Offering up a toast with a twist

"Breaking is more than competition and confrontation," the 18-year-old said. "It's about showing who you are, your style, your attitude, your culture. We all have our own stories. When those stories meet and clash on stage, that's the purest moment."

Now 22, Shigekix is a household name in the breaking world. Inspired by his sister, B-Girl Ayane, he began dancing at a young age and quickly rose through the ranks. He won bronze at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and, at 18, became the youngest-ever champion at the Red Bull BC One World Final in 2020. He won gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and served as Japan's flagbearer at both the closing ceremony there and the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he finished fourth.

On the other side of the floor, Lithe-ing's rise came later. In 2021, while Shigekix was already a global name, Lithe-ing, then 16, traveled abroad for the first time to compete at the World Breaking Championships in Paris, where he failed to make it out of the group stage. But, with the momentum of China's Olympic preparations, both the sport and Lithe-ing developed rapidly. Within a few years, he emerged as one of China's most promising new-generation B-Boys.