Breaking
Get to know the history of the head spin from the pioneers that put it on the map to the world-class breakers taking it to the next level.
When it comes to the decades worth of hype that makes the head spin so iconic, one thing's for sure: whether you're new to the scene, a seasoned breaker, a hardcore hip-hop fan or an outsider who's only insight into breaking is the movie Wild Style and Run DMC, you'd be hard-pressed to find a cat who can't recognise the move.
Check out the head spin in action in the battle of Jilou vs Alessandrina from the 2019 Red Bull BC One B-Girl World Final in the player below. Alessandrina does it as the central move in her power combo of the first round.
Derived from Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira (the move in which a person balances on their head while spinning on a vertical axis), the head spin has been mastered by breakers worldwide. But it also has origins from all kinds of events in cultural history.
There's footage of a kid doing an early take on the move in a film for Thomas Edison back in 1898, and a dancer called Olav Thorshaug performed head spins across the USA in 1910. You can see the head spin in action in the 1933 film Wild Boys of the Road, but if we're talking about who put the move on the map, it comes down to 70's Brooklyn B-Boy Kid Freeze who pioneered the continuous head spin and changed the game for good.
Legends from the 90's like Hyper-E Elanspin, Storm and Lazer remixed the move, putting their signature on the head spin with toe touches, drills, no-hands tricks and combinations that raised the bar. Then B-Boy Aichi locked down the title of Guinness World Record holder with 142 continuous spins in just one minute.
Ushering in a league of variations, today’s head spin can include drill kicks and pumps and versions that tamper with speed and the aesthetics of the move like Stop n Go, Fast Ride and Head Stop. As well as variations that experiment with leg positions like Pikes, Lotus Spins, Pencils, Bicycles, Kid Megas, Egyptians, Russians, and the list goes on.
To see a lot of these variations in action we recommend watching the exhibition battle of Kaku and Lil G at the 2019 Red Bull BC One Cypher Spain. Kaku is a head spin expert and Lil G brings variations of many other power moves to the table.
Riding on the popularity and fame of the move brands like Spin Control have cashed in on the head spin by designing caps and helmets that elevate the potential, all the way to hundreds of people snappy up pricey tickets to see the acrobats from Cirque du Soliel do one.
And if that isn't enough to satisfy your hunger for head spins, take a look at footage of Aichi, Lazer & Boom in an epic headspin battle using a chair and a hula hoop.
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