Good morning pole dancers! You’re not only finding out the winner of last week’s giveaway, but you’re getting a new one to enter!

The winner of the Pretty Fit bandeau top was Greta, from California! I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to everyone for entering!

….And!!!

I’m always excited to share giveaways with you guys- it’s only thanks to the generosity of small businesses that I am able to post these at all and I am close friends with the owner of this small business (YAY JACKIE!!) so I am happy to have seen her success (and also hard work!!) the past year. If you haven’t seen Bodybinds before, they are amazing accessories for pole wear that are sexy, fun, and versatile! Tons of big name pole dancers wear them in performances and competitions. I absolutely love them, and wore them in my last performance (layered over a nude top and bottom set):

Each Bodybind is super high quality– I’ve seen the lengths that Jackie goes to in quality control (she hand makes each one herself!), and she went to a really prestigious fashion design school here in NYC for clothing so she does it right– each is really well made and will last forever, and she has a great eye and tons of creativity for in creating different designs. She has bikinis, one pieces, head pieces (!!) leg pieces– you could outfit all the parts of your body in Bodybinds if you wanted to!

Okay I should stop here, I’m starting to sound like an advert.

So, for this giveaway, to enter you need to go to the Bodybinds Etsy store here and decide which style (bikini top and bottom, one piece, wraps, headpiece, etc) you’d like, and which colorway- you can pick any that is listed on the site. The custom-designed style I’m wearing in the picture above may not be listed at the time of this giveaway but it will be available for you to pick– just say “Amy top” if you want it. Tell me what you’ve decided on in the comments (it will be hard to pick just one!!) for a chance to win.

If you’d like a second entry, LIKE Bodybinds on Facebook (you can find their page here) and leave a second comment letting me know that you’ve done so. That’s it! This giveaway will be open for a week, until February 25th, 8am EST.

Here is the fine print:

• The contest is open to everyone, including international readers.
• The winner will be selected by random number generator.
• Winner will be notified via email within 48 hours of the end of the giveaway. After I send the winner their notification, you have 48 hours to confirm your email address or another winner will be chosen. I will need to verify that you’ve posted a link on your Facebook page or Twitter as well– details will be in the confirmation email = )

The Janiero

Today’s trick tip is the Janiero, a lovely and mind-boggling trick which (to my knowledge) was developed by Marion Crampe, a lovely pole dancer who is lead instructor at Milan Pole Dance studio in Milan. 

While the janiero looks like a crazy feat of strength and flexibility, the hardest part is not holding the trick, but getting into it. I’ve seen people get into it from a cross ankle release (CAR), from a deadlift flag press (REALLY HARD!!) or a brass monkey. I’m not going to get into the reasons too much, but I have found that a brass monkey is the easiest entry (provided you have a comfortable brass monkey!) because your chest and back start much closer to the pole than when you go into it from a CAR (which puts your butt directly against the pole and your chest away, the opposite of what you want in a janiero). It does take some side-bending flexibility to get into it, but it does NOT take back flexibility to hold it. It’s more of a balance. You really need to have strong back muscles (erectors) to keep yourself in position though.

Take a look at the video below (or watch it on Youtube here, if you’re reading this via email) to get the scoop on how to get into this trick! There are a few key points that you need to understand in order to get this trick to work for you. Trust me, it’s not that bad!

I don’t cover exits in the video, but the easiest way to come out is to put your free hand as high on the pole behind you as you can reach, and slowly ease yourself off the elbow shelf down to the ground. If you have a cool exit, please feel free to share!

I hope this tutorial helped! Next up on the tutorial list are butt superman (if you don’t already know what that is, aren’t you curious now?), a cool gemini climb variation, and the push out from cradle into a split grip ayesha (which Badazz uses in his twist-off climb). So stay tuned!!

This super cute bandeau stretchy top is being given away by Pretty Fit! Check out the awesome back detail: 

Pretty Fit is a retailer of yoga, pole, and activewear that is super cute and they will ship this top internationally to whoever wins! If you’re interested in this giveaway, all you need to do is visit the Pretty Fit website by clicking here and then leave a comment on this entry with your absolute favorite item of clothing on the website.

