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Speaker 1: Hey besties, Hello Sunshine. Today on the bright Side, Olympian

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Speaker 1: Sunny Joy is hanging out with us. Meet the woman

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Speaker 1: making history as the first American woman to qualify for

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Speaker 1: the US Olympic Breaking Team. Go Team USA. It's Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: July ninth.

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Speaker 2: I'm Danielle Robe, I'm Siman Boyce, and this is the

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Speaker 2: bright Side from Hello Sunshine, Danielle. We are officially counting

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Speaker 2: down to the start of the Olympics later this MONTHO.

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Speaker 2: I am starting to feel the excitement. The tears are

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Speaker 2: already welling up in my eyes.

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Speaker 1: No, it makes you emotional, it does.

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Speaker 2: The Olympics makes me cry, thug tears. I just love

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Speaker 2: it so much. We've been tracking so many inspiring athletes, though,

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Speaker 2: and they're all going to be competing on the world's

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Speaker 2: biggest stage this summer.

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Speaker 1: Can you imagine what they're feeling at this very moment.

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Speaker 2: I can't.

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Speaker 1: There is so much hype and so much pressure to

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Speaker 1: shine in this global arena. But any athlete that I've

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Speaker 1: spoken to lives for this exact moment. They like the

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Speaker 1: pressure and it's why I'm really excited to talk to

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Speaker 1: our guests today. Sonny Choi is the first American woman

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Speaker 1: to qualify for the US Olympic breaking team. Now we

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Speaker 1: sort of know this sport as break dancing, but the

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Speaker 1: experts call it breaking, so that's what we're going to

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Speaker 1: refer to it as for the rest of this chat.

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Speaker 1: And her path to get to this moment has been

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Speaker 1: nothing short of remarkable. Just last year she was working

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Speaker 1: as a director of creative operations at Este Lauder and

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Speaker 1: now she's an Olympian. This dream has been twenty years

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Speaker 1: in the making for her.

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Speaker 2: Not only a Sonny Choi making her debut at the

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Speaker 2: Olympics this year, but breaking is also making its debut

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Speaker 2: as an Olympic sport, so a lot of first all around.

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Speaker 2: But this has been a long time coming for Sonny

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Speaker 2: because she's always been an athlete, even from a young age.

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Speaker 2: At three years old, she was already a gymnast. She

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Speaker 2: told her mom that she wanted to win a gold

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Speaker 2: medal even back then, and then she used to draw

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Speaker 2: pictures of herself with Olympic rings, so she's always had

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Speaker 2: Olympic gold in her sites. Sonny was a rising star

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Speaker 2: in the gymnastics world for many years, but then she

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Speaker 2: suffered a knee injury when she was a teenager that

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Speaker 2: forced her to retire the sport, and it put her

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Speaker 2: Olympic dreams on ice.

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Speaker 1: It hurts me even thinking about this. For an athlete

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Speaker 1: to get injured is just a horrible feeling. Now, it

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Speaker 1: was that injury that changed the course of her life

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Speaker 1: because she decided to follow a more traditional career path.

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Speaker 1: She majored in marketing at the University of Pennsylvania, but

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Speaker 1: it was at Penn that she discovered Breaking her freshman

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Speaker 1: year in college. At first, it was just a creative

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Speaker 1: outlet for her. Even while she was the director of

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Speaker 1: Global creative Operations for Este Lauder, she was still breaking

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Speaker 1: on the side.

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Speaker 2: I love the imagery of that Soup by Day track,

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Speaker 2: Soup by Night. It's so good.

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Speaker 1: I wonder if you know, like those break suits that

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Speaker 1: you rip off. Yes, I just imagine her like ripping

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Speaker 1: it off and having like a suit or a skirt

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Speaker 1: suit underneath.

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Speaker 2: It would be the best ad for Breaking or some

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Speaker 2: sort of brand. Ever, so dope, Okay. Cut to twenty twenty,

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Speaker 2: when it was announced that Breaking would be added to

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Speaker 2: the Summer Olympics. Sonny now has a very big decision

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Speaker 2: to make because she has been climbing the corporate ladder.

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Speaker 2: She's got this very stable career, but is she gonna

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Speaker 2: abandon that, quit that and go after her true lifelong dream.

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Speaker 2: Yes she is, folks. The rest is history. And now

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Speaker 2: she's getting ready for the Paris Games.

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Speaker 1: Yes she is. And Simone, I'm fixated on what she's

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Speaker 1: going to be wearing.

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Speaker 2: Same. I cannot wait to see those Nike breaking outfits.

