What The Funk?!

What The Funk?! Crew 2011

2011-08-25T01:17:00.002-04:00

Poppin iLL(RAIJIN), E.T, SUGALOO(FUJIN), Lazy Pop

BOOGIE NATION 2011

2011-08-10T02:02:00.003-04:00

This event was the first event for us to rock our new custom made "Kamikaze hats"

Unfortunately, we DEFINITELY need to try MUCH MUCH harder to represent the hat lol

Over all, it was the most organized event we've been to in New York.

Every thing was on time and well organized.

However, music sucked. Some dancers who attended Boogie Nation addressed that they were using the same music as last year.

Furthermore, it was disappointing to find out that in the battle, DJ played the some songs he already used in the preliminary.

well, here is how we did, enjoy!

Battle Team, 神風(kamikaze) of What The Funk?! Crew.

2011-08-04T15:58:00.014-04:00

The idea sparked from SUGALOO and Poppin iLL talking about becoming a 2 man battle team of our crew since we've been battling together at events constantly.

We chose the name 神風(Kamikaze) because we want to become battling poppers that destroy everything that stands in our way (opponent)to reach the goal(winning the battle) and also to bring new flavor to the scene.

According to the ancient story of Japan, Kamikaze is formed by two gods know as Fujin (風神）god of wind and Raijin（雷神）god of lightning.

They are also one of the most well known gods in Japan because the painting by Tawaraya Soutatsu titled 風神雷神図 Fujin Raijin zu(picture below) is preserved as a national treasure in Japan.

To make this vision and hope to life, I created a customize hat and shirt.

he hat is done and here it is

RAIJIN/God of Lightning (Poppin iLL)

...................................................

nah this is it LOL

RAIJIN/God of Lightning (Poppin iLL)

FUJIN/God of Wind (SUGALOO)

We will be rocking those to events starting Boogie Nation 2011!!!

If you are going to the event, we will see you there!

Peace n God Bless.

P.S For people interested in Boogie Nation, here is the Facebook information.

Place: Club 412
412 8th ave ( 31st Street ) Next to MSG / Penn Station
New York, NY

Time: 9PM-2AM

Hosted By: NYC Popping Academy

Boogie Nation NYC 2011 1 on 1 Popping Championship

$10 with flyer or RSVP
$15 with out
( so its really only $10 because why would you not rsvp nor have flyer printed ? )

Part of NYC popping dance week 2011

Hosted by Tommy Hypno Chan

DJ
Break Easy
Spinning all your popping music all night

Judge
Tiny Love
Big Mike
The people there! - Boogie Nation style

1 on1 Popping Battle
Group round if we have alot of people
If we can get everyone there and have the battle starts at 11pm then we can do 2 rounds each even if we have 16 people.
However we always want to keep the battle low # and short so there is more time for just open music.

King Tut Contest - only 4 to 8 dancer max .You get 1 min or 2 to do your thing. ( One round )

Come early because this not that long of an event. Event starts at 9.30 then come at 9.30

Have your $10 bill - we don't have change !

Bring your own water and have fun!

SUGALOO practice clips

2011-08-02T12:49:00.005-04:00

Popping(General) Practice/get down

Electric Boogaloo Style Practice

Animation Style Practice

NEW GET DOWN CLIP

2010-08-18T11:52:00.002-04:00

sup yall its been a while but we've been working...

I (SUGALOO) been going out for a lot of events for the couple month and picked up some new concepts about POPPIN

What I found most interesting was the knowledge I got from Kid Boogie(Machine Gone Funk).

What I learned was something called "Pop Separation"
Basically what it means is that you learn how to pop ur body parts separately.

If its the forearm, u only pop its muscle.
If its the triceps, u only pop that muscle.
If its the chest, u kno what I mean. lol

By doing so, u'll gain more control of ur body bc u'll be more conscious about how u body moves and that will help u to have more solid popping.

So me and poppin ill been worked on that for couple days.
Trying to dance using the pop.

and it actually dramatically changed the way we dance(especially Poppin ill).

We were more calm, relaxed and were taking time towards the music.
It may not look that amazing to u yet since this was after 3day's of training. But hope u can see the difference between ourselves in the past.

P.S btw Poppin ill edited the clip so it looks stupid LOL

STEP YO GAME DOWN 2010

2010-07-27T12:52:00.000-04:00

Well. Let me tell you that I am being very specific when I state the following:

Step Yo Game Up 2010 SUCKED.

