Breaking
Red Bull BC One is one of the biggest breaking competitions in the world. Find out everything you need to know about it here.
Red Bull BC One is an international breaking competition for solo B-Boys and B-Girls that's been running since 2004 and is one of the biggest and most respected breaking events in the world.
The contest is held once a year and is judged by respected, experienced breakers from the worldwide scene.
There are two stages to the Red Bull BC One competition: the Red Bull BC One World Final and Red Bull BC One Cyphers.
The Red Bull BC One World Final
The Red Bull BC One World Final is the ultimate solo breaking competition, which is held in a different country every year.
The competition is split into B-Boy and B-Girl categories, in which 16 of the best B-Boys in the world and 16 of the best B-Girls compete in a 1v1 knockout tournament. The winners are crowned the Red Bull BC One champions and take home the Red Bull BC One championship belt.
There are only two ways to compete in the Red Bull BC One World Final. The first is by invitation. Every year, a certain number of breakers are chosen to compete based on their high-level of breaking and the way they've represented competitively on the breaking scene. These chosen B-Boys and B-Girls get an automatic spot in the Red Bull BC One World Final's top 16.
The other way to get a spot in the Red Bull BC One World Final is to earn one of the open spaces. There may be as little as one or two open spots in the top 16, or as many as eight, it all depends on the number of breakers invited that year.
For a B-Boy or B-Girl to earn a spot in the Red Bull BC One World Final top 16, they must first win their country's Red Bull BC One Cypher and then go on and win the Last Chance Cypher.
At the Red Bull BC One World Final, the 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls are matched up and then battle it out in a straight knockout tournament. Each battle leading up to the final feature three rounds per dancer.
The tournament whittles 16 breakers down to eight for the the quarters-finals and then four for the semi-finals and two for the final.
A panel of five judges decides who wins each battle by raising the name card of the breaker they've chosen to advance to the next round.
The final two competitors battle three to five rounds against each other and then the panel of chosen judges decide, for the last time that night, which B-Boy and B-Girl are the best and will be crowned that year's Red Bull BC One world champions.
The Red Bull BC One Cyphers
Red Bull BC One Cyphers are qualification battles that are put on throughout the year in multiple countries around the world ahead of the Red Bull BC One World Final. Any B-Boys and B-Girls who want to compete in a cypher must at least be living in the specific country putting it on.
Some countries make their cyphers completely open to any B-Boys or B-Girls over the age of 16, but some countries also only select and invite certain breakers who've built a well-respected competitive reputation on their home scene.
The cyphers are judged by three judges and the B-Boy and B-Girl who win their country's cypher earn a spot in the Last Chance Cypher battle, which takes place at the World Final.
The Last Chance Cypher is the final competition to see who'll claim the last open spots for the Red Bull BC One World Final. Taking place at the World Finals, a day or two before the actual final, all the cypher winners from around the world come together and battle for remaining the open spots.
The cypher winners again compete in a 1v1 knockout tournament until the number of open spots have been won. The Last Chance Cypher winners then join the invited world finalists and compete to be crowned Red Bull BC One champion.
Watch the replay of the Red Bull BC One World Final 2021 below:
