Serzi
Forum Replies Created
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LOL No, I think the mental image is hilarious! Kinda freed me from the spell that move had over me. Was kinda obsessing over it at one point, like “It’s so simple! Whyyyyyy can’t I do this!”. xD
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Dainty or not, I think that move is ruined for me now. I don’t care how nice the lines or pointed the toes are, all I can see are bug antennaes instead of legs. Sad. Really wanted to get that move too, but not if that’s all I can think of it from now on. Annnnd I’m not gonna have perfect legs and feet the first million times so it’s like why even bother w/ it?
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^—LMAO!!! @ “dying insect” xD
This thread is so interesting! It’s funny how different everyone’s perpective is on popular moves. I knew any move w/ a crotch shot was going to be brought up, but I’m really surprised by some others. To be honest, I love the handstands w/ the leg-show but the dying insect mental image is gonna make it hard to not burst into a laughing fit from now on. Hopefully it doesn’t happen while I’m working on that move. LOL!
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Congrats on your invert!!! One thing I’m not sure anyone mentioned is to BREATHE PROPERLY. My biggest obstacle to feeling comfortable in a handstand is lack of oxygen. If I focus too much on everything else I don’t breathe right and then I bail. Take long, relaxing, controlled breaths. It will prevent head-pressure, panic, and can improve balance as it helps alleviate overly-tense muscles.
As always, if you feel you are not ready or are unsure about your strength to execute the move safely then please proceed w/ caution if you try it. Take your time working up to the move. Break down all the steps (Veena’s lessons are great for this, btw), be aware of your points of contact, and take it slow.
Inverting came easier for me than handstands. I still cannot do an elbowstand and can only do exits (no entry-moves) while facing the pole. Another issue for me w/ this is that my spine is not straight. I have scoliosis and the 30° curve in my back has a serious impact on my balance.
It takes all kinds to pole. Work w/ what you got, not against it! 🙂
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I’ve heard 45mm is better if you have small hands or just for stronger hand grip in general, but may not be as comfortable in thigh-grips and leg hangs. I’m 5’10” with monster hands and legs so I prefer my 50mm. Tried a 45 a couple of times and felt like I could snap it in half if I tried hard enough. (not saying I could but, still, I don’t like feeling too big for my pole to handle.)
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I think that would be fine for keeping you primed to pole! Just stay on your toes, moderate that mama energy, and make the pole part of your day even when it’s just in passing. A full pole session is definitely a reward, not a given, in early motherhood. Still, those passing spins and floorwork throughout the day are gonna help you progress more than playing the waiting game.
I completely relate w/ the feeling of “it’s like she KNOWS!” because my daughter always seems to. She snaps wide awake more often than not whenever I go to the bathroom, take a shower, try to clean the house, leave for work, or (heaven forbid!) try to get in a little sexy time. I’d like to say she’s learning to self-soothe better, but I think it’s really just that I’m learning how to not jump every single time she says “Mama!”. She’s well provided for, I spend the largest part of my day w/ her, and Daddy is a perfectly responsible substitute. No need to feel guilty, but I always kinda do…instinct, I guess.
6 months is a very special time. They start growing and learning very fast from that age onward. Don’t focus so much on your body or struggle to make pole time that you miss out on that tiny baby becoming a toddler. I guess all I’m saying is make sure you enjoy their infancy, try not to struggle against it but work w/ them. They’re little for such a short time. Mine grew so quickly I was shocked and I barely blinked my eyes once. lol
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Trick for faking eye-contact (if you feel uncomfortable), look at them between the brows. Imagine they all have little red dots on their foreheads and they’ll seldom know the difference. A dancer I knew called it “the sniper dot”. She joked that if a guy pissed her off she just imagined him being shot and he was “dead” to her the rest of the night. Inside joke that helped her smile more when she had a lousy night.
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Wrist-seat: I’ve seen very few (myself included) that I’ve thought looked good. It feels really awkward too, but maybe that’s just me.
CAR: I prefer the look and feel of the CKR.
Iron X: Can’t do it yet, but I kinda hate it. I remember one year it was like THE move to do in every routine and, unless it was seamlessly transitioned while on spin-mode or something, I was like “…and there it is…again. SUPASTAH!” lol
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Hello! I’m a mother of a 20 month old little girl and (as the sole bread-winner of my household) I can tell you that finding time to pole has NEVER happened once since I became a mother. You have to make time or it won’t happen, at least that’s how it is in my situation.
It’s kinda funny now how I see it would have been easier to snag more pole time when my baby was 6 months old. Still, I was a new mommy and so I spent most of the time I wasn’t working either nursing my daughter or trying to snag sleep whenever possible. However, baby will forgive you if you set them in their playpen for a much needed workout. If they are full and changed and you’ve already cuddled and tended to their needs for 10+ hours straight IT IS OKAY to set them down for a half hour or so to tend to yourself. No one told me that back then so I am telling you now. I don’t advocate the “cry it out”-method, but if you are right there or your husband or whoever it is okay to not wear your baby as an extra appendage 24/7. You’re not a bad mother, you have needs too and you deserve a little pole now and then.
That being said, you also have an advantage you may not be aware of. W/ your pole in your livingroom warm-ups and such may be easier than you think. If I’d had that option, this mama woulda been prancing around all day doing spins while holding laundry baskets and making upside down funny faces at my baby while in her Pack&Play. lol
Like I said, I now have a 20 month old. She is huge for her age (as tall as most four year olds) and neither crib nor playpen nor baby-gate can contain her. She climbs! Like a monkey! AHHHHHH! So, I incorporate her into my off-pole warm ups and cool downs which she greatly enjoys. We do acro-yoga (airplane! Supergirl!), we do cardio (jumping-jacks, wind-mills, running in place, etc), we stretch (she actually gave me the idea to because she likes to do this really hard to describe toe-touch thing. She’s also 30lb so she is GREAT for lifting and she loves it. My pre-pole workout has become decidedly less sensuous but it helps get me plenty warm for it, she doesn’t usually freak out anymore when I leave her out w/ her Daddy and shut my bedroom door to pole (process in and of itself. Bed folded up against the wall, have to set up and take down my pole ev-e-ry time!). It’s insane trying to be a working mother and to make time for pole, but it can be done. It may not be as easy or often as it used to be, but I think that I enjoy it more now than I ever did. 😉
Hope this long-winded response helps in some way. I stopped and came back to it about ten times to finish this so it may not all blend together. Good luck, hope you keep this thread updated! Where there’s a will there’s a way! 😉
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I have purchased quite a few outfits from BK over the years. Sizing can be tricky w/ some stuff, not so much with the PoleFit line. If you are a tiny girl w/ 40″ hips and a booty get the medium size shorts. Srsly, the material is stretchy, anti-muffintop, but if you have a booty it’s likely the small Brazil shorts will not provide enough coverage.
As for the top, I can say they run kinda small. I’m not extremely busty, but I just barely fit the medium enough for it to be comfortable. Part of the issue isn’t so much the cup size, but that I am a giant so where it connects at my neck and underbust seems fairly tight. If you are a petite B-cup w/out much length in your torso or width in shoulders a small top may work. Still, if your physique or bone structure is anything beyond that of a tiny bird I would suggest a medium.
On a final note, I love Bad Kitty. Trish has been very good to me over the years. It’s very difficult to find sizes that fit me well so I appreciate the very honest, personal customer service BK has provided to me. 🙂
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To be honest, I’ve known very few exotic dancers who had anything bad to say about female clients. Maybe it’s due to location (a lotta high-rolling lesbians around here and cheap ass men wanting everything for NOTHING), but I haven’t heard much about female clients flirting w/ male clients. I’m sure it happens…but…why? lol The times I’ve gone I’ve spent more money on lapdances, drinks, and tips than the men in my party. So, to hear I’m unwelcome is news to me. The girls I saw seemed to enjoy my company enough to not ignore me or have me thrown out. Quite the opposite, actually, even though I was there for novelty purposes. One one occasion, I was there to support a friend on her debut night. On another, I went to check out a club to see if I wanted to work there. And the other times I was just a tag-along w/ a bigger party of guys who wanted to see some T&A. My opinion on that is who doesn’t? I appreciate a hot body, man OR woman, and I will pay to watch. If a dancer or a club has a prob w/ my gender I sure haven’t heard any complaints. lol
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Yes. Whatever bees or wasps I have swarming around in my head they STOP whenever I pole. It’s like a natural tranquilizer or something for me. When I can’t pole for long periods of time due to work, illness, interuptions, or whatever I find myself extremely depressed and hyper-sensitive. I often daydream entire pole routines just to keep myself from getting too down.
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Went to a few strip-clubs in my time just for the fun of it. For the most part, each place was completely different. Went to one in Wisconsin that was kinda old fashioned. (brass stationary poles, big theater style main stage, played country music, pretty much only served beer and shots), Had decent prices but was a bit drab and none of the girls knew how to pole. Personally knew one of the dancers there at the time and she used to bruise the hell out of her legs experimenting w/ the poles so she stopped trying. Bruises aren’t sexy to horny old men, apparently.