If you’d like to get another entry, then LIKE Pretty Fit on Facebook by visiting their page here and leave another comment on this entry indicating that you’ve done that. Easy!

The giveaway will be open until Wednesday, February 13th, 8am EST.

Here is the fine print:

• The contest is open to everyone, including international readers.
• The winner will be selected by random number generator.
• Winner will be notified via email within 48 hours of the end of the giveaway. After I send the winner their notification, you have 48 hours to confirm your email address or another winner will be chosen. I will need to verify that you’ve posted a link on your Facebook page or Twitter as well– details will be in the confirmation email = )

]]> http://aerialamy.com/blog/2013/02/07/giveaway-7/feed/ 141 http://aerialamy.com/blog/2013/02/04/trick-tip-brass-monkey-variation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trick-tip-brass-monkey-variation http://aerialamy.com/blog/2013/02/04/trick-tip-brass-monkey-variation/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:00:36 +0000 amy~* http://aerialamy.com/blog/?p=4586

Here’s a Pole Trick Tip due to request! I’ve clipped together a couple different pictures above so you can see the front and back of this move. For those who are going to ask- the outfit on the left is a bathing suit by Agent Provocateur (no longer available in this colorway but it is in black & white) and the outfit on the right is a custom Bodybinds bikini (the black straps- online store here) over a nude underwear set from American Apparel. The photos are courtesy of Chris Donald and they were taken during Head Over Heels competition weekend in Raleigh, NC!

So, this trick tip is a brass monkey variation! From a brass monkey, bring your outside leg behind the pole and then press the front of that shin strongly into the pole to press the pole even more into the hook of the inside knee. The points of contact that keep your stable are entirely in your legs. To make the hold as strong as possible:

• You should think about scissoring your legs past one another as though you’re trying to bring the back leg forward and the front leg back
• Squeezing your knees together HARD (like you have to pee)
• Choking the pole out with the squeeze of the hooked knee.

The security of the leg hold is what allows you to lay back completely and then (keeping the back of your inside thigh against the pole) play with arching variations by putting your arms above your head and pushing out. This is also the same leg positioning you should practice when you sit up from a brass monkey! If you are using your legs actively to squeeze you DON’T NEED to FLEX the foot of your back leg (urghhhhh) to be secure enough to sit up.

If you’re doing this correctly, it’s exactly the same point of contact and body positioning as a regular brass monkey. That’s what keeps your hips out to the side and therefore causes the back leg to be at a diagonal, which I think is pretty.

If you want to see the entry and move in motion, check out 3:30 in this video. I go into it from a shoulder mount, and flag out of it to dismount. Good luck!!

January went by in a HUGE blur. I was super busy with my new job (pulling a LOT of super late nights) and then every weekend, I was travelling! I went to Texas, Canada, and North Carolina to teach and had a relaxing girl’s weekend in Puerto Rico (well, except I barely slept all weekend). I realized that during all of January, I spent no more than 4 hours in a row at home, awake, all month!

While it was really busy, I did get in a couple performances. One was a fun, sassy freestyle with a cool variation on a gemini climb that I’ve never seen anyone else do (although I would flatter myself to think that I’ve made anything up, I am sure someone else has done it before)– you can take a look at it here, it was from my last-minute performance at the Ottawa Pole Showcase. The other was a little snapshot into one of my current self assignments: trying to find a way to take the emotional connection that I feel to certain songs, and dance to them in a way that allows me to communicate those feelings to the audience a little more effectively. It’s learning a new type of movement language, finding a way to be more outwardly expressive, and it’s been something that I can feel gradually improving. It’s a constant challenge because I’ve always been more about feeling music, and experiencing the dance, than what it looks like. If you want to take a look, it’s here.

February is going to be my month of focusing on ME, and giving myself the space to also really dedicate some time to my career. I’ve been growing steadily more and more excited about what this new job affords me in terms of intellectual challenges. It was hard to leave my last job and the comfort there, but I am growing into this new position in a way that I didn’t expect. I am looking forward to visiting one of my best friends in Dubai, and spending the rest of the nights and weekends teaching privates, taking classes, and taking stock of where I am now, as a dancer and as a poler.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I’m hoping that I can find words to express some of what I’ve been feeling lately. I’m also planning on taking some of February to produce some quality content for y’all to read, and I’m excited to be able to share that side of myself with you again

I’ve been receiving emails and requests for songs– so I hope that these are going to whet your appetite for new poling music! The general mood is a little bit of an indication of where I’ve been emotionally lately and I hope that some of you can relate! You can find the playlist on Spotify here.

