Not doing a lot

After my last post a couple of weeks ago I went round my friends house to do a bit of Chinese pole. We had quite a good session although a bit limited on space having been used to using the tall pole at the Albany centre.

Then last Tuesday I was back teaching my pole classes. There were a lot of cancellations and I went from expecting 8 people in the first class and 7 in the second class to having just two in each which was a little disappointing. I’m expecting 7 in each class tonight so fingers crossed that everyone can make it! The small groups were quite nice though as I get to spend lots of time with each person and hopefully everyone went away feeling that they had achieved something. My second class spent a bit of time working on learning the “Teenagers” routine which was fun. We’ll see if they can remember it tonight! I managed to get in a bit of practice for myself as well during the classes as I had brought and put up all three poles. I managed to hold my twisty grip Aysha quite well. It’s still so sporadic though but I still don’t know why.

Aside from that I have done very little practice recently. There was a practice session on 13th Feb but I couldn’t go due to going to see My Chemical Romance (who were brilliant) and then I missed class on Thursday due to going to see Ocean Colour Scene (who were excellent, I’ve seen them over 20 times and I think this was one of the best). I’m having a bit of pole withdrawal. I hope I get a chance to do a bit of practice before or after my classes tonight.

There has been no rope classes for the past two Mondays so been quite inactive really. Will be at pole this Thursday and back to rope on Monday so getting some activity going again!

Back to it

I had not been to corde lisse for the past two weeks due to personal problems so it was nice to be back on Monday night. Jonathan was taking the class this time and he has us working on his swing into catchers which I have now managed to get back (from the floor, still not much success up the rope). I was pleased with that as it annoyed me that I had managed to lose the move. I’ll have to remember to practice it every week so it doesn’t go again! After that we moved on to looking at a double pick up. It’s similar to the swing into catchers but wraps both legs rather than just one. This is used as a prep for propeller. I didn’t manage to do it although I don’t know why I found it so much harder than the catchers pick up. I did have a go at the propeller wrap from a different way in, I didn’t do that well with it, I think because it was towards the end of the class and I was tired because I have done it before.

I haven’t taught my pole class for two weeks, again due to the personal problems. I’m back teaching next week so looking forward to that. I told my students the reason and they were all understanding so hopefully I won’t have lost any. I’m expecting both classes to be nearly full if everyone turns up.

I went along to pole class last night. It was heals night, I haven’t worn mine for ages so had to wash them before I went because they were all dusty and dirty! I was quite rubbish at the movements in isolations that we were doing, it’s not something I do often but probably should as it will help with fluidity. Other than that I was mainly working on my twisty grip Aysha. It’s still really hit and miss which is annoying me. I know I can do it, and when I get it right I can do it well, holding it for around ten seconds. However, that only happens perhaps one time in twenty. The rest of the time I’m doing something wrong and topple straight out. I didn’t practice any of the Becca Butcher stuff last night as my shoulder still hurts from the workshop. I am hoping to do some of it tonight though as I have a Chinese Pole session with some friends.

Becca Butcher Workshops

Last night I took part in two Becca Butcher pole workshops at 360 Pole dancing in Bristol. I was a little late arriving due to my dentist appointment running over 30 minutes late but luckily I only missed part of the warm up on the first class that I was doing which was the intermediate level.

We looked at loads of different things. First was inside / outside leg hang switches which I got on well with. Next we looked at the Holly drop which I had never tried before. I liked it and will definitely be working on it to get it nice and quick and fluid. We also looked at her jump out of shoulder mount dismount which looks brilliant. I will definitely be working on this as I love it. We finished off by looking at different ways into the Superman which was good as I haven’t done any work on the superman for months.

We then had a break while a different class used the studio. Most of the group were staying on for the advanced class so we went to a place up the road for a bite to eat.

The advanced class was also really good. We looked at Becca’s twisty thing into holly drop. See this video of Becca from 1:26 –


We then moved on and looked at a spin into princess grip shoulder mount and from there worked on twisty grip Iron X. My Iron X was non-existent but my twisty grip is getting stronger which I am pleased with.

We also looked at moves from Cupid including Special K and summersault into reverse shoulder mount. I wasn’t very good at these as although my cupid is strong I find reaching down in it a bit scary! Also we had looked at the cupid to reverse shoulder mount in Chinese pole a while back and one of my friends actually lost hair doing it that time so that put me off somewhat!

I had been slightly nervous about going into the advanced class as I had not touched a pole for over a week and I was feeling pretty weak due to some personal issues, 2011 has not been a good year for me so far. Becca was really lovely though and made everyone feel included and welcome. I really enjoyed both of the classes and feel that I have brought a lot away from it. I have lots of lovely new things to be working on. I ache quite a lot today especially in my hamstrings and triceps. Plus my shoulder is quite sore from all though reverse Shoulder Mounts! It’s good though, you know you have had a good pole session when you ache nicely afterwards!