B-boy Kim Heon-woo, The Olympics are an Important
B-boy Kim Heon-woo: “The Olympics are an Important Connection to Reach the Public”
Breaking, Olympic debut in Paris... Comprehensive sports that combine strength, balance, and technique with art, and passing the preliminaries of ‘Top Rank 40’ itself was like a needlepoint… “It’s so intense.”
“My late father must have been looking forward to seeing me compete in the Olympics.”
“Until now, we had our own world.
I think the Olympics will be an important connection point that will allow us to reach out to more people"
Kim Heon-woo (Wing), a 25-year-old dancer and national breaking b-boy, said this about a month before the 2024 Paris Olympics preliminaries. 바카라사이트
Kim Heon-woo, who met with Yonhap News at the Jinjo Crew practice room located in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 23rd, focused all his attention on participating in the Paris Olympics.
Heonwoo Kim is a legend in the B-boy world.
He has over 100 wins in various competitions, including winning the Red Bull BC One Finals (2008), which is considered the most prestigious breaking competition.
However, the Olympics are another challenge for Kim Heon-woo.
Heonwoo Kim said, “The Olympics is a global sports festival.
After assuming that “dreams, hopes, glory, etc. are natural,” I thought that breaking would be a milestone that would help me reach out to the public.
Kim Heon-woo's gaze is not on the issue of whether individual b-boys can compete on the Olympic stage, but on the more fundamental and macroscopic area of the development of breaking.
Kim Heon-woo said, “Until now, breaking has been an area of culture,” and predicted that it will be a big opportunity to reach out to the general public through the most notable (sports) event.
However, since breaking events were excluded from the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics, the Paris Olympics may be the first and last 'Olympic breaking' event.
Regarding this, Kim Heon-woo said, "Currently, we only hold individual exhibitions, but there are attractive points such as crew and team competitions.
Breaking has great potential," and hoped for a revival of breaking on the Olympic stage in the future.
At the same time, he gave tips for watching breaking games, saying, "The more you are exposed to breaking, the more each individual develops a standard and taste for 'good at it.'
Breaking evaluates not only 'sports' elements such as muscle strength, cardiorespiratory endurance, balance, rhythm, body coordination, and use of various techniques, but also artistry such as harmony with music.
In particular, constant repetitive training and creativity are required to have an individual's signature move.
At the Jincheon National Team Training Center in North Chungcheong Province, Kim Heon-woo immersed himself in weight and technique training according to the village system.
He visited the wushu and gymnastics centers for a while when they were empty and practiced on cushions.
He also interacted with gymnasts who had similar technical movements and learned the necessary movements from each other.
Outside of the athletes' village, I get 'inspiration' while practicing with my crew members or going about my daily life.
We try to find movements that can be applied in every moment, such as characters in movies, a cat jumping, a bird flapping its wings, and a child dancing.
In order for Kim Heon-woo to participate in the Paris Olympics, he must pass the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS), an Olympic qualifier held in Shanghai, China in May and Budapest, Hungary in June.
40 of the world's top b-boys, based on points accumulated from various competitions held over the past year, will gather to compete for only 10 tickets to Paris.
Excluding the quota (TO) allocated to the host country, France, and the TO for balanced development (universality), it is highly likely that only the top 7 will actually be given tickets to Paris.
‘Legend’ Kim Heon-woo said in vulgar terms about OQS, “It’s too strict.”
He predicted, “It is impossible to predict who will win the ticket to Paris beyond the round of 32,” and added, “The results will vary depending on ‘who is passionate about dancing,’ such as the condition and atmosphere of the day.”
From those who have dominated the breaking stage since the culture era to dancers who have come to prominence in the sports era by being recognized for their various skills.
As there were many strong opponents, Kim Heon-woo suffered a disappointing performance at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, when a direct ticket to the Paris Olympics was at stake, losing 0-2 to Japan's Issin in the quarterfinals and being eliminated.
Kim Heon-woo said, “I prepared well, but I think I was shaken psychologically, including concentration,” and added, “I felt like I was lacking in terms of dancing, so I spent several months studying more.”
As a result, in the same manner as the Olympics, she finished the year on a high note by taking second place at the World Dance Sports Federation (WDSF) World Series held in Hong Kong, China in December last year, accumulating the most points among the athletes participating in the OQS.
Kim Heon-woo plans to get a ticket to Paris with his unique ‘light’ braking in the upcoming OQS.
He transforms existing breaking techniques in his own way and tries to use the overall flow and shape of the dance in a smooth and pretty way.
I also want to show ‘Olympian’ Kim Heon-woo to my father, who passed away earlier this month.
Kim Heon-woo said, "My father expected me to become a gymnast.
As such, I think he had high expectations of me competing in the Olympics," and set his sights on Paris.
