freestyle

Freestyle. A variety of electronic music with an upbeat tempo, lots of mixing, and a strong beat. Names like Cynthia, Johnny O, Dominatrix, Lissette Melendez are famous in the freestyle world.

A technique in rap in which the emcee spontaneously produces rhymes with the beat. Rather than writing down lyrics, the rapper comes up with them while he is rapping. This is a talent which is sorely lacking in a lot of commercial rappers. Freestyling is how most emcee battles were decided on the street in the early days of hip hop. It is a form of occasional poetry, an art form which was practiced by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his contemporaries at get-togethers.

Incidentally the name given to the walkman when Sony introduced it to the Swedish market. A big competition was held where people could submit suggestions, and the winning name would be used instead of walkman. "Freestyle" was the winning name, and is today the way people here in Sweden refer to it by instinct.

Yes. Some of us do pity and loathe ourselves.

Freestyle: adj. (slang) sans sous-vêtements (chonies, scanties, trollies).

"Hey buddy, watch that zipper!" ( in the voice of Denis Leary )

Despite what you may have heard on the street or just assumed, for the most part going freestyle is not a political statement, nor is it a sign of a free and easy attitude toward the body or human sexuality, nor a hip, bold, or comfortable lifestyle choice:

mostly its just a symptom of a scarcity of clean laundry, possibly a desire for fresh loin air ( kudos to nate ).

Items not well suited to the freestyle wardrobe:

• Heavy woolen items.
• Anything wet and/or nylon ( ie. running shorts ).
• Welding pants or coveralls.
• Most SCA gear ( including but not limited to chainmail, animal skins, and codpieces )
• Daisy Dukes

Apparently also known in some circles as going commando.

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Note: I don't believe I've ever heard this term used to describe a woman's state of dress. Anyone?

Freestyle is a genre of electronic vocal dance music based on Latin rhythms. It has been called "Latin Hip-hop" and during the 1980's was closely related, sometimes interchangable, with Hi-NRG. Both of these were heavily influenced by Electro/breakdance music and freestyle carries many of those elements to this day.

Ironically, one of those elements is the Planet Rock beat, which I feel is detrimental to the evolution of freestyle. Freestyle is in a sad state, compared to its lofty beginnings.

During the 1970's, disco was mainstream music. After the disco backlash in the early 1980's, its primary audience, Hispanics and Italians, were left without a music to call their own. In 1982, Brooklyn's Afrika Bambataa released the seminal track, Planet Rock, which spawned the Electro movement in New York. Dance music had changed. To make it more suitable for clubs, producers gave electro songs melodies and sung lyrics. New York's dance floors started filling with the Latin crowd. They wanted a music of their own, and eventually freestyle as we know it was born.

During the mid-1980's, freestyle was synonymous with club music. It was practically impossible to go to a club and not hear Shannon's Let the Music Play or Give Me Tonight. Lisa Lisa hit the Billboard pop charts at #35, a blip in the mainstream that would signal what was to come.

In the late 1980's, freestyle was popular only in places with a large Latin population - New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Local radio play in these areas forced more mainstream stations to pick up freestyle, and it soon spread nationwide. Many artists defined the hallmarks of their careers during this time - TKA, Cover Girls, Cynthia and Stevie B. Many reigned in the Top 40.

By the time the 1990's started, freestyle started to decline. A resurgence sparked by producer Carlos Berrios's "new school" sound resulted in the highest-charting freestyle song, Corina's Tempatation (#3 Billboard Hot 100). This could still not save freestyle. Radio stations abandoned freestyle for rap and hiphop, and soon alternative would rule the airwaves. The early 1990's saw the breakup of many groups. Some artists jumped genres. A good example is Kayel (the "K" in TKA), who formed the hip-hop group K7. Mainstream dance music became the genre to flee to.

Today, freestyle languishes. The big, established names, under pressure from record labels, have mostly shifted away from freestyle. This leaves mostly young artists to try and create a resurgence. However, uncreative producers keep rehashing the same beats from over a decade ago, and even the die hard fans can't stand it.

