Rope and Pole

Rope on Monday went quite well. I was doing a lot of conditioning type stuff which I did alright with, especially as my shoulder has decided to start playing up again. We also looked at ankles. I haven’t done ankles for ages so it was good to go back and look at it again. I only did it low down with my shoulders on the floor but it went a lot better than it did the last time I tried it. We did it on the silks instead if the rope so I think that helped.

My pole classes last night went well. I had 6 people in the first class and they all seemed to enjoy it. They are all picking things up quickly and seem keen. My second class had three people who are all at intermediate level as they have been coming for a while so we looked at some more unusual stuff that I tend not to do very often so that was fun. We also did some work on learning the routine which they picked up well. It looks really good when they all do it together in time.

I didn’t have a chance to do any personal practice of the things I have been working on but demoing the more unusual moves was good practice for me as I hadn’t done them for some time.

Lots of pole and back to rope

So far this year my poling has been going quite well. I have been doing a fair bit of conditioning which I really need as I seem to have lost a lot of strength, where I could previously do five air inverts in a row I now struggle with just two. But hopefully this will come back soon as long as I keep up the conditioning. When I was doing regular conditioning before I noticed a big improvement fairly quickly so hopefully the same will be true this time.

My Aysha has been coming along nicely. I managed to hold it for a full ten seconds at the weekend and then at my class on Tuesday I managed to hold the aysha before moving into a straight edge! At class on Thursday I couldn't hold it at all though but I'm hoping that was because I'd already done a load of conditioning and attempting to lift into shouldermounts before hand.

My classes on Tuesday were busier this week. I'm still getting lots of new enquiries as well so hopefully numbers will continue to go up.

I was back at rope on Monday after what seems like ages off. It was good to be back although I seem to be taking a while to get back into the swing of it. Hopefully I'll do better next week.

Back to Pole

Last night was my first class of the new year. I only did one class as I wasn’t expecting many people, what with it being many people’s first day back at work after the Christmas break. That included me so I wanted to ease back in a bit gently!

I decided to only take two poles which I was glad about as I only had two people turn up. We had a good class though and it was nice to be back teaching again after nearly a month off. I managed to get a little practice in at the end. I held my Aysha for longer than I have in ages so I was pleased with that.

Classes are back to normal next week and I have several new and returning people booked in so should be quite a busy one. I’m also back at rope and back to Thursday pole class next week so I’ll be exhausted by the weekend!

Pole

Went to a mini pole jam at Spin City in Bristol yesterday. It was my first time on the pole for two weeks due to Christmas. I had a headache so didn't really do much, just a few shoulder mounts and some Aysha attempts, mostly on a 45mm xpole which I'm not used to using but quite liked. I ache today though. Those two. weeks off have certainly had an effect. Looking forward to getting back into regular pole in the new year.

My new year pole resolutions -
1) Have proper goals and things to focus on. When I was training for Pole Divas I really noticed an improvement (albeit a slow one!) as I was aiming towards something.

2) Work on flow and grace.

Bristol Pole Championships

Last night I went to watch the Bristol Pole Championships which were held at The Bierkeller in Bristol. Several of my students came along with me to watch as well. I was glad to just be watching this time and not competing! The competition was made up of three categories – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced / Professional. I knew several people that were competing across all of the categories.

There were some excellent performances across all three categories. The professional category was won by my friend (the owner of 360 Pole Dancing in Bristol where I go for my Thursday lesson), Robyn Rooke, whose routine I loved. I also particularly enjoyed the performance by Emily Smith of Emily’s Pole Fitness in Swindon.

I love watching competitions, they always inspire me to continue improving.

Here is Robyn’s performance –

Pole

Pole class on Tues was my last one this year. It was a little quiet but I’m planning a website re-vamp and some advertising over Christmas to hopefully get some more people joining in January.

Pole class last night went alright. I had surprisingly good leg grip for a change but didn’t make use of it as I was still practicing my Aysha and Shoulder mount lifts. I managed one reasonable Aysha. I’m strong enough to hold it but my hands are just super slippy at the moment and I’m not trusting my grip at all. Shoulder mount lift is improving very slightly but it takes time to build it up.

I’m off to watch the Bristol Pole Championship on Sunday which I am looking forward to. Several people I know are competing so looking forward to some good performances.

Pole and Rope

I haven’t been doing that much lately. Monday was my fist Corde Lisse class after missing two weeks (the first week due to other commitments and the second week because of my reoccurring shoulder injury). We have a different instructor for this block. He taught a block a while back and I really like his style. I didn’t realise how much I ached from it until I started teaching my pole class on Tuesday evening!

My Tuesday classes are going well. They have gone slightly quieter over the past couple of weeks but that seems to be down to illness. My 8:15pm ladies are doing really well. I now have three people in that class who are inverting. They all have poles at home and seem to be good at making sure they practice between classes which really shows.

My own pole practice has gone a bit hit and miss at the moment. I am still going to my friends class on a Thursday but I have been suffering from severe grip problems due to the cold weather plus my shoulder injury wasn’t helping matters! I have been working on my Aysha some more, it’s still hit and miss so keeping at it as I am determined to get it nice and strong. I have also been working on trying to lift into my shoulder mounts as I am quite confident with my shoulder mounts now so I need to be lifting into them nicely. Easier said than done though! I can get my feet off the floor but that’s it so far. Still it will happen as long as I keep practicing.