Pole Class: Day 18

There are some things I will do and some things I won't do. The things I will do are things that my body has a physical advantage over, like climbs and inversions. What always gets me are the twirls. I blame this on my short legs. I also do have a fear of falling off the pole because of my sweaty hands.

This Total Pole class would be the first class I take after my brief 2-week hiatus. I think we started off with a transitional move, which consisted of a hand twirl into a stationary heart beat and a transition out. That was easy enough, although I can't say that I looked the most graceful. Of course we move onto our twirl, the part of the class that I dread the most!! We did the Reverse Grab which happens to be my favorite twirl of all twirls. All I can do is literally stand back and watch my class mates complete this trick while I watch. Sad huh?

After that we did our climb. This time Amber taught us a climb with a more foot emphasis versus the usual upper body grab and pull. I hated this one. The spot right on top of my foot is so weak and bruises so easily that it's painful for me to put too much pressure there. It would've been easier if I was wearing some sort of show, but I tend not to bring shoes to class anymore.

After this climb, Amber taught us how to do the Ballerina. I don't think I'll ever look comfortable doing this move. I should actually ban this pose from my repertoire to save myself the embarrassment. If you're great at contorting your body, this is the move for you! Actually if you're tall and slender this move is for you! Can you imagine a little midget like me doing this one? Not enough body to twist around the pole!

Lastly, we ended with an inversion which was the Caterpillar. We did it both ways. Since I'm pretty comfortable with going down the pole, I really wanted to concentrate on the Caterpillar as a climbing technique. I think it takes a lot of control and strength to do this one so it's definitely one of the ones that I push myself to learn. Too bad I can only really practice this one in the studio with the sky-high poles! You can only go so far with a portable pole at home!

Pole Class: Day Seventeen

With the exception of finding bloody fingernails and a belly button after class, I though today's class went very well. At today's Total Pole, Amber taught us the Corkscrew twirl, Yogini and Caterpillar. For most of us in the class, these were tricks that we've worked on before (which isn't a bad thing!).

I had so much fun in class, partly because I was trying and actually getting the tricks down. I secretly love the Caterpillar and Reverse Caterpillar. I know it isn't the sexiest pole trick you can whip out, but it's definitely one of the more interesting and difficult ones just because of the whole defying gravity part.

I can't wait to get and install my own pole! Then I can practice every day!

Pole Class: Day Thirteen

Today, Amber kicked my ass in Total Pole. I can always count on Thursday and Saturday classes to send me home in aching pain. In addition to a cute three-step move she taught us to use while walking around the pole, we focused on the power climb, Spinning Scorpio and a Front Knee Hook twirl. I definitely made an attempt at all three, but it wasn't a pretty sight. After class, I went home and drowned my sorrow away in breakfast food. Yuuuuum.

Pole Class: Day Eleven

As always, Poletential's Total Pole class taught by Amber was great. Every Saturday we're taught new twirls, climbs and inversions.

We started off with an Inside Spin. For this twirl you use your outer thigh (inside leg) to roll against the pole. Your thigh and leg should be parallel to the ground and as you pick yourself up with both hands you lift up your outside leg.

Then we moved onto the Corkscrew. I really like this twirl because it's a lot different from the other ones we learn where we face the pole. For this twirl you use your outside leg to swing out your hips to the front of the pole so that you can wrap your body around the pole as you spin down. This twirl gets painful when you do it repeatedly since your armpit is gripping the pole. I have bruises all over my arm still from this one. But it was fun!

Our next move was a climb into a Cross Knee Release. This is very similar to the cross ankle release, but instead you leave your thighs crossed as if you were sitting and then lean back so that your knee touches the pole and your tail bone is resting on the pole as well. Once you're in this position, you're safe to lean back and let go of your arms.



Lastly, we learned how to go into the Butterfly from an inversion. Things to remember when getting into this move include keep your booty out and square your shoulders before you let go of your leg. I was finally able to get into this move at the end of the class, although I don't do it as graceful as Amber.

Pole Class: Day Eight

I usually post an update of my classes right away, but last weekend was really busy for me. Sorry! I actually really enjoyed this class because we learned so many new moves.

My absolute favorite was the Peter Pan twirl/spin. Just the pose by itself, you are holding onto the pole with one hand high and the other is used as a bracket while you keep your inside knee bent and your outside leg out straight (away from the pole). You can go into the Peter Pan from the Carousel twirl shown below.