There is the occasional freestyle star, but even they are examples of the state of freestyle today. Rockell has scored several hits, but her albums have one foot in freestyle, the other in dance; a perfect example of freestyle's popularity today - it can't carry a whole album. Some people are hailing (newly reunited) TKA's single When Will I See You Again as a possible starting point for a resurgence, but it uses the standard Planet Rock beat and samples Planet Patrol's Play At Your Own Risk. It may be a tribute to freestyle's foundations, but I view it as rehashing the same tired ideas.

Freestyle won't get anywhere without radio and label support. In light of that, I doubt freestyle will ever rule the mainstream like it once did. However, it still lives, in the underground, and in the hearts of its fans.

Freestyle is also the opposite of vert in skateboarding competitions. Where as vert restricts the skater to a halfpipe, freestyle gives the skater a great range of jumps, funboxes, quarterpipes and rails. Freestyle is what you will often see on TV when the X-Games are on, where the skaters are indoors with a bunch of jumps.

Freestyle skaters use grabs, flips and grinds though they have no technicality in their style, rather they bust for bigger and longer air.

Pertaining to a relatively recent subculture of dirt bikers. Involves riding off-road motorcycles somewhere other than a race course, getting big air, and generally risking your life for no reason other than the fun of it. Also known as free riding. Famously practiced by Seth Enslow.

Freestyle Walking

Freestyle walking is a relatively new 'sport.'
I say sport in inverted commas because it is not exactly a sport, but more of a physical recreation.
Free-walking evolved primarily out of Soap Shoes which didn't really take off but were shoes with a strip of plastic on the sole so the wearer could slide down seats, poles etc.
Free-walking is similar, but you can do it with any shoes, or even without shoes. You simply walk along anywhere and do tricks.
Some basic tricks are things like grabbing a pole and swinging round it, any on ground gymnastics, heel clicks, slides, jumps etc.

The concept isnt as simple as that though, first examples of freestyle walking can be seen by people like Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplain and other dancers or slapstick comedians.
More contempory influences include things like the breakdancing, especially things like uprocking and ground work.

More diverse than it may at first seem, freestyle walking is on its way to being a pop culture, it is associated with commercial products and moving to global popularity, although its still in a cult status.

Freestyle as in a type of stroke in swimming. Most commonly refered to as Australian Crawl, or front crawl, but known as freestyle in the US. Possibly the reason for this is that any stroke is accepted during "freestyle" race, therefore, free style.

Usually the fastest stroke, but is considered an alternative in the Medley Relay, and the Idividual Medley Relay, that is Any other stroke not mentioned, as announced by the official. The swimmer can do any type of stroke that is not officialy backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly.

Here comes a lengthy explanation of the stroke. Short of getting in the water, and swim for 25 hours a week with a coach, there is no other way to get this right.

Body/Head Position
The body is in a position that is close to horizontal, just under the surface of the water, but due to the sinking of the legs, the position tends to be more elevated at the head, especially in sprint events.

The position is just under the surface of the water. Because the resistance of the water surface is greater then that of the water itself, that is the most efficient position.

Generally, freestyle is thought to be completed mainly on the stomach, that is not completely true. The swimmer's upper body stays flat for only a fraction of the stroke, due to the rotation of the shoulders, in order to approach maximum stroke reach distance, this is crucial.

The head of the swimmer is as close to aligned with the rest of the body as possible. In long distance events, the muscles of the neck may be severely strained due to incorrect alignment. In sprints, the upper body becomes raised in the water, thus, raising the head to where the waterline is just above the goggle line. The swimmer is looking almost to the other end of the pool. In long distance event, the body is more level, in order to conserve energy, therefore the head is lower in the water, but still not completely underneath the water level. The swimmer is looking slightly ahead on the bottom of the pool.

The Stroke
The stroke is done overhand, where the whole arm, including at least the lower shoulder in distance events, and as much as half of the body in sprints, is above the water on the recovery. The goal of the stroke is to create minimum resistance on the recovery, and produce as much power on the pull as possible.

Reach
The stroke begins when the shoulders become almost perpendicular to the water, the rest of the body follows the shoulders trailing by a fraction of a second. The arm that is on the bottom is fully extended towards the other side of the pool. The palm if flattened, and is facing down, towards the bottom. The recovering arm is down the body of the swimmer, ready to exit the water, shoulder out of the water almost completely.

