Hardcore dancing
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Hardcore dancing (or HC or hXc Dancing) is a type of dance performed to hardcore music and its various subgenres.(Also commonly referred to as "Throwing Down" or "Throwing") It is a type of dance usually performed by douche bags, who are just pissed cause they aren't impressing women by listening to hardcore music.
The practice grew out of the eastern United States hardcore scene, especially the New Jersey, New York and Boston hardcore scenes. A hardcore pit differs from the usual mosh pit routine of pogoing and crashing into each other in an often controlled, but violent way. Participants in hardcore pits move around with rhythm to various beats, some slow and some faster.
This style of dancing was common in the late 1990s. As some hardcore bands incorporated slower syncopated, metal-influenced rhythms into their songs, the modern breakdown — and the dancing that went with it — was introduced.[citation needed] Early Earth Crisis and Biohazard concerts were common venues for hardcore dancing.
New York hardcore band Sick of it All featured a tongue-in-cheek how-to guide for hardcore dancing in their music video for "Step Down" and AFI's video for "The Leaving Song Pt. II" is a depiction of hardcore and Straight Edge culture, popular for its relentless representation of Hardcore Dancing. A Day to Remember also did a video showing a how to guide for dance moves in the pit, Ron Jeremy was the fictional martial arts instructor showing the moves.
Two-step
Two-step is when a hardcore dancer swings their feet across one another, and usually bring their arms up and down opposite the motion of their feet. There are variations of the arm movement, however, the movement of the feet generally stays the same. Two-Stepping varies from scene to scene. They usually differ in the aggressiveness of the leg movement and the placement of arms. Some dancers keep their arms bent firmly at their side whilst moving their legs and torso, whereas others will incorporate the windmill and floorpunching into their two-step. The two-step employed by hardcore dancers is gaining popularity in other genres including pop-punk. The Two-Step is generally safe towards bystanders, though the intensity at which a dancer's legs are swung can prove dangerous.
Windmilling
Windmilling is the spinning of arms in a windmill like fashion. This has many variations in the direction and way the arms are spun around. Sometimes, it involves the rotation of the body as well. It sometimes leads on to other hardcore dance moves, such as various types of kicks.
Solitary Martial Arts/Ninja Pitting
Ninja Pitting is a term used by people not familiar with hardcore dancing to describe moves that have an unintended resemblance to certain martial arts moves. The most common movement is spin kicking. While this form is incorrectly referred to with the umbrella term "Hardcore Dancing", ninja pitting was coined recently to more accurately describe what many consider a separate style of dance. It is also generally used in a derogatory manner to insult hardcore dancers.
Picking up change/Floorpunch
Picking up change is when the hardcore dancer throws his/her fists towards the floor, not intending to make contact with it, and then violently brings them back up. Alternative feet are sometimes stomped to the music as arms are raised, i.e. left arm raised right leg stomped. This is dangerous to people behind the dancer if the elbows are thrown hard enough. Some concert goers will bring change to sprinkle around the area of the hardcore dancers to give the picking up of change true meaning.
Crowd Killing
A "Crowd Kill" (also known as Crowd Beating) is when a dancer involves on-lookers in their moves. The most common of these is known as a "Lawnmower", which involves rushing into both sides of a Mosh Pit whilst windmilling or pulling your arms up from the ground. This is often used to create space before a beatdown but sometimes is used before/after the song is played (a common way of opening up a pit is a less violent push-back, simply involving a dancer or dancers having their back to the crowd and pushing them back). Other Crowd Killing moves involve simply lunging into bystanders, throwing kicks backwards with the intention of making contact, etc.