[Charley]

LOL! not sure. I know she has a super busy schedule with her aerial shows and we are doing some doubles work together and teaching and both preparing for comps.

Maybe she and I can make a road trip together sometime?

[Charley]

Happy Anniversary! that’s a gorgeous outside leg hang! Congrats!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[Charley]

You are going to be great! no worries! i can’t wait to read all about it.

[Charley]

I think we forgot ipdfa and the world’s

I think it’s great there are so many choices popping up for dancers to compete. I think it gives new people a chance a to get out there.

The problem with many local competitions – I don’t mean studio affiliated comps – but local comps is that many of them are rigged. I was told that in the local comp I was in it was between me and another girl and we were supposed to have a trick off/dance off but they picked someone else and had a booty shake off and the girl who was no where near in points actually won. We have comps put on by radio stations but again they have called in people they know to be in the comp and really no matter how good you are, you aren’t going to win. I think/hope studio based pole comps are going to be much more fair.

As far as national comps I thought EMW did it perfectly – they had different categories and judged different criteria.

[Charley]

I will be hitting up one of the jams!

[Charley]

As someone interested in competing and going to a competition – I did ask those questions and really thought about whether or not I wanted to compete in the comps I submitted for.

EMW Pole-Am I submitted did not get in but Igot great feedback and it was a good experience to push myself in ways I had not before. Even thought I didn’t get in, I was proud of the way I danced that day. I also have a lot of respect for Michula and knew she had run a comp previously so I felt like it would be a well organized event.

I also submitted for EMW East Coast both divisions and sent in the wrong type of videos but again they were solid videos and I was proud of how far I had come in just a couple of weeks. Again I got great feedback from Sam which ultimately lead me to USPDF.

I wasn’t sure if I was ready for USPDF but I do very much support the USPDF and consider them the creme de la creme of pole competitions. The USPDF is very clear on what they expect from applicants and finalists. I’ve met Wendy and taken a class with her and have the highest regards for her as a teacher and competition organizer. I feel that all of the USPDF comps have been well run and organized so I felt comfortable with the idea of getting in – if I did. I did – now back to working on those darned splits.

I think competition is good when it’s in a healthy environment. Competition gives us something to work towards and an inspiration to push ourselves higher.

I don’t think you can have too many competitions because there are so many different things to be judged in pole dancing however it’s very important to run them well and let competitors know what is expected of them. What they are being judged on. Ultimately comps shold distinguish themselves from one another with their titles, I agree how many national pole champs can we have? Let’s creat diversity because pole is diverse.

Another thing I would like to see more of is Showcases, let’s enjoy one anohter in a non competitive environement too. Let’s let everyone of all skill level have a go at performing. I enjoy putting together non competitive events and showing off new people and advanced together on the same poles and cheering each other on.

[Charley]

It’s actually done with strings, some pulls onthem and you float up https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

I have given up on this one all together for now.

[Charley]

LOL, this is in addition to performances https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

I wanted to do a small fun little comp geared for beginner/intermediate dancers and Veena totally made it possible and she is being ever so generous!!!!!!! OMG!

[Charley]

spin off announcement! read original post

[Charley]

I am going to be staying at the Towne Place suites and as of right now its just me and Melanie
(PoleFit Rev owner) so we are looking for roomates. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[Charley]

I also wanted to point out that learning emergency exits is good but using the mats to implement them and actually having students "fall" and working on what to do in emergency situations is so important.

I feel like you really can’t use emergency exits if you have never fallen and a mat in place under a student can be used to reinforce what to do when you lose it. I had a girl fall this last week but she had a mat under her anf implemented the emergency exit for that move. falling is a panic situation and its easy to forget everything you have learned about falling.

No one is going to practice emergency exits on a hardwood floor.

[Charley]

I just taught the hood ornament to figurehead a couple weeks ago out of a climb – I like this way because it’s less tiring if you are trying a move over and over and over https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif which is how I learn things.

Starts at 1:07 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blRViiIOMlY

E-vamp mentioned hood ornamanent and thats the first move we do before figure head that is the easiest way to get into a figurehead because you have leg and armpit grip and can hang out there for a second. I love hood ornament so pretty!!!!

[Charley]

Are you using it in spin mode only then?

I liked mine better without the pad too! Much more stable.

[Charley]

YOu can do an aerial shouldermount from a chinese grip but the prolem there is getting into your grip while you are up on the pole.

learned claw grip or cupped grip is probably best because you can transitions easiest into position with these grips.

I also hard the hardest time with aerial sm.

So here’s what I did:
I worked on sm from the ground – no kicking or swinging
I worked on aerial basic inverting with straight legs – no swinging
I works on sm split – coming back down rather than mounting the pole keeping my legs straight

Once I could do all of those things my abs were strong enough to get me up there.

The best way to do aerial sm is out of the figurehead. You can get into it from a climb that way you aren’t so tired from doing all those supermans https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

For me this is such a use or lose it move too. I can lose my aerial sm so fast!

