Bboys/bgirls often describe breaking as having four key ingredients: toprock, downrock (footwork), freezes, and power. Rhythm ties these four principle components together at a higher level, but rhythm is also necessary at a finer scale for each individual ingredient. I was reminded of this fact today, when I was working on power moves (one of my greatest weaknesses). I've noticed with power that sometimes you hit it "just right," and you are able to do many more consecutive iterations of the move than you have ever done before. The "power" in power moves does not come from brute strength but rather from rhythm. When you catch the right rhythm, no energy is wasted, and the move serves to perpetuate itself.
The importance of rhythm is pervasive throughout all aspects of life. In mathematics, there is a theorem that shows that any function can be broken down into a series of sines and cosines. Though mathematicians call these functions "sine" and "cosine", they might as well be called rhythm functions. A sine wave is nothing more than a simple beat, a repeating pattern, a rhythm. Quantum mechanics has shown that all particles travel as waves. Actually all matter in the universe can be describe by waves using the Schrodinger equations. Indeed, some physicists interpret the universe as being one giant system of waves... or rhythms.
I have found in my own life, I am most successful when I am able to get myself into a rhythm. A good rhythm allows me to continuously work towards my goals without tiring out. It is not necessary to always use the same rhythm. But those times when I'm completely out of rhythm, those are the times when I find myself fatigued.
Rhythm is also key to social interactions. Whether within families, communities, or whole societies, some amount of rhythm is needed to tie everyone together. When two people's rhythms are similar enough, they serve to amplify one another. Imagine a crowd of people, each yelling the same message. If they all yell in rhythm with one another, the message is heard loud and clear. However, if they all yell with different rhythms, we hear only a roar of chaos. When two people are out of rhythm with each other, they can create what a physicist might call "interference." At some points, the rhythms cancel one another, at other points they amplify each other. Entirely new (and perhaps unintended) rhythms are generated. Thus, even people wishing to spread the exact same message can detract from one another.
This is what I think about when I practice flares....
