FROM FORUM POSTS BY: J-Rock


Cobra Style:
Cobra Style..is a style that came from Southern California..and perfected by a crew called the Mysterious Poppers.
Original Members:
King Snake (Bruno AKA PopNTaco)
King Cobra (Inventer of Cobra Style)
King Python
King Rattler

Cobra Style..in actuality is not really a style..Its part of a large style called SNAKIN.
They called it Cobra Style because King Cobra did it...

To do the cobra you must realize that there are many parts to it..going once at the same time..Here are their parts broken down.
Form
1)Head and Chest "Crumpin"...you go back and forth from sinking you chest in and bringing you shoulders forward....this creates an "IN and Out" movement...and look like a "Breathing" exercise.
Bring Chest out as far as you can and bring your shoulders back..and head should sink in..bring your chin towards your chest...Do these two positions...and work on moving smoothly into each position...when your "Sinked In" bring your HEAD AND NECK ...FOWARD AND OUT....Strestch in this position.

Movements

2)Shoulder Rolls...circle your shoulders...continuously in a circular motion.
Its easy to learn by having your hands on your hips.While your hands are on your hips..kinds like you're about to Twisto..roll your shoulders...ISOLATE YOUR SHOULDER JOINT...
Roll one shoulder in one direction..roll the other the oposite way...at the same time..slowly...stop and reverse...practice ISOLATING YOUR SHOULDER JOINTS....ROLL THEM.

3)Chest Roll....
Roll your chest....OUT AND IN...As if you had a hoola hoop around your chest..your going to stick it out far as it comes out in front of you...and sink it in low when it comes back...Practice going in both directions.

4)Head Roll....
Roll your head outward when your chest comes in..and roll your neck and head in when your chest comes out....like you have a hoola hoop on you head....On both chest and head go in a circular roll...

The HEAD AND CHEST ROLL ARE DONE ARE DONE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS...AND DONE AT THE SAME TIME....
ROLL YOUR HEAD CLOCKWISE AND YOUR CHEST COUNTER CLOCWISE...
AND VICE VERSA.

Practice stoppin and then starting in reverse...

5)Hits...Hit on beat...in whatever position
you are in when the beat hits..or when you decide to hit it...or just snake though the beat.

6)Dimestops...Dimestops will add a nasty illusion to snakin..and give you a good way to change directions in your cobra...dimestop and then start back in the opposite direction.

7)Footwork..I was told by 2 different OGs that the Shamrock can be done to make the footwork look real smooth..considering Cobra is mostly upper body...but there is no SPECIFIC FOTWORK..And that from Taco..so I dont question that.

Hit different levels with this.dont just stay straight up and down..go ot to the side...back..lean forward...low to the ground..MOVE ROUND.


All of those elements done at the same time makes up Cobra Style..

All of this information came from Pop N Taco himself straight to my ear..no middle man.
And when I was learning from him I took mad notes...on the history of his crew..and the styles he i best st it. I told him thank you...and tat I would teach others tht stuff he taught me..and I told him I wanted to be able to go back and teach my crew tese techniques..Sooo I pestered him for 3 DAYS!!! Everytime we were in the car..or chillin on the couch....I would just bust out..SOO WHERE WE LEFT OFF ON THE COBRA...hahahaha



FROM FORUM POSTS BY: J-Rock

e-motion Posted on: Dec. 09 2003,4:38

 Liquid Army Unite!

 The Liquid Army Anechdotes:

 -It's been said that The Liquid Army, is everywhere at all times, bound not to any particular time, and any particular space
 -It's been said that The Liquid Army encounters no resistance as it flows around the obstacles (bullets included)

Numba_One_Stunna December 15, 2009, 11:13:28 PM
 Rails are a type of mime. They give substance to the illusion. On the most basic level they are just simple lines you’re drawing in the space around your body. Without them you’re stuck doing like an energy ball thingy-majig in your stomach area with your elbows locked into your side. That being said a lot of people forget you can use this as a cool little illusion/ transition and totally blow it off as wacksauce newb stuff.

 The handwave and it’s role.