[Charley]

X-pole has low profile stages coming out and I will be interested to see how they far against the star. I think having a low base will always lead to tons of movement.

I sort of regret buying mine only because I don’thave a real need for a stage pole – I am afraid it’s going to be used more by the studio than me and I already have one of my poles up at the studio. Which would be fine if I owned the sutdio but I don’t. I would have been better off buying super poles but we did use it for a kick A$$ photo shoot and maybe more to come.

[Charley]

YAY!!!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[Charley]

I think every studio should have crash mats because without them I am sure you canbe held negligent AND your insurance probably won’t cover it.

That being said – Our studio recently purchased crash mats and they have been helpful but I have been teaching without them for a very long time. I think not having crash mats has made me a better teacher because I am much more careful about what moves are given to students to work on.

I don’t want students building up a dependance on mats and by that I mean not spending time learning emergency exits, or simply not dismounting properly because there is a mat there. I noticed that because the mat was down people would just fall out of the move rather than working on getting out of it properly.

I also teach from the floor – we come up to laybacks before going down into them, we put our legs in inverted position a million times before going up from a squat. I require any advanced moves to be spotted by me and only me and no one is allowed to them – they form a line and watch me spot and talk each student through the move.

I like having crash mats for myself and I do think they help with student confidence. When I do aerials we have a crash mat a hge one – but when I had to do a routine without a mat totally freaked out. I needed the crash mat to be confident. I will use mats in advanced courses but still spot and still only use one pole. I can not imagine just using mats, I am very hands on. I use mats to work on scary moves like the tornado and stuff and I think they are helpful for moves that are difficult to spot like inverting for the first time from standing.

Every studio should have a mat. You only need one, there is no excuse not to have one.

[Charley]

To whom it may concern,

I am sorely disappointed in Mars decision not to print personalized m&m’s for Christopher Brand. Not only has the Mars Corporation promoted their green m&m’s with questionable commercials that perhaps are not suitable for young veiwers but the Mars Corp. has alienated a group of men and women who could have brought you a lot of business.

The silhouetted image you decided would not be suitable for your candies is an image of a women doing a beautiful, difficult advanced trick on a fitness pole. Please note I did not say "stripper pole." The lack of consideration shown to us as a community reflects poorly on your company. As Christopher tried to explain, we are not strippers, our images do not contain nudity and we will not be using your products in our studios or homes.

Why is it okay to produce a commercial with a green candy walking up to a pole and stripping off her green coating but an image of an athlete on an apparatus is unsuitable? If the said image were of a woman on a trapeze would you have questioned it? If it were just a silhouetted image of a woman would have denied the image? Why does the dance pole suddenly make what looks to be a gymnastic move inappropriate?

The woman who’s image you denied is a professional trainer and has the most highly visited pole fitness website in the USA and likely worldwide. Her lessons are taken internationally by athletes. Several members of her website are like myself, competitive pole dancers, who do not wish to have our apparatus called a "stripper pole." She is highly revered in pole community and continues to influence the industry.

This is an outrage to our community. I do hope you will re-evaluate the situation and decide to print the candies. Afterall, they were a birthday present from a man who loves and cherishes his wife. Furthermore, failure to print these candies shows a community of athletes that our business is not important to your company and that the Mars Corporation finds the sport of pole fitness distasteful. I sincerely hope this story will have a happy ending.

—
"Charley"
PoleFIT Revolution
Marketing Director/Studio Manager/Head Instructor
http://www.polefitrevolution.com
http://www.facebook.com/polefitrevolution
http://www.youtube.com/polefitrevolution

[Charley]

What a thoughtful gift Chris!

They are going to get a peice of my mind too.

I’m appalled at the green stripping m&m but they can’t put a pole athlete on an m&m? Really?

[Charley]

Thank you all so much!!!!! It was a good one! Time to order my pressie (45mm stainless steel!!!!)

[Charley]

Tentatively the Jam is set for Saturday afternoon to accomodate parties Saturday night. I am thinking 2-5pm so after we can all grab a bite to eat and talk.

[Charley]

I spin both left and right and my poles are pretty stuck together so it hasn’t been a huge issue.

They do have extensions for the skinny I have both the 1ft and the 2ft for mine.

I am wondering the if the 2.0 has less movement than the 1.75???

[Charley]

should be totally fine on grass. Just make sure the ground is very level.

[Charley]

I have the star stand alone 1.75. I can get the base of this pole to move. Because the platform is low profile you get much more movement out of it then you would with stage that is higher up. If you are new to pole you may not like the movement. Like all PS products it’s super simple to change from spin to static with the pull of a pin and it’s stainless steel. Set up is fairly easy – doesn’t take long.

I have done photo shoots with this pole and love it for things like that.

How tall are your ceilings? If they are vaulted PS sells an adapter for that.

[Charley]

10/10 is the workshops – hoping to keep that date for the showcase as well but that may move to Saturday night – hoping not though.