newbies... THIS is how you toprock

Goose · 03:56 PM

Countless questions have been asked, "How do I toprock?", "What are the basic steps?","I want style, how do I get it?"

So bread and electron were helpful enough to post some really awesome vids about the basics of toprock.

But then more questions were asked, "Are those the only steps?", "What else could I do?", "I still want style! Can you tell me how to get some?"

This is how you get a toprock: Follow the beat, use a mirror, and lots of music with constant bpm. You could only expect to get a few moves from simply watching videos of others dance, but the rest is up to you. the steps we teach you here are not the ONLY steps you do. You have to develop it, and it takes patience to develop your own style. Bboying is a form of dance, and dance is a form of art. DaVinci did not watch someone paint for a short while, then turn around and stylize the Mona Lisa. You would have to practice on your own to create your "Masterpiece Toprock with style," one that defines you, and not the 6,700 other bboys/bgirls who watched the same video.

So if you decide to go an and still ask, "what are the steps in toprock," you'd still get the same answer many helpful bboys/bgirls have posted here before: "It's your own thing, feel the music, explore techniques and style, etc." You won't get very far that way.

Just keep in mind that YOUR toprock is NOT just what they give you in the videos. YOUR toprock is YOUR toprock, you don't even have to follow the basic steps. If you can think of other steps that match the beat and look great, then by all means, use them (I know I do). That, and think of at least 20 different variations of it. The same is for the six-step. I can't think of any bboys I know who actually go through all six steps in order.

Rule 1 of bboying: don't follow any rules.

Write that down!

ConceivedInHell · 05-12-2004, 07:34 AM

nicely said.

bboy_stitch · 05-15-2004, 10:57 PM

holy shit. thank you for that.

fIesTa · **yo^^ -** 05-16-2004, 04:20 AM

you wrote really much, but I think it would be ok if you would write, try to get your own style, waste your time to learn it :P Because toprock is important in Breakdance to go into PowerMoves and so on but thats another thing. Yes I also used a Mirror to learn it, I have a good toprock but it doesnt look good, so I have to practice on it

Kru_Boi_Fries · 05-31-2004, 12:18 AM

Holy hell I think your words had glue stuck all over the brains of people who read this haha. It helped me bud im glad you said all that cause i waz thinking what if everyone did this same thing.

CruxMan · 07-27-2004, 11:17 AM

Nicely Said!

My philosophy is that most newbs (including me) are/were worried when they started breaking and thought that there was only one toprock style that was right. We needed someone like you to explain that this is an art in in any art, innovation is one of the most important parts.

Thanks for explaining this to everyone.

sirrah · 07-31-2004, 04:09 AM

nicely put. I hope newbs read this, if not, refine it and sticky it. Even then some people just over look the stickies. Oh well.

Bboytec · **Thanks -** 08-02-2004, 02:24 AM

Thanks Goose, that helped a lot.

Mk_StyLeZ · 06:59 AM

yeh that is some good info ...pretty much wat sirrah tells me everytime i topock...except with "u suck" and "quit while your behind" added at the end....sirrah that jerk and his icecream....haha j/m terence

Vice President · 08-13-2004, 08:15 PM

why are you bboy styles?

BboyHartAttack · **okay, okay -** 08-13-2004, 10:27 PM

okay, it's good advice, everyone knows that. and i'm not dissin you or anything but sometimes it's just the ssdd (stands for Same Shit Different Day, if you've ever seen the movie dreamcatcher lol) if you know what i mean. that advice gets very repetative, and annoying. although it is still the best advice for toprocking. but sometimes for new breakers it's not the kind of advice they're looking for. some of them'll think "what to do next?", or "what kind of moves look cool?". obviously these could easily be some pure newbie questions, but i often ask myself some of this stuff because i struggle with my toprock a lot. so while all of the experienced ppl will give you the old, "follow the beat and let it move you" routine (which is good advice and i'm not dissin on anyone who says so) don't overlook the fact that you need to watch many toprock clips. for the biters, DO NOT STEAL other ppls toprock, look at it for inspiration. look at other ppls toprock sets and get inspiration from them, and then, surely, you will develop your own style. and for everyone who thinks this is BS, i just thought i'd throw my two cents in.

peese

R33 · 08-16-2004, 12:27 AM

okay being a newb myself i hope i can explain my problem ( and most problems of other newbs) clearly.

Okay just say you have practiced the basic steps, the fundamental steps of toprocking (the ones from the dvd for example). Now you can do these steps to the beat of the music, and even add a little bounce to it.

The main problem (well for me anyway) is to get the rhythm and the style of a bboy. When you watch a bboy toprocking they seem to have this certain rhythm, a sort of unorthodox look about them, and that for me is the hardest bit.
All bboys have their own style of toprocking however they all have the same sorta look about them if you know what i mean. the rhythm of like jerking and pausing, its hard to develop without someone showing you in person i guess.

That is the hardest bit to learn.

Bugnet-Brazil · 09-07-2004, 08:14 PM

when you see a video you think it have style and you see yourself with no style, this gets time to consider your style as style, and to improve it, some dope moves with hands combined with legs are cool, some dope moves with arms without using legs are cool too, try a better dressing and explore your limits, all videos will tell you how you do and don't bboying nice, the video comments always help what community seens as cool or not too

Miso · 10-14-2004, 11:07 PM

Your toprock is what you think of it, if you think you have crudy toprock then your toprock will always be crudy to you. If you get some other peoples feedback they might think different, then again they might agree with you, in person feedback helps alot imo.

Everyone says 'develop your own toprock' but some people (mostly noobs) misinterpret this. We aren't saying 'oh no you can't step like that someone else steped there' what we are trying to get across is don't do everything step for step and rip off or 'bite' at other peopls combos/step order. Steps are the same just do it your way and make if comfortable. If you aren't comfortable with how you move people will notice it, it will look messy and stiff and thats not what you want. Just a bit of philisophical stuff that people will probably misinterpret but whatever, it made me feel good to say at least.

Goose · 10-22-2004, 01:12 AM

Thank you Miso, you said it! Your own style does not mean "something that has never ever been done before..." Your own style is just the way you dance, straight from your soul to the street.