PUTTING USA BACK ON THE MAP IN B.O.T.Y. BATTLE BORN CREW(LAS VEGAS, NV,USA)
So for this topic I really just want to keep it short and sweet for those that don’t know heres a little quick history about USA and BOTY, since I first started Bboying, BOTY was the biggest event to me and the most important to any Bboy worldwide. Honestly til this day its alot of Bboys dream to be in it and win it, The last time USA won was Rock Force Crew BOTY98 before that was Style Elements Crew BOTY97. This year guess what happened?……..no sorry USA didnt win LOL but they made it to the gawt damn finals!!!! now if you dont know much about boty well its pretty much every bboys dream like i was saying to compete on that stage, to win the event and to be crowned the best in the world.
Now some facts USA has not won boty since 98 and has not been in the final battle since 99 in which USA lost to Hungary, that is correct its been 12 years since USA has had a show and a crew worthy enough I suppose some people would say to be allowed to compete in the battles, well this year there were doubts about USA having a squad good enough to be in the battles, I mean just making it to the competition is one thing and then to be picked out of God only knows how many countries and shows well that to me is a huge honor and accomplishment alone but then to be allowed to battle for the title of the world!?!?! that is one on a level of its own, anyways moving forward its been a very long time, and I know I have always wondered when the hell we would make it back to that stage and final battle. Well 2011 was the year and Battle Born USA was the crew so all I wanna say is respect and maaaad props to the homies in Battle Born for making it happen, they busted their ass off for themselves and for their country, represented our country correct and in the end they didnt win but they made it to the finals and put USA back on the map, well in this competition, so with that said I hope and pray that USA is awake now and that dream of being the best in the world and bringing that title of BOTY World Champions back to the USA is back in their minds and in their dreams as its been in mine growing up, anyways only the future will tell but I will say this Im excited to see what happens next year and the year after that I got a good feeling USA is about to step it up but I cant call it just yet . Again Respect and much love to Battle Born for doing what alot of people thought they wouldn’t and couldn’t…….now yall can say “SUCK ON THAT!!” lol.
REspect & God Bless
-Lucid
Below are the final battles of both BOTY 2011 and the last one USA made it to the finals and won BOTY 1998
2011 finals
1998 finals
………USA LETS MAKE THIS SHIT A REALITY AND BRING THAT TITLE BACK HOME!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
For this blog post I just wanted to share with everyone a few words and a few videos of projects we have completed through out this year, as 2011 is coming to a close, my crew has made a huge come back, although they never left and have always been around killing it in the clubs and cyphers through out the world my crew as a CREW has remained pretty dormant you may see one of us from time to time but never all of us together as a unit but the time has come for change.
BAY AREA CHAPTER : CIRCLE OF FIRE SHOW AT OCTOBERFEST OAKLAND, CA
SEATTLE CHAPTER: SOULSHIFTERS/CIRCLE OF FIRE @ THE MOORE
As my crew slowly comes back together and has begun doing everything from training, filming, and throwing events of the highest quality, the word is out and spreading, the feed back is an amazing blessing not to be over looked. I don’t know about you but that my friends is something to be very proud of coming into this crew as one of the youngest and newest members, I grew up watching my crew on video and always remembered them as this amazing crew that didn’t follow any guidelines they do what they want when they want how they want but always DANCE! as well have always respected the old school and the new school but flipped the script and brought a whole new mentality into the game and shit not just the bboy scene but the entire dance scene, they have inspired the bboy scene and forever changed the game wether or not you agree with this, I suppose is a matter of opinion but to me its fact I see it everywhere I go, at every event, in every cypher as well I hear it from people all over the world that tell me they have been inspired by my crew or have always looked up and still continue to look up to my crew which is a huge honor as well I see in those that bite the shit out of my crews moves and style you know who you are, theres a difference between being inspired and biting someones shiet LOL over seas cats getting away with it but not for long hehe Moving forward the things to come out of us all is going to be something not to be missed or over look heres to the future and all those that we will inspire and be inspired by, all those we will battle, all those that we will perform with, and all those we will share the cyphers with in the not to distant future, “WE getting the band back together guys!” -Gaby aka Aqua LOL
1. Two or more BBOYS/BGIRLS in a circle together in an informal freestyle manner. They could be battling or simply playing off of each other. In larger groups, usually one or two people will go in the middle and break while others in the circle look on and cheer them on.
2. The process of tapping into your subconcious. A state of mind where thoughts and actoins flow from your mind rather than being instrumented. Clearly shown in freestyle/beatbox circles and breakdancing.
