Lucky 7's NBL All-Star Battle 06/19/10

The Amen Zone in downtown Phoenix was home to a breakdancing battle last weekend.

Emcee Johnny Castro and the NBL (Nat'l Breakin' League) put together this event. Set to be included that night was an awards ceremony for those in the AZ breakdancing scene that were recognized at the 2009-2010 NBL Nationals held at The Amen Zone earlier this year. Also set to happen was an AZ All-Star Battle which included some of the best breakdancers in the state as well as a one-on-one competition whose winner was awarded a cash prize of $100.

The name Amen Zone alone goes deeper than what most people realize. "Amen" is an acronym for "A Motivation Energized Natural." Breakdancing is exactly that.

Breakdancing doesn't get the recognition and respect it deserves. It's not just guys sprawling out on the floor and kicking their legs up. It's a combination of dancing, balance, coordination, speed, strength, and soul. It's also a community--you break, you're family.

More goes into breakdancing than just the dancers themselves. Support from the breakin' community is important, it helps everything run smoothly at battles.

The DJ, for example, is very important. Who can "bless him with the beat" like Emcee Johnny Castro says without a DJ? Cell phones with music playing doesn't give the same feel as a DJ who's choosing the songs, amping the crowds, providing the whole mood for the battles. DJ's are like museums of art for their music collections. They display music in their galleries. DJ Creone does that.

"I like playing music that people can dance to, not just hump to," Creone said. Being a DJ since '97, he started out just collecting records. With inspirations like art, going to church, and music in general, Creone has been helping out the breakdancing scene by bringing his love of music to battles. He was the man chosen to be DJ for 2010's AZ State NBL Championships and 2010's National NBL Championships---a great role to play in two major battle championships back to back.

"It takes athleticism [to breakdance]," he said. It also takes a wide interest in different types of music to keep the NBL wanting him to play at battles.

Breakdancing is not only just about the individual, unique style of dance, but also the style of each bboy or bgirl's clothing. Skate clothes, breakdancing inspired clothes ("Bboyin' Ain't Easy"), sweats, jeans, Nike shoes--all are included in the various styles that are rocked at battles. Clothes help represent--they show the personality of the crew or bboy/bgirl who's competing.

Ruben Gonzales, maker of 11th Monk3y Clothing, knows how important representing yourself is. A native Arizonan and former bboy of 19 years, Gonzales grew up in the breakdancing scene.

"I felt supported by my community and had the opportunity to tour around the country and dance, and the experience has made me supportive of the breakdancing scene ever since," Gonzales said. "My basic goal for my clothing company is to give back to that same community that supported me."

Combining his Hispanic heritage and his style designs, Gonzales has been making clothing for almost two years now (July 4, 20008). His business card reads, "We are a company that is influenced by the urban-underground Hip Hop scene with a twist! We take in everyday experiences, music, life, and knowledge to bring you creative apparel designs!" He also gives the bboys and bgirls the opportunity to suggest ideas to him. That way, he helps them represent themselves through their clothing and also lives his dream at the same time. To check out more information on his clothing line, go to www.myspace.com/11th_monk3y. To chat with him via email, write to mailto:11thmonk3y@gmail.com.


Lucky 7's was similar to many other NBL promoted battles. There were three judges of the event: Bboy Herald, Lorin (bboy Dopa from the Outsiderz Krew), and Bboy Panic.

The beginning of the one-on-one battles began with a list of 16 competitors from AZ breakdancing crews. Eight battles made up the first round of the competition. They were broken down like this:

Bboy Sensai vs. Bboy Andrew
Bboy Eclipse vs. Bboy Adrien
Bboy Kid Soul vs. Bboy Ming
Bboy Case One vs. Bboy Sanyay
Bboy A.I. vs. Bboy Numb
Bboy Kloud 9 vs. Bboy Rhenez
Bboy Neo vs. Bboy Funk

Each bboy had two turns in their first round battle. During the first round of battles, two of them were decided by tiebreakers, which gave all four bboys one turn to wow the judges. From the first round of battles, these eight bboys advanced: Bboy A.I., Bboy Funk, Bboy Adrien, Bboy Alma, Bboy Kid Soul, Bboy Case One, Bboy Kloud 9, and Bboy Andrew.