And since I’ve been away a while, I’ll be doing a couple giveaways to celebrate February! What, that isn’t a good reason? You’re right. Who needs a reason anyway? So keep your eyes peeled, they’re headed your way soon

Also, tickets for the Flight Club Pole Showcase in NYC are now on sale for our next show in February! If you’d like to support us, please buy a ticket and come to cheer on our performers. There will be an afterparty at the bar next door as well.

At the end of each year, I spend some time going through my calendar to see where the last 12 months went.

This year was a blur of transitions for me. I ended a long-term relationship, ended a long-term job, moved apartments, got a new job, started grad school, stopped teaching regular pole classes, flew over 25,000 miles teaching touring workshops, fell out of love with pole, and fell back in love with it. This blog became more popular than I had ever, ever thought it would and brought me amazing opportunities and more importantly, led me to meet amazing, inspiring women and studio owners all around the country that help me to keep my passion and sense of true community alive.

If I am being completely honest—and I always have been, so why stop now, right?—2012, from a pole perspective, forced me to really internalize a few things.

While I have a voice in the international network of pole dancers, that voice can be a heavy responsibility. You can categorize things, events, people, whatever, as good or bad, but as long as you learn from them, and bring yourself one step closer to acting with compassion and honesty in all that you do, they leave you better off than you were. People are all fallible, they have bad judgment, they make mistakes. We don’t all have to agree. We don’t all have to be friends and sing kumbaya. We don’t even all have to like one another, and if you have your eyes open and watch carefully, you will see things that bother you, upset you, or that you morally or ethically disagree with. Learning how to accept and deal with them and not let them drag you down—that is a skill in and of itself.

The difficulty of finding a little niche that you can sit in happily may be a tough job. You may be the only booty popper in a room full of balletic. You may be the only one who likes to do athletic in a room full of emo. You may be the only one who wants to wear heels in a room full of modern dance. The responsibility of a teacher, studio, or dancer is to honor what makes them unique, what they do best, and what is in their heart—and the values and identity of those three entities may never align. You may not fit in at your studio, you may not fit in at your class, but being different—while difficult—means that you should never compromise who you are, because what you have is special and unique. By honoring our differences, we elevate and expand what is possible. You can pole dance to become exactly like someone else, but then you will never be happy. You can never dance like anyone else as well as you can dance like yourself.

Relatedly—I am responsible to myself to make sure that I take whatever steps I need to in order to keep my relationship with pole healthy and happy. It was a tough year to be a non-trained dancer who isn’t all that bendy, dabbling in pole “recreationally” and not feel a little down in the dumps sometimes about myself!! I need to remind myself to keep a positive mental attitude, to avoid comparison with others, to invest time and energy in exploring types of movement and strengthening and training that will keep pole fresh and fun and new for me, 6 years after my first fireman spin. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone to work on my weaknesses, and also learn how to expand on my strengths and individuality. It’s not the responsibility of any one studio, or any one instructor—it is my job, as a student, to be an open-minded and excited learner. And as a teacher, being a good learner—one who is passionate about pole—becomes even more important.

What is the biggest takeaway you have learned from this past year? Was there a life or pole revelation that you had? Was there a pole goal you accomplished, or want to set for next year? Did you have a favorite blog entry? Please share in the comments!

#1- I’ll be in Maryland at Xpose Annapolis November 3rd and 4th, and in Seattle and Portland November 16th and 17th! Check out this page for information on what workshops will be hosted and when!

#2- The 3rd Flight Club Pole Showcase will be in January in NYC, and registration is closing soon (November 1st). If you have been thinking about making a trip to NY… if you want to perform in a super supportive, fun, and light hearted setting…. if you have a side of your movement you’d like to explore in front of others… if you just want to get on stage and have all your friends come… sign up! What have you got to lose? Check out this link for more info and please share it with your pole friends that might be interested!

