Just Do It

Other Interests: Film and Photography, Chilling with friends
Profession: Just B-Boying

Motto: Live today, worry tomorrow!

Titles
- 2005 3rd place,
Ruhrpott Battle, Cologne, Germany (Dutch BBoy Crew)
- 2006 1st place,
UK B-Boy Championships, Holland
- 2006 ,
Award ‘Best Dutch Bboy 2006’ (chosen by votes)
- 2006 3rd place,
Break de Cologne, Germany, (Dutch BBoy Crew)
- 2006 semi final,
Hip Hop Connection, Pesaro, Italy, (Dutch BBoy Crew)
- 2006 3rd place,
Unbreakable 2 on 2, Leuven, Belgium
- 2006 1st place,
Ruhrpott Battle, Cologne, Germany, (Dutch BBoy Crew)
- 2007 2nd place,
Hip Obsession, 1 on 1, France
- 2007 2nd place,
Cergy, Seven2Smoke, Paris, France
- 2007 1st place,
RED BULL BC ONE Qualifier, Germany
- 2007 2nd place,
Break de Cologne, Germany
- 2007 2nd place,
Hip Obsession 1on1, Nantes, France
- 2007 participation,
Free Style Session 9 Crew, Los Angeles
- 2007 1st place,
Battle de Calais, 3on3, Calais, France
- 2007 1st place,
The Quest 2on2, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2007 2nd place,
The Quest Crew, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2008 1st place,
Talk is Cheap 5on5, Oslo, Norway – also best B-Boy
- 2008 1st place,
Break de Cologne with FDM, Cologne, Germany
- 2008 2nd place,
Breakin’ Boundaries Seven2Smoke, London, England
- 2008 2nd place,
Hip Obsession 1on1, Nantes, France
- 2008 2nd place,
Top 30 finals 1on1, Moscow, Russia
- 2008 participation,
R16 with FDM, Suwon, South- Korea
- 2008 1st place,
UK Champs Qualifier Europe Crew, Heerlen, Holland
- 2008 selected,
IBE for team Europe, All Battles All, Heerlen, Holland
- 2008 1st place,
Break 2 Win, Seven2Smoke, Odessa, Ukraine
- 2008 1st place,
Beatz ‘n Pieces 2on2, Warwick, UK

Profile
Only a few B-Boys from the Netherlands got international fame in the last ten years, Niek Traa aka “JUST DO IT” is one of them. He entered several international events such as Floor Wars, Circle Kings, Ruhrpott Battle, and the UK B-Boy Championships in London.

JUST DO IT won the RED BULL BC ONE qualifier in Stuttgart, Germany, in June 2007. He convinced the jury with a whole repertoire of outstanding combinations, energetic moves and unlimited stamina. He has a distinct style, constantly trying to create new moves or at least do old moves with a new twist. Unfortunately he got injured right before the RED BULL BC ONE finals in South Africa last year and couldn’t compete. But that only means that he is even more motivated to show off his talent this year. He’s been preparing for the RED BULL BC ONE all year, giving his best to be worthy of being chosen as one of the 16 dancers.

Niek doesn’t remember when he first saw breaking, but he remembers watching the “Power Rangers” on TV and then trying to copy a move that the Blue Power Ranger did. He later learnt that it was the helicopter.

JUST DO IT started to break when he had just turned 14. A friend from his neighbourhood told him about breaking classes close to where they lived and thought that would be fun for him since he was always trying out acrobatic stuff. B-Boy Cloud of the Skillmethodz Crew has been his biggest inspiration over the years because of his energy, but Niek was also inspired by other B-Boys like Reveal, Twixx, K-Mel, and Sonic.

When Niek was 12 years old, he had to make up an email address in school and what he came up with was “justdoitniek” referring to the famous Nike slogan and connecting it to his name Niek, which is almost like Nike. At an event in Rotterdam Tyrone MZK/Dutchbboy shouted out: “JustDoItNiek!” He liked the sound of it, but then decided to shorten it to “JUST DO IT” because nobody knows how to pronounce his name Niek from reading it. “I don’t know if my style adapted to my name or the other way around, but I feel it’s appropriate to the way I dance.”

JUST DO IT lives near Eindhoven in a really small village. They don’t even have an ATM machine there! Hip Hop was something he got into when he got older. Village life didn’t give him much chance to experience diversity in cultures, so when he grew up he wanted to learn more about how people from different cultural backgrounds lived and what they thought. That’s one of the main reasons why he is into Hip-Hop, because it’s such a diverse culture and brings people from all walks of life together.

He also loves Hip Hop because of its competitive side—the ability to grow within the culture. “Hip Hop enables you to really be yourself, because that’s all you have to do. Be who you are, be yourself and express it through dancing, music, painting, or no matter what. As long as you’re inventive people will respect you for being you.”

Niek only found out how big Hip Hop culture really was after breaking for about three years. He learned about internet forums and saw how successful some B-Boys had gotten. He wanted to do the same and really go for it. In the beginning, his parents had their doubts and didn’t see B-Boying as a steady future for him, but they allowed him to take his time after finishing high school to really focus on the dance and now they see that all the practice hours paid off.

Even though JUST DO IT has only been dancing for about six and a half years, he has already been teaching for 5 years. At first, he was just supporting his own teacher, but after a while started teaching on his own. He continues to gain experience on how to teach the basics correctly and how to coach young kids to express themselves in their own unique ways.

In Niek’s opinion his country is a force to reckon with in the B-Boy scene. He thinks it’s one of the strongest upcoming scenes in the world. There are lots of great events in Holland and even though Holland is not a big country, there are many crews that are getting stronger and stronger.

JUST DO IT is preparing for the RED BULL BC ONE in France with full commitment. He will give his best and prepare for the worst. For him a good dancer is somebody who knows how to express himself. He thinks that if a B-Boy does what fits him and feels comfortable with it, then you can sense it and that makes this person stronger and a better dancer. “Don’t let anybody tell you how to dance. Ignore what other people think of you! And pass on the dance to the next generation so that it will still be here when we are gone!”