(CYPHER @ RETURN OF THE BBOY 2001)
Since the beginning of this shit we all love and love to call Bboying, Bboys&Bgirls have been repping, earning respect, battling, gaining experience/knowledge, paying dues, vibing, building chemistry, & practicing in the CYPHER, before there were any competitions or exhibition battles, etc, There used to be REAL jams or clubs where you would just go to get down everyone would be there MC’s, DJ’s, Graffiti Aritsts, Bboys/Bgirls, shit even just in general dancers or spectators that loved watching shit go down, ALOT of us are too young to have gotten the chance to experience the old days the EARN YOUR RESPECT DAYS, some of us experience it or a taste of it today with certain clubs you go on the weekend and get down at etc. but its never the same as it was back in the day, just something you have to accept but it does not mean you cant recreate that same vibe now and again its just most young bboys are either scared (get over it we all are scared first time we hit that cypher lol), or just too focused on the next battle and could care less about cyphering they are too quick to train for the next battle, ask whens the next competition, plan for the next competition scared to maybe be pulled out side their 5 round arsenal and put in a situation where they might actually have to FREESTYLE or CREATE, its only a rare few that still carry on that tradition or aspect of the dance in them or with them everywhere they go, anyday of the week, anytime of the day, you get the picture.
So lately I have been slowly getting my body back to being abused on a regular basis haha meaning training everyday excluding one or two at the most days of rest in between, after all time is running out and I got work to do. As I look to the future and the event to come “Shadow Wars Hawaii” that is, is not just another event for me I mean this will be my return to Hawaii so what bboy doesn’t want to have new material, and I actually said I wouldn’t enter any other event til Shadow Wars, the prize is a trip to Sydney, Australia in December to represent the USA at The Shadow Wars Finals, I dont know about you but that shit is one hell of a prize and I really want to win, and I really want to come out hard although I do feel that I have been slowly getting better its still not as much as much better as I should have gotten by now, I dont blame nobody but my lazy out of control partying self, Seriously though lately I have been partying waaaaaaaaaaay too much I think it wasn’t until last weekend when I was at a certain house hanging out with certain people and I just took a second and just put the scene at the moment on pause, that I realized what I was doing and what I should be doing and what I wasnt doing……to not get to far into it lets just say what a reality check that was, now dont get me wrong I love to party and Im always down to party but I gots shit to do my ninjas haha…….moving forward I know what I need to do and talking about it is not it so to the event to come and the obstacles that will try to stand in my way bring it Im more focused then ever, more determined then (Last weekend LOL)…..but seriously a trip to Australia come on, how many times you been there (crosses fingers and hopes you say never)…EXACTLY! So my Rosary beads are out and Im praying to be ready and to make it out and……..to WIN THAT SHIIET……or at least make it to the finals and get robbed LMFAO…jk alright beast mode on!
Hawaii, Gawt daaaaaamn I miss you! Im coming one way or another!
The other night I had a dope, random, & unplanned session with my crew members Aqua, Seth, Joel, and a homie thats not in our crew but hes good peeps AllinSoul, what was suppose to be a photoshoot ended up being a session funny how things work out like that. Moving forward I was trying out new things and out of nowhere I hit something pretty dope that I couldn’t believe I was even strong enough to do it was completely accidental I wont spoil it because Im going to try and hit it at the next event if its perfected of course “key word being PERFECTED” I don’t do moves in battles I don’t have locked down, anyways what inspired this blog post is this phrase or two words right here “Accidental Discoveries”. For as long as I can remember I have always been the type to just accidentally hit certain moves that I have failed to learn by practicing them, for example I remember one summer LONG ago I was trying to learn how to flare it was the hardest shit i have ever tried and I seriously slammed my damn heel into the floor thousands of times I gave up probably a month into trying to learn how to do it, never did it again and moved on to something else, then one day out of nowhere i was just messing around and I was watching people doing flares I dont know what exactly happened but I just felt I could do it, I just understood how to by watching it like just made sense, so I go to my little 4×4 linoleum and I remember winding up and letting it rip i did one a complete one omg i was freaking out jumping screaming you name it! i was hyped trained it for weeks and started hitting like 10-15 of them, To me that was an accidental discovery, and alot of other bboys just say “damn I hate you” LOL, this happened to me for 90, for windmill, for airflare(recently) and even halo! so I always tell people you might surprise yourself and just hit it and i know a few people that have done this and gone through similar experiences.
