then jump back to an airchair, and hold that bitch! Trust, there's nothing better and more disheartening to your opponent then to realize that you can do a set they practice so much on, stronger, faster, and better.

Crew support: Nothing better than your crew cheering for you when you're busting a move. Cheer 'em on, bust out a soul clap, whatever you need to do to get crew morale up. The guy/girl will feel much better with the encouragement, thereby increasing confidence in their moves, and therefore sticking their moves with greater efficiency.

Save the best for last: Don't bust out the best of your arsenal all in one set. What're you gonna do next? Battling is also strategy. Take out some of your moves here and there and see how your opponent dances/responds. If you really need to, bring out your stronger moves to better ensure a win for that battle. When you're battling somebody real good, or you're in the finals, then bring out your A-game.

All of these I learned from battling. All of these were also taught to me.

[Man of Confiden]

Tight...those are all real good too. U even put em in da right format haha! I don't know if u did that on purpose or not...but that makes it a lot easier to copy and paste.

[Threadz]

Good ass guide man, i've been breakin for a while but this guide still helped me get my stuff even cleaner ,and That tip about learning almost all foundational steps was great too, because of that, i got other movements more fluid.