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Speaker 2: So for those not familiar with breaking, we totally get

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Speaker 2: it because it has been an underground sport for a

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Speaker 2: long time. This is the first time that it's going

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Speaker 2: to be at the Olympics. But it's a style of

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Speaker 2: dance and movement that is rooted in hip hop culture.

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Speaker 2: So it originated at house and block parties in the

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Speaker 2: Bronx in the seventies. And then the term breakdancing comes

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Speaker 2: from the part of the record where only the percussion

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Speaker 2: can be heard, so no vocals, guitars or keyboards, aka

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Speaker 2: the break in the song. That's where breaking comes from.

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Speaker 2: So during those breaks, people would show off their moves splits,

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Speaker 2: handstand spins, jumping, skipping, stepping to the beat of the drums.

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Speaker 1: Only break dancing was born and it's popularity soared and

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Speaker 1: it was a movement that spread across the country and

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Speaker 1: eventually the world. So joining us today the first American

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Speaker 1: woman to compete in the first ever breaking competition at

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Speaker 1: the Olympics, Sunny CHOI, welcome to the bright Side.

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Speaker 3: Hello, thank you, thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: So we're just a few weeks away from the start

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Speaker 1: of the Paris Olympics. Simone and I are both so excited.

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Speaker 1: We love the Olympics, big fans, and we have the

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Speaker 1: United States of America's number one be girl here with us.

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Speaker 1: So before we jump in and ask you a million

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Speaker 1: questions about the Olympics, how are you feeling?

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Speaker 3: So I'm just now realizing I've been looking at my

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Speaker 3: calendar and I've had to flip forward months to get

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Speaker 3: to when the Olympics were and and now I'm finally

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Speaker 3: looking at it on just one month, and I'm like,

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Speaker 3: oh my god, I can't believe it's only a few

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Speaker 3: weeks away. I feel like it still doesn't it hasn't

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Speaker 3: hit me, like I don't think it will until I'm

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Speaker 3: packing my bag and going to the airport.

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Speaker 2: You are about to be battling on the biggest stage

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Speaker 2: in the world. How are you mentally preparing yourself for

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Speaker 2: the competition.

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Speaker 3: When I'm battling, I actually kind of like zone in

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Speaker 3: I'm super present. Everything goes quiet, So it's like, you

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Speaker 3: know how every day you have all this chatter in

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Speaker 3: your brain and you just have these to do lists

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Speaker 3: and like, oh my god, did I forget to turn

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Speaker 3: the oven off? And that kind of thing. None of

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Speaker 3: that is present and it's just me and I'm there

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Speaker 3: in the moment and I'm there to do whatever I'm

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Speaker 3: there to do, Like I'm just ready. So that's kind

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Speaker 3: of the headspace that I get into when I'm battling,

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Speaker 3: And to be honest, it's hard to replicate that outside

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Speaker 3: of the battle. But I'm just working on like me

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Speaker 3: as a person and kind of my personal development so

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Speaker 3: that I can show up like in the best way

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Speaker 3: on the day the games, you know, because breaking is

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Speaker 3: so much about like creative expression and self expression. It's

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Speaker 3: really about figuring out who that person is so that

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Speaker 3: I can be that person on that day. So I

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Speaker 3: feel like the work never really stops in terms of

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Speaker 3: kind of the mental in preparation for the games.

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Speaker 2: It sounds like it's a meditative experience for you to

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Speaker 2: use some therapy language. How does it feel in your

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Speaker 2: body when you're breaking.

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Speaker 3: Everything is just connected, like it all makes sense. It's

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Speaker 3: like my mind, body, soul is all one and when

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Speaker 3: it's all together, it all just flows. The DJ turns

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Speaker 3: on the track, you walk out there, you have like

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Speaker 3: a couple of seconds tost you know, depending on whether

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Speaker 3: you go first or your oponent goes first, but you

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Speaker 3: may have a couple of seconds maybe he like thirty

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Speaker 3: to forty five seconds, and you just go out there

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Speaker 3: and you do your thing. And so it's almost like

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Speaker 3: my body doesn't exist on its own. It's like my

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Speaker 3: mind and my body is one unit. It all just

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Speaker 3: goes out there and does its thing. And sometimes I

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Speaker 3: get so kind of in the zone that I completely

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Speaker 3: forget what I did when I walk off, and then

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Speaker 3: I have to ask someone to watch the footage because

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Speaker 3: I'm like, I can't repeat for later rounds. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: it's an interesting experience and it's definitely like really unique

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Speaker 3: for me because even as a gymnast, I would get

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Speaker 3: into a similar space, but it was different because I

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Speaker 3: was always doing the same movements over and over. And

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Speaker 3: this is really about not trying to control the moment,

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Speaker 3: but letting go of control, which is like a very

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Speaker 3: different dynamic for me.