 Two definitions I use are pulling and sitting in a rail. These will make more sense as I separate styles:

 !. Pulling through a rail - The handwave is almost nonexistent. You’re literally pulling your hands through space one after another and it creates the illusion.

 2. Sitting in a rail - The handwave is the main attraction here. You aren’t pulling through space to create the illusion, the handwave is creating the illusion.

 Most styles of liquid are defined by their rails. Except for figure 8 liquid which is defined by a split although figure 8 liquid can be a type of hyper-rail I guess. Figure 8 liquid gives depth in a lot of the same ways as orbital liquid anyways lol...


 Orbital liquid - 3-D. The pathways you are shaping are circular and you are mostly contouring your arms as well. The way this looks best is when you pull your rails. Circular pulled rails are illusional and give incredible weight and dimension to your dance. In fact anything circular gives your dance a lot of weight when done correctly. See boogaloo. A huge mistake I see people make is when they try to sit in a circular contouring rail. It’s impossible imo. I’ve never seen it look good. Most newbs are thinking handwave-handwave-handwave then try and add weight to their dance by doing a circular contouring rail but they don’t understand that the handwave isn’t important.

 Linear liquid - 2-D. These rails are geometric usually just a straight line. The most prominent example would be the box rail. You can pull through these rails and actually pulling through a linear rail is a great way to transition into orbital liquid or out of orbital liquid. But linear liquid is the type of liquid to really sit in your rails imo. You want to draw the lines out as cleanly as possible and not rush your handwave. Folds also come into play if you are capable of utilizing wrist rotations while doing rails. In fact wrist rotations add so much more to what you can accomplish it’s a shame hardly anyone uses them. You can do circular rails also but it’s not the same type of circle as you do in orbital. The circle you would do here is flat and 2-d. It’s important to realize the difference. Most people train their handwave for linear liquid without realizing it, then try and do orbital. This is why so many liquid dancer’s illusions are trash. They don’t realize there is a difference in mechanics. It’s like trying to shove a square into a circle.

 Fixed point liquid - A natural compliment to linear liquid. Instead of both hands miming the area of a line one remains at a fixed point while the other contours the space. So for instance you have a straight line you’re going to run your liquid over.

 A--------B

 You start with both hands at point A. One hand moves with or without a wave to point B then stops at point B it then becomes the fixed point. The other hand may then follow the same path to point B. Of course you can establish more complex rails then this. For instance the initial fixed point doesn’t have to follow the same path as the lead hand. Nor does is it have to meet or stop at the second fixed point. But be careful doing this as you can lose your viewer and things can start looking like garbage. Also this style has the most potential to be mixed with animation b/c of it’s nature of relying on stillness and non-movement.

 As a sidenote always try to add more juice to your rails by adding texture through tension, speed control, ticking, vibration or basically all of these effects are created by muscle control in your arms.

"What does Foundation really Mean?"

 Written By "Krayz E Kujo" March 23, 1999

 Most b-boys, especially the older ones, consider foundation to be toprock, footwork (specifically six-step related footwork), and basic freezes. It's what most b-boys recommend to the inquisitive beginner to start off with. Mastery of foundation is considered the essence of a "true b-boy," and mastery of footwork techniques is what separates b-boys from other dancers. Or so they say. Most breakers I know personally, including myself, did NOT start off learning foundation footwork. The first move I learned was turtles, and many other people I know started with windmills or other basic power moves, or freezes, or a general understanding of rhythm. That's THEIR foundation, and I've noticed that every breaker who starts off on the "wrong" foot looks TOTALLY different from any other breaker or dancer.

 Here's my contention: If every would-be breaker started off learning the six-step and other accepted b-boy foundation movements, they would all look relatively similar. This can be either good or bad, depending on your point of view. It's good because we'll all look like "b-boys" as opposed to ballet dancers, but it might not be so good because we'll all look like we're doing the same thing. I don't mean we'll all be clones; we're all different people, with different qualities and capabilities, and we'll all interpret the same dance differently. There's nothing at all wrong with that. BUT...what if everybody started off learning something different? What if a would-be breaker never learned footwork, but had an amazing capacity for rhythm and freezes? Or power moves? Or something we haven't even conceived of yet? Would that person still be considered a b-boy?

