Electric Soul Satisfaction Part 3: Workshop and traveling back

Part 3


Once again, after a long night, we slept until 9 AM.
Surprisingly, my body wasn't sore at all. The training I've been doing must've helped me.

We got ready, had a Pizza as a breakfast near the studio where the workshop was held.

James and Ilya

Jazzy J

Time was closing in. Funny thing is, Jazzy didn't realize that he was doing a Locking workshop, not a popping workshop until the very last minute LOL

But of course, its Jazzy. To him switching his mindset between styles is not a problem at all.

Again, surprisingly, Gwo and Carlo was running late. I guess those guys were having too much fun with the judges this time LOL

We waited for an hour before the class began. Finally Carlo called and James began to organize the workshop.

Within the next 15 min, Carlo arrived with other judges. 
The workshops began about an hour and 15 min late. Our initial plan of going back to NYC was gradually being pushed back.  I was getting nervous because I was worried about going back during rush hour. Plus, we all had plans early in the morning the next day.

Luckily me and ilya had fun talking with Dickson, Bionic, and couple other dancers to ease our stress off.

After Jazzy's workshop, we drove to Gwo's house to pick up Fayzah Fire, who was taking a private class with Jr boogaloo.




Here, seeing how Jr Boogaloo interacted with Jazzy, I've realized how much respect he has on the West coast popping community. I say this because as we were leaving, Jr Boogaloo looked at Jazzy and sincerely said "west coast is waiting for you" with a respectful manner.

Seeing such an amazing dancer that represent the West Coast popping internationally for more than a decade to show such respect to him made me realize how great Jazzy really is.

Of course to me, he is my sensei, mentor, and dance name god father (My real name is SUGURU. He couldn't pronounce nor remember my name at all for few month. Finally, he got tired of trying and just decided to call me SUGALOO because it sounds similar lol) and I have high respect for him.

Jazzy relaxing his foot while I pump some gas lol

 


But I also know his funny and teenage like personality that makes me feel like he is a great funky old friend. However, seeing such interaction between him and Jr Boogaloo reminded me how lucky and fortunate I am to learn under him.








When we began driving back to NYC, it was around 3:30 PM.




Going back to NYC was HELL. Especially for me.
Because I was the one driving back!!! 
I drove back all the way without making any stops because I wanted to go home as quick as possible since we were already way behind out initial plan.

But of course we were going back during rush hour.

I hit 4 traffic.... What a night mare. I ended up driving 5~6 hours. My back was KILLING me.....


Anyhow, that was the end of my first summer trip.
To me, it was a great start. But as a crew, I wish we could've done more.
This is because I know how much my partner has challenged himself to improve this summer. I want him to receive results and accomplish the goals that was training for.


But I'm sure this will happen soon. Because our next trip was a life changing experience :D

Finally, to Carlo Manabat, Gwoping Yang, and James Wu.
I know I've said this many times, but THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS EVENT.
You guys always bring one of the best and/or the most interesting poppers out to the East coast.
I believe your dedication towards the community is doing justice. I thank you so much for taking such action.

I WILL follow your footstep in the future so I too can help support the growth of the East coast community.

Once again, I truly enjoyed the event, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to battle A.K.A Kin. With out you guys hard effort of bringing him over from across the sea, this would've never happened.

Peace and God Bless to you all.

ok, my next summer trip destination was.......

 MY MOTHERLAND, JAPAN!!!



Continues.....

Electro Soul Satisfaction Part 2: Battle

Part 2

It was about 40 minutes away from the opening of the Jam. However, surprisingly, they were still preparing for the jam.
From my past experience, Carlo and Gwo has always been very precise on moving the event according to schedule.

The event started an hour or so late. By that time people were inside the studio stretching or dancing to warm up.


The place looked awesome. It was like a club. Dark with many different projected lights.  In addition, the DJ WAS AWESOME! He had very versatile and great selection of music. It's always a plus to have a DJ that can hype the dancers from the beginning of the jam. Big props to DJ TOXSICK. I wanted to say this through face to face  conversation but I forgot... I'm sorry:(


The jam had three categories. All styles, Locking, and popping.

Each style had approximately 30-40 competitors.

I signed up for popping and all styles because Sun and Senchi convinced me lol.
Fayzah did not sign up for the battles, Ilya signed up for popping, and Jazzy was the judge.

My all styles prelim was HORRIBLE,,,,,,period lol so lets forget about that lol

On the popping preliminary, I went before Ilya.

Super Dope Funk Explosion II was the previous jam I've entered and I felt that I was in a great condition.
That day I was fully energized and was able to dance with out fear, pressure, and nervousness.
I wanted to recreate that condition.
Therefore, I intentionally spend my day with similar schedule, meaning I ate on set time, set amount, and danced, warmed up on set routine..

I was confident that I conditioned myself well.

I was ready.

As I stepped in front of the judges for a preliminary round, I danced in a way that I don't create any regret after leaving the dance floor.

As a result, I passed the prelim. I was happy to hear from Bionic that I looked strong (i interpreted that i had solid get down lol).