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Speaker 2: I want to talk about the language that's being used

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Speaker 2: to describe this sport, because you've said that if you

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Speaker 2: call it break dancing, you're not a breaker. What is

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Speaker 2: the significance of this language for you, Like, what's the difference?

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Speaker 3: So breaking is the term that like we all referred

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Speaker 3: to what we do as right, So back in the seventies,

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Speaker 3: kind of in these house parties that are happening in

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Speaker 3: the Bronx, DJ started playing the break of a track

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Speaker 3: on two vinyls back to back, so they basic extended

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Speaker 3: that break. So the people that danced for longer because

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Speaker 3: they were dancing to the break. The people who were

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Speaker 3: dancing to the break were called breakers or be girls

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Speaker 3: and bee boys. When mainstream media picked it up, they

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Speaker 3: started calling it break dancing. And so that's kind of

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Speaker 3: the distinction is we've always called it breaking, and then

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Speaker 3: outsiders came in profited off of it and called it breakdancing.

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Speaker 3: So we're kind of taking that back and now that

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Speaker 3: like we're kind of owning this narrative to the Olympics,

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Speaker 3: we're calling it breaking.

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of people that know about breaking

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Speaker 1: know about it from its origins in New York and

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Speaker 1: sort of its underground nature. And you actually live in

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Speaker 1: Queens right now, so I'm curious as to what it's

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Speaker 1: like for you to see a sport that originated in

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Speaker 1: your backyard recognized around the world like this.

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Speaker 3: So the history is like really really rich kind of

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Speaker 3: in the culture here in New York. So it makes

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Speaker 3: it feel different. You know, when you go to other places,

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Speaker 3: you still have this energy that you would feel in

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Speaker 3: kind of like a breaking cipher like you went in

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Speaker 3: New York, but something about it is just different. So

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Speaker 3: it's really cool to be a part of it here

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Speaker 3: and to be able to be alongside some of the

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Speaker 3: people who originated the dance and like really made you know,

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Speaker 3: big steps changes, some of the pioneers that kind of thing,

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Speaker 3: So that's really special. And also to get the support

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Speaker 3: of those people and I'm not going to say everyone

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Speaker 3: is supportive, but many people are, and so to have

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Speaker 3: kind of this important encouragement of that generation here in

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Speaker 3: New York and repping this city on such a base stage,

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Speaker 3: it's really an honor and it's something that's like super

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Speaker 3: special to me.

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Speaker 2: We're going to take a break but we'll be right

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Speaker 2: back with Olympic breaker Sunny CHOI, and.

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Speaker 1: We're back, Sunny. You all always wanted to compete in

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Speaker 1: the Olympics, but breaking wasn't even on your radar. How

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Speaker 1: did you first discover it as a sport?

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Speaker 3: Well, I guess it started in Tennessee. When I was three.

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Speaker 3: I studied gymnastics, and I watched the Olympics, and I

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Speaker 3: told my mom I wanted to win gold. So gone

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Speaker 3: to gymnastics, like you know, was at a pretty high level,

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Speaker 3: pretty young.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: When I was seven, we moved to Kentucky, you know,

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Speaker 3: continued dynastics there. Obviously, it wasn't until high school where

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Speaker 3: I blew up my knee, had a couple complications and

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Speaker 3: ended up quitting. You know. At that point, I transitioned

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Speaker 3: it to college, and I was lost because I had

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Speaker 3: spent my entire life either in school or at the gym.

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Speaker 3: So I was out late one night, you know, doing

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Speaker 3: a freshman duo, and I stumbled into some people who

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Speaker 3: were breaking in the middle of campus and they were

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Speaker 3: basically like advertising for the school club, the school Breaking Club,

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Speaker 3: And I was like, oh, well, that looks cool, and

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Speaker 3: so I went and tried a class, and then I

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Speaker 3: just got hooked because I missed being upside down. I meant,

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Speaker 3: like the physicality of movement that like most of the

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Speaker 3: sports don't require. But then there was also kind of

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Speaker 3: that like creative piece. It was like taking gymnastics and

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Speaker 3: turning it all on its head.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't about like flipping this way and flipping and

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Speaker 3: testing this way. It was like turning on every which

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Speaker 3: access that you possibly can and making your own and

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Speaker 3: making and about being unique. So that kind of hooked

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Speaker 3: me and kept me going.

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Speaker 2: Did you feel like you were good at it from

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Speaker 2: the start? Did it? Was it a natural fit or

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Speaker 2: was there a pretty big learning curve? No?

