B-Boy Matita: Breaking out from a mining town with the Chilean flag proudly stitched on his shirt
Working in shoe shops and training in the middle of the night? All worth it according to Chile’s first breaker who is about to showcase his infectious passion for the sport at the home Pan American Games.
Breaking
"Fear is a liar" reads the thick lettering on B-Boy Matita's arm, and looking at his journey in sport, it is fair to say he has never yielded to that emotion.
Also known as Matias Ignacio Martinez Hidalgo, the Chilean has not let hardships stop him from enjoying breaking – even if it meant working at a full-time job in a shoe shop and training after midnight.
Matita achieved his career's best result so far at the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championships in September, where he made it into the Top 16, and is now looking to impress on home soil at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
"It feels very good, especially coming from a country as far away as Chile," B-Boy Matita told Olympics.com. "Breaking is very advanced on the world level and it has been a long time since Chile has stood out at this level, which is why I am very happy, proud and I hope I am not the last athlete from Chile who stands out at an international level. I hope to be an inspiration for many athletes from my country who are on their way, to show them that it is possible, no matter where you come from."
B-Boy Matita and breaking: An unquenchable passion
Nowadays Matita confidently strides out into breaking battles around the world, but when he first picked up the sport, nobody in the family took his new hobby seriously.
A curious child who "wanted to do everything", be that playing the guitar or surfing, Matita discovered breaking when he was 11 years old.
"When I started to dedicate myself to breaking, my mother kept telling me she thought it was crazy, that it was a phase, but as soon as I started, I managed to ground myself in that aspect," he recalled. "I don't think there was a moment when I said, 'Ah! Now I know that I want to dedicate myself to this'. I knew as soon as I started that I wanted to dedicate myself to this, from the beginning to the end."
Breaking was an unusual activity for a boy coming from Antofagasta, a seaside mining town north of Santiago with a population of more than 400,000 people.
But Matita was not discouraged by his solo journey. Guided by a strong passion for the sport, he continued to train long before breaking was included on the Olympic programme ahead of Paris 2024.
"When I started, it didn't exist [as an Olympic discipline]. It wasn't a possibility, but I've always said that I'm going to be in Europe and I'm going to make a name for myself and I'm going to be known. I'm going to be battling all the people I see on the Internet. And of course, that part is already done. I already have a name. I have already revolutionised in some way the image of what breaking is in Chile," said Matita, who also holds the distinction of being the first member of Chile's breaking team.
From working in a shoe shop to knocking on the gates of Buckingham Palace
Being a trailblazer for a country is difficult enough, but for Matita, the even biggest challenge is financial.
"The difficulties as an athlete coming from Chile are mainly funding. It is very difficult to get funding," the athlete said. "It is at the last moment that I find out whether I am able or not able to come, which also directly affects my mental preparation for the events since many times I do not know if I will be able to participate in the event."
It would have been easy for Matita to stop breaking and switch to a stable job in his hometown instead. Antofagasta has some of the best economic indicators in the country thanks to the booming mining industry and a fast-growing population with many foreigners also joining the workforce.
But true to the tattoo on his left forearm, it is not in Matita's nature to fear the more difficult path.
He has financed most of the trips to breaking competitions out of his own pocket, including by working at a shoe shop in a shopping mall for three years.
"I worked 10 hours a day, five days a week and I worked myself to death. That's how I first started travelling," Matita said. "Then I started doing breaking classes, working in restaurants from time to time, here and there.
"I generally worked the afternoon shift, which was from 12 in the afternoon to 10pm at night. It took me an hour to get home. I arrived around 11pm, ate a small snack and at 12 I started my training until 3 or 4 in the morning. And since I came in at 12 the night before, I woke up again at 11, had a quick breakfast and ran to work. And so every day, without any excuses, always training until super late."
Matita was not the only one suffering through the late nights. Living in the same house, his family was also kept awake for nights on end due to the loud music.
"I do have something in my favour, which is that I am very light and I feel like I don't hit the ground, so I don't make that much noise. But the music, the music was very strong," Matita admitted. "But I think that my mother, who had the room next to mine, developed some level of deafness because she could sleep perfectly while I was training."
Fortunately, the days of training late into the night are in the past as Matita has secured a sponsor and now makes most of his living from breaking.
And that also meant his opportunities to travel have expanded exponentially with the talented Chilean breaking his way onto the battle floors of major European cities and recently even showing off his moves in front of the golden gates of Buckingham Palace.
Waving Chile's flag on the international scene
Training in the night after a full shift of work is a burden few athletes have had to experience. For B-Boy Matita, it is also an added source of pride when he makes it to the big international competitions.
"The fact that I'm coming from so far away always gives me a little more pride," he said. "I feel that if I had not experienced the difficulties moments that I did, perhaps I would not be able to appreciate how far I have come. People who were born in a European country might have always had access to competitions because many other breakers live around the corner. Coming from so far away and promising that one day I'm going to be in Europe competing and now fulfilling it is much more rewarding."
Matita is representing his beloved Chile at the home Pan American Games in Santiago where one Olympic quota is up for grabs in the men's competition. And with his recent success at the World Championships in Belgium as fuel, the Chilean breaker said he is gaining a "peace of mind" that he can perform well when it matters most.
Whatever the outcome, one thing for certain is that Matita will not have any fear when he steps out for battle in Gimnasio Chimkowe on 3 November.
"Fear is a liar," he repeated. "It is a phrase that I follow in my daily life, not to be afraid to try new things, not to be afraid of not leaving my country, to look for better opportunities. I feel like it's not a reference to breaking specifically, but it relates to my life and breaking is my life."