Canadian breaking star Philip Kim is in Paris this week for the Red Bull BC One World Final. Before that he’s not so sure.Breaking, better known as breakdancing, takes the 26-year-old from Vancouver around the world. And Kim is in demand.
Kim always comes complete with a bucketload of moves. The breakdancing maestro is a muscular spinning top, ready to cheerfully take on all-comers.Kim is a Red Bull-sponsored athlete. Plus this year‘s event is taking place at Roland Garros, home of the French Open tennis tournament. And with breaking making its Olympic debut next year in Paris — at the iconic Place de la Concorde, which will also host Olympic BMX freestyle, skateboarding and 3xs basketball — the event has more eyes on it.
The five-foot-seven 160-pounder, with guns that a man twice his size would envy, has his eye set on the Olympics and Paris.“And it’s always fun for me to go” he said. “Especially this week. BC One is always a gathering of the entire community. They always invite every major player in the game and a lot of people just to come spectate, so it’s always a great time.”
Breaking sees competitors go one on one, riffing off the DJ's music in short bursts of about 30 seconds as their rival looks on. Repeating a competitor's signature move is frowned upon although there is a bushel of general moves that everyone uses.