Pull
The arm on the bottom begins the stroke by turning the palm slightly inward, and towards the body. The stroke arm begins pressing down in the water, and back, towards, the swimmer's feet. When the arm is slightly before the head, the elbow bends, and the stroke arm is pressing the water back, towards the swimmer's feet, passing the hip of on the side of the stroke arm, completing the stroke to be as long as possible.

Recovery
The other arm stays opposite of the stroke arm, the motion symbolizes a windmill. The recovery arm exits the water, bends at the elbow, and the wrist is brought close to the side of the body, passing the armpit, the head. This is where the shoulders rotate. The stroke arm at this point is bending at the elbow, and is passing the head...opposite of the recovery arm. The recovery arm passes the head, the shoulders rotate, the recovery arm shoulder partially enters the water, and the arm extends as far out in front of the swimmer as possible, assisted by the rotation of the shoulders. Fingertips enter the water first, and the swimmer is now turned to the other side.

The Breath
The breath can be executed when the recovery arm is just about to pass the midsection. Since the swimmer is almost on their side, the head rotates up, and the swimmer takes a breath of air. The motion of the arms never stops.

The Kick
The kick is generally a modified scissors kick, where separate legs move together as a whole, only slightly bending at the knee. The kick is generally preferred to be kept underwater, in order for maximum effect, but very powerful kick in sprint events, produces an effect that can be compared to the eggbeater beating water into foam. There is no right rhythm in the kick, it is generally determined by the person, and the event. The least requerment is to keep the body level, not let the legs not float.

The Turn
What happens when you run out of pool? You do a flipturn of course! This turn is widely varied, dependant on the skill, speed, and size of the swimmer. it is similiar from butterfly to breastroke, and allmost the same in backstroke and freestyle.

The Times
For current World's Fastest times, please visit http://www.dragnet.com.au/~rodley/index_1.html for there are too many different categories to be listed here.

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NoteThere's is no right way to swim, everybody has their own way, and each one is unique to that person. Everybody does what they're most comfortable with, going as fast as they can. There is no way to be a good swimmer, short of doing it for a while. The only way to become good at something, is repetition. This also applies to swimming. The only way to get good, is to do 6-8 thousand yards a practice 7-11 times a week. This writeup is only a brief description of the stroke.

Freestyle also is a kind of windsurfing. Might be described as acrobatics on a windsurfing board. Consists of tricks and manoeuvres called moves, such as jumps, spins, rail rides, manipulations with the sail, and so on.

The videos of freestyle moves can be found on the web, e.g. http://www.the-daily-dose.com/moves/moves.htm

Freestyle usually requires flat water and less wind than other windsurfing disciplines.

Freestyle became an official PWA world tour discipline of windsurfing after a successful "King of the Lake" event in Italy at lake Garda in 1998, which has become yearly.

Freestyle is an entire genre of ways to ride a BMX bike. It's pretty much anything that isn't racing. This includes flatland,trails,street,park,and vert. Freestyle began in the mid 1970s as something that riders did between races. From there it grew largely into flatland. From there it expanded to street and trails. Soon after people began riding in empty swimming pools and vert was born. Park followed soon after.

The term freestyle, while it applies to all forms of riding other than racing, it is more commonly implied to mean only flatland riding.

Freestyle in rap

The idea of freestyle certainly isn't new. I can only imagine that the idea of spontaneous poetry has been around as long as the idea of poetry itself. Historically, however, poetry went through a long dark period lasting for several thousand years, when people thought that poetry was meant to be written. While people still sang songs, singing doesn't lend itself to lyrical improvisation to the same extent that spoken words do. Only with the advent of hip hop music in the later part of the last century did freestyle become popular again. With the advent of slam poetry, perhaps freestyle will gain currency in other forms of poetry, but for now it is tied down to hip-hop, at least by people's perceptions.

