Otis Funkmeyer, The Ph.D. of Popping

I remember the night well. It was me, PopnTod, Madd Chadd, J Smooth, and Boppin Andre, all sitting in our living room at the Kester Hostel. It was 2003 and we were all just really starting to learn. Chadd and Andre drilled into all of us that night how fundamental the robot was to all styles of popping.

We watched footage of Boogaloo Sam. “Just a funky robot” said Andre. Footage of Flat Top. “Just the robot slowed down.” Footage of Poppin Pete. “Robot with a hit.” Sally Sly. “Isolated robot moves.” The more we watched, the more apparent it became. All of our favorite dancers had super strong robots.

Andre went on to explain that the robot is where everything starts because it teaches you isolation so well. In order to have a good robot illusion, everything must be isolated. It also teaches you how to STOP your movements cleanly, also called a dimestop. The ability to stop and to isolate are really what sets apart the amateurs from the pros.

How Does This Help You?
Simple. Just start paying a lot more attention to your robot. Don’t just look at it as another style that you might do sometimes. The robot is not just one dance style, like waving and boogaloo. It is the foundation of waving and boogaloo. If you can do a great robot, the odds of you being a great boogalooer or waver go up infinitely.

5 Tips on Robotting
Here are a few things to make sure you do when you’re practicing your robot

1. ONE THING AT A TIME
   I don’t care if you are super dope and can move 8 things all coordinated all at once. This isn’t helping anything. Just move one thing at a time. Really move it with a hit and stop it with a stop. The reason for this is that it teaches you to get really precise with your movements and by only moving one thing at a time, your eyes have a chance to see if you are REALLY isolating well.

2. GO SLOWER THAN YOU THINK YOU SHOULD
   Most of the dope robotters are moving REALLY slowly. Much more slowly than you think. You don’t notice it because you are too busy going HOLY CRAP THAT’S INCREDIBLE. When you try to mimic them, odds are that you’re moving twice as fast as they do. So SLOW DOWN. Go unnaturally slow. Really zone out. And don’t forget to keep moving only one thing at a time. Make it a game.

3. USE YOUR SHADOW
   This is only for the hardcore gangstas out there. Forget a mirror, forget videotaping yourself. If you really wanna see if you’re dope or not, use your own shadow! Your shadow does not lie! If you move AT ALL, you will see it in your shadow. If you can trip yourself out by robotting with your shadow, which I’ve seen many times from Tyson, then you know your skills are on point.

4. NO MUSIC
   Don’t use music for this one. It will make you think about dancing and getting down too much. You really just wanna get into this game of robotting and focusing on your technique and isolation. So save the music for a while and just robot to the sounds around you!

5. FEEL LIKE A ROBOT
   When I talk to the undisputed-heavyweight-master-of-the-robot-world Madd Chadd about robotting, he always says the same thing. He FEELS like a robot. He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t think. He isn’t curious. He is just moving. There is a control switch in his head. Gears get pulled and his body moves. It’s simple. Do that!

   So if you wanna really get into this robot game, I highly recommend the How To Do The Robot DVD starring Tyson, protege of Madd Chadd and all around gangsta robot teacher. Be sure to pick up a copy if you wanna take your skills to the next level.

   The Wrap-Up
   We are all just dancing robots as Boppin Andre says. Don’t forget that. That’s what popping is. A dancing robot. So if you wanna be a dope popper, you better be a dope robotter. Keep it up, take your time, record yourself, get some critiques, and just keep working at it. It will pay dividends in every style you do.

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   Posted in Dancing Tags: boppin andre, Dancing, madd chadd, popping, robot, tyson

These days, there are so many styles of popping it’s almost bewildering. Back in the days, it was simple. Popping, waving, tutting, gliding, robot. That’s pretty much it. Now, you’ve got not only tutting but finger tutting, not only waving but snaking, cobra, liquid, and digits, and not only popping but strutting, banging, and boogalooing. It’s overwhelming!

And think about it. Most of the dancers you love, when it comes down to it, are super dope at one thing, maybe two. Maybe you like Madd Chadd’s robot or Acki’s boogaloo or Salah’s isolations. Even the best dancers usually excel at only one thing.

As someone who has gone down the dead end path of trying to master every single style, let me give you the advice that Boppin Andre gave me–perfect something and then move on. Don’t learn waving and tutting and gliding all at the same time. Start somewhere, learn that, and THEN try something new.

This may not sound as exciting, but it’s a surefire way to build skills quickly. The only question is, how are you gonna decide what to learn?

What Dancers Do You LOVE
The best way to answer this question is to first let your mind wander. I’m talking clothes your eyes, start a warm bubble bath, hop in, put on some light jazz, and let yourself relax and go far away. NOW! WHO COMES UP? WHICH DANCERS JUST FLOAT TO THE TOP? WHO DO YOU WANT TO DANCE LIKE? WHO ARE YOUR IDOLS?

When I first did this exercise, I would say things like this. Well, Poppin’ Pete’s hard pops, Sally Sly’s isolations, J Smooth’s footwork and animation, PopnTod’s waves, Tetris’ tuts, Dementia’s ground moves, Walid’s groove, Skeeter Rabbit’s toyman. On and on like that. The problem with this is that by picking so many people and so many things, I might as well not have picked anything at all.

So now, I say this. Walid and Jazzy J. These are the two dancers that I just LOVE. I just can’t get enough of their dancing. To me, they are just the funkiest dancers I’ve ever seen. I would be SO HAPPY to have someone compare me to them. It would make my day. Even if my tuts sucked and my waves were sloppy, if I could funk and boogaloo like Walid and Jazzy J, I would be a happy happy man!

