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.
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 (:
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.
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.
Here I'll post pictures of the moves that I've learned (:
I don't have pictures of everything yet so they will be posted later. Also, pictures and gifs will probably be switched out over time as I'll constantly be working on and get better at the different moves, and getting files with better quality than these.
Questions that often pops up on the poledance reddit and fb-groups are about preparing for your first lesson, what to expect, what to wear, what you will learn, etc. So I thought I would answer some of the usual questions here on the blog (:
"What should I wear?" and "do I HAVE to wear teeny tiny shorts, stripper-heels and whatnot?"
In order to stick to the pole you need bare skin. This is the poles rule, not mine.
Different studios have different clothing-rules though so I recommend you ask your studio what they think you should wear. Personally I'd recommend shorts, sports-bra and a t-shirt, a sweater and a pair of pants or leggings for warm-up. I really encourage beginners to start off in shorts because a lot of beginner-moves and spins require / is easier with bare legs, but if you're not comfortable with it no professional studio is gonna force you to show up half naked.
Also, I recommend beginners start off barefoot. Heels are for the more advanced girls.
"I am a plus-size, can I still poledance?"
Yes, yes and a hundred times yes!
"Do I have to strip / will we learn stripping?"
No, you don't have to strip, and no, you don't learn stripping at pole-classes. Poledancing is not stripping, and therefore you will not learn that at pole-class.
"What if the other girls look at me?"
Trust me, they won't. The other girls will be so caught up in their own thing that looking at you will be the last thing on their mind. And if they do, they're probably just admiring, or trying to figure out what to do.
"I saw a really cool video on youtube, will we learn that?"
I don't know what you saw, but you'll probably not learn it in your intro-class. I've heard people say that pole-class wasn't fun because all they learned was two to four spins and some floorwork, and it was nothing like they imagined (like what they saw on youtube). Just hang in there! Rome wasn't built on one day, and the same goes for those skills needed to do whatever crazy performance you saw on youtube. Just keep at it, it's important to get those beginner-moves down before the craziness starts, but it will take some time.
"Don't you have to be super-strong to poledance?"
I'd like to quote Nicole The Pole here, poledance is not easy, but it's easy to learn. Nobody's got the muscles needed to shoulder-mount on their first class, people rarely got the muscles to do a single pull-up at their first lesson. At the beginner-classes you start off with hanging from the pole. No pulling yourself up, just hanging by your arms. These are the basic spins, spins where the only thing your muscles will have to do is holding on. And you can do that!
"What if I fall?" and "what if I hit the floor?"
The fear of falling during beginner-spins is something psychological you just have to work on. You just gotta face the fear and believe that if you fall, you won't die. You won't injure yourself, it might be a little painful, but that's it.
When it comes to more advanced and dangerous moves like inverts we take precautions like using crash-mats, having a spotter and planning safety-exits. But that comes later.
"Do I have to be sexy / do sexy stuff?"
No, you don't have to feel (be) sexy and you don't need to do anything you're not comfortable with. And if you like the sexy-thing, that's up to you! Everyone has their own style, some like it sexy, some like it classy, some like it to be mostly acrobatics... and I think it's great that everyone is different and has their own unique style, how boring wouldn't it be if we all danced the same way?
"Does it hurt to poledance?" and "will I get bruises?"
Yes and yes. The pole is made from hard steel which you hang off from your skin. You will squeeze your flesh and bones hard against the pole to keep yourself from falling. But luckily the pain is temporary. After your second lesson with climbing it will already get easier and much less painful. Bruises vary from person to person, some get a lot and big ones, some get a few and small ones. But it's all temporary, and when your body has adapted to a move it will stop bruising and hurting (:
"Do I have to perform or compete?"
No (: You may use your new skill to do whatever you like. Maybe you want to compete or perform, or maybe you want to become an instructor and even start your own studio. Or you just like to do it at home or at your studio, for yourself, for the fun of it. It's all up to you!
"Will I get bulky?"
Over time you will get some broad shoulders, big muscles on your arms and back and a toned stomach, but this is after years and years of training! But ultimately yes, poledance is a sport that is almost entirely founded on strength and to get better you will have to get muscles.
"What will we learn at beginner-classes?"
This vary from studio to studio, and I haven't gone to classes myself. But from what I have seen on the internet you'll probably be introduced to some spins like the fireman and the front-hook spin, you'll probably learn how to climb and how to sit and various floor-work moves. (Links to youtube tutorials) "What if people judge me as a stripper / slut / whore etc?"
Sadly, haters gonna hate and people are gonna judge. That's just a risk you're gonna have to take.
I hope that cleared up some of the questions you might have had, and if there's anything else don't be afraid to ask in the comment section (:
