Freezes

So Freezes–as you probably already know–have nothing to do with your ice box. A Freeze is a move that comes to a complete stop as if some shutterbug suddenly snapped a photo of you. When done right they can really make a move POP! and get people into it. When not done that well, they can make it obvious a b-boy doesn’t know what he’s doin’.

The difficult part about Freezes is not the technique–which is pretty easy to understand–its the strength and balance they require. A few of them are as difficult as anything a gymnist would do. So chalk up your hands and put on your leotard, ’cause it’s time to chill-out with some Freezes, homes!

Headstand Freeze

Okay, yo! This is as bread-n-peanutbutter as it gets: The Headstand Freeze.

This is definitely not a hot-dog move. It’s more of a practice move you need to do a load of other moves.

So learn it. Get comfortable hangin’ on your head. Cause you’ll need it coz.

This is a cake move if you know to place your hands out away from your noggin in a triangle, like a tripod. (Some first timers keep trying to have their hands next to their ears–save that for later.)

Alright, here goes:

• First Step–Kneeling Down: Put your head on the ground and place your hands at 45% angles.
• Step Two–Lift: Lift your legs straight over your body, first into a crouch position and then by straightening your legs. BALANCE!

That’s it! No big woop! Just about balance.

Oh yeah! Be sure to wear good head wear if you plan on doing some spins. Indian burns on your scalp will flake like a Head-n-Shoulders commercial.

Check out this guy:

The Headstand Freeze is one of the very basic of all moves is the Headstand Freeze.  This is not really a move you are striving to show off to large groups of people as part of a performance.  Given all the acrobatic moves that B-Boys and Girls do these days, people will hardly be impressed by a Headstand Freeze.

The reason to learn the headstand is that it is the prerequisite or starting position for dozens of other B-Boy moves like Head Spins.  Thus learning to comfortably get into and hold the Headstand is the first step to opening up a whole new repertoire of B-Boy moves.

This is not a difficult Freeze to master either, so long as you place your hands correctly.  The main reason that people have difficulty getting into a headstand is that they do not place the hands back and away from their heads to form a tripod base.   If you place your hands in parallel with your head you make it much harder to balance.

Once your head and your hands are in place you can lift your legs up over your body first in a crouch position and then by straightening your legs.  Another trick that is sometimes used for beginners but that is not really necessary (it may actually slow down your progress) is to put your knees on your elbows and then lift up into the headstand.

A tip from those that do a lot of headstands is to wear comfortable head ware to help protect your noggin.  You don’t need to wear a helmet like some do (although helmets do help you to spin) but you should look for something to give you a little extra padding.

 

L-Kicks

The L-Kick is actually even easier than the K-Kick, because it does not require you to grab your foot.  You do the same motion as in the K-Kick but instead of grabbing your foot, you will just put your leg in the position of an “L” with one leg folded and the other one extended.

You do not have to go into this Freeze from a standing position.  As you can see from the attached video, you can come out of footwork and easily kick yourself into a modified L-Kick.

To perform this move, you do your footwork.  When you are ready to come out of your footwork, you cross your legs over each other to face down while sticking your plant hand to the ground and stabbing it into your side (at the edge of your ribs) as if you were going to perform a Baby Freeze.

Now you lift your legs up as you push with your non-plant arm which should simultaneously raise your legs and shift your plant hand into an elbow platform.  Make sure to fold one leg, stretch the other, and to hold this position in a Freeze.

This is a very useful way to enter this position during performance.

Okay, so this move is a little more difficult than a hand stand. But if you can do a cartwheel you can probably do an L-Kick.

There are two possible starting positions for the L-Kick. The easier one is from standing position. But everyone does it from a move. I give you the low down for both below.

• Step One–Starting Position: Standing. Duh!
• Step Two–Cartwheel:
  Pivot to your side kicking your free leg up to create momentum. Kicking leg
  goes up, upper body goes down. Hands on the ground and into handstand.
• Step Three–Kick Freeze: From the handstand position raise one hand as you stretch out your leg and grab a hold of your foot. Be sure to shift your weight to your plant arm so you don’t lose balance.

 

So that is the L-Kick from standing position. But you can also do it coming out of DownRock moves like the Six Step. There are a few different ways to set this up, but here is the standard way:

• Step One–Starting Position: Coming out of your Down Rocks Six Step you face yourself down, crossing
  your legs over each other.
• Step Two–Setting Up:
  Stab the elbow of your plant hand into your gut (as if you were going to do a
  Baby Freeze).
• Step Three–The Lift:
  Now sky your legs as you push up with your non-plant arm which, ideally, you
  should raise your legs and plant hand into an elbow platform. Fold one leg,
  stretch the other, and FREEZE! Snap. Snap.