I’ve been thinking about writing this entry for a while now. I have a Facebook page that is just for pole networking and friends, and so in my feed, lately, I’ve been seeing pole dancer after pole dancer posting about their lives, frustrations, and issues. And I’ve been thinking a lot about something that I think is a trend… Something that I perceive to be a shift in the pole community. And I’m going to maybe be off base here, or maybe I’ll strike a chord in you. I’m not sure yet. But here goes.

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about:

…people saying that they don’t have the time or energy to compete or be as good at pole as they wish they were.

…people feeling like they need to take dance classes, gymnastics, silks, flexibility classes, multiple pole classes a day, just to keep up

…people feeling like they are not good enough to keep taking classes. (this one KILLS ME)

(read this entry if these things resonate with you, and you haven’t already: Status Quo… trust me, it’s a good one!)

When I started pole dancing, I was doing it to fill a need within myself. I wasn’t entirely happy with who I was, and I was looking for something that was a little bad, a little sexy, a little in-your-face, to maybe teach me how to be hot and how to have the confidence I wished that I truly had. I was looking for something to make me unique and interesting and different.

When I started learning– I’ve mentioned this before– there was no internet. There was no Youtube. There were no comparisons to make with women halfway across the world that I didn’t know. I only had people in my class as a ruler to measure myself against, and I could see we all had different strengths and weaknesses. One girl maybe was a ridiculously naturally sexy dancer who oozed sensuality from every pore. Another was bendy. Another was a trickster. And because our classes worked on all the facets, if you were developing slower in one respect, you could still look at the brighter side, and see where you were strong.

So in some ways, it was a real blessing because I focused on myself. I saw where I compared but ultimately realized that my growth was unique to me. I did it for me, because back then, there was no such thing as touring polefessionals. There were no competitions. There was no life beyond recreational pole. It was just a hobby. It was just for fun. It was just something to make me happy and see progress and a place to go where I was safe. That’s all it was. I put no pressure on it, or myself, to hurry up and get better. I was just enjoying this whole process.

As I grew as a pole dancer, and found my strength, and found my stride within my long journey, I realized that pole was helping me to fill in pieces that I was missing. I started to walk differently. I started to feel stronger, physically. I started speaking my mind more often. I started being more honest about my feelings. I started bringing my inner me and my outer me into alignment. And more then anything, I realized that while pole was (and continues to be) rewarding and exciting and amazing, it doesn’t determine my self worth–it helps me to realize it. If I am good at pole, or bad at pole, it doesn’t make me less important or less of a person. My perception of myself is not tied to how well my body works in the studio.

Today, the pole climate is very different. There are competitions everywhere, for any kind of pole dancer. What other sport is growing this quickly, and what other sport enables 25 year old non-athletes to actually be “contenders”? But there seems to be a rush, nowadays, to “get good”… To be “good enough” to compete or perform or teach. Why can’t you enjoy it for what it is, and what it brings to you, without competitions and being on stage? When you compete over and over again, you are putting yourself in the judges’ hands… And no matter how capable those judges are, the bottom line is that you start to dance and train not for yourself, but for what those judges will say about you. So no wonder there is so much more self-criticism. Nothing is ever good enough. When I used to see pole videos posted on YouTube, the captions always read, “LOOK AT THIS BADASS NEW TRICK I CAN DO!!! LOOOOOK!” and now it’s always “this isn’t my best work, I was tired but here it is anyway” or “I made a lot of mistakes in this performance but at least I tried!” Even when we are not being judged, we continue to judge ourselves.

What happened to being unabashedly PROUD of what you can do? Why is it always about what you can’t do, or what you suck at, or what you need to improve? Yes, it is healthy to set goals. But not at the cost of your own self-confidence. Not at the cost of taking some time to be excited about your growth. Yes, it’s healthy to have role models. A role model is meant to inspire you and make you want to be a better person. But if you are constantly comparing yourself to them, how is that healthy? That is focusing on the negative, on the things you are lacking, rather than the positive. You should’t want to dance just like someone else– you can admire them, but you should realize that YOU have your own style that can be just as beautiful, in it’s own way. YOU are a person of worth, of potential. You don’t have to be a cookie cutter of ANYONE else to be a wonderful dancer. You can be YOU.

