KIM HYUN JOONG: SWINGING IT BETWEEN DANCE AND SOCCER

fanarts by Lina Perez

Have you ever wondered why Kim Hyun Joong does soccer when he is not dancing ? Many people believe it is to relieve tension and stress he accumulates when preparing and doing his dance music performances . His team Artmatic even “complained” and ask why he would still like to play soccer after the rigorous practices they had for his Breakdown -his solo award winning dance music number. Most people would say he should be resting instead . But wait he also does soccer after performances . Is he just so competition driven that he must also win in this niche?

Or maybe Hyun Joong knows something we don’t .

Common sense tells us that sport and dancing are two different fields. The former is played, the latter is performed . Is it all a matter of semantics or the differences real ? Or are they more similar actually but also world apart ?

Sports, Wikipedia says , is all about physical activities and skills of individuals or groups competing according to rules . Well ,dancing is also about physically demanding activities done with skills of individuals and groups and also up for competition . Dancing became a sport for the International Olympic Committee in 1997 though dance competition is said to have started a century and a few years ago in Europe .

Dances have moods to project and dancers use grace in their positions, steps and body language. Most of all dancers unlike athletes(who are allowed to groan and grimace all they want. They can be violent ,too) must make it look as if it was the easiest thing to do and totally enjoy doing it as well. The thing is we were not there when KHJ and his team did their Breakdown 100 times before their MV was satisfactorily done , bloodied knees and all . We were just given their final output, hip gyrations ,flailing arms and body in top gears on video and later on stage . Macho Bravo! On top of that of course the popular and much loved Hyun Joong still has to sing .

Both practitioners can benefit from engaging in each other ‘s activities. Kim Hyun Joong is both dancer and athlete and he knows soccer and dancing complement each other (so Artmatic members stop complaining, will you?). Soccer is said to be a good conditioning activity for dancers . In soccer as in dancing, the players have specific jobs and roles to do, decision making to reach if needed . Soccer playing provides the agility,strength and balance needed in dancing.Dancing does the same to athletes as it is also a workout in cardiovascular area, timing, form , poise and most of all to smile and be gracious under fire .

Kinesthesiology expert Dr J McNitt cited in Sociology Of Sport (www.Jsyk.com) said thanks to all the training , dancers though they may be all smiles, are the world’s toughest athlete .

So next time you see Hyun Joong playing soccer, let him be , he is just doing the right thing . Reap the benefits when you see him again on stage !