[[Sikk]]

Ok I pretty much suck when it comes to toprock. I know the basic leg crossing thing but other than that I've got nothing. I've seen other people toprock and I've tried biting them (lol) but it comes out wrong when I do it. And what do I do with my hands? Do I just swing them back and forth?

[Mr. Flapps]

on the one 1 , when are legs are straight. you close them. you can make a fist if you want. its style. on the two 2 when your legs are out/bent/crosses then you swing your hands out .

[[Sikk]]

What if I wanna do something fancy like a hopskotch thing? Do I just swing in then out?

[Mr.Bboy]

do wutever u want

[[Sikk]]

But how can I do anything I want and not look stupid at the same time?

[warm shizzle]

do it in front of the mirror, or record yourself.
seriously, just practise. dont expect to try it once and look like the shit, coz that doesnt happen.
kids these days, needing to be spoonfed everything...

[bgirl gail]

Originally Posted by [Sikk]

But how can I do anything I want and not look stupid at the same time?

Hi Sikk... Well, from my experience, not at all times I have this really good ups... But when I really like a music... a music that makes my heart pound, and my feet stomp...Then I think that's the time to hit it off... Just try that first. I saw your uprock... that's a good start but you want to land each foot together with the beat. you understand what I mean? No matter how awkward your ups is(that will get better in time) if you go together with the beat, then you'll feel it. The beat tells you where to go... then if you know the music and the lyrics of the music, you can go along with it and put gestures and stuff to make it more fun.
Or try to meditate first on the music that you want and feel each beat... then if your mind gives you an idea on what move you wanna do, stand up and try it... but i think the music will just lead you. Try doing it alone first. Dance for yourself first. I hope that works for you. That's what I do...hehe... Just practice it and FOCUS on what you wanna learn...then I bet you can throw it down the circle. Also try to watch bboy vids. You'll that the land of their feet together with the music.I know it's very literal and instructional but that's one good technique...hehe

[[Sikk]]

...................you saw my uprock? There are SO many things wrong with that.

[bgirl gail]

Were you wearing socks?!! Well, maybe that's one thing too... try to wear a really comfy footwear. And put more power to those arms... don't tense it but put a control. You know what i mean? Your arms can also tell if you know what you are doing...Putting control means you have direction, you know where to go and what you wanna do. You want to focus on your movement as a whole not only the feet...above all that, I think your uprock will get better as soon as you watch more videos and get what I mean. Feeling odd is normal but practicing it will make you more comfortable with what you are doing... you'll build more confidence.
I mean, admitting your weakness is one good thing and I can say that someday you'll be really good in your uprock and you'll read this post again and you'll say, "she's right"...

[Jimmothy]

he's talking toprock not uprock byaaa!

so yeah all this "just go with the music, do what you want" bullshit is total bullshit. You first need to understand the music im gonna assume you do and not go into this. Second you want learn the most basic of steps the indian step - step out onto the snare, step back in together, you know what im talking about and if you don't you havnt even bothered looking around and are a lazy fucking piece of shit. ok. Now once you got that and can do it in time youre going to want to do the most basic of arm movements, swing them apart when you step out bring them back in when you bring your legs back together. Its gonna look mad gay and awkward when you first do it, thats natural for us no rhythm white boys, dont worry about it.

From there you keep doing that step don't worry about other steps yet until you can do this one crisp. Do it in front of a mirror and take notice of why it looks awkward. You need an idea of what good toprock is supposed to look like and as youre understanding of it gets better so will your ability to correct your form. Ok so now youre doing your indian step in front of the mirror over and over and over boring huh? No it isnt so shut up.

ok so youre going to notice some awkward things for example (common noob mistakes):

Swinging arms to far back, NIGGA THIS ISNT FLYING! It's dancing keep it low-key dont over do youre movements.

Lean back, Lean back, lean back, NO DO NOT FUCKING LEAN BACK, stand up strait.

Crouched over at the shoulders, ok some people will disagree with me here and say "ohhh no thats just personal style" well ok sure if you do that some of the time, but if youre whole toprock is developed around crouching over like a fuckign 90 year old man its gonna look wack.

Now lets look over what we have learnt.

1. Keep it simple, take it easy, dont over-do the movements.
2. Take notice of what looks good and what looks awkward, make SMALL changes and see how they effect your tops
3. Good posture is important even when not dancing, slouched shoulders makes people look ugly with no self confidence. Is that the kind of message you want put across while dancing?

Remember every part of your body effects how your toprock will look, take notice.

And last post a clip.

[[Sikk]]

Thanks Jim that kinda helped I guess. But onto more important things...

Originally Posted by bgirl gail

Were you wearing socks?!! Well, maybe that's one thing too... try to wear a really comfy footwear. And put more power to those arms... don't tense it but put a control. You know what i mean? Your arms can also tell if you know what you are doing...Putting control means you have direction, you know where to go and what you wanna do. You want to focus on your movement as a whole not only the feet...above all that, I think your uprock will get better as soon as you watch more videos and get what I mean. Feeling odd is normal but practicing it will make you more comfortable with what you are doing... you'll build more confidence.
I mean, admitting your weakness is one good thing and I can say that someday you'll be really good in your uprock and you'll read this post again and you'll say, "she's right"...

Uhh let's try to focus on the whole "you saw me uprock" thing. First of all...I don't uprock? Secondly, I never EVER posted any kind of clip of me uprocking, toprocking, or breaking at all. That leads me to believe that either you're stalking me or you're just high. If you are stalking me, please stop or I will locate you and beat you with a wooden stick.