 

Kip-Up Freeze

A Kip-Up is a transitional move that you use for hopping up from your back, back into a standing position. The Kip-Up Freeze is a little extra wrinkle you can add to your Kip-Up.

To perform a Kip-Up Freeze, you first have to perform a Kip-Up. You start your Kip-Up from a prone position, laying your back. To start your momentum you push up with your hands and then your legs to initiate the bouncing motion of the Kip-Up. Push-up, bounce back, push up, bounce back.

For the freeze you want to bounce into a vertical position with your knee bent and then just to stop in this position for an instant before continuing your routine.

A pretty basic move, which can be effective, especially if you are performing many freezes in your routine.

 

Kip-Ups are in-between moves you use for hopping up from your back, back into a standing position. The Kip-Up Freeze is a little extra gravy you can add to your Kip-Up to make it look cool.

Steps are as Simple as they get:

• Starting Position–Lying Down: You start the Kip-Up Freeze like you do everyday–from a prone
  position on your back.
• Step Two-Pushing Off:
  Push up with hands and legs. Push UP! Bounce BACK! Push UP! Bounce BACK!
• Step Three–The Freeze:
  Then for the “freeze,” you just stop in the up position like a Russian Cassock
  or something.

This is good move to have in your Rep., in case you fall down or need to move from Down Rocks to Up Rocks. So practice, practice, practice.

Oh yeah. And try not to look like this dude.

 

 

Nike Freeze

The Nike Freeze is an imitation move where you try to imitate the Nike logo of Air Jordans but try to do it upside down. The move is a very common one because of Jordan’s status at the pinnacle of basketball.

The professional way to perform a Nike Freeze is to climb into a handstand and then, once you have secured your center of balance, you splay your legs in imitation of the logo—one leg stretching straight forward the other one bent behind. Usually your free hand is extended in order to simulate the dunk hold.

A trick that some beginning B-Boys use is to somersault into a Nike. This is fairly simple thing to do. You just use only enough momentum to get you into the Nike position, do the move and then, if you have not found your center of gravity fall back. It is actually not a great way of doing it because it makes it slightly harder to find your center of gravity, but it is will allow you to get the basics.

Nikes, like most of the handstand moves, are usually done as series of handstand combinations such as Airchairs and Baby Freezes.

Elbow Nike: A slight variation on the classic version of the Nike is the Elbow Nike, which is basically the same as the classic Nike I describe above except the plant arm is folded with the elbow used as the platform. Often the free hand is brought down as well and folded with palms just behind the head in the “I’m just resting” position.

The Nike Freeze is an imitation move where you try to imitate the Nike logo of Air Jordans but try to do it upside down. The move is a very common one because of Jordan’s b-ball cred.

The professional way to perform a Nike Freeze is to climb into a handstand and then, once you have secured your center of balance, you splay your legs in imitation of the logo-one leg stretching straight forward the other one bent behind. Usually your free hand is extended in order to simulate the dunk hold.

A trick that some beginning B-Boys use is to cartwheel into a Nike. This is fairly simple thing to do.

• Starting Position-Standing: Stand-up.
• Step One-Cart Wheel: Just do a cart wheel, using only enough momentum to get you
  into the Nike position.
• Step Two-The Air Jordan: Do your best to be like Mike. If you have not found your center of gravity fall back.

Nikes, like most of the handstand moves, are usually done as series of handstand combinations such as Airchairs and Baby Freezes.

Elbow Nike: A slight variation on the classic version of the Nike is the Elbow Nike, which is basically the same as the classic Nike I describe above except the plant arm is folded with the elbow used as the platform. Often the free hand is brought down as well and folded with palms just behind the head in the “I’m just resting” position.

 

Shoulder Freeze

The Shoulder Freeze is actually less of a single move than a variation on other moves. In other words, like the elbow platform version of other moves, you can also find some shoulder versions of some moves.

Starting from a sitting position with your legs out, the Classic Shoulder Freeze is actually fairly easy to perform. You need to roll into this kind of freeze since the rolling motion is what gives you the momentum to plant this stance. You roll over pushing your shoulder into the ground and using your hands to set up the platform for your freeze. (One hand will be sticking out from beneath you and the other will reach out during your turn.) You will want to bend your head slightly to get the right shoulder position.

Then you can just kick your leg up into any of several positions although the classic one is the extended leg and crossed support leg.