It was unbelievably hot in the venue. Incredibly disorganized (The event ended around 5am, I believe). A good number of the staff were incredibly rude and temperamental. Example: The Security Guard. Sure, security guards are supposed to be tough. But Stretch completely justified this security guard to be a complete asshole. There's no reason to be cursing people out and being rude (in a church) to dancers. He was SO MUCH OF A DOUCHEBAG that several amazing dancers from D.C. left after an encounter with him. And again, Stretch just encouraged it, if anything. Yelling, screaming, overreacting to everything.

The dancers there were dope though. Shout out to Japan for mass producing epic little dance androids like Lil Sho. And shoutout to France, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Virginia and others! Cyphers outside of the event were also really sick.

My prelim sucked. Sugaloo got past prelim but uhm, well, we still don't know what the fuck happened in his battle against Breeze Lee....

NEXT YEAR, JUST EVERYONE MEET UP OUTSIDE OF THE EVENT AND WE WILL HAVE ENDLESS CYPHERS!!!! DONT GO IN!

Inspiration

2010-06-14T22:56:00.003-04:00

I pose a question to the dance community:

Where do you get your inspiration from?

You see, I feel like I am a little bit different than other dancers in this regard, or maybe I just have not run into any others that think the way I do. I'm quite humble when it comes to my dancing ability (unlike the loud, obnoxious person-that-thinks-he's-funny that I am otherwise) but I suppose fairly imaginative as well. I can narrow it down to two sources being my experiences and amazing dancers. Sure, at first that sounds generic, but let me explain.

By my past experiences I mean that I am incredibly humbled and grateful for every person I've gotten into contact with, every place that I have been to, and so on. Due to this fact, I work much harder to not waste the opportunities I've had or to disappoint all the people that have helped me. So, my personal satisfaction is merely a by-product of the actual source. I become elated and satisfied when others acknowledge my success and hard work, when I have earned their good opinion. In a way, this is basically the same using raw improvement as inspiration, but not directly, since I am almost like improving for others. It's tough to explain.

Some, like my Sensei Sugaloo, view clips of amazing dancers and are just thrust back into a sense of inferiority, of feeling so incredibly behind and having to catch up (which he uses as fuel to drive him to improve). However, when I see a battle between Poppin J and Franqey (my favorite battle ever by the way), or an incredibly judge show by Slim Boogie or A.k.a kin or Gucchon or Acky, the list goes on and on, I undergo a different thought process. My mind immediately says "I can do that." Meaning, I am able to put in the massive amount of work to achieve the same level and be right up there with them. Now, please please PLEASE do not take this the wrong way, I am not bragging or saying I'm the best. I just get a sensation of possibility, a belief inside me, a little Thomas that says "I think I can I think I can, I think, therefore I can!"

Also, I am incredibly impatient when it comes with improving. This is both a negative and a positive. Others view it more as a negative, and they are right. Sorry, Madd Chadd, I'll try to be patient.

~Poppin iLL (P.S. for those of you that listened to my beat, hope you enjoyed it and thank you!)

Dope beat made by Poppin iLL

2010-05-25T14:26:00.003-04:00

Yo sup ppl?! wana here some new tight instrumental beat????

well let me introduce this new fresh one our member Poppin iLL made recently!!!

The back ground pic is really dope too ;) lol

Hope u enjoy it!!

REZNO Popping Clip!!!

2010-05-21T14:08:00.004-04:00

Hope ya'll are enjoying the weather outside!!!
The weather in NY has been really sunny like the westcoast!!!

Speaking of westcoast, one of our crewmember REZNO recently visited San Francisco.

Here is the vid of him getting down!!!

Enjoy:)

Plz Welcome our NEW Crew Members!!!

2010-05-19T17:47:00.006-04:00

Sup people!!! Today I want to introduce our newest What The Funk?!Crew Member

Alan "Killa Watts" Watson!!!(Left) and Jeremy "Remy D" Flores!!!(Right)

These dancers are also member of all styles choreography crew, Part Time Models.

Alan learned popping under Jrock of ABM, and Jeremy learned popping under Ten, who is/was the teacher of kite from Former Action.

They've been dancing more than most of us, therefore, are also well trained in styles such as Hip Hop,House and Breaking.

Speaking of which, Alan teaches Basic/Beginner Hip Hop at PMT Dance Studio every Wednesday(6PM~7:30PM) and Sunday(8:30PM~10PM)!!

I encourage you to take his class if u r ever interested in doing Hip Hop:) He is a very good teacher!!!

By the way, here is a footage of Alan battling at Step Up or get smoked 2010!!!

Footage of Jeremy popping will be uploaded soon so stay tuned:)

Peace!