The other clubs I went to were in Detroit. Quite a different experience altogether. These clubs played rap and mainstream pop music, they had runway stages everywhere (no main stage), drinks were expensive but usually pretty damn good, poles varied from acrylic to stainless to who-the-hell-knows. Dozens of dancers, saw only three who were poling. Those girls, however, had MOVES. One in particular did a crazy combo from like ten feet in the air. (knee-hold, butterfly, dangerous bridge, shouldermount, carousel spin-thing all the way to the floor) She was so in the zone it took her a moment to realize me and a guy had tipped her. She crawled over, did an elbow-stand, clapped her heels, smiled, and said “Thanks, baby.” For as much work she was doing I couldn’t believe there weren’t more men tipping her or even watching. At another club, I got in some mild trouble. I was there for a birthday party, some friends were very bored and wanted to see my pole moves. We asked a bouncer (yeah, I know…no need to lecture me. I know now.) if it’d be okay for me to play around on the spinny pole in our VIP room or whatever. He said no prob. I busted out a few moves and spins, nothing great, when in came the cavalry. It was due to insurance reasons, they assured me, but they didn’t kick us out or anything. Still, I was kinda pissed that we had been told “No prob.” when it clearly was. The dancers at this club did not have a private dressing room, they had to change in this tiny ladies room open to the customers. Thought that was bs as it was obvious the club spared no expense on other aspects. Dancers are the main attraction, they ought to have their own dressing room. lol
Oh, and we bought my (female) boss a lapdance. That girl was TALENTED! She did these weightless looking handstands and splits, she did some crazy booty shaking, was very professional, very charming, and it seemed like she was having as much fun performing as we were watching. Wasn’t pole but I was impressed.
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The movie “Suicide Kings” has a part in a strip club where some chick is actually inverting and doing tricks.
The Rob Zombie remake of “Halloween” has Rob Zombie’s wife (Sheri Moon Zombie) doing a back-hook spin.
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The movie “Exit to Eden” has a scene w/ some pole dancing in it.The music video “Violet” by Hole.
There’s plenty of others but I can’t think of many at the moment.
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The pole itself is about 7′ tall. The B-pole has been cut to fit my home. A replacement B-pole for outdoor use is something I never got around to but completely possible. It is not as tall as it would be without the modification, but it was the only option I had to be able to pole in my home.
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I thought Natasha did an exquisite job representing the althetic grace of pole on National television and I'm very grateful she side-stepped the whole "stripper controversy" (which, btw, almost always gets brought up on tv and drives me insane because it sometimes takes over the entire show). She almost even corrected them by using the word "exotic dancer and, well, I just found Natasha's presence very professional and charming.
I was surprised at the cradle-spin lesson. That move took me almost six months just to be able to lift/tuck into properly without bruising my hipbone or looking like a dying sloth, haha! Then I remembered that some moves come more naturally to others. (for instance, my first real move was a very ungraceful CKR) Maybe the cradle spin was the first move Natasha learned, or maybe she was just trying to show how difficult pole really is, or…possibly…she felt the fireman spin has been tried-and-true on tv for so long that it was time for a new move to take the beginner spotlight. lol
I don't really know what to think of the whole publicity and "coming out of the closet about pole" thing. I have very mixed feelings about it because it seems like once you make it politically correct and it becomes big name business they take the heart and soul out of it. It becomes something other than the pole dancing I know and love because you have to cater to the masses and give the people what they want. I'll say right now that, when it comes to pole, I CAN NOT DO THAT because this is my shelter from the masses and that bs way of judging and thinking. So, it seems, there goes my dreams of ever being recognized by USPDF, you know? Possibly not an entirely bad thing but, still, it would've been nice to feel it was at least possible for me to get on that big ol' stage and give it my all.
Anyways, I may add to this topic later. I've had a lot of thoughts and feelings about this. Still, I would like to congratulate and thank Natasha for her beautiful performance on "The View". That had to be very nerve-wracking and she took to it with a very natural, professional attitude the entire time. 🙂
♥~*Serzi
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Wish I could help w/ your question but, as an original X-Stage owner, I have a question for you. I didn't realize you could just buy the Lite base, is it on the official site somewhere? Maybe I haven't looked on there hard enough, but how much did it cost you?
