You've mastered the basics. You can chest pop, stomp, and arm swing with confidence. But now you're hearing that call—the raw, untamed energy begging to be unleashed. Welcome to the intermediate level, where technique meets emotion, and your Krump transforms from movement to message.
Intermediate Krump isn't just about harder hits or faster combos. It's about developing your own vocabulary within the language of Krump. It's where you stop just doing the moves and start speaking through them.
1. The Jab-Whip Combo: Precision Meets Chaos
The Jab-Whip is a fundamental intermediate combo that plays with contrast. The sharp, direct energy of a jab immediately flows into the loose, circular energy of a whip. This move exemplifies the controlled chaos that defines Krump.
Breakdown:
- The Jab: Start in your stance. Throw a sharp, direct punch with one arm, but stop it abruptly just before full extension. The power comes from the sudden stop, not the follow-through.
- The Transition: As you retract the jab, let the energy transfer through your shoulder and back.
- The Whip: Let that energy travel down the same arm, but now release all the tension. Let your arm go limp and "whip" around in a circular, unpredictable pattern, using the momentum from the jab's retraction.
Pro Tip:
Don't just go through the motions. Assign an intention. Is the jab an attack? Is the whip dismissing your opponent? The story you tell makes the move powerful.
2. Stomp-Stab Variations: Grounding Your Anger
You know the basic stomp. Now it's time to weaponize it. The Stomp-Stab connects your power to the ground and directs it outward with aggressive intent.
Breakdown:
- Power Stomp: Execute a heavy, weighted stomp. Feel the connection to the floor. As you stomp, drop your center of gravity slightly.
- Recoil & Prep: Use the rebound from the stomp to quickly lift the stomping leg.
- The Stab: Instead of placing the foot down, kick it forward sharply, pointing your toe. Imagine spearing something with your foot. The key is a sharp, staccato extension.
- Variation: Try a double-time stomp-stab—stomp right, stab right, then quickly stomp left, stab left. The speed change will catch the eye.
3. The Groove-Chest Pop Isolation: Musicality in Your Muscle
This isn't a flashy move, but it's what separates good dancers from great ones. It's the art of separating your chest movements from your groove, creating complex polyrhythms in your body.
Breakdown:
- Step 1: Find Your Groove Start with a simple two-step bounce or a basic rock. Get comfortable and consistent.
- Step 2: Layer the Chest Pop Without stopping your groove, begin adding sharp, isolated chest pops. The challenge is to keep your lower body smooth while your upper body is staccato.
- Step 3: Play with Timing Chest pop on the beat. Then try chest popping on the "and" counts (the off-beats). Then try a double-time chest pop while your feet stay in a half-time groove.
Pro Tip:
Practice this in front of a mirror. The goal is clean separation. Your hips and legs should look like they're dancing to one song, while your chest is dancing to another.
4. Arm Swing into Shoulder Roll: Creating Flow
This move is all about creating seamless transitions and avoiding the "robot effect" where moves look separate and disconnected.
Breakdown:
- The Swing: Execute a powerful, full-range arm swing across your body.
- The Catch: As your arm reaches the end of its swing, don't let it drop. "Catch" the momentum in your shoulder.
- The Roll: Use that caught momentum to initiate a rolling motion of your shoulder—forward, up, back, and down—creating a wave-like motion that flows directly out of the arm swing.
This move teaches you to see your body as one connected system, not a collection of separate parts.
Putting It All Together: Freestyle Drill
Now, the real work begins. Don't just practice these moves in isolation. Set a timer for 2 minutes and freestyle, but with a rule: you must use at least three of the four moves covered here. The goal is not to make a perfect combo, but to practice transitioning between them intuitively. How do you get from a Groove-Chest Pop into a Jab-Whip? How does a Stomp-Stab lead you into an Arm Swing-Roll?
Your Journey Forward
Mastering these intermediate moves is about more than adding tricks to your arsenal. It's about deepening your understanding of Krump as a conversation—a dialogue between control and release, between you and the beat, between your body and your spirit. Stay hungry, stay humble, and always, let the beast speak.
See you in the session.
