Rowena Papasin

TFC News

Filipino-Canadian Jheric Hizon, one of the first B-Boys of Vancouver, is the former coach of Olympic breaking gold medalist Philip Kim, or Phil Wizard.Hizon said the young Kim first saw their group called the &ldquo;Now or Never Crew,&rdquo; a local breaking crew in Vancouver, and this sparked the boy&rsquo;s interest in breaking.They met again a few weeks later when Hizon, an elementary teacher, went to Kim&rsquo;s school.&quot;That really got him interested in hip-hop,&quot; Hizon said of Kim. &quot;From then, he took some of our workshops and fell in love with breaking. He was about 10 or 11 years old and &nbsp;[I] kind of witnessed him growing up to now being an Olympic breaking champion.&quot;After teaching in schools for a few years, Hizon opened his own school, the Boogaloo Dance Academy, in Richmond, British Columbia, in 2013.When the pandemic hit, Kim asked Hizon if he could use a studio in his school to practice.With breaking being a featured sport at the Olympics this year, Hizon went to Paris and was surprised to see many other B-boys and B-girls from all over the world gathered there to witness the inaugural dance-offs.The hip-hop coach beamed with pride when Kim won the gold.&quot;It [was] very exciting for me and a lot of the Canadian dancers in general,&quot; Hizon said. &quot;We&#39;re all happy that he won.&quot;After Phil Wizard won, Boogaloo has been getting numerous calls from interested dancers.Hizon is glad that millions have seen the athleticism of the dancers at the Olympic breaking competition.He said that while breaking was tainted with violence when it started in the 70s, its culture has changed through the years.&quot;When I travel to other cities and I meet dancers with the same interest, instantly we bond [and] become friends,&quot; the Fil-Canadian said.&nbsp;&quot;Even though sometimes we don&#39;t speak the same language, through our dance or movements, we understand each other and make lifelong connections.&quot;Kim later gave Boogaloo a medal that he won from a Korea breaking competition.This is now displayed at the dance studio where Kim used to practice.Hizon said he will rename it to &ldquo;Phil Wizard&rdquo; Studio in honor of Kim.

After teaching in schools for a few years, Hizon opened his own school, the Boogaloo Dance Academy, in Richmond, British Columbia, in 2013.When the pandemic hit, Kim asked Hizon if he could use a studio in his school to practice.With breaking being a featured sport at the Olympics this year, Hizon went to Paris and was surprised to see many other B-boys and B-girls from all over the world gathered there to witness the inaugural dance-offs.The hip-hop coach beamed with pride when Kim won the gold.&quot;It [was] very exciting for me and a lot of the Canadian dancers in general,&quot; Hizon said. &quot;We&#39;re all happy that he won.&quot;After Phil Wizard won, Boogaloo has been getting numerous calls from interested dancers.Hizon is glad that millions have seen the athleticism of the dancers at the Olympic breaking competition.He said that while breaking was tainted with violence when it started in the 70s, its culture has changed through the years.&quot;When I travel to other cities and I meet dancers with the same interest, instantly we bond [and] become friends,&quot; the Fil-Canadian said.&nbsp;&quot;Even though sometimes we don&#39;t speak the same language, through our dance or movements, we understand each other and make lifelong connections.&quot;Kim later gave Boogaloo a medal that he won from a Korea breaking competition.This is now displayed at the dance studio where Kim used to practice.Hizon said he will rename it to &ldquo;Phil Wizard&rdquo; Studio in honor of Kim.

They met again a few weeks later when Hizon, an elementary teacher, went to Kim&rsquo;s school.&quot;That really got him interested in hip-hop,&quot; Hizon said of Kim. &quot;From then, he took some of our workshops and fell in love with breaking. He was about 10 or 11 years old and &nbsp;[I] kind of witnessed him growing up to now being an Olympic breaking champion.&quot;

Filipino-Canadian Jheric Hizon, one of the first B-Boys of Vancouver, is the former coach of Olympic breaking gold medalist Philip Kim, or Phil Wizard.Hizon said the young Kim first saw their group called the &ldquo;Now or Never Crew,&rdquo; a local breaking crew in Vancouver, and this sparked the boy&rsquo;s interest in breaking.

Jheric Hizon is the former coach of Olympic breaking gold medalist Philip Kim.

Fil-Canadian mentor beams with pride for Olympic breaking champ | ABS-CBN News

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Fil-Canadian mentor beams with pride for Olympic breaking champ

Fil-Canadian mentor beams with pride for Olympic breaking champ