[.KroMatiKz.]

k , this guy jake evans puts on these "funky stepin classes" and thats how i got into bboyin. he taught us the basics, starting out with liek 5 toprock moves, then 6 step, coffee grinders, and baby freeze, (shit like that)

i always ask him to teach me or help me with powermoves or technical freeze combos, and he says "i cant teach you untill u practse toprockin for at least 6 months.

now its been a month or so since and my tops are getting way smoother, and i probly got 8-10 different tops.

do you think i should acculy toprock for 6 months, without trying any other stuff, cuz i dont really think so.

i realize tops are veery important, but my tops will imporove as i contunie bboyin, and i think i should at least learn mills in 6 months. ( i can do 1 rotation but its terible.)

imput please?

[thunderhetz]

fuck that guy jake!:.
get on learning the technique of other moves.. learn variation of 6-step etc.
AND! practice your toprock ..

[Desi Boogie]

Tell this Jake guy that he's an idiot. It's bboying and bboying comprises ALL the elements. If he's only going to teach you tops he's not teaching you well or really teaching you at all. Toprock is important but it's better that it all advances together (your footowork, power etc)

This is coming from a toprocking fanatic

Peace

[bboy pyro]

learn from here and then battle him and SMOKE him

[Kaooo]

everyone has his own opinions. if you follow this guy, jake's instructions, you'll turn out to probably be a great bboy, but it'll take a long time. taking 6 months to develop a toprock gives flavor to all of your bboying. if you want to take the advice of the ppl on this site, be my guest. but i'm telling you you're gonna end up bboying like them too. not too great.

[[Sikk]]

A month is good enough. Six months is ridiculous in my opinion. He should at least start teaching you other foundational moves like six step.

[.KroMatiKz.]

1st off jake isnt an idiot(aside from what he said about toprocking,) cuz everything hes said about bboyin, or even dancing in gereral has been knoledgeable and made sense.

but yea a month sounds more like it.

hes been teachin for 8 years, and his crew goes all the way through canada, and hes a damn good bboy, so hell no i cant smoke him, and hes like 22.

thorugh the month ic been goin he taught me 6 step, 3 step, 2 step, a couple drops, coffee grinders and a few basic freezes.

he just thinks i cant learn any powermoves untill i become a damn good toprocker. tonight he said toprock gives me the tools to build a windmill. he said "im trying to build a castle with a hammer and and some stones". he said the flow and rhthem of toprocking, freezes and footwork will automatically allow me to learn difficult powermoves with next to no effort. and he said for me to me trying windmills after a month is unnatural, and im trying to force it instead of letting it come naturally.

in a way i understand what hes tellnig me, and in another way learning good toprock, and footwork is never gunmna teach me flares halos or 90`s.

i personally think if i want to do a powermove, or any difficult spin, i need to work on it to build up the strenght and balence to learn it.

opinions?

[fred2028]

Practice other moves with your toprock. I never knew there was a teacher who restricted what you can do ... My teacher didn't teach toprock until after footwork and handglides ... Then I made him teach me windmills and flares and rarely focused on toprock until now ...

[.KroMatiKz.]

ur lucky. he said hes savin me time by not teachin me yet. i dont see how....

[AlphaTrion]

When I teach, I do something similar...but not as extreme.

I usually set the same basic guidelines...no power till someone has their toprock and footwork down. It does give you a lot of stamina, strength, and body control that you'll eventually need for more difficult things, besides giving you a firm foundation upon which to build the rest of your toprock and footwork.

As for saving time, he's right. If you spend time focusing on one aspect as opposed to dividing your training you'll advance quicker. And the first thing you should be good at is footwork and toprock.

Sure windmils and flares are great...but I've been battling for about 4 years now and my crew has won several major events and battles and none of us have ever, and i do mean EVER done power in a battle. A strong grasp of the foundation can take you VERY far so don't underestimate it.

Chances are your teacher probably doesn't want you to look wack. I've seen where multi-aspect training can take most people...and that's nowhere. They divide their time learning so much that it's all terrible, especially the foundation.

If I was him, I'd much rather have my students be able to go into a cypher, rock a beat and hit some decent footwork. As opposed to many students I've seen who come out and do some weak indian step, one round of off-beat, technically poor six-step, and then flop around in something that sort of resembles a windmill.

Also, six months might just be an approximate. Keep working at it and he might just say "ok, you're ready." A lot of beginners tend to think they have good toprock and footwork when they really don't. Trust the judgement of someone that's been in the game a while (unless they're wack).

If you're serious about b-boying six months is NOTHING. I'm going on six years and if I had it to do over again, and I had a teacher...i'd spend a fucking year on nothing but footwork and toprock.

[Linkuei]

total retard, that "teacher of y0urs" go learn sixsteps,windmills,uprocks, freeze's, headstand/spins that are tricks you can teach yaself and after 6 months you battle that nerdo and win

[Desi Boogie]

Originally Posted by AlphaTrion

When I teach, I do something similar...but not as extreme.

I usually set the same basic guidelines...no power till someone has their toprock and footwork down. It does give you a lot of stamina, strength, and body control that you'll eventually need for more difficult things, besides giving you a firm foundation upon which to build the rest of your toprock and footwork.

As for saving time, he's right. If you spend time focusing on one aspect as opposed to dividing your training you'll advance quicker. And the first thing you should be good at is footwork and toprock.

Sure windmils and flares are great...but I've been battling for about 4 years now and my crew has won several major events and battles and none of us have ever, and i do mean EVER done power in a battle. A strong grasp of the foundation can take you VERY far so don't underestimate it.

Chances are your teacher probably doesn't want you to look wack. I've seen where multi-aspect training can take most people...and that's nowhere. They divide their time learning so much that it's all terrible, especially the foundation.

If I was him, I'd much rather have my students be able to go into a cypher, rock a beat and hit some decent footwork. As opposed to many students I've seen who come out and do some weak indian step, one round of off-beat, technically poor six-step, and then flop around in something that sort of resembles a windmill.

Also, six months might just be an approximate. Keep working at it and he might just say "ok, you're ready." A lot of beginners tend to think they have good toprock and footwork when they really don't. Trust the judgement of someone that's been in the game a while (unless they're wack).

If you're serious about b-boying six months is NOTHING. I'm going on six years and if I had it to do over again, and I had a teacher...i'd spend a fucking year on nothing but footwork and toprock.

Please Trion, come to Australia and be my teacher, my teacher does the dividing shit and i haven't learnt anything much ><

Peace

[AlphaTrion]

Well the training at only one aspect is only good for so long. Maybe like a year tops. I trained on nothiing but toprock and footwork for a year when I had a shoulder injury and once I had a good foundation I started dividing my practices between learning new tricks and power in the last half of practice and refining old techniques in the first half.

Dividing your practices can still work but it takes a whole hell of lot of work and a good sense of dedication.

[Sleep]

I was probably gonna agree with everyone else until alphatrion posted (and takes for posting something decent on a forum thats usually trash haha). Practicing tops for 6 months sounds interesting to me. A lot of people think they have toprock down good because they learn steps, but really you gotta have an army of different shit you can pull out to hit the beats, and kinda feel comfatble enough to freestyle some stuff aswell.

You're always gonna use toprock, but you probably won't use power in any cypher/battle anytime soon. Remember, thats FOOTWORK and TOPROCK for 6 months, which sounds pretty good to me. Otherwise you'd probably have really bad toprock/footwork and a halfassed windmill.

[GummyWurmz]

i agree with alphatrion

bad foundation leads to bad bboying

but daammn 6 months....