Bboy Battles | Red Bull BC One | 2006 | São Paulo

Again, here is my summary for each battle at the 2006 Red Bull BC One Competition this time held at São Paulo, Brazil.

Judging these one on one matches are always difficult, as I've noticed. When battling in a crew, there will always be members that can go up against another crew's power, style, abstract etc. But in a match like Red Bull BC One, the judges will have to compromise judging between a power bboy against a style bboy. It’s difficult business especially when both are so good at what they do. 

Here is the description under the YouTube video, it's worth the read :)

The third edition of the legendary Red Bull BC One was held in the vibrant multicultural city of São Paulo. Last year's Red Bull BC One made B-Boy history by being held in the former government building of the GDR in Berlin. This year, the arena was built at the Latin American Memorial in São Paulo, a symbol of the continent, surrounded by the magnificent buildings designed by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemayer.

1.200 people who had held out in the rain to watch the battle of the giants poured into the arena - a mix of B-Boys, street artists, DJs, MCs, photographers, and Hip Hop aficionados.

Did you see "Gladiator?" The Arena in São Paulo had just as much excitement to offer as the one in Rome. The Red Bull BC One is one of the last "real" battles of the 21st century and presents the gladiators of our times. Dancers agree, if you get invited to dance at the Red Bull BC One - you made it! You don't need to win the battle, just being invited to dance at the Red Bull BC One is an honor!

-Spoiler-

Last year's champion Lilou lost unexpectedly to the Brazilian youngster Muxibinha in the first round. The crowd celebrated the decision of the judges, but paid tribute to Lilou, shouting out his name as he left the stage. "Beating Lilou is already a trophy. I felt like I was the champion of the competition," said 17-year-old Muxibinha.

After re-reading this post, I realised I get quite excited towards the end. My bad if it suddenly becomes hard to read haha. Here's the video for 2006! Battles begin around 4:25

Top 16

Ronnie: USA; Full Force, SuperCr3w, 7 Commandoz, Red Bull BC One All Stars |

Bootuz: Russia; Predatorz

Having dubbed music sucks. Anywho, Bootuz starts the battle with some pretty basic tops and floorwork but then gets into some pretty cool variations of power, ending it with a really done well freeze. Ronnie responds in a way I find is different from his previous years – he busts more power (mills, flares and UFOs) and less technical moves. Bootuz executes his moves well but I think his flow from one to another is a little weak. Ronnie comes back more aggressive, displaying more qualities I’m familiar with, you know the usual sharp and clean style. Bootuz needs to work on transitions and even though Ronnie repeated the same move twice, his cleaner sets sent him to the next round. 

Pelezinho: Brazil; Tsunami All Stars, Red Bull BC One All Stars | Crazy Monkey: France; Phase T

Pelezinho begins the round with a really tight set and Crazy Monkey comes back with just as much energy and cleanliness in his set. This is going to be interesting... In the second round Pelezinho pulls a really mean headslide and into a freeze. Crazy Monkey returns with some popping in the beginning and a top I found a little lazy, before hitting up some powermoves. Pelezinho stays consistent with his energy level and retaliates with cleaner and sharper powermoves, like those nice munch mills. I guess it wasn’t a match I expected afterall, Crazy Monkey’s energy crashed too soon, doing powers and eventually falling off the stage. Pelezinho is the clear winner. I’ve also noticed in the first two rounds, Junior had been voting against the majority – different philosophy I guess.

Mouse: England; Soul Mavericks | Alex: Peru; La Combinación Perfecta

Alex begins with a basic set and Mouse does about the same except ending his set with a nice elbow suicide freeze. Alex finally pulls out the powermoves and does the remove-shirt-while-doing-airflares move. Mouse responds with some of his own powers, like the 2000s and windmills. Alex pulls out some more tricks; he actually ties his leg behind him before doing some UFOs and one airflare – where are the “ooos”?! Ugh. Dub. Mouse ends with a really tight set with not a lot of big things going on, but still a really tight clean set. Mouse wins. Tricks are nice but you can't forget about dancing.

Jed: South Africa; UBUNTU

Roxrite: USA; Renegades, Break Disciples, Squadron and Red Bull BC One All Stars

I actually have never seen this red bull comp before so I’m excited to see how one of my favourite bboys performed back in the day. Jed comes out strong and all-rounded, pulling off some really nice musicality and powermoves, even a hat trick at the end before finishing with a freeze. Roxrite comes out and I so wished that the music was in real time, but even without the music Roxrite does some pretty clean footwork and a legit flag. Jed starts doing contortions, tricks, powermoves and freezes. It would seem like the whole package but it wasn’t delivered well, i.e. not dancing, and because of that his set felt a little weak. Then he tucks his head into his pants – which would have been cool, but it looks a little embarrassing heh. Nothing special comes out of Roxrite’s next set except the most important thing – cleanliness. Jed comes in dancing and then executes a flare variation. Roxrite comes in doing some clean footwork, munch mills and halos. Roxrite gets the unanimous win. Sweet.