The second round of the competition consisted of four battles. The battles were broken down like this:

Bboy Andrew vs. Bboy Adrien
Bboy Alma vs. Bboy Kid Soul
Bboy Case One vs. Bboy A.I.
Bboy Funk vs. Bboy Kloud 9

Two of these battles were decided by tiebreakers as well (Bboy Case One vs. Bboy A.I. and Bboy Andrew vs. Bboy Adrien). These were the winners of the second round: Bboy Case One, Bboy Kloud 9, Bboy Kid Soul, and Bboy Adrien.

Round three consisted of these battles:

Bboy Case One vs. Bboy Kid Soul
Bboy Kloud 9 vs. Bboy Adrien

While the judges were deciding the winners of the third round of battles, a breakin' cipher broke out.

Emcee Johnny Castro introduced Bboy Hurricane, a bboy who was supposed to compete but didn't get a chance to. Hurricane did his routine and all of a sudden, Bboy Gizmo jumped out into the circle and started the cipher.

Here's how the bboys were divided in the cipher:

Left side: Right side:
-Bboy Herald -Bboy Sense
-Bboy Panic -Bboy Alma
-Bboy Gizmo - Bboy Mighty Mouse

The crowd got loud and everyone stood up in the circle and craned their heads to see everything that was happening. It definitely pumped up the energy at the event and got a nod of appraisal and appreciation from Chris Coupelin, who introduced and gave out the awards from the 2009-2010 NBL Season to their recipients. The awards were given as follows:

Scene Ambassador Award: (people who do whatever they can to keep the scene pumping)
1) Ruben Gonzales, 11th Monk3y Clothing
2) Break Street Promotions Team
3) DJ Creone

Most Hard Award: (despite skill level, they go hard every time at battles)
-Bboy Mighty Mouse--"This is my destiny"

Top Rock Award:
-Bboy Kid Soul

Footwork Award: 2-Time Winner
-Bboy Keskay (Outsiderz Crew)

Freeze Award:
-Kunta (Mellow Drama/Curfew Drama Crew)

Rookie of the Year:
-Bboy Hex (Human After All Crew)

Power Kick Award:
-Bboy Sundance (Mellow Drama/Curfew Drama Crew)

MVB (Most Valuable Bboy):
-Bboy Sundance

After the awards were given out, the AZ East vs. West All-Star Battle begun. The crews were divided up like this:

East Crew:
Bboy Dopa
Bboy Godson
Bboy Keskay
Bboy Alma
Bboy Dash
Bboy Aaron
Bboy Andrew



West Crew:
Bboy Case One
Bboy Kid Soul
Bboy Neo
Bboy Numb
Bboy Shadow
Bboy Marcus
Bboy Funk
*Rhenez jumped in to do his thing.

And the winner is......................................?...West Side!!!


The final battle, the fourth round---think Mortal Combat...

Bboy Case One vs.Bboy Kid Soul

The winner walked home with $100. Case One walked away with that prize. C.R.E.A.M!!


Can I get an AMEN-ZONE? Peep this.... Check the website, http://www.amenzone.net/ for updates and more information on the next battle. Keep your ears peeled and eyes open, more information on the next battle will be posted as soon as it is known.


The AZ breakin scene needs more BGIRLS at battles.

Every 'ting be iRE. Out.

God has a bigger plan for me

This past month has been very hard on me. I've struggled through being poor, breaking up with a boyfriend I planned on marrying, worrying about never being able to make enough money to make ends meet, and worrying that a good friend of mine wasn't ever going to talk to me again.

I've been eating frozen meal after frozen meal and putting most of my money into gas so that I can commute to and from work. I've been thinking hard on whether or not to contact my father or a past ex whom I know is in need of support. I've been thinking that I will never find my soul mate, and that I should get used to feeling disappointment with every guy I date.

I've had all of these things weighing in on my mind. But I've noticed one thing that has helped me through all of it: God has a bigger plan for me.