I recently posted on Facebook about leaving my job. I had been there for 6 years and it was time for a change, and I knew that to open a space in my life for something better to come along, the old needed to get swept away. I didn’t know what I was going to do next, but I was excited to take that time for myself to figure it out. And I am grateful for the amount of support I received. But I also saw something very interesting. So many people commented about wanting to have the guts to leave their own jobs, that they were also unhappy in. So many people said, “I really needed to hear this.” And a lot of people assumed I would be moving towards teaching pole full time and touring full time.

I found it incredibly interesting–and kind of illuminating. To some people, leaving their jobs and whisking themselves into a fantasy land of poling all the time– now THAT is the dream! To some people, the pole studio is where they want to be, all the time. And a lot of those people, judging from the comments and feedback I received on my post, are not fulfilled in their lives, they don’t like their work, they don’t feel appreciated. To many, pole is an escape from real life.

But I had the strength to step into the vast unknown because of what I’ve learned about myself through pole dancing. And I have the confidence to know that I will find a better job (and I did!! Just got an amazing offer today!!!) elsewhere, and that I have skills that are of value and that someone else will see that I can be an amazing contribution to their company. Pole dance is something that I do to satisfy a part of me, but it is because of pole that I am a better person and more prepared to take on the challenges life has to offer. Pole has helped me to grow into the kind of person that I want to be. It has added a new dimension to who I am and enriched my life. It’s an outlet, it’s stress relief, but not an escape–it helps me to face the challenges of life head on and shake my fist and say, “life, I will kick your ass.” The lessons I learn in the pole studio, about myself, are lessons that I apply to my life outside the studio.

It made me a little sad because I have always thought of a pole dancer as stronger than the average person. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. I had assumed most pole dancers were using pole dance to learn about themselves as people, become genuinely more fulfilled, happier, more whole. But instead I feel like I am seeing an emphasis on the negative, on what is missing, on what skills are lacking. Instead of pole creating self confidence, I feel like I am seeing–more and more– that it develops insecurity. That there are people who need the validation of competitions, or comments on a video, or acknowledgement from the community or classmates in order to feel like they are putting their energy into something worthwhile. I feel like because so many options exist and there are so many studios and classes, people are pouring themselves into class, hours and hours worth, without making sure that they are doing it because it is making them happy. Notice I say happy. If the studio is where you go to run away from your problems, then it’s not healthy. It’s putting a lot more pressure on yourself to find fulfillment and achievement in that studio, and be REALLY GOOD… and then you’re also not dealing with the crap that is real life, and making your real life a place you want to spend more time. If you are unhappy at home, if you hate school, work, or are stuck in a not-so-happy relationship, use pole and the support networks you have built, to give you the strength to know that you are better then that. That you don’t need to settle. That you can deal with the change. That you can make some space in your life to step into the unknown and make your life better, instead of filling it with pole and hoping that it will make it all okay.

Pole for the love of pole. For the joy of it. Do it because it helps you to grow. Do it because it makes you happy.

A new blog look for a new school year! I’m procrastinating from doing my studying, clearly If you have comments or thoughts please be sure to let me know; I’ve tried to maintain all the functionality of the old look while changing it up and making it more streamlined. Still working out some bugs (like how the featured picture repeats in the older entries, kind of annoying) but I hope you like it!

At the beginning of September, I moved into a big, grand apartment with tons of space and light. And then, the next three weekends, I was travelling to Memphis, Dallas, and Toronto. And while I love to teach, with grad school classes starting and homework and 9-to-5 work, I had almost no time for about a month to get anything done at home or really settle in. I felt like I was living out of boxes still (well, I was) and it was driving me a little crazy, especially since I just couldn’t stay organized without a home for everything.

So, about two weeks ago, after flying back from Memphis on a Saturday night, I found myself with (gasp!) a WHOLE ENTIRE SUNDAY to do some reading for school, and do some organizing around the apartment. Because the clutter was driving me crazy—basically just sleeping at home meant that I came home, threw stuff wherever, changed, left, came home—I mean, it was a mess. And the weather was changing to cooler fall temperatures, so I figured I would do some serious cleaning to get some energy out, and then spend the rest of the afternoon and night doing schoolwork.

