2015

So... It's been a while.

I don't even bother to explain exactly why I've been gone. I'm struggling on which blog I should write on. I like this more for targeting pole-dancers and aspiring pole-dancers, but on my norwegian blog I usually just write about pole anyway. But I also blog about other things, like my hair and everyday-life. So when it comes down to very specific pole-posts, like "how to get flexy" and "how to get better at freestyle" my other blog just doesn't fit my target. To much bullshit there.

Lots have happened since last time, I got my twisted grip ayesha just a few days after the shoulder-mount, I got handspring just a few weeks ago, and a lot of other moves have been accomplished. I went to a workshop with Gøril Johansen as the instructor, and had a lot of fun playing around in a real studio.

A little summary of some of my goals for 2014 and their current status

Orion - has now obtained the status goal move of 2015.
Front splits - also a goal move of 2015.
Ayesha - achieved!
Handspring - was a goal for 2015, but nailed it at the last minute of 2014! Succsess!
Shoulder mount - achieved!
Cross ankle release - achieved!
Unsupported headstand - achieved!
Unsupported handstand - goal for 2015.
Superman - achieved!
Butterfly - achieved!
Russian layback - achieved!

And a bunch of other moves has been achieved as well! So many I haven't even got pictures of myself in all of them.

For 2015 my goal-moves are

- Orion
- Jade split
- Allegra
- Janeiro
- Coccoon
- Titanic

I've made even more specific resolutions to make sure I do my best at obtaining my goals. I'm gonna start with leg-days at my gym now. I want a pretty V spin, and I want to be able to lift my legs upright, so that I'm "flashing" my crotch, if you catch my drift. To be able to do this, I need more thigh-muscle. To get a more secure CAR, I need thigh-muscle. To make Titanic easier, thigh-muscle. To get splits faster, get muscles. To straighten legs better, get muscles. Also wanna be able to do booty-claps, and then need to get a booty. So leg-days it is. I think I'm gonna hit the gym tomorrow. Also, leg-days makes me soooooo nice and warm, perfect for stretching!

I have SO many posts planned, just gotta get time to sit down and actually write them, lol. I want to write one progress-post each week, and one pole-related post each week. And start with the blog-hops. And get a sweet header and stuff.

Challenges and accomplishments!

I was feeling down and out. I had lost my spirit, my motivation and ambition. I knew what to do. I knew I just had to push through it. Like I've done all the other times things got a little rough.
And then, out of nowhere I got my very first shoulder mount!

Watch the vid on my IG

I'm still in awe of myself. I can't believe that I'm actually able to do it. I've always admired all the ladies and gents who are able to do this. So much strength. So much practice and hard work put into it. And now me. Now it's my turn.
I must be honest and say, no, it's not a purebred deadlift, but I'm working towards that. My momentum is anyway pretty small and controlled, so I'll say that I'm able to do a controlled and safe shoulder mount and cross it off my list. Feels gooooood.

My other goals yet to reach for 2014 are

• Crossed Ankle Release
• Orion
• Front splits
• Ayesha
• Superman to inside leghang drop
• Knee hold
• Free handstand
• Free headstand

I'm being pretty strict on my goals. I can do a CAR, but I can't do it while feeling safe and comfortable, and therefore will not use it in a choreo. And therefore wont cross it of my list. I came pretty close to the front-splits today, tried out some different stretching-techniques, if they prove to be more effective I might make a post on that later.

A little discouraged

I've been trying to write a couple of posts over the last few weeks, but haven't bothered to finish any of them. Truth is, I'm feeling a little discouraged.

It's different this time. It's not because I "can't" do anything, or that I don't see progress, or that I'm feeling frustrated or something.... I just don't feel like dancing. The thought of practicing gives me a empty feeling, it makes me sigh and I just want to wait until I feel more in the mood. That hasn't happened yet.

But I got a new pair of shorts and a new top, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Haha, ok, bad joke. I love my new shorts, they are gorgeous! And I've desired this top for a long time too, it's so cute. And now it's finally mine! Thanks to RAD Polewear<3

I started working on my first routine though, and it's coming together pretty good. The first minute is already done, a minute containing mostly floorwork. That's been challenging, since I never do floorwork. Floorwork isn't exactly boring, I just feel like floorwork doesn't take as much work to get good at as pole-moves, so I never take the time to practice it. It's looking good though, it's kind of a sexy routine. I'll maybe post a video after next practice. Now I'm starting on the pole-part of the routine. Finally ^_^

Like, who bothers to draw nicely when they're making a routine? Seriously

Aaaaaand I've signed up for a pole-challenge during october. So now I kinda have to keep up my practices. My goal is to actually post one photo (or video) a day. This pole-challenge is excellent for me. I've always wanted to do a pole-challenge, but never found one that fit me. Most of them contain way to advanced moves for me, like maybe I could finish half of it. Day one - Allegra. Day two - Machine Gun. Day three - Spatchcock. Day four - Oversplits. Like, come on guys! And others weren't even about pole. Not really. Like february handstand. I tried to do it. I managed two days in a row.... Just got way to boring for me.

