Family Man – An Interview with Palmer

“I have the worst fucking name in b-boy history,” Joshua Pena is saying. He begins to laugh uproariously. “What am I gonna do, change it?”

The name that the 23-year-old is referring to, of course, is his b-boy name—Palmer.

It’s a name that’s gained significant recognition in the b-boy community throughout the country. It’s a name that’s been shouted from stages and ciphers across the globe. And, as he’s just revealed, it’s a name that was inspired by an incident involving people getting slapped on the crotch.

Admittedly, it’s a pretty silly name with a pretty silly origin. The story won’t be retold in its entirety here, but suffice it to say that the members of HaviKoro like to rag on each other. The events of one particular session spurred a nickname, and the nickname stuck.

Heckle as they may, for the b-boys in Texas, b-boying is no joke. A lot of people have said a lot of things about Texas, and a lot of those sayings are bullshit.

But it is true that some things are bigger in Texas. Anyone who’s seen the powermoves and blow ups coming out of the state can attest to that.

And, like the t-shirts warn, you may want to rethink any plans you have to mess with Texas b-boys. The overall skill level and battle intensity of the state is high, and it shows in everything from the b-boy’s clothes to their swagger.

“The Texas scene is really different,” Palmer says. “I guess because Texas is so fucking big. It really has its own identity. People are really proud of where they’re from. They’re really proud of their own original styles.”

And the pride runs even deeper for the state’s individual crews. Cliché as it might sound, the crews of b-boys and b-girls are like families—dysfunctional at times, yes, but still close-knit.

And maybe that’s part of the reason why Palmer is OK with being called Palmer. Weird and kinky as it may be, it’s the name that was given to him by his b-boy family, and Palmer is fiercely loyal to his family—whether it’s his b-boy one or his biological one.

He wasn’t always one of the gang. When Palmer talks about b-boys and even members of his own crew, it’s easy to hear the excitement of a kid who just saw b-boying live for the first time.

For Palmer, it happened with a few friends who practiced powermoves. As a 13-year-old, he was at a house party when he saw guys in “big-ass bubble jackets” busting loose in the garage.

“They were doing these footwork things,” Palmer says. “I had never seen anything like that. I had seen powermoves. It was like, ‘Yo, man, this is some really creative stuff.’ I sat on it for maybe a week or two just thinking about it. It seemed like something I would really like.”

Growing up in a lower income Mexican household in the Galveston area meant it was a little more difficult to immerse himself in the b-boy culture, even after Palmer decided he’d give it a shot.
“I feel like b-boys nowadays—they take b-boying too seriously. Not that you shouldn’t take the art form seriously, but that’s all they think about and all they want from life. A lot of b-boys take b-boying seriously, but they don’t take life seriously.”
So for his fourteenth Christmas, he asked his father for a single gift: “a break-dancing video.”

And his dad came home with B-Boy Summit 3.

After watching the Rock Steady vs. Style Elements battle countless times and receiving help from some high school friends, Palmer ventured to Youth Advocates in Houston. As he puts it, it was an experience that “opened his eyes” at the age of 15.

“Fuck, dude, I’ll never forget it,” Palmer says. “These dudes come in—Lil John’s wearing a tight ass spandex shirt and shit. He doesn’t even go down. He gets a massage by a girl. Then he’s looking all relaxed and shit, and he starts busting power. I was like, ‘Whoa, oh my gosh!’”

Not only did the creativity and the intensity of the b-boys there blow his mind, but in light of racial tensions plaguing the area at the time, Palmer was drawn to the fact that b-boying allowed people of all different races to vibe together peacefully.

Through his friend Dirty, a fellow member of Grimeez Crew at the time, Palmer began to session with members of HaviKoro. Over time, he was able to meet, befriend, and even battle with them at B-Boy Summit 2003—seven years after poring over his first “break-dance” video. A couple of years later, he was added as an official member of the crew.

“They taught me everything I know,” Palmer says. “I feel like I was really blessed to be around them. A lot of people don’t get to grow up around people like that. I felt like I was really privileged—to be around that knowledge.”

Even towards of the end of the interview, when asked if there’s anything he’d like to add, Palmer overflows with gratitude to his crewmates.

“Even with really personal stuff I go through with my family, they’re willing to give their opinions and stuff,” he says. “I really owe them a lot.”

But HaviKoro isn’t the only family from which Palmer draws inspiration.

It’s a bit of a paradox; it was his two families’ support of his b-boying that helped Palmer overcome his reserved nature in the first place.

But at the same time, Palmer says that same support and responsibility has also kept him from getting too caught up in b-boying.

“I feel like b-boys nowadays—they take b-boying too seriously. Not that you shouldn’t take the art form seriously, but that’s all they think about and all they want from life. A lot of b-boys take b-boying seriously, but they don’t take life seriously. There’s so much more in life that can make you happy,” Palmer says.

“If you’re happy with life, it transcends into your b-boying,” he explains. “If I don’t train, but I’m happy, I’ll dance good. If I’m confident in my life, I have nothing to fear in my dancing. B-boys who are really, really good usually have a good outlook on life. Everything you do in life transcends into your dancing. I know b-boys who practice so much, but they don’t get nowhere. It’s not their drive to be good, but other things are holding them back.”

It is a bit strange to hear a 23-year-old wax philosophical about the interplay of life, happiness, and dance.

But for Palmer, holding down a fulltime job—as well as serving as a fulltime husband, father, and member of HaviKoro—seems to have given him a radical change in perspective.

When his wife became pregnant, Palmer says many people expected him to quit dancing. Instead, he opted for better time management. Time and money didn’t allow for college. He loved b-boying, but he didn’t love the idea of getting stuck in a cycle of not being able to provide food for his family or not taking his responsibilities seriously.