~~Posted By SUGALOO~~

The Birth of Rival, Funky Fusion Crew

2010-05-15T13:10:00.004-04:00

ok this happened at the same day when SUGALOO and Poppin iLL did the street performance in Union Square.

After the performance, we visited Popshop and met Poppin Tito and Crazy Sun who came all the way from Philly and Washington D.C

After Popshop Tito, Crazy sun and SUGALOO when clubbing and got down for 6 hours, having fun, exchanging techniques and practising new techniques.

On our way home, Tito encountered a fateful meeting which led him to create his new crew.

At first I misunderstood Tito's word and thought he was joking.
However, Funky Fusion Crew is spreading among East and West Coast and has been very active since I last met him.

They have also posted rules and goals and one of them include having a "Healthy Competition" with What The Funk?! Crew.

Thus, Funky Fusion Crew is our first rival crew and we are really happy about this cuz having a rival would motivate our selves to improve more.

This vid is how Tito came up with the name of the crew!!
Enjoy :)

~~Posted by SUGALOO

Street Performance Footage!!!

2010-05-13T07:10:00.004-04:00

Sorry yall for keeping you waiting!

We finally uploaded the footage of SUGALOO and Popping iLL getting down at Union Square,NYC

Before u watch, plz be reminded that this vid was taken while SUGALOO or Popping iLL was still botting

Therefore, the view and the angles might not be comfortable to watch

Still we created an awesome clip!!! lol

There will be another clip called "Birth of Funky Fusion Crew" coming up soon so stay tuned!!!

Enjoy!!

~~Posted by SUGALOO

Preview

2010-05-01T01:29:00.002-04:00

Found a youtube clip of us street performing in NYC!!!!!

The performances we recorded will be edited before we upload it to youtube so please stay tuned!!!

Peace!

~~Posted By SUGALOO~~

HUSHPUPPIES EXPERIENCE

2010-04-28T16:58:00.004-04:00

Well, call me a clone, but I purchased my first pair of hushies off of the eBay store mentioned in the last post. As I understand it, the store is based in California, but it only took 3 days for me to get my shoes. The box was a bit bent, which is surprising since there is a huge amount of protective wrapping around the box itself, so your shoes should be safe. Now, onto the actual product...

LIME GREEN is the way I rock 'em. Personally, they are a tiny bit too big, but thats just choice. The shoe itself is the real deal, flexible, soft, and super light. The sole is both smooth and supportive, and the heel is at the proper height. There's not much else I can say about these babies, as far as my inexperienced eye/body can tell, these are the real deal.Another thing to point out is that it came with a complimentary wallet made by Timberland. Its simple, 6 slots for cards, 1 for license and such in the middle, and 1 large pocket for cash. A bit small, and does not have a button or something to close, just folds over from 3, like a brochure.

~Poppin iLL

NEW CRAZY COLOR HUSH PUPPIES!!!!!!

2010-04-27T12:39:00.013-04:00

BIIIIIIIIGGGGGGG NEWS!!!!!!
Now on ebay, u can buy a brand new Hush Puppies with the CRAZIEST colors!!!

The price aren't friendly, but I gotta say if u ar a true FUNKSTYLE POPPER, these shoes are A MUST HAVE!!!!!

Also,considering the fact that these colors are now nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find in the United States, and if u were to buy and get them Hush Puppies look-a-like shipped from Japan or korea like I mentioned on my prior blog post, it is somewhat cheaper and fair priced.

Also these shoes comes with multiple colors AND different design!!!
Some have Hush Puppies Logo on it, some have Croco skin, and some are laced or not.

By the way, my boy Poppin iLL already bought one of these cuz he's been obsessed w lime green hushes for a loooooong time lol

Check em out for urselves!!!!!

For purchases, visit:Planet Most Wanted

SINGLE TONE

Red

Orange

Yellow

Blue

Lime Green

Beige

Brown

Navy

White

Black

Grey

Two Tones

Unique(New)Style and Boots

White outline

Croco

Boots

Pat Burgundy

~~Posted By SUGALOO~~

What The Funk?! Crew Street Performance!!!! POPSHOP!!! in NYC!!!

2010-04-21T20:23:00.011-04:00

sup yall! Sugaloo posting this when he should be working on his final project but F**k that and hear me out!!! LOL

On Saturday, 24th, me and Ilya "Poppin' Ill" will be street performing in manhatten, NY!!! XD

I often go to the city to teach or practice and have seen people street performing but never actually done it
I've always had interest but never wanted to do it by myself lol

But since Ilya will be coming all the way from Parsippany,NJ,by train, I thought it would be a good chance to try it.

