Paris Olympics: Japan’s breakers show Hong Kong Bboys and Bgirls a road map to 2024
- Pioneers in Japanese breakdancing such as Katsuyuki Ishikawa – Bboy Katsu – are inspiring counterparts in Hong Kong, says Jessica Siu, or Bgirl Mirage
- Katsu says the public ‘have to learn what breaking is’ as it builds towards its Olympic debut, when medals matter but respect means more
“When I think back to when I started, it’s crazy. This was the dream back then,” said Katsuyuki Ishikawa, who is approaching his 25th year in breaking and leads the group, which is connected to the Japan DanceSport Federation.
Better known as Bboy Katsu, Ishikawa started as every fledgling Japanese dancer did: performing gratis on the streets in front of his city’s railway station.
Little did the Kawasaki native know that his home would eventually be referred to as “the mecca of Japanese breaking”.
Many of his fellow struggling breakers were “kind of gangsters, like bad”, while his old school friends would mercilessly try to “smash me” when they saw him rehearsing the “running man” and experimenting with other US-inspired moves.
“The ones older than me, their generation were even more crazy,” Ishikawa said, laughing.
