Last weekend was the 24th edition of Battle Of The Year. The longest running and most prestigious Breaking event around the world. By winning the Benelux BOTY, in September, we were among one of the 15 crews entering from all over the planet. All gathered at the Volkwagenhalle in Braunschweig along with 8000 spectators.
Picture by Thijn van der Linden
Picture by Thijn van der Linden
In BOTY it's show first, battle second. You have to make it into the top 6, to advance to the battles. Which we did. Our show was based on the song "Contact" by Daft Punk, and the landing on the moon. (FOOTAGE COMING SOON!)
Picture by Thijn van der Linden
The 1st and 2nd placed show do not have to battle until the semi-finals. We weren't so lucky and had to battle against Taiwan for a spot in the semi-finals.
KGB TC Unity is a Taiwanese crew made up of 2 crews, and had 16 bboys on the team. The first battle felt a bit odd, because the Taiwanese crew threw insanely long rounds. Fortunately the judges felt the same, and we moved on to the semi-finals by a unanimous decision. (FOOTAGE COMING SOON!)
Picture by Mason Rose
After that it was time for the semi-final. We had to go up against Floorriorz from Japan. A month ago they defeated us at the UK Bboy Championships in London in the semi-finals, so we figured it was time for some payback. The judges weren't as convinced and the battle went into a tie-breaker. Jazzy Gypz had to go up against Taisuke, and managed to defeat him 3-2, making us move on to the final.
The finals we're a historic moment for us a crew, we grew up on watching videotapes of BOTY. To be in the finals of the same event felt as a dream come true. The battle was extremely close. It was a battle of precision against wilding out! We weren't as clean as in the other battles, and made some small mistakes. The Koreans we're much more on point in their routines but weren't as versatile in their solo's. In the end Fusion MC took the battle 3-2. (Fusion MC: Yaman, Ken Swift, Wing. The Ruggeds: Focus, Swiftrock)
Of course we feel disappointed by not winning the event, but at the same time 2nd place is an amazing achievement. Also we're the first crew from the Benelux region to ever make it to the battles!
We've learned a lot, and we'll be back next year to take home that first place.