How to Improve Breakdancing Skills

Breakdancing started in New York City's South Bronx in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, breakdancing became popular as movies such as "Breakin'" were watched by millions of teens across the USA. Today, you can quickly improve breakdancing skills with the help of friends, dance videos or by using online breakdancing lessons.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Large open space to practice in
• Proper clothing (not too tight but not too baggy)
• Access to weights in a gym or at a home
• Large cardboard pieces or wood floor to practice spins
• Stereo to play music

Increase Your Strength

1. Lift weights to increase strength in your arms. Breakdancing requires incredible upper body strength to hold yourself up using different techniques.
2. Use chin ups (pulling yourself up on a suspended bar until your chin is above the bar) and dips (lowering and raising your body on a dips bar) to get used to manipulating your body weight.
3. Improve core strength with sit ups. You will need strong stomach muscles to support your body during many breakdancing moves.
4. Push yourself until you can do 100 push ups every day because you need the strength of your arms to hold your body weight. Hold yourself up from the ground with your arms straight and your toes touching the ground. Keep your body straight and lower your chest to the ground until your nose touches the ground and then push up until arms are fully extended and repeat.
5. Do squats to increase leg strength.

Improve Breakdancing Skills

6. Use step by step videos to learn new techniques so you can see what to do and copy it. Written instructions can be hard to follow, but experts like Darin Carter can help (see Resources below).
7. Ask a friend to practice with you to make it more fun and to see what you are doing right or wrong.
8. Replay sections of videos until you fully understand the lesson. Slow down the video if possible to learn each movement individually.
9. Practice in front of a mirror to see if you are learning techniques properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Breakdancing skills improve as you spend many hours practicing them. Some moves (such as stalls) will require much more practice than others.
• Practice until you can use different techniques without having to think about them.
• Practice slow and increase speed as you learn various techniques.
• Work your way up from beginner moves to intermediate moves to advanced moves. You need to slowly build your muscles as you advance your skills.