The position is not quite as showy as some of the other freezes but it is definitely one of the moves you should have in your repertoire.

Like the Elbow Freeze, the Shoulder Freeze is actually less of a single move than a variation on other moves.

• Starting Position–Sitting: a sitting
  position with your legs out.
• Step One-The Roll:
  You need to roll into this kind of freeze since the rolling motion is
  what gives you the momentum to plant the stance. You roll over pushing
  your shoulder into the ground and using your hands to set up the
  platform for your freeze. (One hand will be sticking out from beneath
  you and the other will reach out during your turn.) You will want to
  bend your head slightly to get the right shoulder position.
• Step Two-Shoulder FreezesThen you can just kick your leg up into any of several positions although the classic one is the extended leg and crossed support leg.

The position is not quite as showy as some of the other freezes but it is definitely one of the moves you should have in your repertoire.

 

Head Hollow

Once you have learned the Headstand, the next easiest kind of freeze to learn is called the Head Hollow. It is basically a back propped Headstand, not at all difficult and definitely more interesting than a simple Headstand.

To get into the Head Hollow Freeze position, you first need to get into a Headstand. You lean forward with your head and two hands in the tripod position. (Do not place your hands parallel to your head.) Then lift into a Headstand.

The Headstand is, in effect, your starting position for a Head Hollow. You position your legs so that both are bent, with one farther back then the other.

Now comes the tricky transition, moving your hands behind you without losing your center of gravity (in effect, leaning back). To do this, you have to start shifting your legs back as you move your hands back. Try to move both your legs and your hands simultaneously. You want to get your hand behind your head in the same tripod fashion but behind you, and then to lean your legs back—with one still farther back than the other—and to bend your back.

This move is fairly simple to do but is good practice for other more complicated moves.

If you wanna take your handstand to the next level, this is your move.

• Starting Position-Headstand: Get into a headstand.
• Step One-Leg Positioning: Bend your legs with one more bent than the other.
• Step Two-Hand Switch: Now here’s the part that gets some B-Boys, moving your hands back behind you without losing your center of gravity (in effect, leaning back). To do this, you have to start shifting your legs back as you move your hands back. Try to move both your legs and your hands simultaneously. You want to get your hand behind your head in the same tripod fashion but behind you, and then to lean your legs back-with one still farther back than the other-and to bend your back.

Check this Head Hollow variation out. It’s different both in terms of mounting technique and in terms of positioning. Notice how this B-Boy gets straight into the Hollow Back position right from the beginning rather than negotiating the change from front to back. Also notice how having both legs straight back makes it more difficult to retain balance.

Here is a variation on the typical Head Hollow both in terms of mounting technique and in terms of positioning. Notice how this B-Boy gets straight into the Hollow Back position right from the beginning rather than negotiating the change from front to back. Also notice how having both legs straight back makes it more difficult to retain balance.

 

Hollow Back Freeze

The Hollowback Freeze is one of the more difficult moves you can attempt. It requires you both to have great balance and great strength, so you don’t fall on your sorry ass. At its most extreme the Hollowback actually becomes a reverse Planche, in which you are in effect doing a full body pushup while facing belly up.

Let me say it differently-it can go to the point of impossibility.

Here’s how to try it:

• Starting Position: Headstand In case you’re a knucklehead-obviously to perform the
  Hollowback, you first have to have mastered the headstand. No duh, huh?
• Step One-The Lean: From the headstand begin the descent. To maintain your center of balance you must push out your chest just as your legs hit the point where they would otherwise tip you over. Sensing this spot takes a bit of practice.

Once you hit this point, the strain on your arms is fairly intense and only gets more so the farther down your legs travel. However, the effect of properly achieving this freeze is well worth the training it demands.

It helps to have done gymnastics.

Check out Victor Kim of So You Think You Can Dance Fame killin’ it here and ending with a Hollowback that looks easy, but trust me is not.

 

 

K-Stands and L-Stands

The K-Stand is a move that you can do as you get up into a Hand Stand position.  This is one of the easier moves to learn.  If you know how to do a Cartwheel and a Handstand, then picking up this move should not be a problem for you.

There are two possible starting positions from which you can begin your K-stands: from a pivot position or the cartwheel position.

From a Pivot Position: You begin by pivoting one of your feet and kicking your free leg in order to create momentum.  As your kicking leg rises, the top of your body will drop and your hands will reach down onto the ground to begin the handstand motion.  This should be enough to take you up into the Handstand.