Ilya unfortunately could not follow the same path. He wasn't mentally prepared. He did a much better get down right after his prelim, which I know that it could've got him through the preliminary. But that didn't happen that night.

I was sad that this had happened. Because I know how much he had pushed himself to train during the past month with me.

As I posted my thoughts on tumblr, my excitement towards the event settled down. But now that I think about it, it may have helped me to preserve some energy for the upcoming battle.


Top 16 Poppers were selected from each category.

My first battle opponent was someone I knew well. His name is Tboy.
He came to NY at the beginning of this year and I have been practicing with him occasionally. He is a good groovy dancer who has a funky boog style with strong foundation. The only thing that I knew I can do better was to pop more solidly with angles mix some animation influenced movements in my dance.
 
So I tried. Compared to the last jam, I felt that I was thinking too much.
I felt like I didn't do a strong get down. However, luckily I won.
I  was happy that I got to exchange with Tboy. Thank you bro, I hope you have a safe trip home :)

Next opponent I had was Naoko san from Japan.
I didn't really know her dance so I moved the way I feel. But it wasn't a good round either. 

By this time I realized that I was being too stiff and was focused too much on "thinking" about my popping. Ilya told me that I was becoming plain and repetitive. Furthermore, he could tell that I was thinking too much. This was all true. Since we lived and trained together everyday throughout the summer, he knew about my dance well.
I'm fortunate to have person like him that knows and analyze my dance well.
I took in his advise to groove more so I can dance and be free.

I won against Naoko san. I was lucky because while she was getting down, it felt like the music suddenly slowed down. I felt like this messed Naoko san's rhythm up. Thank you Naoko san, I hope you had a safe trip home as well.

I knew the next opponent was going to be a tough.
It was time to battle SUN once again.
When I first saw her at Step Ya Game up two years ago, I was terrified. Because I never saw a female popper with such body control and a strong pop!!!
Fortunately, recently we became good friends :)
She is super funny and kind. She is one of the popper I respect.

We battled previously at a jam that was held at Shoaling Temple in new york few month ago. Therefore, SUN was yelling "revenge! revenge!" at me with a big smile but a serious stare lol

Although she looked like she was fooling around, I knew she was coming full out to smoke me. So I calmed myself down to focus on relaxing. I knew that when I relax, I tend to listen to music more carefully, allowing me to dance deeper and use technique when I feel like it.

There were 2 rounds from the semi-final.
The first song was a song by Slick Dogg.

SUN came out HAAAARRRRRRD.


Her get down got me hyped in a good way. But as I ended my first round, I knew that I'll loose the battle if I kept the same approach. So I told Ilya "watch" and declared that I will switched my mode as he advised me before.

I don't really remember what I did. But I was having fun. I didn't care about the people around me or the judges watching me. I just concentrated on dancing together with the music and having a conversation with SUN. This is the best feeling I recently found while battling a good popper (in my humble opinion). I don't really remember moves I did. It's probably because I'm not thinking. But I know the feeling. The feeling is always amazing. And it only happens during the battle where two individuals are focused on getting lost in the music and enjoy the conversation through body expression.

After a good battle, I always expect to have another round. This is because
1. I don't remember what I did so I feel like I have to do more and
2. because I want it to never end.

Luckily, I managed to win against SUN.
Battling her is always a good and fun challenge. I enjoyed the exchange once again :)
Thank you SUN oniee, let's practice animation together!!! Lol

By this time,
I was waiting to battle for the championship against A.K.A Kin.......

Honestly, I did not imagine that I could go this far.
I knew so many amazing poppers that entered the battle including some that I battled before and lost. Yet I somehow manage to survive and here I was, facing one of my idol and a hero of popping.

I was so excited. My heart was rushing that I couldn't stand still. I shook his hand and bowed, got a back slap from Ilya, and watched the bottle spin.

The moment the DJ played the song, I immediately felt its electronic feel.
I knew that I'm no match against A.K.A Kin to battle in boogaloo. Therefore, I started my get down by bottling. After that, I just kept dancing full out.

All I remember was how amazing A.K.A Kin was. LOL
I mean c'mon man, he is DOPE.
I enjoyed his movements, musicality, and the energy that he projected. The battle/exchange simply felt awesome.

After two rounds, he waved his hands towards me and gave me a hug. The crowd gave us a round of applause. I was honored.

When Carlo asked for the decision to the judges, I saw all the judges hand pointing at A.K.A Kin. 
Yes I got SMOKED like a TOAST LMAO.

But that was obvious. I was just hyper of the fact that I actually experienced an one to one exchange with one of the world's top popper. To me, that was already the greatest prize I can have from the jam.

Many people came and gave me a compliment. Even the judges gave me a positive comment about my dancing. Except Jazzy, who added a comment "don't cheer for the opponent when you are battling!"

Its true, I shouldn't be doing that. But he was so amazing man lol couldn't help it lol
Overall, I couldn't be happier about the experience I had on this jam. I will treasure it forever.