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Speaker 3: But I think I'm terrible in everything, so I wasn't

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Speaker 3: terrible at it. There were some things I was good

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Speaker 3: at and some things that were definitely challenging. One of

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Speaker 3: which was I was really, really shy. So in the

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Speaker 3: beginning I used to sit in the corner and watch

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Speaker 3: everyone else dance and not participate like ever. And it

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Speaker 3: would be people who like would drag me out and

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Speaker 3: like try to show me something or ask me to

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Speaker 3: do something, even like you know, we called it cipher

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Speaker 3: when you have like a circle of people dancing, people

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Speaker 3: would like physically kind of like push me, nudge me

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Speaker 3: into the cipher because I just never wanted to join

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Speaker 3: my first battle, like other people told me to sign up,

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Speaker 3: and I actually took my name off the list and

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Speaker 3: then got convinced to put it back on the list.

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Speaker 3: So that was like I don't know how many years

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Speaker 3: of me just like not being comfortable putting myself out there.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: Innately, I had some talent because of the dynastics background,

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Speaker 3: so I had good body awareness and like good work

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Speaker 3: ethic and I knew how to kind of like work

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Speaker 3: through problems like physically, but I definitely struggled in kind

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Speaker 3: of this like self expression and like creative expression peace.

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Speaker 2: So you just mentioned that you had had Olympic aspirations

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Speaker 2: and gold medal goals since you were three, but there

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Speaker 2: were a couple of detours along the way. What does

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Speaker 2: it mean to have this second chance, this shot at gold.

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Speaker 3: I honestly just feel so grateful for this chance. I

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Speaker 3: never could have seen it coming. Not in my wildest

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Speaker 3: dreams could I have imagined that I was going to

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Speaker 3: get a chance at breaking. I mean Breaking wasn't even

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Speaker 3: Olympic sport. Before this, you know, like this was never

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Speaker 3: in my decision set. So for life to come back

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Speaker 3: around and like hand this to me again, hand this opportunity,

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Speaker 3: I'm just like, how could I not take it? I mean,

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Speaker 3: to be honest, I actually almost did it. It took

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Speaker 3: me a really long time to come to terms with

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Speaker 3: the sacrifices that it would take for me to pursue

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Speaker 3: this pathway. I was working corporate, and I was working

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Speaker 3: really really long hours in that job, and not only that,

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Speaker 3: but like I'm not particularly young, and I was like, well,

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Speaker 3: I kind of wanted to buy a home and get

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Speaker 3: settled and have a family that kind of thing in

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Speaker 3: the near future. I would have to give all of

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Speaker 3: that up to really focus and pursue the Olympics in

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Speaker 3: the way that I wanted. So it actually took me

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Speaker 3: quite a long time to wrap my head around that

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Speaker 3: and then decide, you know what, like who gets a

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Speaker 3: second chance like this, I mean, this is more than

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Speaker 3: twenty years later at this point that I'm getting a

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Speaker 3: second chance because I think, you know, we decided not

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Speaker 3: to pursue the Olympics when I was like maybe eleven

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Speaker 3: or twelve, pretty young, So to get that chance more

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Speaker 3: than twenty years later in a completely different sport. How

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Speaker 3: can I not do this? So yeah, I'm.

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Speaker 2: Here like a movie. What an arc.

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Speaker 1: The job that you mentioned is that you were the

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Speaker 1: director of Global Creative Operations at Este Lauder. What a jump.

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Speaker 1: Now you're competing in the Olympics. What was the exact

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Speaker 1: moment that you decided to quit your job and dedicate

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Speaker 1: yourself to breaking full time.

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Speaker 3: It was literally months of just like mulling this over

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Speaker 3: in my head. I don't remember the exact date, but

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Speaker 3: I remember there was a day I was outside of practice.

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Speaker 3: This is in Brooklyn, in my car, and I just

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Speaker 3: like I couldn't stop crying because I realized, for some reason,

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Speaker 3: that day dawned on me that the reason I had

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Speaker 3: never allowed myself to pursue my passion, the reason I

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Speaker 3: never allowed myself to follow my dreams to do what

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Speaker 3: made me happy, was because I was scared to fail.

