In the 1970s, Bruce Lee was beginning to gain popularity in Hollywood for his martial arts movies.

The fact that he was a non-white male who portrayed self-reliance and righteous self-discipline
resonated with black audiences and made him an important figure in this community. [5] With the
release of Enter the Dragon in 1973, Kung Fu movies became a hit in America across all
backgrounds; however, black audiences maintained the films’ popularity well after the general public
lost interest. Urban youth in New York City were still going from every borough to Times
Square every night to watch the latest movies.[6] Among these individuals were those coming
from the Bronx where, during this time, hip hop was beginning to take form. One of the pioneers
responsible for the development of the foundational aspects of hip-hop was DJ Kool Herc, who
began creating this new form of music by taking rhythmic breakdowns of songs and looping them.
From the new music came a new form of dance known as b-boying or breakdancing, a style of street
dance consisting of improvised acrobatic moves. The pioneers of this dance credit kung fu as one of
its influences. Moves such as the crouching low leg sweep and "up rocking" (standing combat
moves) are influenced by choreographed kung-fu fights. [7] The dancers’ ability to improvise these
moves led way to battles, which were dance competitions between two dancers or crews judged on
their creativity, skills and musicality. In a documentary, Crazy Legs, a member of breakdancing
group Rock Steady Crew, described the breakdancing battle being like an old kung fu movie, "where
the one kung fu master says something along the lines of ‘hun your kung fu is good, but mine is
better,’ then a fight erupts."[7]

References