Salo: Venezuela; Flying Legs Crew/Aborigenes de Venezuela

The End: South Korea; Gambler, Kai

Oh damn, it’s The End! Heh. He goes straight into power variations. Salo comes in with some musicality and actually some legit footwork and even a shoulder hop. The End continues with some more stunning power variations. Salo responds with his own power moves. The End’s last set was pretty short. And Salo’s too. It was a strange round. Judging by the video, Salo looked a little more all-rounded and I would have voted for him. The End wins though. Maybe he killed some beats with his power moves? I don’t know, well – it’s 2006. That level of power must have been impressive back then.

Hong 10: South Korea; Drifterz, Project Soul, Red Bull BC One All Stars 

Lil Ceng: Germany; Flying Steps / Style Crax

Good to see Hong 10 again. He did really well last year. He starts the battle off and shows us some pretty intricate abstract moves. But Lil Ceng comes out even stronger; I think he has quite a refined musicality. Hong 10 gets serious and tops his previous set with his own musicality – also, what is up with the camera?! Annoys me sometimes when they focus on the wrong person. He continues with some abstract and I’m impressed at how clean he executes it. I’ve seen some of Hong 10's crew battles and honestly, dude is all over the place. Heh. Troll. Lil Ceng is quite the competitor, he’s totally bringing the game – and this round he’s given us a taste of his power. At first I thought that both were evenly matched, but I realised in their last round that Hong 10 had a lot of creativity, originality and difficulty in his moves. So although Lil Ceng was an aggressive dancer – when you have two who are about the same, there are other things to consider that will eventually set them miles apart. Hong 10 goes through. 

Kaku: Japan; Mortal Combat and Cube | Do-Knock: USA; Battle Monkeys/SuperCr3w

Kaku starts strong with some headspins to 2000s. Do-Knock goes in with some pretty fresh top-rocking. Kaku enters with some top rocking and ending his set with more headspins into a freeze. Do-Knock, who I think is more all rounded, comes in with a mixed set but on his second run, Kaku and Do-Knock exchange gestures and Do-Knock leaves the floor pissed because Kaku's not paying attention (?) lolz. Well, it was Do-Knock's 3rd run, wrap it up. Kaku gets in with some top rocking and enters into a headspin again, which Do-Knock obviously does not appreciate. The judges were divided and I think it was a case of power vs style. Back then, power moves were very impressive and I can understand why Kaku had won.

Muxibinha: Brazil; DF & Zulu Breakers | Lilou: Algeria, France; Pockemon

Time to watch the reigning champ defend his title in the first round. Muxibinha goes first. Muxibinha is quite an all rounded bboy, has nice transitions and a sweet freeze at the end of his set. Lilou shows us what it’s like to actually dance to the music, and crashing lol. But like he always does, he recovers with his originality and musicality. Muxibinha is going strong – I guess when you have the reigning champ on the first round, you kinda need to. He kills some beats with his tight freezes and top rock. Lilou responds with the same level of intensity and beat killing. Muxibinha gets in with his response with a good set but seemed a little fragmented. Lilou killed some more beats and executed originality in the last round. Muxibinha is an incredible bboy but for me, Lilou won *only* a slight in this battle. It’s a shame, I enjoyed watching him last year.

Quarter Finals

Muxibinha | The End

Gah, I hate watching it with dubbed music – did I already mention that?! Muxibinha goes first, displaying some more of his all-roundedness. He attempts a hollow back and falls, only to execute it better at the end. The End’s top rock and floorwork is so basic – but I’m thankful he’s showing some of it this time round. His power move – mills and flares in that lotus position must have been quite impressive at the time. My favourite was when he transitioned out of it! Muxibinha has such a strong top-rock, I’m gutted I’m not watching it with the original music! He also does some halos which doesn’t land quite smoothly. It’s ok, because The End lands loosely too – but I admit, had he landed that one handed air flare hop into that air chair, it would have been quite the show stopper. Muxibinha’s energy is drained, ending his next set with one fail and one sweet freeze. Next, The End displays a series of powermoves to prove a point, and kills Muxibinha’s previous set. Unanimously, The End continues (does this sentence even makes sense?).

Roxrite | Pelezinho

Roxrite begins the round. His moves always look so effortless when he does it. It’s clean and executed sharply. Pelezinho enters the floor with big moves, and Roxrite is like ‘again with the big moves’. Well, that’s the trend. Obviously he’s sick of it. Pelezinho is still commendable though. Despite his big moves, he knows how to execute them cleanly. Roxrite responds with a package, a clean top, floor, and headspins. What makes his powermoves so credible is that they’re so basic but added with that extra bit of awesomeness called originality. He then questions Pelezinho’s moves, is that yours or everyone else’s? Still, Pelezinho delivers a clean and amazing set. In the last round both bboys delivered strongly, I can’t even dare compare it. This was a really good battle, but Rox wins. 

I know people see that Rox’s strength lies in foundations, but what I’d like to also point out is that he’s got amazing transitions. This means one set/round is done in one run. His moves just flow from one to the next, and he doesn't hop around like most bboys do when they can't be bothered transitioning.

