Breaking
Breaking is a sport of complex coordination. Its challenge lies in the athletes' performance of complex technical elements, combined in a composition, to the music of a DJ, in the format of battles, where the competitors play the role of opponents (athlete against athlete, team against team). The judges evaluate the athletes' performances according to three criteria: physical quality, originality and musicality.
Disciplines
History
Breaking originated in the Bronx (USA) in 1973, when a local DJ created a scratch - a characteristic hip-hop sound signal - and coined the term "b-boy". From that moment on, the history of hip-hop culture began and dancing to broken rhythms became known as 'breaking'. In the 1980s, the popularity of breaking was boosted by the American film and television industry. The formation of the Russian school of breaking also began in the 1980s. In the 1990s, breaking developed actively in Europe.
Since 2017, the development of sport breaking at the international level has been under the auspices of the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF). In 2018, a breaking competition was held for the first time as part of the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee ratified the inclusion of breaking in the programme for the 2024 Games at the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Rules
Battles are organised in rounds. In the qualification rounds, the judging is done by "closed points". In the elimination rounds, small finals and finals (battles) the judging is "open score". The winner is the athlete or group that wins the most rounds in the battle. If two contestants win the same number of rounds in a battle, an additional round - a "tie-breaker" - is held.
Top Three Facts
Breakers usually dance to breakbeat, funk, rap and soul, but they are not limited to these genres.
There is no commonly known division between upper and lower break.
The correct term for break dancers is b-boys and b-girls.
Competition Venue
