Amir created history in the 2021 Red Bull BC One Global Finals in Gdansk, Poland, by becoming the first breaker from Kazakhstan to win a Red Bull BC One title. He was also the first Cypher champion to go to the world finals by surviving the Last Chance Cypher.
After making it through the Last Chance Cypher, Amir boasted that he would be “10 times better” on the World Finals stage. He delivered, turning in an unforgettable night of competition in which he began every bout as soon as the DJ scratched and dropped the first beat.
Who is this b-boy from Kazakhstan that has become an international phenomenon in the space of two short years, winning breaking’s most coveted solo title?
Who is The World Champion B-Boy: The Tale of Amir
Amir was born in Kazakhstan and raised there until he was 16 when his family relocated to Russia. He remembers the precise day and year he started breaking in 2009, when he was 12 years old and a member of the Predatorz and PDVL crews.
On the evening of October 8th, at about 6 o’clock, Amir explains what happened. “My first practise was two days before my 10th birthday, so that’s why I remember it so clearly. Due to the fact that I became a member of the Predatorz crew on the 12th of October, I celebrate not just one but three birthdays every year: October 8th, 10th, and 12th.”
Amir Grew Up in a Small City in Kazakhstan
Since Amir grew up in a small city in Kazakhstan where there were no breaking lessons, he instead trained in parkour. After that, he was going home from school one day when he spotted a poster advertising a breaking class, which he promptly swiped. He was nervous that his mother wouldn’t give him permission to take the class, so he had his sister register him over the phone.
Amir’s family wasn’t well off, therefore he had to get creative about how to fund his break dancing lessons despite the fact that this method was effective. He had been selling copper since he was ten, so he had some money saved up for the breaking lesson, and he also scarified school lunches in order to save more.
For the breaking, he claims, he used the money his parents gave him for school lunches. I wanted to use this money for break, but I was having stomach pains from going without food all day and it was making it difficult to focus in class.
Fortunately for Amir, This did not Last Long.
B-Boy Polovinka, his breaking instructor, let him practise without paying if he skipped lunch.
In 2020, Amir shot to prominence in the breaking scene after shocking everyone by taking first place in the solo battle at Legits Blast in Prague. In the end, he defeated out B-Boys Xak, Johnny Fox, and Thomaz—all of whom would go on to place in the top 16 of the 2021 BC One World Final—to claim victory. Amir’s booming, floor-pounding approach made him an instant hit when it was finally shown to the breaking scene.
Before that he’d only travelled to Europe once, his first visit in 2017 with his then crew, Animal Crew. Amir and his crew hitchhiked for four days from Outbreak in Slovakia to IBE in the Netherlands because they were broke and barely had enough money to fly to Europe and back to Russia.
Final Words
Remembering those days, he says, “We had a map and we would hitchhike.” “From Slovakia, we crossed into Austria, then into Germany, and finally into the Netherlands. We stayed at budget motels and hostels, and occasionally sneaked past security to spend the night in gyms and other public spaces.”