I had a crappy folding chair from Ikea that I borrowed from work to do choreo for a chair class I taught. And I was taking heavy sweaters out of storage in my closet and putting away the little bikinis and tank tops (cry!) that were no longer weather appropriate (because in NYC, closets aren’t very big, and you can’t have all your year round clothes out and available all the time. Unless you are very rich and have a huge, huge apartment). So. Of course I decide, sure, I’ll stand on this folding chair (even though I do actually own a very stable step ladder) to take this huge container of clothing and hoist it up to the top shelf of my closet.

Do you see where this is going?

At some point, I’m standing on the chair, and my arms are overhead with this huge heavy bin of clothes, and then because this is a crap folding chair, it doesn’t lock into position. So I have my weight on the wrong part of the chair, and it just folds. And as I’m falling backwards, I’m thinking: bin, please don’t land on my face. And then I’m thinking: Amy, you are such an asshole (yes, I thought asshole) to have done something this stupid. And then I landed, and hit the ground directly on my back, landing exactly on the back of my pelvis, right where the point of the bone is right under your skin, next to your spine? And the world dissolved into a flash of blinding white stars. It was the kind of pain where you fall and you can’t breathe because it hurts so bad, and also you realize you are making very, very sad moaning noises like a sheep in labor, because you can’t help it.

Did I paint a sad enough picture? I’m laughing about it a little now, because it was just so terrible. So then I crawled into bed and laid there literally spasming in pain. And of course, in my fit of cleaning, I had started the laundry going downstairs, so I’m laying in bed trying to figure out how to lay without it hurting, and also realizing that I have to somehow get up from my bed (the new frame wasn’t delivered yet, so the mattress was on the floor) into a standing position, get down to the laundry machines in the basement, move my laundry to the dryer, and move my dry stuff upstairs. And I laid there literally in the pits of despair because when you’ve hurt yourself, who the hell wants to go and deal with laundry? But instead of just leaving it alone, I went down hobbling literally wincing in pain every step down and up again. Because in NYC (I’m not sure about elsewhere), if you take too long with a machine, the impatient person who’s waiting to use the machines will literally take all your stuff out, and unceremoniously leave it on top of the washer or dryer and put their own stuff inside. And since my back was FREAKING OUT at me, I threw all my nice clean laundry on the floor, because I couldn’t bend over. So that sat and cooled and got all nice and wrinkly.

THEN I went to take a hot shower, thinking that could help ease the spasms, when I was soaping up and realized I had a HUGE HUGE HUGE THE SIZE OF MY FACE HUGE bump on my thigh. So apparently I hit my leg on the chair on my way down. It was horrifying large, I’d never SEEN such a large bruise. Here it is in all its glory, the night of:

That’s not my butt, that’s actually my leg. It’s a hematoma! And it’s still hard although not nearly as large. It’ll go away eventually. Oh, wait, here’s the bruise that I got from it:

I don’t know if you can really tell, but there’s yellow and green around the entire thing. The bruise was so big that it actually started to drift down my leg as the blood moved out of the area and started to heal. Gravity. Amazing.

Anyway…So, after this whole thing, I was completely laid up in bed for two days. Then I went to work and literally was on a heating pad for the next 48 hours, and tons of anti-inflammatories, and basically miserable. Not because of the bruise– that hematoma (I still need to name her, I’m thinking Nelly or Helen) actually doesn’t hurt. It was landing on my back, because there’s a lot of muscles that weave their way through that space and I apparently made a bunch of them pretty angry by landing right on them and where they connect to my hip bone. I had to postpone my workshops at Xpose in Maryland (which will now be in November instead, yay and thanks to Xpose for being so understanding!!) because a week after the fall, I was still not even walking normally or able to lay in bed properly. It was absolutely horrible. The learning experience here has been, really, DON’T STAND ON A CHAIR when it is not completely stable. No, really. I didn’t think something like this could happen to me either. This is the worst injury I’ve EVER gotten and of course it was falling off an effing chair.