 By learning and mastering basic footwork, you're understanding the FUNDAMENTALS of the dance once known as "rocking." The more you play with that style, the more your personality shines through. You eventually form your own unique interpretation of an established dance. You've thus chosen a convenient means of expressing your soul. That can't be bad...but it can be limiting. So then, you explore other movements. You learn power moves, you polish your toprocks, freezes, etc. But the fact remains: although every dancer interprets the dance (rocking) differently, you still look relatively similar to every other dancer who does the same dance. Again, this is not a bad thing at all. It just depends on what YOU want. Dance is art...art is the expression of the soul...and the soul is without limits.

 Say someone isn't too attracted to footwork, and wants to learn power moves and combos. We've seen it many times. They're often looked down upon and referred to as "urban gymnasts." But like it or not, they're pushing the limits of the human body's capabilities, and they're pushing the boundaries of breaking. They're doing what they FEEL. They choose to focus on movements other than footwork, because they CAN. That's their foundation. Or, say someone has a natural talent for dancing and acting, and he's not too interested in footwork; say it's too "robotic" for him. But he has the most graceful movements and loads of character, and hits beautiful freezes. He takes advantage of his capabilities, and ignores the rules, because he CAN. And that's HIS foundation. There are plenty of situations we can come up with. If people are allowed to express themselves in the myriad ways that they truly want to, the result will be the creation of new forms of movement, and new dances...as opposed to new "styles," or interpretations.

 With time, comes evolution. Many aspects of the dance originally known as "rocking" have been expanded upon, in many ways. Our freedom as b-boys continues to be regulated by those who were there since the birth of the dance, and by those influenced by those pioneers. People who break the rules are practically excommunicated. But the rules have been bent since the beginning, and they will continue to be bent, more and more, until what people are doing looks nothing like the vision shared by the founders of breaking. That's a beautiful thing.

 Think about it: if people are allowed total artistic freedom, and are able to develop their own "foundations," some blessed individual may stumble upon a whole new DANCE, as opposed to a mere interpretation of an established dance form. Where would be if somebody, God forbid, had told Don Campbell he was doing the Funky Chicken wrong, and taught him the "correct" way? He broke the rules and got laughed at...but now he's revered, and rightfully so, as one of the pioneers of street dance. There will be another Don Campbell...there will be another Charlie Parker...there will be another Bruce Lee.

 If the powers that be dictate that a b-boy is defined by constricted criteria (i.e., six-step), then I am not a b-boy. With or without "foundation," I am still KUJO, and always will be. And no one on this planet will ever be better than me at being Kujo.

 Peace.

