Can somebody introduce me to Superman? ;)

s_steghuis started this discussion · 1/15/2010

Hope somebody can help me with the superman! I've done this move ones, with help from my instructor. Now i've been trying this move for some time on my own and now i'm at the point of getting frustrated! 🤔 It seems like i'm in the right position and all i have to do is let go of my lower arm, but i'm affraid of falling forward or slipping with my other arm when i do that ( i have small hands). Is there someone here who can give me any advise to make it easier? It would help me al lot!! Thanxx!!

14 replies

Mary Ellyn · 1/15/2010
There are a lot of steps to getting into the superman position to write it all out. It would be easiest if you could post a vid of your attempts so it can be broken down to help you better. The only thing I can think to say based on what you described is to make certain your back is arched so that your hips are dropped down a bit - then you may feel your better balanced so that you feel secure enough to let go with the lower hand. Basically once the back is arched and the hips are in place it should be almost impossible to still be holding on with the lower hand AND the upper hand.
s_steghuis · 1/15/2010
I've made a video this afternoon but it seems to be too big to post it on the website. But if my bruises calm down i'll give it another try 😉!
Veena · 1/16/2010
If your top arm is too low you'll feel like your gonna fall. If your getting into the superman via the Gemini, then moving into a split grip position with the arms, pole resting on your lower thigh, you will be able to play with the positioning of the arms before you flip over into the final position. To flip more easily think of keeping your nose to knees, this way you stay bent at the hips and can turn/flip over slower. 🌸
s_steghuis · 1/16/2010
Maybe i'm keeping my upperhand to low indeed. I'll try stinking it higher on the pole! Thanx! I'll let you know when i've figured it out!
poledanceromance · 1/16/2010
Since I'm just learning with this move myself I thought I'd share something I have trouble with in the odds it actually helps you 😂 Veena's lesson for it reminded me that when I get fatigued or just frustrated with the move I have a tendency to sort of lean on my lower arm (this is going in from gemini). In other words, if I let my body weight hang on my lower arm, it means my torso is kind of pointing slightly towards the ground. If I focus on keeping symmetry in the angles of my top and bottom arms by also focusing on squeezing the pole between my legs, to maintain that push/pull pressure between the knee grip and thigh, it works out much better because then the thigh hold is bearing a lot of your weight and it's easier to keep symmetry in the arms and lay out flat instead of being leaned downward. It's when I'm leaning downward like that that my top arm is too low such that I can't get the top leg unfolded. Top arm too low = no place for leg to go = graceful dismount 😂 It's really hard to keep your torso perpendicular to the ground when you've been trying the move over and over...I find between ouchy no-no bruises and some pole burn and the fatigue of holding my body up like that, my patience with this move doesn't usually last more than a few attempts. /reminds Veena to make an ins/outs lesson. Pwwwease? 😂
s_steghuis · 1/16/2010
Thank you! I think i have the same problems with practicing the superman like you do! I practiced yesterday for an hour on the same move and my body said ouch!! and my mind said: i wanna do this!!! Kind of like you discribed, my body was in the right position, but my upperbody was leaning forward a lot, i saw that in the video i made. Next time i'll try to put my arm up lower and squeezing even more with my legs! Let you know how it worked out! 💪
Goofy · 1/17/2010
Hello, I tried this movement yesterday wiht TaraKarina video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTVq25gb8Vs I only tried superman from the floor and I can do it at first time 😀 maybe this video can help you too 😉 🐱
s_steghuis · 1/17/2010
Thanx for the link. I saw this video before, but haven't really tried it yet. But i will! Have to start somewhere, might as wel from the ground! 😉
SandyBrown · 1/17/2010
Thanx for the link. I saw this video before, but haven't really tried it yet. But i will! Have to start somewhere, might as wel from the ground! 😉 I haven't tried this move from an inversion yet, but the way that I learned it was from the floor. I stood on one side of the pole (on the left side, in my case) and I hooked my right leg. My right hand was high on the pole, and I jumped up a little so my left leg was bent with the pole really close between my left leg and my stomach. My left hand was below me on the pole with my thumb towards the floor and my wrist up while the right hand was still high on the pole in a regular grip (it's called the push-pull grip at my studio). I sort of pulled away slightly from the pole and straightened my right leg and pushed that leg over the pole. I adjusted both legs so that they were straight and my thighs were squeezing the pole. I hope this made some sense.
carriej · 1/19/2010
ok, I do a gemini into an exploding K (an apprentis, I guess). then my trick to get it everytime is that I put the pole further down my bottom leg (closer to the knee) and really high on my top leg (closer to my behind) which seems to help me roll over into the right position every time. Hope that made sense.
s_steghuis · 1/21/2010
Hi Carriej, I didn't quite get your way of doing the superman. A video would help 😉 Maybe i get it when i'm going to practise this afternoon. Going to check out all of the suggestions that are made in this topic. And i hope that i don't pick up some extra bruises down the line 🦇 , ,and now Superman, here i come 😉!
SissyBuns · 1/21/2010
Since I'm just learning with this move myself I thought I'd share something I have trouble with in the odds it actually helps you 😂 Veena's lesson for it reminded me that when I get fatigued or just frustrated with the move I have a tendency to sort of lean on my lower arm (this is going in from gemini). In other words, if I let my body weight hang on my lower arm, it means my torso is kind of pointing slightly towards the ground. If I focus on keeping symmetry in the angles of my top and bottom arms by also focusing on squeezing the pole between my legs, to maintain that push/pull pressure between the knee grip and thigh, it works out much better because then the thigh hold is bearing a lot of your weight and it's easier to keep symmetry in the arms and lay out flat instead of being leaned downward. It's when I'm leaning downward like that that my top arm is too low such that I can't get the top leg unfolded. Top arm too low = no place for leg to go = graceful dismount 😂 It's really hard to keep your torso perpendicular to the ground when you've been trying the move over and over...I find between ouchy no-no bruises and some pole burn and the fatigue of holding my body up like that, my patience with this move doesn't usually last more than a few attempts. /reminds Veena to make an ins/outs lesson. Pwwwease? 😂 In the meantime Karol has a Ins and Outs vid you could check out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZPWlGxfhF0
s_steghuis · 1/26/2010
That's also good to know: how to get out (gracefully), when i get in! 😂 I've got the superman down... from the ground! Yeay! But OUCH that still hurts a lot 😕 ! I didn't want to push it so i think i'm going to practice it from the gemini.. (to be continued... 💪 )
glitterhips · 1/26/2010
I had the hardest time ever with this move but i got it as soon as i figured out how much to arch my back to give my top hand leverage to balance myself. Also if the pole isnt high enough up between my legs (like if its not basically right up against my crotch) i cant let go because i will fall. StellarMotion told me I can exit out of it by doing an inverted thigh hold so when I tried it I was able to get into SM from thigh hold but not out of it! However the other day I thought maybe if I slid my top arm down to lowered myself and grabbed the pole with my bottom arm I could go into a cross ankle release and it worked! Except it's a cross ankle release where I am facing the pole so I'm not sure if it has a different name but hopefully you get the idea 😀 I had a hard time with this one and it was very frustrating for me but you'll get it for sure!