It’s now been three weeks and I am 90% back to normal functionally, although I have been taking it easy and not doing ANYTHING active– my body tells me to rest, I rest. The thing with a back injury is that you don’t realize this, but the muscles of your back and core really DO work to stabilize your body in everything you do. Want to reach across the table? HA! You use your back when you do that. Or get up? Yep, back. What about when you bend over to pick something up? Yes! And for future reference, if you ever need to, you can always use salad tongs to pick things up off the floor, it works. Although it makes you feel a little silly. Also, if you use a heating pad on heat that’s too high, about a day later your skin will ITCH LIKE A MOFO and the itching will last a couple days.

But really– I mean, I’m telling you this story because it’s been all that has really been going on with me for the past– oh, almost month now– and it’s driving me kind of crazy to not be able to dance, move, stretch. It’s made me slow down a bit but also renewed my appreciation for how strong and able my body typically is. You might not realize it, but us pole dancers, we really are a special bunch. We work towards lifting our own body weight, splitting and bending and twisting and spinning and all these things that normal people don’t have the range of motion or strength to even attempt. I’ve been feeling a little bit like Superman faced with Kryptonite– all of a sudden my normalness is weighing heavily on me, when all I want to do is fly and feel strong again.

So do a little bit of honoring your awesome self today. Remember what you used to be like when you were an ordinary human being, and treasure how far you’ve come.

So let’s talk about the Iron X.

For a while, this has been considered sort of a “NOWWWW I’m big time” trick for many. Meaning– once you nail this sucker, you’re officially in the upper echelons of badassery, control, body awareness, and strength. So, if you’re working on this, you should be able to do an aerial shoulder mount already. You should be able to hold a split grip in midair like you’re floating (body waves while you’re there are optional). You should have a rock solid elbow grip ayesha and a split grip cartwheel. You should already be a badass.

I’m not going to reiterate my lectures on twisted grip handsprings (which you can read here)… and if you’re experiencing shoulder pain, clicking, or discomfort, you should absolutely check out this blog on rehabilitating your shoulder. I do NOT encourage people to work on twisted grip handsprings from the floor, but you can transition into a twisted grip ayesha aerially–from a scorpio, cross ankle/knee release/layback, caterpillar, and a few other positions that do not put as much stress on your joints. But still, working on this move is NOT for beginners, not even for intermediates– I would put this FIRMLY in the ADVANCED with red flashing warning lights category because even if you have the strength to do it, doesn’t mean you should. You should only work on this if you are in tune with your body and its joints and its limits, and know not to push them.

So, now that I’ve given that lecture, I’m going to talk about some of the most common mistakes that I see people make when they are working on their X.

First of all, is hand positioning. To make the issue clearer, lets use the example of a shelf, that you are trying to mount to the wall.

So, in example A, the bracket supporting the shelf is mounted low on the wall, and very little of the shelf is actually supported by the bracket… see how the bracket is mounted under the shelf, very close to the wall? So in this instance, if you put something heavy on the edge of the shelf, do you see how the shelf would come tumbling down?

In example B, the bracket is mounted right under the shelf and close to the edge of the shelf. But again, do you see how if you were to put weight on the shelf, the bracket would be unable to support it?

Now in option C, we have the ideal combination: The angle of the bracket allows for maximum support of the shelf, while being placed at the optimum distance down the wall. Now, scroll back up to the picture of the Iron X that leads this entry. See any similarities?

A LOT of people who work on the iron X are actually placing their hands too far apart! It’s one thing when you are holding the ayesha position, and your weight is held relatively close to the pole, and it is stacked over your bottom arm while the top arm is keeping you from falling away from the pole. In a straightedge (pencil) leg position, for example, you can have your arms very far apart and stay stable, because your weight is centered very close to the pole. But as soon as you start to move into an X position, you need to think of the top and bottom arms as a push-pull, and in order to have maximum strength and control, there is an optimum placement position for your arms. It’s really just about 45 degrees. Any further apart, and you are example A. Too close together, and you are example B.

Now let’s talk about leg movement as you turn into the X. Let’s look at another couple of pictures to explain what to do, and what not to do.

In example A, the legs are being held out straight, making a straight line from the toes all the way to the belly button– there is no bend in the hips. Can you see how this is probably the hardest position to hold? The feet are super far away from the pole, so the feet will feel way heavier. Imagine if you had a yard stick and tied a weight to the end of it and had to hold it out straight. Versus if you were just holding a weight in your hand. Which one would be harder? The one with the weight further away.

