Just Do It of Rugged Solutions has made a name for himself by battling and judging (and winning, duh) around the world. It also probably doesn’t hurt that he has one of the best b-boy names in history.

But for him, The Notorious IBE holds a greater significance than just being a big jam. IBE is one of the reasons he started dancing in the first place.

Rewind to 2003. According to Just Do It, he lacked skills. He didn’t check b-boy forums, and YouTube wasn’t around yet. He did, however, have a messed up knee, which still didn’t help much. So attending IBE was a lesson in inspiration.

“I saw Ardit doing nine 90s, which for me was like seeing someone doing a double backflip from standing,” Just Do It writes in an e-mail. “I saw Kido getting respect when he was like 13 or 14 years old. I had a chance to talk with b-boys on top of the game, and I was surprised everybody was cool, open to talk to the most unknown b-boys out there. I remember talking to Super Crew’s Ben and Ronnie, Lamine, Machine, Renegade and lots of other guys that probably won’t remember any of it.

“Still, it’s moments like this that made me practice harder,” he continues. “I wanted to be like them — battling, winning, traveling. The things I remember about IBE aren’t the battles or who won what. It’s the people that stood out, that make everything so memorable — when you see Machine kill the beats like that in 2004, or Ben doing a flip from a German bboy in a freeze, cyphering with Free and Orb last year, or drinking vodka at the preparty with Top 9. For me, of course, the best memory is when I went out for the first time in [All Battles All], and you see so many people screaming, that’s gladiator shit!”

That’s why, Just Do It explains, IBE is so different from other events. The level of competition is high — battles like the All Battles All, Seven 2 Smoke and the footwork battle get intense, with hungry competitors and up-and-comers looking to make a name for themselves by going after bigger-name dancers.

At the same time, losing isn’t as big a deal. There is an abundance of things to do and people to meet.

By the end of it all, Just Do It says, all you’re left thinking about is how you’re going to save up money to attend again next year.

You get the feeling he could probably reminisce about IBE for hours, but Just Do It’s few minutes set aside for the interview are over. He’s got to get back to practicing, which is the main thing he does “all day” in the last days for the event.

After all, there may be some newer dancers in the audience who’ll need some inspiration themselves.