It's perfectly normal. You will get bruises in the beginning (even the pros get bruises when learning new moves!) As time goes on, it takes more and more effort to bruise in a certain area. So in the beginning you might get a nasty bruise from climbing or from a pole sit, but eventually you will build more muscle in the area and you'll be relying less on your skin to hold you there. Then eventually you'll build up tolerance, and you won't get bruises from it anymore! And then you'll learn new moves and you'll start getting bruises in new places! And so on and so forth.
Bruises are a way of life with pole, but after a while you just learn to laugh about them. Other polers will certainly understand, and truthfully the bruises usually look worse than they feel. I tend to bruise really easily, so it's a little awkward in the summer time when I wear shorts and skirts. I sometimes worry that strangers think I'm ill or that I'm a victim of violence! Nope, just a poler…