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Speaker 3: And it was so much easier to take this kind

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Speaker 3: of more traditional pathway. And it wasn't an easy route,

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Speaker 3: but an easier route than risking it all on a

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Speaker 3: chance at the Olympics. You know, when I'd realized that

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Speaker 3: it was just me staying in my own way. And

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Speaker 3: it was this fear of failure that had stopped me

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Speaker 3: over and over and over again in my life. And

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Speaker 3: I had reached many junctures I think in my life

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Speaker 3: where I had wanted to pursue different pathways. You know,

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Speaker 3: at one point I wanted to get an MFA. I

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Speaker 3: wanted to be in education, maybe psychology. Even in high school,

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Speaker 3: I actually took a fashion class and I was like,

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Speaker 3: really good at sewing, So I was like, maybe this

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Speaker 3: is what I want to do. So there's all these

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Speaker 3: signs and all these moments where I had other chances

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Speaker 3: to do something different and I never took them. Realizing

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Speaker 3: that I had denied myself over and over again of

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Speaker 3: like these opportunities. I was kind of heartbroken, actually, because

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Speaker 3: not allowing yourself to dream is is sad. So I

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Speaker 3: realized that I was gonna take a leap of faith

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Speaker 3: allow myself to chase this childhood dream as silly as

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Speaker 3: it is at the age of you know, thirty four,

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Speaker 3: that time thirty five now, and just see what happens.

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Speaker 1: If not chasing your dreams is sad, what is chasing

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Speaker 1: your dreams feel like?

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Speaker 3: Honestly, most days I'm just a nervous wreck, but.

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Speaker 2: You know, relable, relatable.

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Speaker 3: To be honest, I have so much more mental space,

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Speaker 3: not just for myself but for the people around me.

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Speaker 3: I mean, like I don't have a lot of time

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Speaker 3: right now as I'm training, but mentally I'm able to, like,

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Speaker 3: you know, I'm able to cook. I'm able to like

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Speaker 3: go on walks and put my phone aside. Like I'm

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Speaker 3: not a zombie every single day showing up for this

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Speaker 3: corporate job that didn't make me happy and then going

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Speaker 3: to dance afterward as some sort of like outlet. But

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Speaker 3: even then I was just a robo. I was a

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Speaker 3: zombie at that point after work that I just I

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Speaker 3: couldn't even go and dance really, so I was just

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Speaker 3: like going through the motions of life but not really

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Speaker 3: living life. I feel like, for the first time, I'm

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Speaker 3: actually really living and I'm like living for myself, which

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Speaker 3: it just feels so.

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Speaker 2: Good, you know. We talked to Michelle Kwan, who is

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Speaker 2: one of our favorite Olympians, and she was just telling

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Speaker 2: us about the sacrifices that it took for her parents

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Speaker 2: to you know, put her into figure skating, and they

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Speaker 2: were buying secondhand skates and doing whatever they could to

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Speaker 2: make this dream possible for her. What does this dream

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Speaker 2: mean to your parents? You are the daughter of immigrant parents.

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Speaker 2: I mean to be representing the USA and the Olympics,

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Speaker 2: they must be so proud. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: First, I just want to say Michelle Kwan was definitely

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Speaker 3: an idol. Growing up. There weren't a ton of Asian

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Speaker 3: American faces in the Olympics, so Michelle Kwan was one

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Speaker 3: of the big ones for me. And it's not just

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Speaker 3: like the faces, but also the stories being told. You know,

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Speaker 3: her story was kind of out there, so I connected

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Speaker 3: with that and so that's really cool. But anyways, parents, boy.

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Speaker 1: They.

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Speaker 3: Initially when I told them I was doing this, they

365
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 3: were like, oh, you know, the thought of like their

366
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:22,600
Speaker 3: daughter quitting this like really great corporate job and giving

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Speaker 3: it all up for breaking of all things. I think

368
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Speaker 3: it was hard for them to wrap their heads around,

369
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Speaker 3: but you know, I qualified and now they're so supportive.

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Speaker 3: I was actually on another podcast they did a zoom

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Speaker 3: with my parents and my mom tells me she's proud

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Speaker 3: of me, and that's actually that's actually pretty new. But

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Speaker 3: my dad actually said he was proud of me. And

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Speaker 3: I don't think he's ever said that to me to

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Speaker 3: my face, but he said it on the zoom, so

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Speaker 3: you know what it counts. And I was just like, wow,

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00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,760
Speaker 3: that feels really nice because you know, my whole life,

378
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Speaker 3: I never felt like I was good enough, and I

379
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Speaker 3: was always trying to do more, which is you know,

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Speaker 3: kind of what put me on that pathway to like

381
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Speaker 3: ivyally corporate, get into a big company, you know, climb

382
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Speaker 3: the corporate ladder, that kind of thing. I never thought

383
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,320
Speaker 3: I was good enough, and so I was always trying

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Speaker 3: to get the approval. And I think it wasn't just

385
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Speaker 3: their approval, it was really my approval. It was my

386
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,000
Speaker 3: standard that I couldn't live up to. But regardless, like

387
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:19,879
Speaker 3: they didn't often say that they're a part of me,

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00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,359
Speaker 3: you know, cultural thing, and so it's really nice to

389
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Speaker 3: finally hear that, not just for my parents, my brothers,

390
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,560
Speaker 3: everyone around me is just like so supportive of this.

