A photograph can elicit a ton of memories. And to an athelete or dancer, so can a pair of shoes. I just took a long trip down memory lane after coming across this photo of my old "breaking shoes" in San Francisco:

As you can see, they all have wear and tear from excessive use. And with that comes history and stories unique to each pair. For example...

• While wearing the Pro-Keds Royal Master High Tops (top right-hand corner), w/blue jeans and a navy cardigan, I ran into and rocked against Rob Nasty at Club Mighty because he was wearing the exact same getup!
• In August of 2008, I battled his twin, Profo Won, while sporting the black Adidas Campuses (3rd from the bottom left) at Club Element
• And later that year, while wearing the neighboring blue ones, I had the privilege and honor of doing a street show on San Francisco's Union Square with B-boys Blitz, Iron Monkey and a few others.

Most b-boys and b-girls have detailed stories like these and our carefully selected shoes play a vital role. They offer function and form, both of which are necessities, because control and looking fresh are essential. It's gotta be the shoes!

I could go on and on about each pair. From the training room to the battle field, these fallen soldiers served me well in the line of duty.