Underdogs.

"I know how feels to be expect to get a fair shake
but they won't let you forget
that you're the underdog, and you got to be twice as good"

From: Sly & the Family Stone - "Underdog"

So Born to Serve 2011 the Final Top 8 just finished on Saturday night, and we lost our first round against Fresh Formats... Not surprising since Fresh Format's been one of the pioneers of the scene here. But I gotta say we put up a good fight against them. Here's a footage of the battle.

 This event was HUGE. I mean if you get a good look at the stage, its a spacious stage and an audience of 500 could be seated there. As big as the location was, so were the level of b-boys that we were competing against. It was clear from the vibe that we were evidently the underdogs - respectable for improvement, but still not quite the level to be with them.

We did get a lot of props though. T-Jo one of the notable b-boys around in Quebec personally came up to myself and David (Bedaine - my crewmate) and told us how he was shocked to see how much we've improved. We're definitely getting more respected and getting our own spotlight now.

Some MAD inspirations too from the b-girls of Legendary Crew holding it down till the semifinals, and the Ill-abilities Crew going all the up to the FINALS. Truly they displayed what it meant by "No limits, no excuses".

Anyways, I am not delighted about our results quite honestly. Not that I'm start to get cocky or anything, but I feel the greed to push further. I really want to make a mark in this city. Ultimately, this only means one thing - I must train hard. And I mean HARD.-

TURNING POINT

Last night was Born to Serve's Preliminary tournament and...
RAW KINGZ MADE IT TO THE TOP 8 BABY

That means tonight we'll be heading to the big stage against some of the strongest Quebecois bboys. No one in our crew expected to make up to this point, since there were SO many other tough crews in the line.

So in the prelims, we all thought it was going to turn out bad... we were the very first battle of the night AND it was against one of the top Montreal crews, Sweet Technique (Fleau, Vicious, and Promo). Before we even battled we knew that against a crew like Sweet Tech, we wouldn't stand a chance, so our crew essentially braced up to be eliminated. BUT we decided to give our best arsenal to at least give Sweet Tech a decent challenge.

And away we went, HYPED as hell. We played our cards right, hit the beats, maintained our crew chemistry, and kept our attitude brave and strong.

People at the jam were saying that we killed Sweet Tech but I say that we did not since it was clear that they weren't giving in there best moves. They were definitely a lot more relaxed.

Then at the 5 minute cyphers, I had one of the most honorable moments in my bboy experiences here in Montreal. T-Rex from Sweet Tech called me out for a quick cypher battle. Again I went at it and stood my ground. After the battle we went up to each other and he told me that he likes my style and that I'm definitely one of the coming up bboys of Montreal. Knowing T-Rex as a dope footwork experienced bboy, it was an honor. It was just all too good. Too good.

SO. Tonight is the REAL DEAL. International b-boys like Sunni, Menno, Focus, Vill'n, Alkolil are coming down. Raw Kingz we going to go all the way, win or lose, we make our mark and put ourselves on the map.

More will be posted about tonight! Stay tuned!

My Judging experiences at H.N.L. Alberta

I must say that I am extremely lucky to be able to have the opportunity to judge battles only when I'm 19. This summer, thanks to the one of the fathers of Edmonton's Hiphop community, Matt 'Creeasian' (BIG shoutouts), I was able to judge one of Alberta's biggest jams, "Break for Japan 3on3 B-boy Tournament", as well as Edmonton's "H.N.L. CrewVSCrew B-boy Tournament".

Here's a footage of one of my judge showcase. Who knew I would be able to get my chance to do a judge showcase?

At one point I had one of Calgary's sickest b-boys, Tyler "TKO" Ko (another big shoutout), called me out at the cyphers, because he was not happy with my decision. That was one of the most exhilarating moments of my b-boying experiences. We were aggressive and just killin' each other. Of course, we instantly became brothers after the battle, and I hope to have a rematch with him when I get back to Alberta.

These were all priceless experiences.

Born to Serve 2011!

This October 22, one of the biggest b-boying competitions will be held right here in Montreal. Of course, the Raw Kingz will be participating in the 3 VS 3 category against some of the top Quebecois crews for cash prizes up to $3000!

This means I got to get back to top-notch training regardless of my midterms and what not. Win or lose, I've got to make my mark at this event.

Not only, will I be competing but also I will have my chance to cypher with some of the best international b-boys like Blond, Lamine, and Menno.

Check out the flyer by clicking the link below. It already looks like it's going to be hyped up.
http://www.borntoserve.ca/

Bio/Profile

To introduce a little bit more about myself and my experience in b-boying, here's a quick profile/bio.


Name: Branden Cha

Nickname: B-boy Busy

Age: 19

Hometown: Daegu, Korea

Experience: 7 years b-boying

Associated Crews: Raw Kingz Crew, Original Bratz, Urban Groove

Accomplishments:
-H.N.L. Edmonton 1 VS 1 B-boy Tournament [2nd place]
-M.T.L. B-boying Anniversary 2 VS 2 B-boy Tournament [3rd place]
-Raydio 2 VS 2 B-boy Tournament [3rd place]
-Break for Japan 3 VS 3 Alberta-wide B-boy Tournament [Judge panel]
-H.N.L. Edmonton Crew VS Crew B-boy Tournament [Judge panel]

Current Education: Studying business @ McGill University's Desautel's Faculty of Management

Favorite quotation:

"Honestly expressing yourself. That is very difficult to do. It is easy to put on a show and be cocky, but to honestly express yourself...not lying to yourself...that my friend, is very hard to do."       - Bruce Lee Mentors/Inspirations: Rivers Crew, Skill Methodz Crew, B-boy Neguin, Bruce Lee

My 2011 Video Reel

To start things off, here's a video reel/trailer of all my 2011's performances, battles, and judge showcases compiled together. Hope you enjoy.

First Post!

What's up everyone,

Welcome to the official RawKingz Crew blog page. My name is Branden aka. "Busy" and I'm one of the 4 members of the RawKingz family. So this blog is essentially where all the information about our crew will be posted. From footages to our individual profiles, we will share a lot about who we are, our experiences, and our upcoming performances/events/battles. So stay tuned, and keep checking out this blog out as we will regularly make posts.

Thanks and hope you enjoy.