391
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Speaker 3: It just it feels amazing. What I'm realizing is that

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Speaker 3: like this journey isn't a journey to be done alone.

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Speaker 3: And I've always felt like I needed to do everything

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Speaker 3: alone because I had to be able to do everything

395
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Speaker 3: myself and allowing other people to support me and allowing

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Speaker 3: other people in everything is just so much more fulfilling.

397
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Speaker 3: So yeah, it's really been amazing and having their support

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Speaker 3: has meant the world to me.

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Speaker 2: That's a really big deal hearing that from your dad.

400
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Speaker 1: Isn't it funny though, how parents are so much more

401
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: willing to say it to other people than they are

402
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,640
Speaker 1: to you. He never thinks anything I'm doing is cool,

403
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Speaker 1: but then I hear him talk to his friends, and

404
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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, he's proud of me.

405
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Speaker 3: My dad guys bummy all the time to everyone else.

406
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:18,880
Speaker 3: You know, when I'm at home, Like if I miss

407
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:20,639
Speaker 3: one training day, he's like, why an't you going to

408
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,400
Speaker 3: the gym today? Huh? He needs train seven days a week.

409
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,159
Speaker 3: But then he goes and like brags to all his

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Speaker 3: friends about whatever doing.

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Speaker 2: That's cute. I love that. Okay, Sonny, we have to

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Speaker 2: take a short break, but when we come back, we

413
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:34,440
Speaker 2: want to talk about what to expect at the big

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Speaker 2: competition in Paris this summer. Stay with us.

415
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Speaker 1: And we're back with breakers, Sunny Choy. We're so excited

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Speaker 1: to watch you compete at the Paris Games, Sonny. But

417
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 1: for somebody who is new to this sport, aka all

418
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Speaker 1: of us, what should we be looking out for? Give

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Speaker 1: us the lowdown, you know.

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Speaker 3: I don't even want to like color few opinions about breaking.

421
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 3: I want people to just like watch it and have fun,

422
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,280
Speaker 3: because there really is like a party and we're having fun.

423
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 3: There's a DJ, they're picking the songs. We don't know

424
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Speaker 3: what's happening, so it's like very impromptu and spontaneous. There's

425
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Speaker 3: an EMPC there to like hype up the crowd.

426
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Speaker 1: Wait, so you don't plan your routines?

427
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Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, it's still like quite a bit

428
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 3: of what we do is freestyle. So I'll plan like

429
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,119
Speaker 3: a little bit like a combo here and there, but

430
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,280
Speaker 3: everything else is freestyle on between because you don't know

431
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,680
Speaker 3: what they're going to play. So yeah, it's really different

432
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 3: from a lot of the other sports in that way.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: I mean all of the figure skaters, the gymnasts, they

435
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Speaker 1: come in with routines and you're just winging it exactly.

436
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Speaker 3: But I mean that's what adds to like the energy

437
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Speaker 3: of breaking. We don't even know what we're gonna do,

438
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,440
Speaker 3: so how could you possibly know? And so what I

439
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 3: am encouraging people to do is just like watch with

440
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,679
Speaker 3: an open mind, have fun, connect to the people that

441
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,920
Speaker 3: you connect with, cheer for your favorite person in and

442
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 3: like just be present and be in the moment and

443
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,320
Speaker 3: enjoy it. Breaking is really about that like shared experience.

444
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,160
Speaker 3: It's about community, it's about having fun together. So even

445
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,040
Speaker 3: just like through your screen, you're still going to get

446
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,240
Speaker 3: some of that energy. So it's kind of just like

447
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,959
Speaker 3: just take it in and do with it what you will.

448
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 3: But I just hope people have fun watching. So how

449
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 3: is the sport evaluated, Sonny? How do you know if

450
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 3: you're doing well? What are the judges looking for? So

451
00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:30,840
Speaker 3: there's five criteria and there are like faders that they

452
00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,120
Speaker 3: move the fader based off of you and your opponent.

453
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,680
Speaker 3: So there's no like standard for perfection like in gymnastics,

454
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,920
Speaker 3: you can do something perfect and then you get points deducted.