We also worked on the layout...


...and I was trying to work on my chopper move. This is just another way to get into an inversion, but right now I lack the abs to do this one.

Pole Class: Day Five

Do you remember these?



Imagine the shocked look on my face when I saw one of my fellow dancers take out her brand new heels...



Do they look familiar?!?! I know the flash on my camera makes them look brighter than they are, but trust me they look exactly how they look in the picture above...absolutely beautiful. I honestly couldn't stop looking at them during class. Forget learning new pole moves, look at her shoes! Neon is so in now. It's really strange how I've become so attracted to it lately, since I usually wear really dark colors.

Today's Total Pole class was very knee intensive. You should see the bruises all over my legs. I'm starting to wonder how I can minimize them, especially since summer is just right around the corner...well almost. Damn Ground Hog's day. 5 more weeks of winter?!

The moves Amber taught us today were the Front Hook, Back Hook, Front Hook into the Back Hook, Side Climb, Knee Hold and Gemini. By the time it was the last 5-10 minutes to dance free-style, all I wanted to do was just stop and relax.

What was really amazing, was that Amber (instructor) and Christine (advanced dance student) were both on a spinning pole doing the same moves simultaneously. I've seen it in videos before, but to see it live and just a few feet away from me was crazy. Afterward Amber warned us that it takes a lot of practice to use a spinning pole...warning taken. I won't be trying that any time soon, but I would like to in the future.

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Knee Hold:

Use inside hand to grip the pole (high). Hook inside leg to the pole with the back of the knee so that your leg is parallel to the ground. Use outside hand to grip underneath your leg on the pole. Thumb should be pointing down. Lift outside leg so that your knee/shin is resting on the pole and your ankle is hooking with your other ankle. Push your hips outward and leg go of outside hand that was gripping underneath your leg.

Gemini:

Gemini is an inversion similar to the Scorpio. Instead of using one foot/ankle to hold you against the pole, you hook the back of your knee and then let your other foot drop so that it's vertically parallel with the ground. In this position you need to use your side (skin!) to grip the pole. Let go with both hands.

Side Climb:
Start with gripping the pole with both hands and inside leg hooked to pole at the knee so that it's parallel with the ground. Lift your other leg up so that it's resting underneath your other leg. At this point you should straighten up and re-grip your hands higher up the pole. This is setting you up so that you can climb sideways up the pole. You can move both your legs sideways at once or one at a time. Repeat.

Front Hook:
Grip the pole with inside hand (high) and step forward with inside leg. Use outside hand to brace the pole as you step with your outside leg (around the pole). While keeping outside leg on the ground as long as possible you swing the inside leg out. Your outside leg should eventually wrap itself around the pole.

Picture of Reverse Back Hook:


I found super helpful photos of pole positions...
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ipole.tv/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/cimg9096-5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ipole.tv/%3Fpage_id%3D75&usg=__GpWhBXxUkO-4495msvxZnzT-cSc=&h=1449&w=1431&sz=384&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=dcgxPCYcs6TQTM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=148&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dknee%2Bhold%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rlz%3D1R1RNFA_en___US355%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

Pole Class: Day Four

To mix it up a little bit, I decided to try out one of Poletential's newest classes they offer, Flirty Tricks. This class was taught by Cat tonight and she is an amazing instructor. In one of my earlier posts I mentioned how she reminds me of Morgana from the Mists of Avalon, but that's off topic. What I was trying to say is that Cat moves like water and is absolutely angelic. She has a history of dancing so that definitely explains her gracefulness. I tried my best to mimic her, unfortunately I realized the difference in skill level when she did the splits and I was still in a lunge position.

What I really enjoyed about this class was that from start to finish the exercises and moves we did were fun and flirty (although I think I laughed at myself a lot tonight for looking like a dork). We did some fun banana peel ab exercises that I want to do at home now partly just so I can see my legs rub slowly against each other...

I don't think I can seriously try to name or even number the amount of tricks we did tonight. There were a lot of variations. We started with twirls and spins...hooking with our ankles and knees. I think I actually did one right this time! But I have to give all the credit to Cat since I really get a move when I can conceptualize it in my mind. I had a problem pushing the pole with one of my hands while I lean out, but she said that it's easier if you're just more lazy about it and let the momentum of your hip swing you. Then I did it!

