Life’s good for Phil Wizard, who gets all the breaks

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Right now, you may not know Phil Wizard. But you will.

Vancouver-based Wizard (a.k.a. Philip Kim) is the reigning world break-dancing champion. At any other time in hip-hop history, that would be a very cool thing. But next summer, it will be an Olympic thing.

Wizard is the early favourite to win gold in the sport of breaking when it makes its debut at Paris 2024. Going up and down the national roster right now, he may be Canada’s best hope in France.

What’s the day-to-day like in a rapidly professionalizing sport?

“I get up. I go to the gym. In the afternoon, I’ll do a breaking session, maybe two or three hours. A couple of times a week, I’ll do that again in the evening,” Wizard said recently.

A coach?

“No coach.”

So how do you …

“We have access to the Internet now. You just kind of develop it on your own.”

It may not be an amateur sport (Wizard is a big star in Red Bull’s edgy athletic stable), but it’s one of the few where the spirit of amateurism lives on.

We caught Wizard at his home one morning, after his first cup of coffee, but before the DJ began spinning him into his workday.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

I think of it more as a sense of peace. Like, if I’m at peace with everything that’s going on, even if I’m having a bad day, that I can reflect and be like, ‘No, life’s good.’ It’s being at peace with where you are in life.

What’s your greatest fear?

Failure.

What’s the trait you most deplore in yourself?

It goes with the fear. It’s my inability to try new things because I’m afraid to fail at them.

What’s the trait you most deplore in others?

People who aren’t willing to be open-minded and understanding about other people’s situations.

What’s your greatest extravagance?

I’m really bougie about travel. I try to fly business class whenever I can. Stuff like that. I’m kind of a diva about travel.

What’s your current state of mind?

Excited. Looking forward to day-to-day life, but also, like, all the things to come.

What talent would you most like to have?

I would love to be able to draw. Yeah, that’s pretty random. I love what I do. I love breaking. But I would also love to do something else. Something artistic. Drawing seems attractive.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’m going to take the cheesy answer and say nothing. What you are makes you who you are.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

Oh, a sloth. I feel like dogs have good lives and I love dogs, but a sloth is pretty lazy. I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard that when a sloth is swinging, they will sometimes grab their own arm because they think it’s a tree branch and they’ll fall and die. I think that’s a pretty cool way to go.

Where would you most like to live?

I love where I live [Vancouver], but I go to Europe for work a lot and really enjoy it. Maybe the south of France somewhere.

What’s your most treasured possession?

I’m looking around. My most treasured thing. My most treasured thing. It kind of changes all the time. I mean, I’ll say my journal. I’ve really been into journalling. So right now, my journal.

What’s your favourite occupation?

I always wanted to be a writer. It’s a cool job, and you open people’s minds. I love reading. I benefit from writing all the time. So I’ll go with writer. Or firefighter. I know, those are two completely different things.

Who are your favourite writers?

I’m really into fantasy. Brandon Sanderson (author of the Mistborn series) is my all-time GOAT for fantasy writing.

What’s your favourite name?

Name?

Yeah, name. You got to make up your own working name. What was second place?

You know what? Phil Wizard would not have been my first choice. It was a name that was given to me because my original crew was called the Wizards. People would say, ‘Phil from the Wizards crew’ and then they shortened it to Phil Wizard. So what you’re asking is if I could change my name, what would I change it to. I like something that’s really simple. Like Phil. One syllable. Cooler. I don’t know. Sky? That’s kind of [terrible]. I don’t know. This is a hard question.

What is it that you most dislike?

Waking up in the morning.

How would you most like to die? Going to stick with sloth?

No, I’m going to change it. Eating something really good. Like, I just don’t want to see it coming. I take a bite out of a really good burger or take a bite of the best, best cheesecake and then you just die.