How Do You Dance Like Your Favorites?
All right. So now you’ve figured it out. Let’s say that you’re like me and you wanna dance like Jazzy J. What’s next? Well, you’ve gotta figure out how Jazzy J dances. Here is how *I* would categorize Jazzy J. Great dimestop. Lots of head movements. Very dynamic. Incredible foundation. Strong feet and legs. Quick. Lots of twistoflexing.

So that’s what you’d practice. Just those things. Just do your absolute best to copy those things. It’s perfectly OK to copy at first. It’s just a phase. Once you have it down, you will develop your own unique style. But having someone to look up to helps you get where you’re trying to go.

Wrap-up
In order to get anywhere, you’ve got to know where you’re trying to go! By figuring out which dancers really make you go crazy–the ones whose clips you just watch over and over and over–and focusing on dancing like your idols, you’re sure to get where you’re trying to go! On the other hand, if you just try to dance like everyone else, it’s a surefire way to fail!

So get out there and start copying! A great way to start is with one of my videos that teaches you the basics of all the styles. So if you wanna isolate like Salah, pop like Pete, or wave like Pacman, these videos are the absolute best place to start!

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Do you remember the exact moment you first fell in love with popping? I remember my first time like it was yesterday. It was that first clip where I saw someone do something that I couldn’t believe. You know what I’m talking about. The first time you watch a clip 10, 20, 30 times in a row. When you know that nothing is the same anymore. There is a new love in your life and you HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. Mine was Skeeter Rabbit from the Electric Boogaloos. Dressed all in black. Crazy isolations. Crazy ground moves. Crazy boogaloo. My mind was permanently blown that day…

But why do we love popping so much? What are the reasons? What do you tell people? Well, I think I’ve figured out 10 good reasons:

And hey, if you’re not a reader, I made a video just for you. It’s a little bit about why I love popping so much. You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-vK4ZZxyT0

1) How cool it looks. This has gotta be the first thing that catches your eye. I mean, really. What looks as cool as popping does? The answer. Almost nothing. Someone who looks like a robot or super funky who makes it look like they have become the music. Usually dressed super fly and getting huge audience applause. It doesn’t really get much better than that. If there’s one thing about popping, it’s an EYE CATCHER.

2) The applause. When you see a dope popper, you wanna scream like a little girl. Well, apparently, so does everyone else. This is why good clips get such huge response. This is why in the club, everyone cheers. This is why poppers always win talent shows and why we’re the most popular part of major TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance. Everyone loves popping because no one understands how you can move your body like that.

3) The moves. Which leads us to the moves. I mean, for most of us, it’s a crazy nice backslide or wave or head isolation that makes us go WHOOOOOOOOOA that first time. The moves of popping are just so unreal. And the coolest part is when you do them, it feels just as unreal as it looks.

4) The feeling. Of course, without feeling, the moves don’t look nearly as impressive. When you see somebody put some serious FEEL into those moves, it can almost make you well up with tears. This popping thing runs deep and can hit you right in the heart of your soul. Every so often, someone catches the music in such a perfect way that it makes you think that part of the song was made so that this popper could catch it. The feeling is a beautiful thing.

5) The sci-fi aspect. We all love the Matrix and we all love good special effects like in Transformers. Something about robots and artificial intelligence and machines just triggers this part of us. And what better way than to BECOME a machine. That’s why so many of us poppers make sounds when we move. Gssssh. Eeeeeerg. Crnnnnnnnch. Hsssssssssss. We’re channeling our own inner machine.

6) The girls (or the guys). Poppers are attractive to members of the opposite sex. It’s a skill that’s cool and easy to show off and gets a lot of attention. This feels GOOOOD. How nice is it when you finish dancing and someone cute comes up to you with a compliment and you can just tell that they’d like to get to you know better. This definitely helps with motivation as well!

7) The competition. Most poppers are guys and most guys are pretty competitive. Poppers seem to be an especially competitive group of guys. The great thing about competition is it makes you train hard. You want to take out your opponent. You want to do something that no one’s seen before that makes everybody scream. And when it comes to competition, there isn’t anything more real than a battle. Just you and your opponent and the music and the crowd. No talking or debating. Just show and prove. It’s almost primal!

The freedom. We live in a time period where a lot of people are really stiff and don’t know how to use their bodies. When music comes on and people start dancing, most people just sit down in the corner. If they do dance, they don’t know what they’re doing and they look uncomfortable and it doesn’t seem like they’re having much fun. It’s such a good feeling to just let loose and be free to the music. Just making up movements as you go and improvising based on the song and the environment and how you feel. This popping thing runs deep…

9) The soul. Popping runs deep right into the soul. Rennie Harris, one of the leading hip-hop choreographers, says that he thinks popping is the most spiritual dance. He says with popping, it’s like you’re going into a trance and channeling the spirit realm and the ancestors, all the way back to the original tribal humans back in Africa. It’s that drum. Boom CLAP boom CLAP, Boom CLAP boom CLAP. Most of the dancers I know have a couple stories about times when they just totally lost themselves in the music and had no idea who they were or where they were and the moves just came so easily it was like someone else was moving their body. Popping, like all art, is an incredible opportunity to connect with the deeper parts of yourself.

10) The music! There’s no feeling and no soul without the music. And poppers dance to the hardest, most bangin, gangster, funky, super dope music. Do you ever wonder why popping music isn’t more popular? I sure do! I mean, the beats are just RIDICULOUS. They are so hard and so funky you think even your 80-year old grandma is just gonna pop up out of the chair and start BANGIN. With this kind of music, you almost can’t HELP but pop.

What do you think? Is there anything I left out? Why do YOU love popping? Let me know in the comments!

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SALLY SLY DEMO JUDGE IN CHINA BATTLE ZONE MAY 2009

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Kei & Gucchon vs. Popkun & Poppin Zero

Kei & Gucchon rip a hard routine on this one!

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