So he began working at a warehouse at a chemical plant, “lifting shit, using a forklift, doing whatever they tell me to do, and being a slave and shit.”

But years of 12-hour days seem to have paid off. He’s worked his way up to the position of salesman, meaning he helps order materials like pipes, valves, and fittings for chemical plant projects.

His bosses, whom Palmer describes as “rednecks” who look up his YouTube videos and ask him if he does what the JabbaWockeeZ do, still allow him to travel. And with a house, a car, a wife, a son, a crew, and the dance, Palmer seems genuinely happy.

“Even before you called me, I practiced an hour with my son,” he explains. “He’s three and doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he looks like he’s having so much fun. I feel like when people are dancing, just not thinking of anything, it’s just like when you’re a little kid.”

Palmer’s son, of course, is the wide-eyed baby that giggles and toddles around in almost all of Palmer’s b-boy clips. His name is Josiah, and Palmer says his son has helped him to appreciate b-boying in new ways, from his propensity to exclaim, “Watch! B-boy! HaviKoro! B-boy!” to his love for his daddy and the dance.

“It makes me happy when I see people dancing,” Palmer says. “I don’t look at skill. If you have a cool persona and I can see you’re really trying, that means the world to me. It’s not about being the best and all that. It makes me happy just seeing somebody dancing and having fun. Winning a competition doesn’t make me happy. Even winning Freestyle Session or a Spy Award or whatever—nothing will compare to sitting in garage practicing with my son.”

Photo by Peter Tsai
But make no mistake: at the end of the day, Palmer is still a b-boy—a b-boy from Texas and a member of HaviKoro, at that.

His satisfaction doesn’t just root from the fact that he’s a b-boy who’s also been able to make money and support his family. It’s more so that his accomplishments seem to have allowed him to better appreciate b-boying itself.

That’s due in part to the fact that Palmer’s responsibility and loyalty have increased his senses of individuality and creativity, rather than stifling them.

It’s obvious in his dance. Palmer isn’t set apart from other b-boys just because of his views; those experiences and perspectives have allowed him to create a uniquely eye-dazzling flow. He moves with a deliberate smoothness as he twists and turns his way through crazy tricks and transitions—the way an octopus might look if it decided to learn foundational b-boy moves.

Palmer attributes it to his practice regimen, his music, and his inspirations.

“From the beginning, I wasn’t really drawn to powermoves,” Palmer says. “I was drawn to do my thing and look like myself. From the beginning, originality was the key.”

Palmer credits a lot of his inspiration to Texas’s b-boy OGs, b-boys like Megas, and peers like the aforementioned Dirty and Chao, a visiting member of the Waseda Breakers who would later return to Japan to open a store called “HaviKoro Toy.”

Palmer says he devoted three years of practice exclusively to developing threads and transitions with his friends. He also continues to train by having his brother call out steps for him do in his footwork.

“He’ll call out things like, ‘Two step. Four step. Frosty Freeze on one hand. Go back the other way.’ It gets mad tiring—it feels like you ran five miles or something,” Palmer says.

And, group-oriented as he is, Palmer says he also needs time alone to develop his own ideas.

“Sometimes I like to be by myself and just have my own time,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll lay on the floor on my back and just lay there for 15 minutes, just thinking about stuff. I’ll get in a trance and think of stuff in my head and go from there. I’ll twist my body this way and that way, and hopefully I remember it.”

The music helps, too. Palmer says he’s recently begun listening to more mellow sounds from musicians like Maynard Ferguson to help him flow in and out of moves.

His individualistic tendencies can also rub off on his choice of clothing, which has gotten him flack from some of his crew members for breaking one of the cardinal rules of b-boying: “Thou shalt dress fresh(ly).”

“Lots of people are trying to get into this ‘b-boy’ thing and learn foundation or wear these certain clothes,” Palmer says. “I even get flagged for it down here too. I like to practice in comfort. Sometimes I’ll go to Target and get sweats, some Hanes t-shirts, and old Reeboks. I’m not trying to look good for you—some people have just lost their originality.”
LINKS OF INTEREST
 
**BBOY PALMER – HaviKORO** 2008 Official Trailer

 
 
*BBOY PALMER* – Who am I?

 
ON PALMER’S PLAYLIST:
Maynard Ferguson – Conquistador
But for the most part, Palmer’s ability to balance his relationships and his individuality goes appreciated—and he appreciates that in return.

His flavor and his attitude have enabled him to travel across the world for the glory of b-boying.

In 2007, T.I.P Crew flew him out to Korea to judge a jam, and in June of 2008, he was flown out for a jam in Spain. There, he was surprised to find that the local b-boys had ripped the audio from one of his trailers—with Palmer’s voice, his son dancing, and all—to use as music to play during their practice sessions.

“It makes me feel good—like you’ve done something that somebody across the whole world sees you doing and thinks you’re dope,” Palmer says.

He hopes to throw his own jams in the near future too—the kind that inspired him so much when he first began to dance. And he’s been compiling footage for a solo DVD that may not be too far off in the future either.

But he still can’t seem to fully wrap his head around the fact that the kid who once memorized B-Boy Summit 3 and idolized HaviKoro has been able to come so far.

“I have a full-time job and shit,” he says. “When I first got into it, I didn’t think I’d be giving interviews for websites. Somebody has an interest in my life, and that’s crazy. I’m just here doing my thing in Texas, doing creative moves with this dance. I try to live a normal life.”

At least, as normal a life that a guy known as “Palmer” can hope to live.