Freestyle recordings Despite talk in The Source and amongst hip-hop purists at the coffee shop, who recount glory days of freestyle throwdowns in the South Bronx, recordings of freestyles don't play a prominent part in most hip-hop albums that are released. Partly this is due to the fact that many new hip-hop stars are chosen for image and don't actually have much talent. Partly this is because if someone is going to go to the trouble of spending some money on studio time, they are going to be putting their best work forward, and not something they are making up off the top of their head. Even the best freestylers have awkward breaks and pauses in their raps, and even great freestyles that sound great live often don't translate well into recordings. If you do want to find great freestyles by people like Krs-One and the Wu Tang Clan, looking online is one of the only places to do it. With that being said, all the rappers worth their salt today picked up the skills they did have, and many of their best lyrics, while doing a freestyle.

Making your own freestyle Is it possible to freestyle yourself? Of course. I have read elsewhere that you will only embarass yourself by doing so. (This involves some racist notions I will deal with below). If you freestyle, will you sound just like Method Man or Mos Def? Probably not. If you go out to play baseball in a sandlot, will it look like a major league game? Probably not. But as long as you get something from it, you can freestyle.

The basic technique of freestyle is to make sentences and make sure they rhyme, which is extremely easy. At first, the largest problem is not coming up with the right rhyming word before you reach the end of the sentence. Later on, coming up with the right words is a problem. A freestyler should start out by coming up with a list of common one syllable words and find ways to string them together. Most of these ways will seem either cliched or totally absurd and disjointed. Don't worry, just keep on working on it.

Before long, the freestyler should be able to string together words realtively easily. Hopefully, they are also avoiding using too much set pattern (personally, I still rely on the phrase "I'm the one...") and what they think of as hip-hop slang. Perhaps people with quick imaginations can even think of ways to freestyle about a single topic without too many wild digressions to save the rhyme. This phase is actually a hard step to get over, because the freestyler can know what she is going to say, and thus her rhymes often tend to end up in an evenly matched, singsong pattern, which both limits creativity and isn't that fun to listen to after about two minutes.

To break out of this, the practicioner should start throwing in weird three syllable words in the middle of the line, practice rhyming a single rhyme until it is exhausted, use alliterartion, use words that barely rhyme or don't rhyme at all...all of these will cause the rhymer to sound totally disjointed and awkward. This might seem bad at first, but it is actually much preferable to rhyming "bad...sad...mad...glad...boy...toy...joy...soy" for hours at a time.

Along with the verbal side, another side must be practiced: overcoming stage fright. While freestyling is fun while you are by yourself, it really comes alive when you have an audience, or other people who are freestyling. Personally, I started out with my sister, and then later moved on to my friends, and only later got to freestyle in front of strangers (and that was in the dark and in front of slightly inebriated people). Ways to overcome shyness are slightly out of the scope of this node, but at some point they will need to be done.

If you can learn to freestyle in multiple rhyme patterns in front of strangers, and perhaps even doing it topically, you will have picked up a valuable tool, although perhaps not one that you can use everyday. From here, it is just a matter of practicing your rhythm and vocabulary, as well as perhaps your stage presence.

Why people have semi-racist ideas about freestyle

For many people, if you asked them to freestyle, and they deigned to humor you, they would probably explode outwards with a line of profanity and yo. Since openly mocking black culture is not acceptable in America, mocking hip-hop or "urban" culture is the outlet for people's racist notions.

It goes much deeper than that: "White America", (which could be defined a number of ways), draws its cultural identity from the concept of abstraction. Part of this concept of abstraction entails the idea that words reflect ideas, usually ideas that have to do with instrumental\hedonistic thinking, with the goal being apotheosis. Freestyling, by the fact that the words are coming naturally and often have no justification but themselves, presents an Oroboric worldview, with things being their own justification. In many ways, this use of language resembles what Heidegger was referring to when he said: "Language does not belong to people, but people to language". This use of language reflects the misconception that "White America" has of "Black America"'s nature, a misconception caused by them taking "Black America" to be the reflection of their own misconceptions of themselves. "Black America" has built in justifications, and any crime or desire it has can be justified without question by its own Ouroboric nature. As opposed to the nature of "White America", that doesn't exist in "the world", but is an abstraction riding above it, "Black America" merely exists in the world, and cannot leave that place. It is this ouroboric nature of desire that "White America" both envies and fears. And thus, someone freestyling, letting their words carry themselves, is something that has to be persecuted, or at least mocked.