Me and A.K.A Kin

Thank you Studio G, LifeXHip Hop, and DC Dance Collective for making this happen.
Your hard work paid off in a very inspiring and positive way for MANY dancers. I highly respect your efforts and sacrifices you've made to make this happen.
God Bless you all.

After the event, I was tired and hungry as hell. I needed fooooood lol

So James took us to this Chinese fast food store that had good ice tea and an enormously packed combo meal! Forget the diet menu man, I ate that sh*t like a pig lol

After we ate and changed and all, we headed to club aqua. We went there late, but it was empty. But DJ TOXSICK was there spinning his records already. So we just took the dance floor and started to mess around. After about 30min, the floor began to fill up.
After about an hour and half, the place was packed!!!
I had a great time with everyone. But at the same time, I was exhausted.

Don't know how this happened.... lol

Ilya, Dickson, Me, Bionic

Once again, as I went to James's house I passed out. But, this time, I slept on my side of the bed so Ilya can sleep lol


It was my first AWESOME day of the summer.
I was truly glad that I trained and practiced for this event.

We slept around 4am again and set our alarm to 9am so we can be on time for the workshops.
Continues........

ELECTRO SOUL SATISFACTION Part 1: Before the Battle.

Ok its been almost 2 month since this happened, but it was a hell of an experience so I'm going to write about it now LIKE A BOSS!!! OSU!!! lol

Let's go back in time……

Jazzy J, Fayzah Fire, and me

On Friday, July 27th, after I finished, work, I went to NJ using PATH with Fayzah Fire and Jazzy J to meet up with my crew mate, Ilya.

From NJ, ilya drove for 4.5 hours to get us down to D.C (Thanks brother). 

It was a smooth ride and we were able to arrive a little earlier than we expected.

Ilya driving seriously lol

Our first stop was DC Dance Collective.

Every Friday, at DC Dance Collective, theres a dance session. On that night, Jr Boogaloo, Bionic Man, Dickson, A.K.A Kin, A.K.A Ra, 1G and other amazing dancers were practicing.

We were hoping to get down with them a little, and ask Gwo whether he can find a spot for Fayzah to stay over the weekend. 

Unfortunately, we arrived a little too late. We didn't get to session. But Fayzah got a place to stay and that was great :D

Photo Credit to Gwoping Young

So we missed the chance get down. But instead, we went to a Korean restaurant called Honey Pigs with everyone.
There were probably group of about 25 people! 

We ate, drank, and had a good pre-party+Jr Boogaloo's Happy Birthday dinner until 3am!!! LOL

After that we went to stayed with my friend (BF Crewmate, if u wanna know what this is? Just ask me to write about it lol) James Wu's house. When we got home, it was 4am. We were exhausted except Jazzy, who was hyper from his drink. He was talking nonstop but I was done.......

I changed and passed out on bed immediately lol

Unfortunately, this was a nightmare for Ilya, who shared a bed with me. Because I took most of the space on the bed AND I moved a lot while I slept. He couldn't sleep well. I'm sorry brother, I was tired lol


The jam was scheduled to open from 12pm.
In order to get breakfast, get ready and be on time for the jam, we woke up at 9am.

I slept well for 5 hours, which was perfect for me because i've been on the training schedule that gives me 5 hour sleep at maximum for a month. Also because I took most of the bed space.... :P

For breakfast, James took us to a diner called Silver Diner.

It was old 80's kinda dinner where they still have the Jukebox on the table. The food was delicious! But not enough for me so I took ilya's fries and James's pancakes lol

We still had time before the jam.
Luckily, there was something we can do to kill time. 

On the parking lot, the diner was holding a residence classic car show. They had couple cool looking classic cars and so we decided to take a look.

They were encouraging audiences to vote for the car they liked so that they can decide which car should be awarded as the best classic car. We voted for this car.

I'm not crazy about cars. But I liked this one because of its color and the body design. But I would never want to drive this car though......the body parts were LITERARY touching the ground lol I don't know how people can drive that car man....lol

We were full and had some entertainment. It was time to head to the Jam.


As I posted "On my way to challenge eating some poppers.... Delicious meal on the dance floor today!!! Can't wait, can't wait....." in side the car, I was mentally ready to battle. 

My mind was calm. But my soul was on fire.

My body was waiting to unleash the power that I gained through months of training towards stronger and good poppers.

I don't know if the training I planned and worked on was the best way possible.

I may be just overconfident.......

But I know that I've been consistent.

At that point I stopped thinking and realized that I wasn't expecting a good result.

All I was aiming for was to get down the way I wanted so that I won't regret afterwards and I know it would feel AWESOME regardless of the result.


Continues to Part 2.....

Recommendation to beat lovers for daily beat satisfaction.

You only need to take 3 steps (only effective to people in US cuz it doesn't work in other country).

1. Download "Pandora" from the App store.

2. Register and sign into the App.

3. Add "Nujabes" radio station.

Enjoy seriously deep and satisfying beats by numerous talent!!!

What's good about this App is that you can also buy the song right away to your phone, or just bookmark so you won't forget!

Hope you all like the recommendation.

Peace and god bless!