Serious Kick

Lore & Background

The beginning of locking can be traced to Don Campbell. In the late 1960s he put together several fad dances adding moves of his own (known as the "Lock") when performing. The original lock was created by accident: Campbell couldn't do a move called the "funky chicken" and stopped at a particular point whilst moving his arms, creating a 'locking' effect. He wasn't able to perform it fluently, for he couldn't remember which step to take next. (Even the acting towards the audience was spontaneous: when people started laughing at Don because of his unfamiliar moves, he responded by pointing at them.) These halts soon became popular as Don added them into his performances. The resulting dance was called Campbellocking, which was later shortened to Locking. In the early 1970s this set off a movement of locking dance groups, notably Campbell's group The Lockers. Other lockers Jimmy "Scoo B Doo" Foster, Greggory "Campbellock Jr." Pope, Tony "GoGo" Lewis, Fred "Mr Penguin" Berry (a.k.a. Rerun), Leo "Fluky Luke" Williamson, Damita Jo Freeman and others also helped set the foundation for the locking dance and clothes style.

In Their Own Story

The Serious Kick is not a named move in the source. The source describes locking moves such as the Kick: "A single powerful and high leg kick while standing on the other." It also describes the Knee Drop: "A drop to the knees with the knees pointing inwards (into a W shape leg position)." The source does not mention any character named Saitama or any technique called "Serious Kick" from One Punch Man.

Reader's Guide

Locking may be done in solo or with two or more dancers doing steps or handshakes together. A locker may smile while performing to emphasize the comical nature of the dance; other times, a serious demeanor will be maintained to place emphasis on technique. Other important stylistic features are waving of arms, pointing, walking stationary and grabbing and rotating the cap or hat. Don Campbell created the original freezes, incorporating his unique rhythm and adding gestures such as points and handclaps. Other dancers also adapted this style while creating other steps and moves. Locking is by nature an improvisational dance but also consists of a set of signature moves of locking pioneers. However, many lockers alter or blend these with other moves or create their own variations. In general, lockers will often put a small pause and move up on the second and fourth beats to emphasize the locking.

Did You Know?

• The original lock was created by accident when Don Campbell couldn't do the 'funky chicken' and stopped at a particular point while moving his arms.
• When people laughed at Don Campbell for his unfamiliar moves, he responded by pointing at them.
• The dance was originally called Campbellocking before being shortened to Locking.
• Locking includes many acrobatic moves such as landing on one's knees and the split, often requiring knee protection.
• Clothes style can consist of loud striped socks, pegged pants that stop at the knees, bright colorful satin shirts with big collars, big colorful bow ties, gigantic Apple Boy hats, and white gloves.