From the Cartwheel Position:  You can also cartwheel right into the handstand with basically the same motion of kicking your leg up as you lower your hands.

From the Handstand, you will let go of one hand to reach up and grab your foot.  Be sure to shift the weight to your plant arm.  (If you stay square to the ground you are likely to lose balance.)  Bring your foot down to your hand and grab ahold of your toe.

Try to momentarily “freeze” in this position.

 

Hong 10/Halo Freeze

If you know how to do a Baby Freeze, it is fairly easy to move this up into a Hong 10 Freeze (aka a Halo Freeze).  The Hong 10 Freeze was made famous the by the South Korean BBoy Hong 10 (Kim Hong-Yeol).

The Freeze is mostly just about the positioning of you guide hand which switches to the other side of your head rather than staying on the same side of your plant hand.

To do a Halo Freeze, you start by bending over sideways as if you are going to do a Reverse Airbaby, stabbing the elbow of your platform hand to your side.  Head placement is keysince your head will give you extra support.  You plant your head to ground as if you were going to go into a Headstand.  Then you place your free hand on the other side of your head.  (It too will be part of your platform for the Hong 10 Freeze.)

Then you lift your legs up extending the one on your higher hip side straight and bending the other one.  You want to continue lifting until your leg has stretched completely over your body, so it is as close to parallel as possible.

 

Scorpion Head Hollowback

One of the more difficult kinds of Hollowbacks is the Scorpion Head Hollow Back.  The basic move is not difficult at first, but to really make it impressive, you must bend it to an extreme angle.

To do the Scorpion Head Hollowback you must first get into a Headstand.  Remember always when doing the Head Stand to make sure your hands are not parallel with you head but in tripod position so that you get maximum stability.

Then from the Headstand you need to switch to a Headhollow with both of your legs pointing back. (This switch is actually what throws a lot of B-Boys off.  Try to find your center of gravity and then move your hands and legs at about the same time.)Then comes the really hard part.  You fold one leg and straighten the other and you slowly begin to lower your leg down as far as you can go.  The idea is to get it parallel with the ground and hold it there for the “freeze”.  Of course, the farther back you go the harder it is to keep from falling down.

The move requires a great deal of strength, bodily control and a fair amount of balance as well.

Other versions of the Hollowback include the Inverted Hollowback (sometimes called the “Ponk”) in which your back bends back but you fold your legs forward into almost a Pike position.  This video gives you a demo:

There is also a Lotus version of the Hollowback that you can see in this video:

 

One-Handed Planche

Planche moves are taken directly from gymnastics and require the kind of unbelievable bodily control that you can only gain through hours and hours of practice.  Most of those who successfully execute Planche Freezes of the one and two hand variety have a background in gymnastics.

There are several variations on the Planche move having to do with body position and purpose, but the basic idea is that same: to raise the body as if it were a straight board (“planche” means “board” in French) using the shoulder muscles largely.

The prerequisite to doing Planches is to build up your body’s muscles until they are incredibly strong so that you can get the kind of control that gymnasts have.   It is not just about arm strength, however.  It is about full body strength and core strength as well.  It is definitely not a move you can pick up in a week.

The video is of some uses for Planches in a B Boy context.

Elbow Freeze

The Elbow Freeze is less of a move in itself than an addition to other kinds of moves.  With most moves that require a handstand or headstand the elbow stance can usually be added in to increase the interest of the move.

The following demo shows you how some Elbow Freezes are used as parts of routines.

Spider Freeze

The Spider Freeze is one of several freezes that involve slight contortions to perform.

To do the Spider Freeze, you begin from a crouching position with your legs bent and hunched over.  Then you stick your arms through your legs so the elbow touch the backside of your knees and place your hands flat on the ground, then let your legs drape over your elbows so that you arms are actually holding you up.

The Spider Freeze is most often used as a transition move, often as the initial position before going into one the handstand moves as you see in the demo provided.

Of course, the position itself can also be used for Spider Hops and similar moves.

Frog Freeze

The Frog Freeze is basically just an extension of the Baby Freeze.  It is fairly easy to do, but is a helpful freeze to aid you in getting into a hand stand.  It also helps you to build up arm strength.

Performing the Frog Stand should not give you any problems.  You just go into a crouching position standing on your feet but with your knees bent.  You lean forward placing both hands on the ground in front of you.  Place your hands just about as wide as your shoulders and make sure you are facing them forward.  Your hands will form your platform for this freeze.

Then you push your knees up against your elbows and lean forward so that you are holding your full weight on your arms instead of your legs.

Put simply this move tries to imitate a frog.