Since I've accepted him into my life, He's helped me begin to get everything on track again. I'm seeing a counselor, which helps me to look back at my past and release it in a positive way. I'm working out again, so I'm feeling myself develop a stronger physical fitness. I'm being supported by incredible friends, including the one whom I was worried about losing a connection with. To top it all off, I'm strengthening my connection with God.

I've started the posts about feelings and personality traits that I want to exclude from my life. I have also been attending church and reading the Bible. Although I'm still having issues, I'm seeing things a lot clearer than I would normally.

So even though I have moments where I feel lonely, disappointed, and sad, I realize that these are all moments I have to endure. There is more out there for me. With God on my side I have many possibilities and doors that will be opened when the time is right.

The Spirit Pt. II: Doubt & Guilt

Doubtful and guilty. I was doubtful in myself due to low self-confidence battles I have had within myself while growing up. I felt guilty for making bad decisions with relationships I've had in my life and for hurting others in the process.

That little voice in my head has said time and time again: "Are you sure you can do this? I don't think so. I think you'll fail!" I've heard my little voice before and it's made me clam up and feel like I was trapped in a corner of my own anxiety. I was worried about not succeeding, and because of the worry itself, it made it more difficult to succeed.

I know that from being rash and headstrong I've done things to my friends and loved ones that, in retrospect, I've felt guilty for doing. I'm the type of person who can't stand to know that my loved ones were hurt due to my own actions. This guilt can hit me hard and serve as a temporary criticism lodged in my head for a long amount of time until I have the confidence or means to re-connect with the loved one I hurt, explain to them my fault, and apologize.

From now on, when I have feelings of Doubt, I will look back to these verses:

II Timothy 1:7
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Isaiah 41:10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Matthew 21:21
Jesus replied, "I will tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to the mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

These three verses tell me that God is on my side. God made me and in doing so He gave me some of His strength. Because I believe in Him I am confident, courageous, and sure in decisions because I have His support. All decision I do are done because they are in His master plan.

Plus, I should never forget. If I do feel doubtful, I could always pray and ask God for help.

If, while growing in God's light, I feel as though I made the wrong decision and feel Guilt because of it, I can find these verses:

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit."

Romans 10:13
For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

I John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I Timothy 2:4
"Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."


I am not perfect in any sense of the word. I have sinned. I'm sure that I will need to repent time and time again for sins against the Lord. Prior to accepting God into my life, I sinned constantly in order to attempt to fill the void that I had without Him. I have repented for my sins, and each time I attend church, I apologize for them and ask for forgiveness. Each time I feel I trespass against my friends or loved ones, I apologize and ask for forgiveness. God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all my family, all my loved ones. Shouldn't I apologize to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and ask them for their forgiveness?

I pray to God that Doubt and Guilt will cease being problems in my life. As I continue to grow spiritually and in God's light, I hope that these two negative feelings will not hold power over me any longer. I leave these problems for those in the dark.

The Spirit Pt.1: The Beginning

This is my first post on this blog that will not concern the entertainment realm of journalism.

Recently, about two weeks ago, I accepted God into my life and became a Christian. I am very pleased to say that the void I felt in my life was filled with the light of God, a first for me in 8 years.

I have been reading the Bible diligently since my acceptance of Christ and I've been realizing many personality traits in myself that I wish to alter. I am beginning to understand the importance of some things in my life over others. I am being welcomed into a greater community of people who truly understand what I'm feeling and have known the Path before me but have no qualms in helping me with any questions I have.

I see now that this journey will take many things into consideration and will drastically change my life in a good way. Everything seems brighter now, a lot less murky and cloudy, and for that, I thank God.

These are the things I'm going to go in depth with for this series of blog posts--They will center around feelings I've had and personality traits I wish to cycle out of my system and my life:
1. Doubt & Guilt
2. Escapism & Fear
3. Vulgar language use
4. Procrastination & Laziness
5. Revenge & Grudges
6. Jealousy
7. Unfair Judgment & Tactlessness

With each of these I will go in depth and discuss the connections I have personally had to these feelings and personality traits. I will then look to the Bible and find verses which tie into each and expound on them a little more afterward.

I hope that with this blog series I will bring about more self-understanding.

To all of you who have been so influential in my life, your friendships are golden and I appreciate your presence.

God Bless