Now when it comes to moves well lets just say alot of the stuff i have come up with has been seriously accidental, alot of the signature moves i do just happen im about to fall over and catch in a weird but cool way or i over rotate in something and hit some weird freeze lol for example check out the freeze below i seriously was going to do like a one handed back hand spring and idk i freaked out thinking i was going to eat it and BOOM i hit this and it felt crazy and i just kept trying it over and over finally i was able to stick it and it came out looking like this (BELOW)
So sometimes you have to keep in mind that you will just accidentally discover random shit and just go with it and build on it idk this blog post was random and short but guess i just had to share a little of my history with bboying and at the same time just share how accidental discoveries are actually the best and most common way of making up your own personal signature moves blow ups, tricks, footwork, whatever it may be, ight yall thats all short and sweet and shout out to my crew we doing the damn thang keep on the look out yeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
“ALMOST QUITTING EVERYTHING FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER WAS NOT THE ANSWER & LUCKILY I FOUND THE ANSWER”
So lately I have been going through a lot of personal problems involving my little brother and I have been doing everything I can to reach out to him and help him get through his problems in life, It has been a very depressing last two days but this story made everything better I think its because it helped me realize that I just have to be here for him and help him get through it all, which basically means not ever quitting on him or myself as I know God will never do to us both, Yesterday I seriously felt my lowest, helpless, like I couldn’t do anything for my little brother who is in need of help The crazy part is I was willing to give up anything and everything basically quit dancing quit anything I had to to get through to him and be there for him so if that means moving away and dropping everything in my life for him I was willing to do it, I laid at home most of the day sleeping and crying I think it was out of guilt and anger that I couldn’t do anything to help at that very moment, then out of nowhere I was online doing some research and I came across this very very veeeery inspiring story although it doesn’t fully apply to the situation me and my family are in it really made me snap out of it all and realize that I can do this I can help my brother get through all his bullshit and still dance and do me I just have to do it and most definitely not “QUIT” on him or myself and everything I have going in my life for any reason. I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone but none the less I got what I needed from the story and it really helped me through all this and now Im ready to get some ideas and plans in motion and conquer this issue at hand, no matter what happens or what gets in the way I know I’ll find the solution and get through all of this together…….after all thats my job as the big brother to be there for my little brother, to help him, to guide him, to love him, to fix his toy when it’s broken, to put a bandaid on his cuts, to protect him & to raise him when no one else can.
This story is dedicated to my little brother Kevin Gabriel and anyone else that has ever thought about quitting anything in their lives.
“FIGHT NIGHT: CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT BEFORE YOU READ WHAT I WROTE”
So I was recently surfing the huge youtube waves, catching video after video after video cheeeeeee hoooooo LOL if that doesn’t make any sense what I meant to say is I was basically checking out recent battles i may have missed or heard about and wanted to see for myself, i stumbled upon a lot dope battles but nothing stood out more then this and I think it wasn’t just because it was a dope, hyped and fun to watch battle but because there was DRAAAAAAAAAAAAMA!! aka someone was talking shiet and a fight broke out LOL why its funny? well because it wasn’t even the people battling that started it I mean they were talking shit to each other but who cares thats battling if you know anything about battling you talk shit to each other to throw each other off sometimes or just because your rivals and don’t like each other whatever the reason is when its the people battling I’ve always said let it be let em’ talk, and talk shit back when they go out if you WANT to or are INTO that sort of thang ya digs, Anyways getting back on subject a fight broke out during the battle between Battle Reflexes and Massive Monkees @ The Wreck Room 2v2 Grand Finale in Seattle, WA. from what I gather watching the battle is, its getting hyped and their getting in each others faces, its hyped, its intense but what you start to notice is this guy on the Battle Reflexes side popping up talking mad shiet and kinda taunting and instigating, eventually battle reflexes hit a dope routine and everyones blowing up for it during(more…)
