U.S. B-boy crew Massive Monkees Crew won the 2012 R-16 World B-boy Masters Championship, beating out two-time champions JinJo Crew of Korea.

More than 200 B-boys from 16 countries participated in the tournament held from July 7-8 at Olympic Hall in Bangi-dong, southern Seoul.

For the battle competition, five renowned B-boy judges from different parts of the world judged the teams on foundation, dynamics, execution, battle and originality. Only eight teams ― Korea, Japan, Belgium, Kazakhstan, U.S.A., China, Taiwan and Finland ― made it to the final rounds from the regional eliminations. 

JinJo, representing Korea, battled against Massive Monkees in the semi-final and lost by one point with the final score of 2-3. Massive Monkees then beat Kazakhstan 5-0 in the finals. The crew received $15,000 in prize money.

“It feels great to win the championship. I have great respect for JinJo Crew because they came to defend the title three times. When you win once, everybody comes after you to beat you. We trained just for them and we came to Korea just for them. Winning championships is great but it should come from the heart and you really have to feel it with your heart to be a great B-boy,” said Twixx of the Massive Monkees from Seattle, U.S., during an interview right after the awards ceremony.

JinJo won the best performance award for the third consecutive time and received $3,000 in prize money.

The show was filled with celebrity guests including Jay Park, Ulala Session, Dok2 & The Quiett, and Canada’s beatbox champion KRNFX. More than 4,000 people attended the event, according to organizer Korea Tourism Organization.

By Lee Hyun-jae, Intern reporter (lhj137@heraldcorp.com)