Pole Progress - OMG I'm cheating!

I really wanna make a full routine one day, so I've started practicing on the thousands of combos I've written down in my pole-diary over the months. Maybe I can string some of them together and add some floorwork and such to make a routine? That would be neat!

Anyway, it's a good thing that I've started to work harder on the combos. Cause I suck at poleing continuously. Seriously, after one combo I'm out of breath, sweating and panting ferociously, and I can't for the love of God understand how I'm supposed to keep it up for a whole routine when I can barely make it through one combo without dying from oxygen deprivation. I wonder if it is physically possible to actually forget to breathe....

But I worked on a hard combo though, the combo was all in the air on the pole and included an aerial invert. I'm not doing too well on the aerial invert, it's gotten better as I'm able to get straight into chopper, without hooking any legs on the pole to help me bring my hips up. So I thought I did great, but when I watched my video and noticed that I use my climbing-foot to push myself from the pole and gain momentum to get up.... So I'm actually cheating.... Dang it.... Doesn't look very pretty, have to work on that.

I'm also hooking up with Maria on thursday to start up with the training again. I need to work on my instructor-skills and she told me she's been kind of stuck and lost her pole-mojo over the summer, so it's a win-win! Gonna have a look at her invert, her leg-hangs and see if we can get her butterfly prettied up a little, and maybe try something new? Have to think about it, come up with something cool. Maybe falling star?

The Peacock

During the instructors course I found out so many things about myself. One being that I am actually getting close to shoulder mount! All this time I thought I just wasn't strong enough and that I needed more core-muscles, when actually it was mostly my technique that was wrong. Can you believe that?! Me, shoulder-mounting?!!! I'm so inspired and motivated right now, I just wanna work that core so that I'll get there asap! So yeah, it wasn't just my technique, I still have a long way to go, but finally I get it!
And when I say close, I mean close as in "I'll be lucky to have a deadlift by january", but for now nearly all my dismounts are shoulder dismounts. Prepping that shoulder for some serious pain. And hey - I can shoulder dismount!

PS is being a bitch and wont let me make proper gifs, so you'll have
to bear with me with a crappy snapshot from the vid. Vid is on my IG

Yes, I am a teeny, tiny bit overly excited about this, but this is really huge for me ^^ Been one of those dream-moves, like it's not even human to be able to do this, you would have to be an alien or a superhero or something to be able to do it.

Back to school supplies (hehe, I love this theme) - a new mat and a stretching band. I've wished for a mat since I got my pole in december and started stretching, but it has always gotten down-voted on my priority list. Because.... because I'm stupid. Stretching has been my least favorite part of my pole-workouts, mainly because my floor is just a thin layer of linoleum on concrete, so it hurts to stretch. More than it should, anyway. My heels hurt, my butt hurts, my elbows, everything. But now I'm actually looking forward to some serious stretching on a comfy, thick mat.

And I revisited an old move, the peacock. I've called it the fish-hook earlier, but on the fb-group "you know when you're a poler when" we discussed this, and the majority of people seem to call this the peacock. And poisson. And russian fish... So I changed to peacock.
This was a move I clearly wasn't ready for when I first learned it. It injured my forearms badly, which caused a 3 weeks lasting pole-break. So I had to keep this move on the shelf for a while till my forearms and wrists became strong enough to support it. I tried it again today, and it didn't hurt at all :D Totally pain-free! Gonna ease into it though, take it slow. Don't wanna get injured again, pole-breaks always messes up my pole-mojo.

I'm back!

I'm seriously never going on a roadtrip again! I get motion-sick so easy, so all I can do is stare out the front of the car the whole trip. Only exceptions are when I'm sleeping, and then I wake up with a hurting neck and an arm asleep, prickling and tickling for the next 5 minutes. Also, it was expensive and tiring, and if you thought living in a suitcase is stressfull, try living in a car. A good thing though was that I was so tired at the end of the day, so when we checked into the hotel I fell asleep right away. I've never had such a good sleeping-pattern my whole damn life!

But I didn't come here to discuss the ups and downs of roadtrips of course. The instructors-course was a blast! I've learned so much, about pole, about teaching, about myself... I think I'm still trying to process it all, it was so much info over such short amount of time.

I'll have to post a serious article or something about this later. Something that still get all of my impressions and points covered, but still neatly enough that people hopefully will care to read. We went through so many things, I might have to split the post into two parts.

Hopefully it will be done by the end of the week.

Snapshot of the group ^^

Instructors course

This weekend I'm attending an instructors course. I'm really looking forward to this, and my body and mind is overwhelmed by all sorts of feelings. As you know I've been coaching a couple of girls for fun, and when people come visit I often get them to try the pole and learn them a few basic spins. People usually love pole and I really like teaching. So I've been playing around with the idea of starting my own studio.

The course is great for other things to. It's gonna be in a real pole studio. This is actually a bit weird to say, but I've never been to a pole-studio. I've never even touched a pole other than my own. So I'm really looking forward to this. A new experience. More poles. And taller poles! My ceiling is so freaking low I hate it.

