[SpyralBound]

Counts make sense when you're teaching a group routine to a certain song, because as long as everyone is counting at the same pace and knows where their body has to be at each count, that makes it easy to synchronize. But if you're just teaching a combo, or a sequence, then there's nothing to "count" to, it's just Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 etc. 

It's rare that I choreo anything because I don't perform much and have little use for routines, but I do sort of break it down into "sections" of the song, if not actual rhythmic counts. Like, first verse is floorwork and then when this guitar part comes in, I start climbing, and then I'll invert at the chorus… that kind of thing. 

I personally hate the classes where everyone learns the same routine and does it in sync. I like watching a synchronized group routine, but I hate learning one. I took my first pole sampler class at a studio that teaches this way, you sign up for a 6-week series and everyone learns the same moves and puts it together with a song, and it turned me off so bad.  The song was some Christina Aguilera crap (Candyman or something?) and after the 7th time running through the first 30 seconds of the song, I was like Pfffft I'm so done with this. I learned right then and there, I can't have someone else picking out my music for me, let alone telling me how to dance to it. 

[SpyralBound]

Thanks Danielle! I know it's mostly a mental block related to my wipeout last summer. Some days I feel up to it and some days not so much. I think I mentioned this to you before but I'm probably going to start mixing in some beginner classes with my intermediates so I can work on polishing my fundamentals as well as learning new tricks at the Int. level. As long as the studio doesn't mind me straddling the line, so to speak, and doing a bit of both levels. (Don't I just love to buck the system…) 

[SpyralBound]

I guess I feel silly wanting to pull out the crash mats for the freaking warmup, lol.

I have an inferiority complex among my classmates that I'm working hard to get over. Part of is that I kinda snuck in the side door at this studio – I didn't work my way up from the beginner classes like most students, due to my connections. : ) I feel like as an intermediate student, I'm expected to be able to do this, and my inability to do so points me out as a "cheater" who didn't have to level up like they did. 

[SpyralBound]

Maybe if we practiced a little at home first and not at the studio, I think having an audience adds to my nerves, especially when they're all flipping up like it's no big thing. 

[SpyralBound]

One of the warm-up moves in my Intermediate class is handstand pushups against the pole, holding the pole lightly with calves/ankles. While I can handstand dismount really well, and do elbowstands and such against the pole or wall, I can't just flip up into a handstand from standing like they do in class to get into the position. I missed the pole and flipped all the way over once, and while I wasn't hurt, it scares the bejesus out of me, especially on the wood floors at the studio (my wipeout was on carpet). 

With elbowstands and such, I can usually walk my feet up close enough to my body to start getting my center of balance in the correct spot and lift from there, but because of my body proportions (I guess?) I can't do that from standing with my hands on the floor. My torso/arms are much shorter than my legs and I can barely put my hands flat on the floor from standing, let alone put weight on them. My classmates even offer to catch my legs to help me and I'm like… errrr, no thanks. I just jump ahead to the crunches and hope the instructor doesn't notice, lol. 

[SpyralBound]

My grandma, who is in her 70s, was visiting this past weekend. She knows I pole and has been supportive from the start. So naturally, I took her to observe the Advanced class at my studio. Her jaw was on the floor the whole time. While she didn't touch the pole herself (and I didn't encourage her – I trust that she knows her body's limitations), I told her now she can tell all her friends back home that when she visited Ohio, she went to a pole-dancing class. 🙂 Of course, she went sky-diving with her niece not too long ago, so she's no scaredy-cat herself! 

[SpyralBound]

ShonaLancs, interesting that you bring up MMA. That is something I could never support my spouse in doing because I just can’t see anything in it but violence and overblown machismo. Just like some men can’t get past the stripper mentality, I would struggle to get past my feelings on MMA and be supportive of it. I would probably complain about the time he spent doing it and make nasty comments, even if it did make him happy and fit. So maybe before we whoop our husbands/bfs for not “getting” our obsession, we should examine our own biases and be compassionate. Not to say you all would hate MMA but surely there’s something you wouldn’t be thrilled about if HE became obsessed.

[SpyralBound]

I don't meant to hijack the thread to brag but it's an old-ish thread so I don't feel too bad… During my last practice this past Monday, I decided on a whim to try a straight-leg invert from the floor just to see if I could do it, and was SO thrilled (and surprised!) with the result. It's at the very end of my "1st shouldermounts" video (yeah, that was a really good practice!) Not perfectly 180* straight, but much better than my usual invert.