In example B, the legs are being held out in a straddle. Now, you don’t have to have a perfect center split– even if you don’t, as long as you bend at the waist/hips so that you look like you’re sitting on an imaginary floor, it’s still going to be easier to hold then example A. Because your legs (and feet) are being held close to the pole. Right?

So, keeping this in mind, let’s consult a video to make my last point. As usual, if you are reading this in your subscriptions via email, you will need to click here to go to YouTube to view the video.

Now, the video describes the least difficult (biomechanically) way to get into an X. Does that mean that it’s the only way? No. But if you are just beginning to work on this trick, and need to use the strength that you have as effectively as possible, this is the way that you want to work on it. By turning my trunk (chest, and core) first, I am then able to use the large muscles of my core to control the turn of my hips and legs as one unit. By turning my legs and hips together (maintaining the bend at my hips with my legs) I am minimizing how far my feet get from the pole. In this way, I can hold a “true” X with my entire body turned to the wall, rather then needing to “cheat” it by turning just my legs and keeping my chest to the ceiling. If you try to turn everything at once, you will not be able to control the turn because you aren’t using the large, strong muscles of your core to do the work.

I hope that explanation helped! Good luck, polers!

The next Flight Club Pole Showcase has been set! It’ll be January 12 (a Saturday) at the same beautiful venue we used for the July one. We’ve opened registration for performers and have already gotten quite a few responses, from polers all over (New York, Maryland, Ohio). If you think you would be interested, SIGN UP! There’s no harm in it, and there’s nothing like putting together a performance and taking the stage to grow yourself as a pole dancer. More info and signup is available here.

I’ll be performing and teaching workshops this weekend in Memphis, TN at the grand opening party for Euphoria Studio! Then in October I’ll be performing and teaching at XPose in Annapolis, MD. If you’d like to sign up, come out, hang, or get a hug, take a look at my schedule to get the links you need.

I think most of you guys probably know (especially the ones who have taken my drops workshop!) that I looooove drops. They make sense in my brain, and I’ve never been scared of them. Well, that’s not true– there are some that freak me out, but those are pretty few and far between.

So at any rate, I was messing around the other day and came up with a drop that I hadn’t seen done before. I took a video of it and posted it on my Facebook page (if we aren’t friends already, my page is here). So this is the video that I put up (and click here if you’re reading this from email subscriptions and can’t see the embedded video below):

After I posted it, there were a few comments that went something like:

“OUCH!”
“Sounds like it hurts”
“Drops are so painful!”

And it got me to thinking. I know the squeak sound can be a little off-putting to some. But I did the drop, I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever. I didn’t lose any skin, and I’m certainly not a ball of raw gross oozing pus. So what does the squeak really mean, and why does it happen?

And my lovely and faithful friend, Google, sent the following information my way:

When you start to push one surface over another then frictional forces come into play and restrict the movement.

But if the pushing force is increased to reach the threshold point where it can over come the frictional force, it is then that the two surfaces slide over one another.

If one of the objects is elastic, as skin is, it will respond to increasing force by distorting.

When a fingertip is stuck on glass by friction, the skin is initially pulled out of shape by by the force attempting to move it, and then springs back closer to its normal shape once sliding starts.

But due to the change in shape, the effect of friction increases and the movement of the finger momentarily stops while the skin is pulled into a distorted shape once more. A steady pull will create hundreds of distortions per second, setting up audible sound waves

So, this is just like the physics behind how some people can make a glass “sing” by running their finger along the rim. We can’t see it, but the pressure and stickage of our skin on a surface (like the pole), and then the release of the skin as the skin is slid, creates little tiny disruptions in the air around us– which we interpret as sound waves. Pretty cool! And yet another example of how pole dancing keeps me learning every day!

And by the way– drops aren’t any more or less painful then any other pole move. Especially if you are using pressure at the right points of contact, rather than just friction to stop yourself. So next time you see an awesome drop, instead of hearing the “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEAK” and wincing inside, maybe instead you’ll think, “BADASS!”