This is Drammen Pole Fitness Studio where the course is held

And I'm a little scared to. I'm worried that the other girls are all gonna be like, expert level, shoulder-mounting and iron x-ing all over the place and I'll be left out as the newbie amateur that's never even gone to classes. If that's the case it's luckily just for the weekend.
On the other side I'm happy that I'll be spending my time with girls who shares my passion. Sometimes I feel a little lonely when poleing. I don't have pole-friends who geeks over the trendy move atm, shorts and heels, pole-idols or that can do doubles with me. So it's gonna be great to spend a whole weekend with people that shares my love for pole.

I think this is really gonna help me. We are gonna learn about warm-ups, stretching, technique, grips, damage prevention, spotting, what to teach at the different levels and so on. It will be great for me at least, since I've never attended classes and have basically no clue to what I'm actually doing. Or, of course I've got a clue, I can poledance so I've done something right. But it'll be good to learn how a full workout should be, and whats appropriate to learn when.

Overall I'm pretty much excited. I've been looking forward to this for so long time now, and even if I don't get a studio up and running right away (or ever) it's not gonna be a waste of time and money. The things I'll learn I'm pretty sure is gonna get to good use during my own pole journey. I cant lose one this.

Splits-progress

Arrgh, I was hoping to have the split at the end of summer, but now it's August the 18th and I'm still a couple of serious stretching-sessions away from it. Damn it....

It's ok though, I'm not in a rush or anything. But I keep catching myself thinking "where is it? Is it hiding somewhere? I could swear it was supposed to be here by now.....".

Progress-pictures taken 09.january

I made it my new years pole-resolution to at least nail the front-splits by the end of 2014, and when I started practicing for real in April I got a little overly excited and decided to get them before the end of summer....
Well, that didn't happen, but I'm still aiming for nailing them before 2015. I don't need oversplits, I don't even need to be perfectly flat against the floor, but being able to do the Jade or Pole Splits would be nice. Also I'm not too positive about my box-splits since I've never been any good at them, but if they don't show up until 2015 I guess I have a new years resolution for next year.

Bad bad bad pictures, but I see huge improvements in both splits! If I can keep up the workouts and stretching, and also be patient, they'll come in time (:

About "what men want"

In the heated debate on poledance and polefitness I often come across arguments that goes kinda like this:

"Ultimately, poledance was made for men because men find it sexy and seductive, and it turns them on."

- And therefore it's degrading towards women (optional: and I would never let my daughter do it).
I don't think I really need to explain this argument, but I can't help but wonder: is poledance really degrading towards women and feminism?

I like to ask the question "why does everything have to do with what men want and what men like?".
If men are turned on by poledancing, women shouldn't do it? What if men get turned on by women playing sand-volleyball, they shouldn't do that too? So, if men are turned on by boobs, we shouldn't be wearing deep necklines? Or if men are turned on by women in general, we shouldn't be allowed to be out in public? Because that's what this all boils down to, right? What turns men on?
We've been through this over and over again. Men get turned on by a lot of things! It's in their nature for gods sake, but women can't stop living their lives because men may or may not like their looks or what they do.
So, are you really suggesting that I shouldn't poledance because men likes it? Isn't that degrading? Doesn't that stop me from living my life the way I want to?

And then it's us. What women want, and what women like. I like poledance. I want to poledance. Not because my boyfriend wants me to, or because I feel a pressure to be sexy and satisfying to men. I do it for me. Because I want to. Because I think it's fun. Because it's my idea of a fun, yet effective workout. Is that so hard to understand? Could you open up your mind just enough to believe that I actually want this? That it's not about pleasing men, but pleasing myself?

The truth is, whatever I think, and whatever men think, poledance can be both an uplift and it can be degrading. The same goes with body-types, clothing, hair-styles, sex, hobbies, carrier or whatever. The problem isn't the things we do or if men get turned on by it or not. What's degrading towards women is when our situation forces us to do things we don't wanna do, or if we feel pressured to do things in order to please others rather than ourselves.

And you'll never be able to please everybody anyway

I don't think poledancing is degrading. I think it's great that those who want to do it do it, and I think it's great that those who don't want to just don't. And I think it's about time that we do the things we want to do for ourselves, and respect each other for the choices we make. You, me, men and women.

Photoshoot

I've started on my list of pole-moves yaaaay :D I think it would be a good idea to have everything at one place, as a reference, memory-lane, inspo and such. I still miss a few images, and would like to get some new pictures of the moves I already have pictures of. Like the Russian layback, the angle, the lighting, it's just wrong and doesn't serve the move any justice at all... And it doesn't exactly look awesome and impressive either, so that really has to go. And the Butterfly too, the image is way too dark.

So soon I'll hopefully have my own little photoshoot. I won't bother looking up and pay a photographer to have these pictures taken, just me and my camera in my bedroom will do. Maybe put on some fun make-up, play around with hair and clothing, yeah. Also, then I'd finally get my design started. I have an idea of how I want it, so I just need some good quality photos of myself on the pole and I'm ready to begin.