And the funny thing is, it led to another Lightbulb Moment for me. I've struggled for a while with inverting directly into a leg hang because my hands are ALWAYS in the way, I can't get my butt & knees up high enough to clear my hands and hook. Well, when I inverted with straight legs, it made a big difference! I found it much easier to get my outside leg where it needs to be if I'm going to hook it. I can't wait to keep practicing inverting this way! 

[SpyralBound]

Yep! That would make sense that that works better. Thanks! And sorry to make you look stuff up that I could look up, I was trying to cook dinner at the same time, LOL. 

[SpyralBound]

See, I love spin mode, to the point that my static spins have suffered because I don't practice them enough. I feel spin mode lends me flow and momentum that I wouldn't have on static. 

I don't have the lessons right now because I'm paying for a studio membership and can't budget for both.

I'm not familiar with Spinning Chopper but I think I get what you're saying about the Corkscrew positioning. Corkscrew is one of my favorites on spin mode. So you mean, lift up and get the hips well in front of the pole before bringing the legs and body up, right? Sort of like you would with an aerial invert from a Figurehead on static? It makes sense that that would work since it does center me on the pole more than trying to come up from the side. Thanks for the tip! 

[SpyralBound]

My husband and I made a deal. My hobbies are pole and yoga, and his hobbies are beer-making, golf, and recently target-shooting. But pole and homebrewing are the big ones. He has to watch my videos, and I have to taste his beers. 

He's actually encouraged me to get MORE into pole, take workshops etc, but mostly for the fitness angle of it. Having been friends with Danielle Tillie for a while and she started poling long before me, Husband and I both got really used to it, there wasn't any "this is sleazy" resistance from him when I started doing it. (My mom, on the other hand…) But he's never been particularly interested in it either, and in the beginning it hurt that he wouldn't get excited about my beginner achievements like my first pole sit. To him, only the advanced stuff is exciting to watch, and he is totally bored by floorwork and transitions. So much for ever putting on a sexy dance for him… 

I think some men are used to being their lady's "Everything" and once that is threatened, once their lady starts getting her happiness from something else more and him less, that brings up all kinds of insecurities. And yes, some people just can't get over the sexual part of it at all, no matter what you tell them or how many amazing athletic pole dancers you show them. 

This is an old thread so I'm wondering, any of you ladies who posted back in 2010, has there been improvement with your fellas' attitudes? Did that Husband-Whooping tour ever happen? : )

[SpyralBound]

Something about poling bottomless strikes me as… unsanitary? Even if it's on your own pole at home. Last thing I want is to slip into my own slime… (you're welcome for the imagery). 

[SpyralBound]

I've never actually tried nude poling but it doesn't appeal to me at all. Like calipolepixie above, I don't want my big ole boobies flopping around. It's tough enough to control them when I AM wearing a top! 

Plus I bruise SO easily and already had to explain away some upper arm bruises to a coworker ("yardwork") this week. Can't imagine how black and blue I would be after a nude pole session. Not today or anytime soon for me… 

[SpyralBound]

I started on spin pretty early, can't remember when exactly but I think it was before 4 months, and found I really took to it. I had few issues with dizziness and I learned quickly how to control my speed. It also allowed me to work on my form in certain poses like a Back Hook Spin – being on spin mode let me stay up there longer so I could adjust until my knees & ankles created that lovely attractive triangle shape that makes a Back Hook look beautiful, and with enough practice, that positioning became muscle memory. BUT I also started pole after strength-training for a while so I think I may have had a slight advantage on the strength side of things.

The bummer is that I took to spinny so easily and so early that I started over-relying on it, and my static spins have suffered. I don't get enough momentum in most spins to make it around the pole more than one full rotation.

Once you learn how to do a basic pole climb and have it down solid, I would suggest putting the pole on spin mode and just climbing it one step, giving yourself a *very tiny boost* as you get up there. This will get you used to the feeling and you don't have to be super strong or do anything fancy. You can try pulling your body towards the pole or leaning back away from it to get a sense for how that affects your speed.

And good to know too: Some poles are faster than others! I don't mean brand necessarily, it seems to vary from pole to pole. All of the poles at my studio are Platinum Stages and some are super-loose and spin very fast (and the spin lasts forever) while others are slower and the spin doesn't sustain for as long. So if you're moving between poles, say at home and in class, you may have different spinny experiences. Good luck, have fun, BE SAFE!

[SpyralBound]

Nah I'm with sassypants on that photo – yuck! Like Elektra Vallens said upthread, "it's like something pornographic you'd do to a Barbie doll at a certain age."

I think V-Leg moves are OK in moderation but when you have a routine or a dancer who's all V-Legs all the time, in every pose, then it's like… OK hun, we're all familiar with your crotch now, got anything else to show us? 😉