So One again I’m back in the lab after seeing everything I saw @ BOTY USA & STYLE ELEMENTS 17TH ANNIVERSARY Im inspired & motivated like never before, Not to mention a few chain of events leading to me making some pretty big decisions in my life such as REALLY quitting drinking THIS time, I renewed my gym membership and i even made myself a workout and training schedule that I have sworn to stick by like i said im SERIOUS THIS time haha man if people only knew the shit i have been thru lately i think they would understand why i kept relapsing BLEeeeeeeeehhh never again relapsing that is hehe ight well back to the game plan I have some big ideas & big events right around the corner God willing I’ll be ready for them in time i got alot of work to do, its going to be one hell of a ride but one thing is for sho, this time Im going to stick to everything no more slacking off, no more bullshit, have ever seen someone improve so much and in a really short amount of time that it just leaves you puzzled thats (more…)
Where to begin, “Battle of the Year” is the most famous and the biggest event in the world of bboying! I have dreamt about going to this event since i started bboying, I mean not the USA preliminary but the real one in Germany or France i think they move it now but anyways BOTY this year I will say was not what i was expecting, unfortunately for me it was my first BOTY, the event wasn’t because it had another battle attatched to it which was the “OUTBREAK 2v2 Qualifier for the trip to orlando” if it wasn’t for that addition ithat whole event would have flopped considering only and i repeat only “3 crews”entered the whole event?!?!?! WTF?????? seriously I mean my crew is just starting to get it together but God knows we want to enter that shit and it saddens me to say that the USA really looked stupid at that event, I mean let me give you some quick insight, there has been so much talk about boty usa i mean on and off the forums people talking about we need to bring the title back home, usa hasn’t won or even been in the final battle for boty since i think 1998? Thats a long long time, that said i was soooo excited to go and watch i didnt even think about entering the 2on2 i really could have cared less about that part of the event, i mean battle of the year you go to see each crew “REAL CREWS NOT SUPER CREWS” put on a show and then get picked based on everything they bring to the table to battle it out for the trip to represent the USA in the WORLD FINALS……i mean that shit is huuuge well to me anyways being a gawt damn patriot and all LOL…..anyways moving on with the experience when i heard that there was only 3 crews entering i said fuck it im going to do the 2on2 and i teamed up with my homie agame for the 2on2 we didnt make it past prelims (REALLY?) but who cares i did it it was a good experience and fun to dance on that BOTY sign lol almost felt like i was there then again not really haha…….movinGforward the 3 crews that entered were “BATTLE BORN, THE SQUADRON(REALLLY???), AND THIS CREW FROM MILWAUKEE” now i have a bit of a problem with this not only is it shameful that we only had 3 crews enter but “The Squadron”? thats not even a real crew its a super crew i think the last time i read about BOTY that wasn’t allowed?? now nothing against The Squadron i have friends that get down with that SUPER CREW but let me (more…)
“HIP HOP INTERNATIONAL 2011 SATURDAY JULY 30TH!!!”
So its that time again time to go back to being amazing LOL jk…..but on the real its been a while since my last battle and im ready to go at it again this weekend im going to be busting my ass trying to take two events the 3on3 bboy battle anf the 1on1 all stylez battle now im not saying i can do it but…..im not saying i can’t either hehe, I aint going to lie im really reeeeally excited about competing at this years HHI, its not only my first but its in VEGAS and i have never competed in VEGAS i hear a lot of good things about this city and i know the talent that comes out of there not to mention this is a WORLD WIDE event so there are going to be people from all over the gawt damn world! how exciting or is it just me?, i mean think about it im going to get to meet people from all over, dance with and against people from all over the world not like i dont do that now but all under one roof this will be a first, cant wait to share my love with others (no not in that way) im talking ABOOT dance! hehe true self expression isnt the easiest thing in the world but………once you get the hang of it it is…….inspire to be inspired yo! :)
“PREPARATION?”
Well i cant lie about it so lets just be real, i normally would have been in the lab everyday, putting in work, trianing for hours upon hours upon hours, but this month has been really crazy for me in so many ways and although i have come up with a lot of new material to use during battle, i still have not put in nearly half as much work as i usually do but never the less im not making any excuses im confident in where i am at and i know its more then enough to stand a fighting chance at WINNING this shiet! RaWRRrrrR
I will be in las vegas JULY 28th-AUGUST 2nd.
KEEPING IT SHORT AND SWEET, SEE YALL WHEN I GET BACK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
. Again Respect and much love to Battle Born for doing what alot of people thought they wouldn’t and couldn’t…….now yall can say “SUCK ON THAT!!” lol. 
Moving forward the things to come out of us all is going to be something not to be missed or over look heres to the future and all those that we will inspire and be inspired by, all those we will battle, all those that we will perform with, and all those we will share the cyphers with in the not to distant future, “WE getting the band back together guys!” -Gaby aka Aqua LOL 
blow ups, tricks, footwork, whatever it may be, ight yall thats all short and sweet and shout out to my crew we doing the damn thang keep on the look out yeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