Mouse | Ronnie

Mouse starts the round off with a tight set, but Ronnie wows me more with a completely original set. Seeing moves that are unconventional to the eyes I find very impressive! I have to say, Ronnie has done well throughout the years, to improve his power while still maintaining his style. Mouse enters but, if that’s the original track, then luck is not on his side. Still, he pulls off a solid pike. In their last round, I’d say Mouse is a great bboy but Ronnie just comes out on top being the more polished, original bboy. 

Kaku | Hong 10

Ok this is going to be interesting. Hong 10 forever strikes me as that bboy with a popped collar. Lol. Anyways, Kaku begins the round. Here we see more of his top rock, and I’m feeling it. He then executes some munch mills to headspins. He took a while to get that momentum though. Hong 10 enters and I’m also feeling his top rock when suddenly – fricken camera changes angle GRAAHHH! Then he gets into his power mode, doing halos and a variation of his trademark freeze (the foot tapping). Kaku skips the tops and heads straight for the headspins. Unfortunately he doesn’t land gracefully at the end. Hong 10 proceeds with a clean set, and I’ve mentioned it before, he’s got great transitions. Both their last sets had headspins, but Hong 10 made sure to top his with some originality. Hong 10 wins. 

Semi-Finals

Roxrite | Hong 10

Oh wow. I love both these guys… and I’ll have to say it again, it sucks having dubbed music! Roxrite begins small, clean but intricate. Hong 10 starts really strong, he executes some tight top rocks and really nice floorwork, then later showing us some amazing abstract moves. Roxrite gets in with some headspins, and this guy’s transitions are so mesmerizing, I’m always like “howww”. Hong 10 gets in there with some very nice threading, and ends with an air chair thread. Nice. Roxrite gets in there doing some headspins and shoulder spin variations, then ending it with a flag. Hong 10 takes what Roxrite did and makes a variation with it. This was an awesome battle, and although Rox is one of my favourite bboys, Hong 10 won this battle. And the judges agree.

The End | Ronnie

This is like, lots of power vs lots of style. It’s going to be really interesting. The End begins with flares, air flares and elbow air flares. In his set, Ronnie does this really cool flare swipe thing? A lot of style, this man. The End does some air chair hops and then Ronnie does some more power; flares and halos. Heh. I was wrong about power vs style, because Ronnie's evolved and he does sure have a lot of power now to go up against The End’s – and at this point, he’s got more variations too. Both their last sets are short and drained, but there’s no doubt about Ronnie getting this win.

Third Place

Roxrite | The End

It’s the battle for third place and these bboys are going to bring out what they got that they didn’t get to show in the finals. Roxrite forgoes messing around and starts the battle. He delivers a clean and complete set, from top to power. How he got into that elbow spin and freeze was mad fresh.  The End comes out strong too, heading straight for the big moves, hand hops and that suicide at the end was so so clean. Rox comes out with smaller moves but still dope original. The End does a short set, and in the end he does this sweet kick from an air chair to get to his feet. Rox is like, aw man, short set lolz – I’m out of breath. He gets in there anyways, and you know he’s drained when he’s not using sorcerous transitions to flow his mos. The End does a repeat set – he’s definitely drained too. Rox’s sorcery returns and delivers an amazing set. I saw that bad landing… but I see what you did there ;). The End does these air flares to 90’s and in the second 90’s he gets down on the ground – yo, I don’t know whether he meant to do that spinning get down or not, but it looked boss! The match ends, and I don’t care who wins because mad respect goes to both! Rox wins. 

Finals

Ronnie | Hong 10

I love finals, I get just as excited as the crowd. When the crowd started chanting Hong 10 and Ronnie’s name, I chanted for both because they’re both amazing to me. Then I got tongue tied. It came out as Hornie :(. Twice. Fml. 

Ronnie begins the battle displaying, as usual, tight abstract and clean moves. But ya’ll know he’s all rounded when he tops it off with some power. Hong 10 does his top rock and power in two runs. He responds Ronnie’s power with more rotations, shuffles and that awesome freeze. Ronnie’s next set is full-on abstract, done in one run – awesome transitions! Oh ho… then Hong 10 goes in and delivers some abstractness into the battle too. The move he does in the end, with the popped collar – it’s called Elvis. Ronnie takes the challenge and starts doing some more intricate moves. He’s very creative, and then he wows me with that spin back into an elbow freeze. 

I love how this battle is so all-rounded. There’s just the right amount of power and style. Hong 10 comes back doing some very nice foot work, then Ronnie goes back in, with waning energy, but still leet, doing his threads and overflowing with style. Hong 10 gets in, no more collar lol, doing a spinning elbow hop, going down to sweep the floor with his overwhelming floorwork, then ending with a trick removing his top… O_O *pause*.

Half an hour later… Ah, lunch. Good stuff. Thanks mum ^^. Back to announcing the winner, ruh ruhh. And the winner of Red Bull BC One 2006 goes to... HONG 10! Nice work. The final battle was totally amazing too! Respect to both bboys!