 Kujo The Flying Water Buffalo

OmniLink Posted on: Nov. 19 2002,11:42
 [Quixotic Kyd] Puzzling
 [Quixotic Kyd] I'm all about puzzling
 [MrKingGeorge] tutter eh
 [MrKingGeorge] where you from
 [MrKingGeorge] i've heard people say puzzling before
 [Quixotic Kyd] IL
 [Quixotic Kyd] Nah dude
 [Quixotic Kyd] Puzzling is way more than tutting
 [Quixotic Kyd] Piss on tutting
 [MrKingGeorge] explain
 [Quixotic Kyd] It's boxes with a purpose
 [Quixotic Kyd] A riddel of sorts
 [Quixotic Kyd] riddle*
 [MrKingGeorge] that's a really interesting way of putting it
 [Quixotic Kyd] Folding them contorting them and trying to figure it out
 [MrKingGeorge] do you have any clips of yourself?
 [Quixotic Kyd] No I need some though
 [MrKingGeorge] so
 [MrKingGeorge] puzzling is tutting and boxing with a purpose
 [MrKingGeorge] but what is the purpose
 [Quixotic Kyd] :-D
 [Quixotic Kyd] I don't think anyone "knows"
 [MrKingGeorge] the way you said riddle just kind of struck a nerve
 [MrKingGeorge] so i just wondered what sorts of rules
 [MrKingGeorge] or goals
 [Quixotic Kyd] It's more like answering parts of the riddle through interpretation
 [MrKingGeorge] people set in puzzling
 [Quixotic Kyd] Like how big is the box
 [Quixotic Kyd] Can you go inside the box
 [Quixotic Kyd] Can the box be broken
 [Quixotic Kyd] if so how
 [Quixotic Kyd] What angles *if any* is the box limited to
 [Quixotic Kyd] If the box folds and goes liquid is it really gone?
 [Quixotic Kyd] Can you trap the box inside of you
 [Quixotic Kyd] How complicated can you make the box fold
 [Quixotic Kyd] ALl of these relate to the big Q
 [Quixotic Kyd] What's the box's answer?
 [MrKingGeorge] that's a pretty insane approach to boxing and tutting
 [MrKingGeorge] very interesting
 [Quixotic Kyd] Yeah it drives poeple nuts trying to find new answers
 [MrKingGeorge] it's amazing to be honest
 [MrKingGeorge] it's something i never would've thought of on my own
 [MrKingGeorge] i'm kind of stunned to be honest
 [Quixotic Kyd] With enough acid yu probably would have.
 [MrKingGeorge] when i dance i try to set rules for myself and move according to them
 [Quixotic Kyd] LOL
 [Quixotic Kyd] Bah rules are for the weak
 [MrKingGeorge] not necessarily
 [MrKingGeorge] like when i tut
 [Quixotic Kyd] It's all about how far you can push the rules without brekaing them
 [Quixotic Kyd] For me at least
 [MrKingGeorge] exactly
 [Quixotic Kyd] Ask yourself
 [Quixotic Kyd] What is flow?
 [Quixotic Kyd] What is the extent I've gone with flow?
 [Quixotic Kyd] Why haven't I gone further?
 [Quixotic Kyd] You know there's better so keep digging
 [Quixotic Kyd] Make that momentum drive yu insane until your body is bursting with ideas.

Fu Man Chu Posted on: Oct. 29 2002,9:58

 Honestly "Good" is a very subjective term and one that I try to stay away from. Instead I like to consider people in levels of their craft:

 Novice- Someone who has yet to grasp key concepts within the dance (usually but certainly not limited to dancers who have just recently shown an interest in dance). This person?s key focus should be learning as much as possible about the dance, its history, and all other relevant material

 Apprentice- same as novice only is learning under someone at the Master Level (note- read ahead for the definition of "Master"

 Journeyman- a novice or apprentice who has progressed passed the often solitary process of learning and digesting information. This person is often the most gung-ho individual around as they are just starting to come into their own. This person?s key focus should be on developing what he has learned and imprinting his own style or flavor onto what he has learned

 Master- quite simply someone who is skilled enough and knowledgeable enough to teach an Apprentice into the Journeyman stage. This by no means that the master has nothing left to learn or is the "best", both common misconceptions in regards to that term. It does however mean that this person is well practiced and has in the least proven himself worthy of teaching others during his Journeyman stage (this can be done by battling, performing, simply tearing shit up and making people take notice, etc, etc).

 *Special subclass*- Student - someone who learns from classes or videos but is not a direct apprentice of those he is learning from. A very common class among dancers as not everyone has that kind of access to a dancer who has finished the Journeyman stage

 The general time requirements fluctuate from person to person since everyone has their own learning curve (ex: I know guys who have been at it for years who I consider Novices) but there are some vague guidelines:

 Apprentice- Apprenticeship generally lasts 1-2 years depending of course on the teachers/ students ability and what level they both wish the Apprentice to be at before passing on to the next stage of development.

 Novice- Wildcard... quite simply it all depends on the individual. Some jump past this stage very easily (however they often pay a price for doing so as they often miss things or suffer from setbacks due to creative blocks and lack of resources to call upon). Others never get past it, sometime because that are satisfied with whatever minimal skill they have acquired or simply because they are in denial about where they are at. Both scenarios serious dancers will want to avoid.

 Journeyman- roughly 2-5 years (possibly a lifetime) depending less on ones physical ability at this point and more on their ability to adapt and be creative. How long one remains a Journeyman is also affected by ones desire to stay isolated or separate from other dancers. Since one cannot pass on to he Master level unless one is willing to share what one has learned (often times surrendering a piece of his or herself in the process). *Hotshot dancers often seem as if they want to stay at this level permanently as they are unwilling to share so called "moves" and instead opt for personal bragging rights.

