I forgot to say mad respect to Godin who has mad skills

Gary English Godin plays in A.Madrid :) It's Hozin.

One other way to look at it, is that music is formulaic and elements, rhythms and instruments will repeat themselves. A lot of dancers that I have met often sit and listen to the melody and rhythm at the start of the battle before walking out. It's less about 'knowing' the music - it's more about being able to hearing each layer and being able to dance on each layer and move seamlessly with your vocabulary. It takes a while to achieve this, but with hard work and dedication it's not impossible. I've known Rize since he started dancing. He's like my little brother - he did the scene proud here. There are far and few people travelling the world to represent dance and enter battles. Big ups to him.

Jason L you are stating the obvious.

I think it's called shamrock or something. I don't know if I spelled right.

giho choi Yep shamrock.

its sam rock jajaja

Like what happens if you enter a battle and they play a song that you have never heard? Do you just play it safe and hit the basic notes? There is just so much music out there... Do you guys just listen to every new song that comes out? Because I know once I've heard a song and danced to it the next time I can go harder.

Jason Stroman I asked this exact question years ago when I was training in Korea. Basically, they have much more access to unpublished music than we do, especially when their crew has their own DJ. So they pretty much have heard almost every battle song. However, once you are dancing at Hozin's level, you don't necessarily need to know the song to completely kill it. It is very possible for him to hit every beat when he never heard the song before, especially when he is going second, since he has time to interpret the song. That's why going second has a bit of an advantage in that sense. I asked some of the pros how long it takes for them to get into the song, and they told me approx 2 seconds lol. Watch Hozin carefully before he starts every battle. Unlike his opponent Rize, who is flooring full pedal 100% of the time, Hozin starts off slow, gets into the rhythm of the song and rides the flow of it. He always takes a bit of time to walk around, get into the flow and interpret the song accordingly by its flow. On the other hand, someone who is a bit less experienced like Rize, doesn't seem to get into any of the song's flow, and is constantly popping hard 100% of the time. One of my teachers have always said this, you never go hard 100%. Otherwise the audience gets bored extremely quickly. There are always lows and highs to the song and you have to ride that flow like an ocean wave. No disrespect to Alan, but this guy is just at a completely different level in this current battle.

Jason W Thanks for the response. Respect! It takes a popper to know a popper. Going 2nd definitely has its advantages it is what the crowd will remember first and you are correct they can hear some of the song. But there are many times where I feel that going 2nd can be a disadvantage Only because of the fact that some of the breakdowns can be difficult as well as sometimes the first part just sounds better to me maybe because a lot of instrumentals are played at the tail end of a track. It's is obvious that Hozin is on another level then the kid he was battling. He basically told him without saying anything to calm down. It must be so awesome to have so much access to all of this music and shows the OG poppers dedication to know all of these tracks. During some parts of some tracks when the boom not clap disappear are the hardest for me. You have to continously move until the clap comes back and that's where I lose my flow but the pros just keep going even when the music stops. You see it all the time in battles the music stops yet they are still dancing. I live on the East Coast of US and I have no mentors to teach me besides KZfaq. I do not know of any studios or any workshops that I can attend. I love having conversations with people like you who actually understand what I am talking about. Thank you again for the response. The first popper had heart but never stood a chances but I respect him for trying. No disagreement but I have to think that he knew that song in order to setup his set that way. Some songs have double claps some don't and if you are in a battle you can not go out there and guess IMHOP. Where are you from?

Jason W what is the name of the groove at 3:37?

Jason W Hozin 2nd round he killed it Straight Homicide! From the shamrock at 3:37 to the ground moves at the end. My mind has been officially blown but if I was in person and saw him with that ground move at 4:05 he knew that entire song there is No doubt in my mind.