ention ‘breaking’, ‘breaker’, ‘bboy’ or ‘bgirl’ to most and they’ll probably wonder what on earth you’re talking about. But say ‘break dancing’ and it’s guaranteed to evoke an image of kids spinning on their heads to hip hop music.

While breaking features throughout the media, it’s culture, highly-skilled competitions and physical demands remain a mystery to most. That’s all set to change this summer as it debuts at the Olympics in what will be a testimony to how far breaking has come. This is your chance to get to know what it’s all about.

Breaking in the UK

In the 1980’s UK youth became obsessed with the New York born dance of breaking. Dubbed ‘break dancing,’ incorrectly by the media, its popularity was immense. Breakers appeared in news stories, on TV shows and toured with music artists. Then, by the end of the decade, it was over. Then media lost interest and the youth moved on.

Breaking survived, thanks to a handful of bboys and bgirls competing in ‘battles’ at underground hip hop nights. These events spawned a new era of UK breakers, crews and events; such as the legendary bboy Evo from Manchester, and Bournemouth’s Second to None crew, whose crazy dynamic flows and power moves earned them national and international reputations.

By 1996, the UK BBoy Championships were underway at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London. “The venue thought I was a madman who was going to lose all his money,” explains event promoter and DJ Oliver ‘Hooch’ Whittle. “They only gave me the downstairs space that held 750 people – but more than double turned up.”

Just two years later, the championships sold out the 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy, over a whole weekend. Evo won the solo competition for three years ina row, while Second to None were victors in back-to-back crew battles. “Evo was the MVP of champs,” recounts Hooch. “And Second to None were like an SAS team in breaking.”

Evo was the MVP of champs and and Second to None were like an SAS team in breaking

By 2008, breaking events were attracting big name sponsors, prestigious prizes and media coverage. But no-one was quitting their day job after winning breaking competitions. What drove the breakers was their passion for the dance, the lifestyle and to be recognised for their style and skills.

That second wave of breaking peaked around 2012. “The next generation just wasn’t coming through,” explains Hooch. “Internationally breaking was thriving in Eastern Europe, Korea, USA and Japan. But as the UK rap scene started to turn into a much bigger thing, through garage and grime music, so youths were drawn away from breaking.” Not forever though.

Fast forward to 2018 and breaking successfully featured in the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. Then, in 2020, the International Olympic Committee announced breaking’s inclusion as a new sport for the Paris 2024 summer Olympic Games. Without a doubt this was the biggest thing to happen to breaking, Olympic inclusion made it an officially recognised UK sport. And with breakers gaining professional athlete status, the UK media ran back to talk to any breakers they could find.