The crews, whose members all were wearing colorful sneakers, competed by flipping in the air and spinning on their heads, among other battle techniques. Each round was seven minutes.

The judges decided the top crew on a criteria based on creativity, footwork and routines called “ooh and ahh” moves.

The two MSU crews that competed in the jam were Body Massage and Old Greg Crew. Both teams won their first battles, but did not make it to the final match.

The two-year-old MSU Breakdance Club has 50 members and practices three times a week. Coordinator Kevin Richardson, who also is one of the founders of the club, organized the Red Cedar Ransom and said he has been networking and planning the event for the past four months. He said the MSU Breakdance Club hopes to educate people about break dancing and clear stereotypes that have formulated about break dancers.

“We’re not thugs, we’re not about violence, we’re not about getting money,” Richardson said. “Hip-hop is about peace, love and unity, overcoming, empowerment and about getting out of a bad situation, not what MTV makes it out to be.”

The team flew in Pete Nasty, Napalm and A.Thai, all nationally known break dancers, to judge the event. DJ Ruckus was spinning beats for the event.

A.Thai, an MSU alumnus whose real name is Anthony Thai, said he was excited to see the response to the event and was happy to see progression of the MSU Breakdance Club.

“They are phenomenal. They really push themselves physically and more importantly than that, they push themselves to have a positive effect on the community,” Thai said. “They give themselves a purpose and they take it beyond dancing, and that’s a hard place for a lot of (break dancers) to get to: To take it beyond the physical moves and the very surface of the culture.”

Hardcore Robo Teknique, a group that combined dancers from three different Michigan crews, won the jam and the grand prize.

It defeated Lunchbox Jams, a nonprofit organization that encourages youth to have an impact on their communities through dancing and creative movement.

“This event was beautiful,” said Keeganloye Seoul, who is from Grand Rapids and a member of Hardcore Robo Teknique. “It was a great thing — (I have) nothing but respect for Michigan State and the (MSU Breakdance Club) here throwing the jam. We will be back, winning every single one. Count on it.”