Breaking news: Spain's Bboy XAK: 'I've been preparing for this for 20 years without knowing it'

Juan de la Torre and XAK are a yin and yang of the same person, working together perfectly to create one of Spain’s best Bboys.

Juan - his real name - is more introverted; the slower-paced person who enjoys reading a good book. XAK is the explosive one, the Bboy on stage who is aiming to compete at Paris 2024 where breaking will make its debut.

While XAK is 35 years old, he is still motivated enough to picture himself at the Olympics in two years' time. Although he has been involved in breaking for two decades, it was only two years ago that he turned his life full circle - leaving the law firm he worked at to devote himself exclusively to the sport.

And it was all worth it. “I need to be happy,” he explains.

The winner of the Red Bull BC One Spain in 2014, 2015 and 2016 is also the current Spanish number one. He recently won the Cambrils Open and is aiming to compete later this year at FISE Montpellier (25-29 May), the World Games and the 2022 World Championship in December.

However, his main goal lies further in the future: the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Get to know one of the world’s best breaking stars below.

Olympics.com (OC): What does the inclusion of breaking in the Olympic programme mean to you?

XAK: It is a great opportunity, a new goal to train for, to keep us motivated and keep improving ourselves.

What do you think breaking can bring to the Olympics?

Breaking is something fresh, dynamic, interesting and very visually appealing. It is a discipline in which every competitor has their own style, their own way of competing and expressing themselves with their bodies. We call it a battle but in fact, it's just a way to prove that you have mastered a way of expressing yourself.

OC: Do you see yourself competing at Paris 2024?

I do now. I feel like I've been preparing for this without knowing it. I've been training for 20 years and now all the efforts have paid off and I'm really happy. I have faith [I will go to the Olympics].

XAK: Bboy and lawyer

You were 15 when you started this sport after watching someone at school doing it. What's your memory of that moment?

Back then we tended to only think of tennis, football and basketball as sports, and I was really bad at them so I wasn't really into sport. But when I saw him, he opened my eyes. For me, hip hop and rap were to do with crime and vandalism. I just didn't know. When I saw him, the visual impact was so strong that I realised in that moment the challenging and crazy things you can do with your body. So I asked him to teach me.

What got you hooked on breaking?

It was the fact I could approach breaking in the way I wanted to. It brought me freedom, but it also showed me I could develop myself and stand out. When I was 15, I was very insecure and in conflict with myself, and breaking was what helped me find myself.

You weren't alone in associating breaking with something negative. What would you say to those who still think like that?

I'd tell them that all those things are stigmas and cliches. The breaking of today is very different to the 80s. At a high-performance level, breaking has nothing to do with those cliches.

Talking about breaking cliches, you were a lawyer, but at age 30 decided to leave it all and pursue your passion.

My story is also about breaking cliches, or rather socio-economic conventions. I had a very clear plan in my head: to study law, work in a firm and get on with my life. But when that happened it wasn't as easy as I'd imagined, because not everything is about money. It's also about happiness and satisfaction. Law gave me economic stability but it didn't give me happiness or the emotional stability I needed.

So that was what you decided.

Your mind deteriorates much slower than your body and if I want to return to the law firm, I can. But breaking isn't like that - breaking lasts for a short period of time. It's now or never.

You moved to Madrid to live your dream. What was the beginning of your new life like?

When I arrived in Madrid in January 2017, I didn't have any savings. My life was very humble, but I only felt joyful. It was everything I wanted. I realised that I needed to do this to be happy, not to live a life everyone else wanted me to.

Did you ever doubt your decision?

I don’t think so. Sometimes I asked myself what I was doing with my life, what was coming next, what I would do when I retire, what would happen if I got injured… but I feel they were more related to a social situation about dance or the art world in general. I was worried about things like that, but they never came to pass. I was fine, happy and had lots of work related to breaking. I have never needed to ask for money. The doubts were really other people’s doubts. For me, it’s always been clear.

In your Twitter bio, you wrote 'Perseverance, courage and heart'. What's the meaning behind those words?

I think they are the keys to succeeding at whatever you want to do. Perseverance is daily determination. Even if you feel like you want it or you don't want it on a particular day, you have to take another step towards your goal. Courage is the willingness to overcome obstacles. Sometimes I have felt panic or pain, like when you train for a competition for a year and then fail. And if you fail, it really hurts. That’s why you need the courage to be brave in the face of those situations.

And heart.

It is what unites both things. If you have no passion for what you do, you don't achieve anything. If you don't persevere, aren't brave and don't love what you do, you're not going anywhere.

Breaking: art and sport

Are XAK and Juan de la Torre different?

They aren’t different people (laughs), they are different parts of me. Juan is my private life, a calm person and maybe more of an introvert. And XAK is more like a fighter, an extrovert, the part of me that says, ‘look at me, I’m here and I want to dance. I want it all.’ And for me, the balance is great because too much of one or the other could make me upset. However, both parts of me get along well with each other.

Breaking also has two parts: sport and art.

Yes, it’s true that if you are well prepared physically but have no artistic side, you won’t get anywhere - and vice versa. The two have to work together because they are aligned and united. Without one, the other doesn’t exist.

What do you want to express artistically when you are on stage?

I try to make sure my emotions don’t take over too much and I’m able to remain focused, so I have some consistency in how and what I want to express; to be clear about the message. I don’t let other things destabilise me and a lot of times the way I achieve this is by writing down how I felt on the days I was happy with the way I performed. On competition days, I re-read it and remember it, so it takes me back to the experience and allows me to feel the way I want to.