I'm really excited about this because of two reasons

1. Want to find out how much our performance is worth lol

2. Performing on the streets means performing in front of audiences that are NOT familier with Popping. In other words their feedback is PURE AND REAL. How COOL IS THAT!!!!!

We would probably be performing at Union Square from about 3:30PM, so if u happen to be around, come check us out!

We would be dressed some what formal and will be popping :D lol

And if possible, we would record some of our performance and post it here or on our youtube account

Also after street performing, we would be going to POPSHOP to practice with dope poppers in NYC, Popping Tito from philly, and Crazy Son&friends from D.C!!!!

POPSHOP will be at PMT studio from 5~7PM! damage is $3!!
The address is same as SUGALOO's Popping Class

And then we are going to a club event @ THE PARLOUR!!!
Its open from 8PM but we would probably be going around 9 or 10.
The address is
247 West 30th Street,New York, NY!

wooooo its gona be a LOOOOOOOG day!!!!LOL

If u wana get down with us, feel free to come to these places on Saturday!!!

oh Wish us luck on the street performance!!!XD

Peace

~~Posted by SUGALOO~~

Mentality

2010-04-15T21:44:00.004-04:00

I have a problem. Multiple problems. I kept blaming my physicality. As I mentioned in my last post, it is an incredibly important part of dance. However, it is through constant practice that I noticed my biggest problem, and now am man enough to acknowledge it.

I'm a little bitch.

By that I mean that my mentality is lacking. I get frustrated easily, and when I am, I lash out against anyone and anything. I blame my body for the weakness, the lack of control, the false movements. But where do all the original commands stem from? THE MIND.

So let me put it this way, I am young and inexperienced as a dancer but I'm sure most cannot argue with me about the following statement. Dancing is mental first. If you are unclear or unsure about your dance, then it will most definitely show in your movement. Just as you train to control your body, you must train to control your mind.

This is not to say that everyone must be at the perfect level of balance and mental peace. Frustration is normal. Frustration is good. It displays the desire to improve, the will to surpass an obstacle. It becomes bad when the frustration turns you away from your goal. When you let it get to your head and end up feeling upset with yourself. All those thoughts must end. Remember, control your mind to manipulate your movement the way you want it to move. Master the mind.

~Poppin iLL

Keeping It Fresh!! Videos!!!!

2010-04-11T21:01:00.002-04:00

Check em out!!!

Tito VS Wookie

Jrez VS Q

Hanna VS ???

Keep it Fresh!! Review~~!

2010-04-08T10:00:00.007-04:00

Sup yall!!

Hope yall ar enjoying a great weather we ar having today!

So last weekend I went to Baltimore to Judge a popping 1 vs 1 competition (also reppin What The Funk?! to the fullest like u see in the pic with 2 other popping judges Mike the popper&Jett Jaguar from the Regulators).

The place where the event took was really nice but the size of the event were small.
This was due to lack of time and management to put together an event(that's what I heard from the organizers themselves) and it would've been much better.

For example
-The place were steaming hot cuz they could not open the window due to the fact that the building right outside had a Easter ceremony going on.
-With the size of the space they had, they could've sold some goods like drinks and maybe sponsored T-shirt or smt to improve its financial planning.

Although it seems many people had a great time at the Jam:)
I believe this was due to the unexpected high level battles on both Popping and Breaking Battle.

There were less than 15competitors on both sides but I saw something very interesting and fun to watch on every battle.

Popping side was especially interesting since the competitors brought many different styles and flavor.

There were Animators,Funk Stylers,G-Stylers,and straight up trick dancers;D lol

One of the epic battle of the day for me was

Tito(Philly)VS Wookie(Baltimore)

This is Tito(somehow I had his pic but not wookie lol)

The two represented there style to the fullest and it was really hard to judge.
Tito had west coast funkstyle mixed with animated feeling.
Wookie had Asian flavor Beatfreaking Animation style.

Tito stuck to the basics while wookie presented his unique style and was the crowd pleaser of the battle.

Tito changed his style as the music did from round 1 to 2 which was amazingly done, however, I thought he wasn't able to maintain the energy and the intensity he brought on the 1st round.
Wookie stuck to his favorite style on both rounds. Although he managed to maintain the energy and was able to change the way he approached to the beat.

This was a REALLY CLOSE BATTLE and now I think back, I feel like we should've done a tie breaker since both are great poppers

The winner of this battle was WOOKIE

I gave my vote to wookie because of the reasons written above and cuz I thought wookie attacked to the beat more.
It is really important to go with the flow of the music in dancing, no doubt. But when u are battling u have to attack the beat with ur flavor and show supremacy against the opponent and prove that u can rock the beat better than the opponent.

