In 2013, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year was ‘Selfie’. The runner up word of the year? Twerking. The funeral for the English language took place four days later.
The word refers to a suggestive dance move in which the individual moves the hips in a sexually provocative manner, often in a low squatting stance. The list of famous twerkers includes the great spirits Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber.
The MMA world too has gotten in on the act. This MMA twerking highlight includes:
Angela Magana;
Cris Cyborg;
Felice Herrig;
Cat Zingano; and,
Daniel Cormier.
Where are the twerkers now?
Angela Magana explained that her recent absence was due to a custody battle. Cris Cyborg is a UFC fighter, but the division has no division over 135, and Cyborg’s planned drop is on hold indefinitely, so it seems likely she continues to fight for the ever awesome Invicta Fighting Championship. Felice Herrig took a relatively short break to get her fire back, but is now back in training, and training hard. Cat Zingano manager said the fighter should be returning to the UFC octagon in the next few months. UFC light heavyweight Daniel Cormier’s next fight is a title defense vs. former champion Jon Jones.
The origins of twerking
There is some controversy about the origin of the word, but “work it” has been a relevant phrase for many years. Add a dash to twist or twitch, and you get twerk.
The term was coined in the New Orleans hip hop scene, specifically the genre known as “bounce.” The origins of the specific move go back to West Africa, but the first use of the word was in 1993, on DJ Jubilee’s “Do The Jubilee All”. On it he chants “Twerk baby, twerk baby, twerk, twerk, twerk.” Two years later the New Orleans-based rapper Cheeky Blakk recorded the song “Twerk Something!” which was dedicated to twerking.