455
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,960
Speaker 3: It's more like you all start neutral and then depending

456
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 3: on how you do on these criteria, they're going to

457
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,879
Speaker 3: move it, you know, incrementally different ways, depending on how

458
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 3: much you kind of eke out your opponent. And so

459
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 3: the faders are musicality, execution, vocabulary.

460
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 2: Vocabulary, what do you mean by that?

461
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 3: So it's like the breadth of movement that we do, so,

462
00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,359
Speaker 3: like how many different types of movement? How much like

463
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,119
Speaker 3: texture you have in your rounds, like in terms of

464
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 3: like pacing and like up and down and like you know,

465
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 3: we have foundational movements, so it's like what do you

466
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:15,959
Speaker 3: do with those? And then how do you also like

467
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 3: change those? And how much of those do you really

468
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,800
Speaker 3: make your own? How many signature moves you have? So

469
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,479
Speaker 3: that kind of thing the thing what breaking is because

470
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 3: it's all about creativity. There is obviously some subjectivity, but

471
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 3: I think having these different criteria so that you can

472
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 3: excel in different ones and still win, gives us the

473
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 3: freedom so that we can still do what we do

474
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:37,840
Speaker 3: the way we want to do it.

475
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: How do you incorporate your own style? Like do you

476
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 1: guys get to choose uniforms? Do you all, like do

477
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 1: you shop Patzara for this? Like where do you go

478
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: to buy a big girl fit?

479
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I'm Nike sponsors, so you know, but

480
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 3: all right, at the games, at least for us, Nike

481
00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 3: gives us a whole wardrobe of clothing that we get

482
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 3: to pick from. And so every country has a different

483
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 3: wardrobe or I don't know, some may have uniforms we

484
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,880
Speaker 3: have like a whole pack, so it's like a couple

485
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 3: pairs of pants, a couple of different top options. We

486
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 3: even have a bomber jacket, which is super super cool.

487
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,120
Speaker 3: Nobody's gonna be wearing that in the middle of summer,

488
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,280
Speaker 3: but I'm definitely gonna be wrecking u later this year.

489
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 3: We have different like headgear options, and then like the

490
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 3: shoes we pick, so at the games, we're all going

491
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,800
Speaker 3: to have like a little bit more of like kind

492
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 3: of a honed in wardrobe, but it's still it's kind

493
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,280
Speaker 3: of cool streetwear. Like there's some like kind of blue

494
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,200
Speaker 3: Chino pants in there. I usually wear like an oversized

495
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 3: shirt and a bandana, so you know, that's what I'll

496
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 3: usually wear. But to be honest, like breaking fashions all

497
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 3: over the place, it's actually really fun. There's there's so

498
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 3: many elements of breaking that I feel like people can

499
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 3: kind of latch onto. It's you know, the fashion, the sneakers,

500
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,199
Speaker 3: the music, the sweat, because it's not just about like

501
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 3: what you're wearing, but it's about like how you do

502
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 3: the movements that you do. That's like actually one of

503
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:57,600
Speaker 3: the big things that we talk about in breaking. It's

504
00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,359
Speaker 3: not what you do it's how you do it. And

505
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,200
Speaker 3: so you can have two different people do the same

506
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:02,359
Speaker 3: move and one of them is going to be like

507
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 3: super dope and the other.

508
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 1: Ones just like the flair and the vibe.

509
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, it's what breaking is all about. And so

510
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 3: you know, the clothes is just one piece, but it's

511
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 3: really about making sure like your style is out there

512
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 3: when you're dancing. We also talk about like if someone

513
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 3: was to put just show a silhouette of you, like

514
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:21,880
Speaker 3: they should be able to tell who you are without

515
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 3: seeing your face or your body. So that's kind of

516
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:25,920
Speaker 3: like that style piece for us.

517
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 2: You're speaking my language, oversized clothing, streetwear' you're gonna be

518
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,639
Speaker 2: the best dressed at the Olympics. I mean we already know.

519
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 3: I mean I do think the breaking Ward Drobes are

520
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 3: probably some of the coolest. Yeah by far, I say

521
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 3: Skate I think is like kind of similar in but yeah,

522
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 3: the breaking Ward Jones are nice.

523
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: So I grew up watching Breakers like on TV on YouTube,

524
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,440
Speaker 1: and I saw a lot of bee boys. I did

525
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: not see a lot of bee girls. And you're making

526
00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 1: history at the Olympics this year. What is mean to

527
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: be a big girl? Is there a difference.

528
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously I'm a woman, so there's a lot

529
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 3: that comes with that, I think, especially when it comes

530
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,440
Speaker 3: to this space as a breaker. My experience has been

531
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,760
Speaker 3: very different from many of the men in this space.