 Master- while there is no time span one needs to be a master a master can digress into a Journeyman should he decide to withdraw completely not only from the physical act of teaching but from the mental desire or willingness to do so.

 EX: If a teacher suddenly starts keeping secrets or purposely hides certain aspects of the dance from an apprentice in an attempt to keep himself ahead of others or for any reason he is then digressing back into a journeyman


 Note* this is just how I view things and is by no means the end all be all but simply a way for me to relate to other dancers and the dance world in general

LPEric Posted on: Oct. 10 2002,10:31
 Well the way it was,

 I kept hearing about this cat clockwork from Toronto. On a random trip to buffalo NY met up with some peeps that danced with him before and even one kid who battled him named TJ. (What up B-LO)

 Now through the internet and the message board we made contact with a few heads from the Toronto area. Then all we heard about was clock and the original heads from Toronto how good they where and how we would get schooled. So, like any dedicated Liquid Ronnin soldiers we had to go see for ourselves.

 We are told to go to this ATM party because all the old liquid heads would be showing up. We decided yes, packed in a van and rolled 12 hours to see what was up.

 We roll into town got some beers and sleep then woke up the next day to explore Toronto.

 THE PARTY...........

 We are there for a bit hanging out waiting to get bum rushed by all these Toronto OG heads. (Who did not show up except clockwork)

 The only one who showed up was Clockwork...........

 Someone points him out to me......he starts to dance.....

 (My thoughts.......)
 "The style........kick step raving...with some small elements of liquid thrown in...all in all very basic."
 (I own him.....hope he?s not a dick and acts like idiot)

 He walks over to me smirks puts his arm around me looks back his boys and starts to try and chump me.
 (" What the fuck is this"
 I proceeded to be very cordial and polite don?t say anything to him but, when I do I say....."What?s with all this talking? let?s dance" and I start pointing to the ground

 I am kind of mad now........we where perfectly polite, nice and friendly to everyone we met. This guy comes over to me and try?s to act like "the man" in front of his boys instead of just being polite and proving what he can do on the dance floor.

 We get into it.............................

 He goes first..............................
 I go.........................................

 1 set was all it took
 It?s over..............
 Now his boys are all standing there with this slacked jaw gawk on there face as I proceeded to keep dancing and dancing and dancing. I point to all his boys then to the floor want to dance? one steps out of six ........he turned out to be a cool guy and we ended up showing him a lot of stuff later.

 Clock is pissed now and stops dancing won?t even look at me when I dance. I stop for a moment to take a break and he walks over to me and looks me in the eyes all pisssed and say's "give me six months and ill come battle you in your town" I look at him smile and say sure.....(yo clock its going to be a year in December what?s the dilly?)

 This is where it gets ghetto..............

 Now we are all dancing no battling just dancing....not many of the Toronto heads get in the circle just kind of stand around and watch. We are inviting people to come and play ....not being dicks at all, the battle is over we just want to dance.

 All the Toronto dancers (including clock) leave and go make a circle on the other side of the room and don?t invite us. I stop dancing and wondered why it had moved when the one we have is big enough for everyone...........then I think
 ("WTF we drive 12 HR spend a ton a cash to dance with some new people who love liquid like we do, asked us to come all the way up here and then go off and just diss us like that?"
 So with out saying the crew is kind of peeved.

 We move and go get into the circle which clock immediately stopped dancing in and left.
 ("Did not see him for the rest of the night"

 The rest of the heads just kind of stopped dancing and scattered after the patented Benn Grimm hang yourself diss.....so

 We retreated to a corner and started to talk with a lot of people who where all very nice especially the big girl that wanted FU hahhahhahaha (no touchie, no touchie)

 We spent the rest of the night learning the whole sorted TO liquid scene history and teaching those willing to learn what we had to offer.

 All in all..........

 Other the incident on the dance floor I would say we had a blast. Mad nice and friendly people too.

 There seems to be some hurt feeling?s between us and certain people regarding out excursion to TO. We just went up there and danced like we said we would.

 Da end fer real........