Overall I had a good time at the event!!
I kinda regret that I judged cuz there were a lot of great poppers to battle against!

so NO JUDGING FOR A WHILE!!
gona stick to practicing and battling :)

Big props to the organizers for putting together a good event,all the competitors who is keepin popping and breaking scene on MD real and to those who won the event!!!

Peace

~~Posted by SUGALOO~~

Keep it Fresh!! Popping Battle

2010-03-29T18:04:00.005-04:00

OK so this saturday Im going to be judging this event called

Keep it Fresh!!!Breaking/Popping Battlein Baltimore!!!

its 1vs1 battle competing for the prize of $100!

This is the first event Im going to be judging out of my home state, New Jersey, and I'm really excited to see how the poppers in Baltimore will get down in battles!!

Like the prior event, Step Up of Get Smoked, I will write a review and hopefully some footage of the event so keep checking the blog!

Peace
SUGALOO

Strength

2010-03-28T20:10:00.003-04:00

One thing that often slips people's minds, mainly the beginners, is that dancing is HARD. Even the simplest of steps requires a certain level of skill and physicality. I can recall a conversation I had with a "dancer" who laughed in my face by the end of it. I told him, "man, dancing is training. You gotta be physically fit, technically sharp, and mentally stable. It is hardcore training." He laughed. His ignorance surprised me, and since then I've tried to keep away from him. But that is not the point of this post...

Many dancers have physical boundaries to overcome to begin with. I, for example, have terrible knees, to the point where I am supposed to be in physical therapy three times a week. However, that is expensive, and I can replicate the same exercise with relative ease. On top of those immediate barriers, comes the lack of physicality/reaching the proper physical ability to improve your dance. That means eating healthy, staying flexible, and systematically working out each body part for your dance. I recently watched a video describing a similar topic and it mentioned the training habits of several famous dancers, such as Gucchon and other Japanese poppers doing 100s of squats, pushups, and crunches in each class. Or Madd Chadd's ability to high jump over 7 feet.

This all makes me feel like I am lacking a major component, not only physically, but in my dance as well. A dancer's instrument is the body, and it is the dancer's responsibility to keep it tuned and in perfect condition.

~Posted by Ilya "Poppin iLL"

SUGALOO's POPPIN CLASS EVERY THURSDAY

2010-03-23T13:59:00.006-04:00

Ok so I will be starting a poppin class EVERY THURSDAY @ PMT Dance Studio in NYC from 1st of April!!

This is a great opportunity and a dream come true so I will work my butt off to teach my students and let them have the best class they ever had.

If any of you ar interested in learning poppin, def come to my class!!!

Here is the my course description:

Solid Poppin Foundation -
Do you want hard hits, sharp movements, and clean poppin technique? If so this class is definitely for you!
This class will be focusing on hitting, popping and isolation drills to cultivate necessary techniques for the beginners and for experienced poppers who wish to improve or solidify their poppin foundation. There will also be a routine using movements associated with poppin styles such as Boogaloo, Waving, Botting etc. The instructor will help you achieve clean angles, the understanding of movements and the way to incorporate the moves into you freestyle.

For more info, go to: PMT Dance Studio and check out "TEACHER PROFILES"-SUGALOO

Looking forward to seeing you at class

PEACE
SUGALOO

Crew Footage: Poppin iLL

2010-03-20T13:38:00.003-04:00

One of our youngest member "Poppin iLL" gettin down!!! ENJOY :D

The Six Diseases

2010-03-18T20:20:00.014-04:00

Training.

Recently, most of the members competed in Step Up Or Get Smoked!--as mentioned in earlier posts--and everyone did well. However, there comes a time when one has to accept the performance, take it into consideration, and resume training even harder than before. With the SATs over and this beautiful March weather shining, it is the perfect time for me to resume this rigorous process. Therefore, I like to look at a certain philosophy that I can apply to what has happened recently, and how to improve. I thought, what better way to examine a battle than taking something from fighting, since I personally believe fighting and dancing are incredibly similar. These wise words come from Bruce Lee's "Tao of Jeet Kune Do"

"The six diseases:
1. The desire for victory.

2. The desire to resort to technical cunning.

3. The desire to display all that has been learned.

4. The desire to awe the enemy.

5. The desire to play a passive role.

6. The desire to get rid of whatever disease one is affected by."

~Posted by Ilya "Poppin iLL"

Footage from the battle!!

2010-03-18T10:33:00.003-04:00

ENJOY!!!!!

HIP HOP FINAL ROUND

POPPIN Quoter finals