Phil Wizard introduced breaking to the world by taking gold medal, mentors say

VANCOUVER — A gold medal win by Canadian Philip Kim at the Paris Olympics in breaking has introduced the world to the sport and its culture that is all about peace, love and unity, his former coaches say.

Kim, who competes as B-Boy Phil Wizard, took the first-ever Olympic gold medal in men’s breaking in Paris by defeating French hometown favourite Dany Dann in Saturday’s final.

Breaking is a mix of dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, head-spinning balance and a dose of bravado, all to a bass-thumping music beat. The urban dance style traces its roots to New York City during the 1970s.

Practitioners of breaking are called b-boys and b-girls.

Kim began his dance journey in Vancouver, and his former coach, Jheric Hizon, said watching Kim create his magic and seeing the Canadian flag raised on the global stage in Paris had been an incredible experience.

“He was really on point that day,” Hizon said of the gold-medal match. “Philip does a lot of freestyle in his dance, so he was using some of his signature moves earlier on and then throughout the whole competition, he was just very relaxed and was having a lot of fun as well.”

As Kim’s mentor who first introduced hip hop to him when he was 10 years old, Hizon said seeing him applying everything he had learned to become the 27-year-old “Phil Wizard” was a triumph.

“Whoever watched the games, especially the younger kids, I’m sure they are inspired, and the ones who are breaking now, I’m sure they will practise even more, even harder, and just maybe take this dance just a little bit more seriously,” said Hizon.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing, made its Olympic debut at the Paris Games, drawing huge audiences.

But it may be the sport’s last appearance as it’s not part of the program at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Anita Perel-Panar, the co-founder of Boogaloo Academy in Vancouver where Hizon teaches dance, flew to Paris with Hizon to support Kim.

She said she believes Kim’s gold medal will keep the breaking scene alive and vibrant.

“Coming to the Olympics brought it to the world,” she said.

“So, everybody knows what it’s all about and people are starting to go like, ‘Wow, that’s the most amazing thing to watch. What a great sport, is it a dance?’ It’s a sport, it’s a dance, it’s art.”

Perel-Panar said Kim’s goal was to show people how breaking can be used to improve mental health, and give people hope and a better life.

“It’s not just winning the medal, but it’s how we can incorporate it and make positive change in people’s lives.”

Hizon said the hip-hop culture is all about peace, love, unity and having fun, and although the Vancouver has a small community compared with other places, it has a unique vibe with dancers rooting for each other.

“We are just very friendly towards each other and we help and push each other and when you are creating together with people, then you just create the bond with each other,” said Hizon.

Hizon’s brother Jhaymee, who mentored Kim when he was 11, said witnessing Kim’s victory in Paris brought tears to his eyes and he believed the gold medal would help attract more people to breaking.

“I think there will be definitely more youth wanting to find out, and that was the goal from the beginning to get more youth involved, to keep the scene growing and alive,” said Jhaymee, sending more Canadians to compete on the global stage.

Hizon said he first met Kim 17 years ago while Hizon’s hip-hop crew, Now or Never, was performing street shows next to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Their paths crossed again when Hizon went to Kim’s elementary school to teach hip-hop and breaking workshops, which he said inspired Kim to get into hip-hop dance.

Kim won Canada’s first world title in breaking at the 2022 World DanceSport Federation championships.

“And once he started winning outside of North America, it became more serious,” Hizon said, noting Kim was then making a living off breaking.

Kim won the first gold medal in breaking at the Pan American Games when the dance sport made its debut in Santiago last November. By winning, he qualified to represent Canada in Paris.

Hizon said Kim had developed a unique expression in breaking by not only understanding “the vocabulary of breaking dance “ but also knowing how to put his moves together.

“A lot of these moves everybody can do, but it’s how you put it together, so it’s like creating a puzzle and he creates these puzzles with beautiful pictures in them, and while people are still figuring out where this left piece or right piece goes, and he figured out how to make them really fast and unique,” said Hizon.

Hizon said they don’t teach Kim dance anymore.

“So, right now, when we all hang out, it’s all about life lessons that I teach him,” said Hizon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2024.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press