Press, freeze, position supported by only the arms, with the body lower to the ground than in a handstand.

Many presses predate breaking. The spider may have been the earliest press done in breaking; it was done in the Rock Steady Crew vs. Dynamic Rockers battle in 1981 , and may have been done by the Smoke-a-Trons .

Press Combos

Sequences of moves involving press variations were developed significantly in the mid-to-late 1990s. This class of moves has been given numerous names, including press style, hand transfer style, transfer style, footless footwork¹, Las Vegas style, and animal style. Kujo describes it, "when they're on the hands the whole time—they have their feet up here against their wrist, and they're doing [...] a half flare, stop, pull through, all of that kind of thing" .

Kujo states that "before it was the Las Vegas style, it was Inferno's style, and it was my style. It was one of the things Soul Control did, back in '95, '96, '97", and recalls,

"We called it footless footwork because you're doing all these things with your feet, with your legs, but your feet never touch the floor. You're just on your hands the whole time. Just walking around, you know, doing half of a flare, pull through, shoot through, you know, things like that... go to your head, push up, you know, all that."

Their moves arose from Soul Control's goal of inventing original power.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, major innovations were led by Jin, Roland, Zoob, and others, particularly in Las Vegas. These included hand and arm stepping, different transitions between presses (or "transfers"), and increased emphasis on stacking. Common inspirations were Soul Control and Style Elements, with Ben Stacks additionally citing circus arts, and Jin mentioning flagpole sitting² and Monkey staff practioners, as well as press-based moves by Benzo and Seas1 at Scribble Jam 1998 . Ben suggests that an event called Battle Club contributed to the development of the style in Las Vegas, recalling, "we were just going at it and transfers the whole time" . Ronnie adds,

"I think there were two main events in Vegas—Concrete Soul in 2000 and Illest in the Game in 2001—and that was when we pretty much came out with a different style. And it was Knucklehead Zoo, it was Full Force, and it was like RAOS. And we were doing threads, we were doing transfers, stepping on the hands."

Dyzee created several "low level freezes" in the late 1990s, and started to add elements of the "Vegas style" to his breaking after attending Illest in the Game .

Considered here are any positions supported by only the arms.

Bent-Arm Planche

Planche with arms bent at the elbows.

Inside Press

Also straddle press. Press with legs in a side split, torso vertical, with arms in front of the body ("inside" the legs).

L Sit

Outside press with legs held together horizontally (forming a right angle with the torso, or an "L" shape).

Outside Press

Also press. Press with legs in a side split, torso vertical, with arms behind the body ("outside" of the legs).

Outside Tuck Planche

Also air turtle freeze. Planche with legs bent, outside of the arms.

One-Arm Planche

Planche supported by only one arm.

Planche

Press with straight arms and body held horizontally, parallel to the floor.

Side Sit

L sit with legs to one side, as in a side walk.

Spider

Press with legs resting on the triceps.

Tuck Planche

Planche with legs tucked into the chest.

V Kick

Also V Sit. Press with legs in front (as in an L sit), lifted in a "V" shape. A V kick rotated such that the legs are horizontal resembles the Manna in gymnastics.

Arm Step Freezes

Press variations where one or both feet are placed on the arms or hands. Early examples of the concept include Crumbs' pretzel freeze, a head hollow with one knee bent and the foot brought to the elbow of the same side, developed around 1996, and Megas' one-hand headstand with a similar shape. A variety of arm step freezes were created in the late 1990s, in parallel with advances in press and thread combos.

Air Step

Also air step arm, reverse airbaby. One-arm press with the foot placed on the supporting arm near the tricep, and torso facing upward. Developed by Dyzee in 1999 .

Arm Step

One-arm press with the corresponding foot placed on the supporting arm, on the side of the arm closer to the body. Done by Bao and Chase in 1999 . A variation developed by Dyzee called the step arm, where the entire sole of the foot rests on the forearm, was done in 1999 . A variation with one leg threaded was done by Ronnie in 2000 .

Cross Arm Step

One-arm press with the opposite foot placed on the supporting arm. Done by Jin in 2000 .

Double Arm Step

One-arm press with both feet placed on the supporting arm, on the side of the arm closer to the body.

Flagpole

Also flagpole sit. One-arm press with feet placed around the forearm of the supporting arm. Developed by Jin in the late 1990s . A variation on one's fist was developed by Roland.

Hand Step

Press with a foot stepping on the hand of a supporting arm.

Hind Leg Freeze

Press with the foot placed on the supporting arm near the tricep, and torso facing downward. Developed by Zoob in 1999 .

• RubberLegz showcase with press variations

1. Kujo attributes the name "footless footwork" to Freeze, of the L.A. Breakers.

Photo from a 1927 Boston Globe article captioned, "ALVIN ("SHIPWRECK") KELLY ATOP FLAGPOLE" .
2. Flagpole sitting refers to a practice in the United States popularized in the 1920s. Jin describes "images of people from the 1920s, of people literally sitting on top of flagpoles [...] I don't know why they did it, but the image stuck with me" .