532
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,160
Speaker 3: You know, when I started dancing, I would walk into

533
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 3: rooms and be like one hundred guys and me that

534
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 3: would enter a battle, you know, maybe two or three

535
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 3: other girls. I mean, there really weren't that many big

536
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,119
Speaker 3: girls when I was starting to kind of break up here.

537
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,200
Speaker 3: There's more now, but even so there's still not that many.

538
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,439
Speaker 3: I mean, there's definitely more women in other scenes. So

539
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 3: I remember I went to an event in Europe back

540
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,200
Speaker 3: in I think like twenty fifteen, and over one hundred

541
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,440
Speaker 3: big girls entered a competition, and I'd never seen more

542
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,120
Speaker 3: than like eight to ten people in the States enter

543
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 3: a woman only kind of division. So that was like

544
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 3: really cool to see. But you know, numbers aside, it's

545
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,959
Speaker 3: also like physically very different for a woman to be dancing,

546
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 3: especially because a lot of the movements were made by men,

547
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,399
Speaker 3: and so it's about like adapting and making everything your own.

548
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 3: And I feel like women because of these obstacles, like

549
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 3: we just we look different, We dance different. I mean,

550
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,119
Speaker 3: we're pretty tough, so it's totally different. But we're still

551
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 3: all doing the same thing at the end of the day,

552
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,119
Speaker 3: and we're still sharing the same space and it's the

553
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,400
Speaker 3: same energy and the same music. That's actually a good

554
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 3: question because I've never really even asked that question quite

555
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 3: like that.

556
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 1: So we heard that after the Olympics you're hoping to

557
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 1: open a break center in New York. What do you

558
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,440
Speaker 1: hope this center will provide for other breakers or new

559
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: breakers in the community.

560
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 3: I've really wanted to feel a little bit more like

561
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 3: a community center. The thing about breaking is like, even

562
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 3: I still practice the community centers, and so there's this

563
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 3: community aspect and you have people of all different levels

564
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,920
Speaker 3: all participating together, and that's kind of what makes breaking

565
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,680
Speaker 3: so beautiful for me. So I want a space that's

566
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 3: very community oriented. I want to have new breakers in

567
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 3: there with elite breakers that have like a fitness center,

568
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 3: a kind of built into one space. I want to

569
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 3: have community programming. I would like to have like other

570
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,360
Speaker 3: services like mental health, massage, like things.

571
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 2: That I love.

572
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 3: Love to have some like recovery space in there. So,

573
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,399
Speaker 3: like you know, obviously I wouldn't be starting at that scale,

574
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,399
Speaker 3: or maybe I will be, But I just want to

575
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 3: have a place where people can go and find what

576
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 3: they need for what they want to get done in breaking.

577
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 3: We just don't have a space like that, and we

578
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 3: don't have any spaces actually, like dedicated to hip hop

579
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 3: like that here in New York, which is kind of

580
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 3: wild because this is where it all started, right.

581
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 2: It is wild. Yeah. Yeah, So you know, there are.

582
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 3: Like breaking schools and kind of hip hop centers, and

583
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,680
Speaker 3: I've seen them around the world, but we just don't

584
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 3: really have any big ones here. So I kind of

585
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 3: want to have something like that. But I think the

586
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 3: biggest focus really is around the community and about getting

587
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,600
Speaker 3: people together to share.

588
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 2: Well, Nike, this is your moment. Step up, Yes, come

589
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 2: through Nike. Sonny, thank you so much for sharing your

590
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,320
Speaker 2: lights and your sunshine on the bright side today. We

591
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 2: cannot wait to watch you compete this summer.

592
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 3: Thank you.

593
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: We are going to be cheering you out so loudly

594
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 1: from our TV.

595
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 3: I hope I can hear it from Paris.

596
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Sonny.

597
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 3: Thank you.

598
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 2: Sunny Choi is a professional American breaker who will be

599
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,920
Speaker 2: competing in the first ever Olympic breaking competition at the

600
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four Paris Olympics.

601
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: That's it for today's show. Tomorrow it is Wellness Wednesday.

602
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 1: Board certified dermatologist doctor Sharen Idris is here to talk

603
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: about the best products to use this summer and skincare trends,

604
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,920
Speaker 1: what's worth the splurge, and what can we x out

605
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: from our routines. Listen and follow the bright Side on

606
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

607
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 2: I'm Simone Voice. You can find me at simone Voice

608
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 2: on Instagram and TikTok.

609
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 1: I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok. That's r O

610
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 1: b A.

611
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 2: Y See you tomorrow. Keep looking on the bright side, y'all.