Afterward we did pole climbing and inversions. Cat taught us a lot of different types of inversions, including the Caterpillar that was taught in Total Pole last Saturday. I'm getting closer! One of the more interesting inversions she taught us was what I'm going to call the Butt Crack Inversion because the pole is literally in between your butt crack for support while you do a hand stand and prop your legs up onto the pole. No hands!

I felt like I had a really good work out tonight, especially since I heard myself panting several times. Even though my arms don't feel like they're about to fall off, I definitely can feel the bruises. The bruises I got from this class are actually worse than from the Saturday Total Pole class. Sliding down the pole hurts! So don't take this class lightly ladies!

Another thing that I really liked about this class was that tonight there were only 3 girls, so I was able to ask Cat a lot of questions about shoes and portable poles. Unfortunately she did say that the X-Pole can come off if you don't install it right since it sticks from pressure. Scary!! Now I want one that is drilled into the ceiling! She also mentioned today how important it is to have a good instructor. At Crunch Fitness they also offer pole classes, but apparently there's a lawsuit against them because the instructor walked away and someone got hurt! Why would you want to take pole dancing at a fitness gym anyways? Go to the pros!

Pole Class: Day Three

I was dreading class today. Why? Because of the inevitable pain and it's really bad for my ego. lol. But I actually was intent on getting a picture taken this time of me in a pose...unfortunately, we were doing more spins and climbs...spins and climbs that I didn't really master. But at least I tried! And I have the evidence to prove it!

I'm going to describe most of the moves we did and the steps to do them...

We started off with the chair spin...you start off by gripping the pole with one hand and as you take a step with your inside leg, you swing your outside leg out (for momentum). When you swing your outside leg out in a 90 degree angle, you use your other hand to push against the pole. Then you bring both legs together into a position like you are sitting in a chair and swing around the pole. For me, the most difficult part of the move was pushing against the pole instead of pulling it towards me. You're really supposed to have some space between yourself and the pole. I got some serious pole burn from doing that move wrong...


Then we did a variation of the Chair, which was the Mermaid...you basically do the same thing as the Chair move but you end up turning your body in the opposite direction and use your ankles to grip the pole as you slide down. There was also another variation of this where you use the inside of your knees to grip the pole as you slide down. I didn't really get to this point...

After all that fun, we were taught the very sexy Rockette Kick...gripping the pole with both hands you swing your inside leg out to your left side and then swing up your outside leg into the air...at some point it will look like a sidways v. When your outside leg is in the air, the momentum will cause you to swing around the pole where you can grip the pole in between your inner thighs and sort of lay out flat mid-pole. Did I do this one right?...noooo.

We did some climbing in between...the bunny hop and some other one...but I'm not too big on climbing right now...

Lastly, Amber saved the hardest for the last trick. The Catepillar and the backward Catepillar. First you need to invert on the pole. After you're hanging upside down you arch your back away from the pole and grip it with one hand. Instead of the pole in between your inner thighs, it should be between your knees and ankles. You should have a firm grip, or else it's a no go. Then you push your ass up into the air, kind of like you were a cat stretching. Once you're in this position you can do a body wave on the pole. I was actually really disappointed with myself that my body forgot how to invert. I finally got there, but I had to take my shoes off and once it actually flew off my feet... : ) funny.


By the end of the class I think I wanted to collapse. My arms felt like they were about to come out of their sockets, and only my skin were keeping them in place.

Pole Class: Day Two

I found out today that the Saturday day class I attend is the 2nd most difficult class they offer. Every "Total Pole" session is a completely new class (versus a progressive series) where you are taught anywhere from 3-5 new pole moves. Today's lead instructor was Amy, who looks exactly like Amber! They're sisters.

Since I couldn't do all the advanced moves (Cradle, Cradle w/ V, Russian "Anna" pose...), Christina taught some of us basic variations. The highlight of the class was learning how to do the basic Scorpio inversion on the pole. That's hanging upside down on the pole with one leg on the pole and another hanging off and pointed towards the ground while your back is arched. They didn't teach us the complete move, but I did most of it! And afterward I don't think I could use my left arm for a good 2 hours. Not to drive, not to scratch my noise...nothing. But it was sooo worth it! BTW I have bruises on my foot, side, and arm. Very sexy.

I really wish that I could practice these moves at home on a pole. Sadly I'll be moving back in with the parents so I can save money for school. So I don't think I'll be getting a portable pole any time soon, unless I want to share with my parents my extra-curricular activities. Haha. That would make a very funny story.

Next time I'll ask someone to take a picture!