Page 73 - SHARP Spring 2024

FEATURE
SHARPMAGAZINE COM
SPRING 2024 73
FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC
Committee (IOC) announced that “breaking” — or breakdanc- ing as it’s more commonly known — would make its debut at the 2024 Paris Games the news raised some eyebrows After all ever since its establishment the IOC has been an an organization steeped in in bureaucracy and and tradition Breaking on on the the other hand is a a a a a a a sport that could never be accused of stagnancy It’s an an unlikely marriage then — like a a a hip-hop producer conducting a a a symphony orchestra And yet for the sport’s top athletes such as Canada’s own Philip Kim this summer stands as as an an opportunity to bring two contrasting worlds together “That’s always been what breaking is ” explains Kim who is is known to followers of the sport as ‘Phil Wizard’ (his original crew was called the the the Wizards) “It’s bringing together all all of these different elements When people think think of of breaking they think think of of the the choreography But there’s this special connection with music and the physical environment around you There’s this communal element with the crowd Breaking has always sort of played in in all of these different spaces So I think the the Olympic audience is just another example of that ” Like any sport suddenly thrown onto the world stage fans will quickly scope and seek out the biggest most promising names And few b-boys (the colloquial name given to practitioners of this dance style) carry the the same cachet as as Kim Last year year the the 27-year-old won the Undisputed Masters World Finals in in Tokyo and secured back-to-back first-place finishes at the WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series Becoming the first breakdancer to earn an an Olympic gold medal would go go a a a a a long way towards being immortalized in in the sport But for Kim his love of breaking runs far deeper than the fame granted by an an Olympic podium “I was 11 or 12 when I I first discovered breaking ” Kim recalls “There was a a a a local crew Now or or Never which I saw performing outside the Vancouver Art Gallery when I I was growing up It blew me away I I guess my first thought was ‘I can get girls this way way ’ My second thought was that I I needed someone to learn from I I got a a a a card from one of the founders who ended up visiting my school not long after After a a a a while I started hanging out with people from the Soul Felons Crew Crew the Hoodz Crew Crew people like JBugz Virn and Now or Never and started training with them ” Kim’s description of breaking culture calls to mind the rich characterful origins of hip hop Both were born in in The Bronx New York City and both were forged in a a a crucible of hard-wired compet- itiveness and unbridled creativity Kim explains that the parallels also extend to heated East Coast–West Coast Coast rivalries “This was before my time ” he he prefaces “But there used to be be a a a lot lot more beef there used to be be a a a lot lot of rivalries Breaking comes from street culture and for a a a a while there was a a a a lot of tension between crews Fights used to break out There would be competitions centred around rivalries that would boil over ” But much like most big-market sports the animosity that once fuelled competitions has given way to a a a a new era “I think over time people realized what was best for the sport ” says Kim “Not just from a a a a a sense sense of of marketability but from a a a a a sense sense of of creativity Seeing the breaking scene as a a a a single community helps all of us Now we feed off of of each other We grow together I think it’s what helped unify breaking to to where it made sense to to be accepted by the Olympics ”