This is a conversation i had on a forum a few years ago, i had to search my archives and dig it up but i feel like this pretty much explains it all
ITZ BOP SAYS
So what constitutes Biting?
We are all familiar with the term biting: Taking another dancers move and using it as your own. It is very disgruntling to work so hard on a move to find that someone else has either done the move before you or to see someone else do the same exact move after you've done it. In this day and age, there is plenty of biting going around. Many dancers are constantly biting another dancers move/combo/technique. Many even have the gall to ask for instructions on performing that same move. It is very common these days to walk into a competition and see a dancer copying a well known move or floor pattern.
However, there are many people these days who throw around the bite sign. A number of times, I've noticed, people throw the sign for moves that are quite common and are in fact not biting. Nowadays, the bboy world is larger then its ever been. As a result many bboys often have similar ideas on new moves and patterns and techniques. Because of this many bboys are often accused of biting; even if the move was completely their own idea and a coincidence.
Other times moves may look similar but are entirely different. Many people justify their "borrowing" of moves by saying they have a different set up or finish. Others claim that since they add their own style to moves and transitions that it is in fact a completely different move; and thus no biting involved.
I've heard some people say that they won't do that move until more people start doing the move. That way it isn't biting since many bboys do it now.
So where do we draw the line at biting? Is it biting if the same move is done in a different manner? Is it biting if the bboy coincidentally had the same idea as another bboy?
IN REPLY JEN 1 STATES
From my limited knowledge, I feel like a lot of bboys have signature moves. Moves where you go like "oh that's totally so and so" I think that if someone bit a move that is obviously someone else's like that then it's a real bite. But the internet is a tricky thing. People accuse people of biting a move they saw on youtube and the "biter" had no idea and actually created the move through his own practice. I think that that's a coincidence and not a bite.
There's a group called Boogie Monstarz who has a great saying "Byterz will be eaten." They've had other groups literally steal their entire routines. I think that if someone bites your move there's a good chance that they won't be able to do it as well as you can. In that case put them in their place and show them how it's really done.
Also somebody invented every single move in bboying. Are you gonna accuse someone of biting a six-step?
IN REPLY TO ALL REZ STATES (i have made alot longer more in depth reply about it but due to how much i post it ive dumbed it down to make it as simple as possible
i think a little different
yes there are certain people who have their own special moves IE the hong 10 freeze, physixc spinning flag
thats stuff is obviously theirs but taking that single move and making it your own isnt biting.
if i were to do move a
and someone else did move a thats not a bite
if i were do move a c b d a a bc
and someone else did the same combination or even took part of it (acbdaabcbcac) then i would concider that a bite
a single move no, but stealing a string of moves transitions or exact set is. if i went into a thread a special way and i saw someone else do that id say it was a bite. if i were to do it and then see someone do something similar but not that (maybe change a little something) then id say f***er snagged my stuff and changed it up a bit but that was mine. you'd know but i wouldn't conciser it a bite, id say i influenced them
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and when i say i influenced them i mean more of They flipped it. They saw something i did and liked it, and used it with their own flavor and spice. They aren't doing what i did. When we see things at a jam or practice we are bound to like some things and want to do the stuff.
ex. my boy outbreak did a combination of ABC, i thought it was cool but didnt try to do anything with it. i had watched him do it so many times that i had started thinking in my head of creating ABC, after i had came up with the sequence in my head i had flipped it into DEF. When i showed outbreak my new combo, he laughed and said "dude, you got that idea from me".... did i mean to do his moves, absolutely not, did i flip it and mold the clay in a different way, yes.
i also explain it like this
"think of building your own dream house. you start off with all of your own ideas and everything. as you travel you start to want different things, and you want to redecorate your house. because you saw someones house that had wood floors while you had tile, does that make you a copy cat because you put in redwood instead of oak? no, you were influenced,saw something you liked, and put it in your house because it makes you happy and it expresses you better then the oak does"
No one is going to be happy with you when they think you took their moves. But lets be real, i don't care if your domkey,born,tommy-o, or my boy lin, anything you think of has more than likely been done, the odds of you being the first to do something isn't very likely, IT IS POSSIBLE, but just not likely until you've spent a good many years around to know what has and has not been done. so don't try so hard to be original, just try to be you and express yourself in a way you feel comfortable and happy with regardless of what other people think of you.
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