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You already know my thoughts on Showcases vs. Competitions, but I'll say it once again…we NEED more showcases. However, the budget/profiteering opportunities were not something I really give much consideration to. I'm too much of a dreamer not a do'er. I would suppose that, from a business perspective, competitions are more profitable than showcases and that's probably a big reason why there's not very many of them. That's a damn shame. Now it's becoming like I'm too poor to take part in EITHER of these pole events much less classes. Ughhh…back to my little pole room…yet again. 🙁
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"I'd hate to see pole dancing turn into baseball with pole dancers yelling at judges the way we yell at umps." -Charley
Me either, but the visual I got from that was quite hilarious!
Pole comp judge chompin' on a cigar: "YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!!!"
Competitor spittin' chew at judge's feet: "WHAT THE HELL?! WHADAYA MEAN I'M OUTTA HERE?! ARE YA F***IN' BLIND?!!!"
Audience: "BOOOOO!!! HISSSSS!!! BAD CALL!!!!!"
Pole comp judge: "I AIN'T F***IN' BLIND!!! YOU'RE OWWWWWWT!!!"
LMAO!! xD
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There's a journal entry I wrote about ten years ago when I was sixteen years old. During exam week I crashed from about 40 hrs of no sleep and I had a very vivid nightmare about being a stripper. (Mind you, this was way prior to any pole community that I was aware of and as far as I knew at the time pole dancing was only in strip-clubs.)
Although I may someday dig out that journal and post the full entry in my blog, for now I'll just give you the basic jist of what happened. I was on a stage in a club and I was dancing pretty much nude on a pole covered in spikes. I did not have any idea about actual pole moves so in the dream I was just climbing, grinding, sliding and spinning or whatever but everytime I did I would tear huge sheets of my legs and inner thigh skin to ribbons. There were people I knew in the audience who were watching me; my ex-boyfriend, my teachers, classmates, friends, family, etc. Which of course was way more creepy than the fact I was mutilating myself on this pole and bleeding everywhere, but somehow unable to stop.
There's a lot more that happened, something to do with a blue light and little kid wearing my ex-boyfriend's White Zombie t'shirt but I don't remember all the details. Like I said, I'll probably post the rest in a blog at a later date. Either way, I think that my interest in learning to pole probably started somewhat with the desire to overcome the fear and shame I felt in this horrible, stress-induced dream.
~*Serzi
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And don't get me wrong, I am always chomping at the bit when I see the top competitors do their thing. I do feel that competition is necessary to evolve and progress and that it can be a positive thing. I just wish that there were more venues for polers to showcase their talents without that element always taking the center stage.
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If my shorts move, chances are, my undies will move with them. Fortunately, despite my broad hips my pelvis is rather dainty (which may or may not change after I have this baby, who knows) and so I've never given an outright free-shot…that I am aware of. I've come close a few times, but I tend to only wear boyshorts that have some slight leg to them and that gives me a little extra assurance that I won't be flashing my great divide.
As for underwear, for the most part, I figure "What's the point?". I mean, if my thong just rides up anyway and makes a wedgie twice as uncomfortable then I'm not going to wear one when I practice at home. Half the time my boyshorts ARE underwear anyways so…idk. Of course, anytime I've been at a studio or the two performances I participated in I've worn boyshorts under my boyshorts just out of common courtesy. Still, it does not offer me much reassurance against bearing my all if they ride up far enough. When one does the other one often has as well…at least in my experience. DOUBLE WEDGE-PICK, HAWWWWWWT!!! lol
~*Serzi
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Yes, thank you Charley. IPDFA is held in Tokyo and Worlds was held in Zurich, Switzerland this year. I think Worlds was held in Jamaica the previous year, wasn't it? Hmmm…well, anyways, yes they are two completely different international pole competitions but I didn't always realize that. CONFUSING.
As I said, I think we need more showcases with bigger venues and publicity. That's not to say that competitions don't have their place and purpose too, but there are a lot of really great dancers who either do not wish to compete or probably would at least appreciate more non-competitive atmoshperes to share their talents with the world. The pole community is so supportive, talented and diverse it would be nice to have big budget national or international showcases to reflect that side of it. I feel awkward about competitons because they typically do not reflect what I love most about pole dancing (but that may just be my own opinion). This is why I was never a sports-fan because even if I do favor someone or some team over another. I've never had the urge to be like "OUR TEAM RULES, YOURS SUCKS! OH, YEEEEEEAAAAAHHH! IN YOUR MOFO FACE!!!!" which would strike me as kinda ridiculous when it comes to pole dancing anyway.
Idk, it's different strokes for different folks and all that but I just feel that the true nature of pole is so…non-competitive…or maybe has a more meaningful competitive edge. For the most part, we are appreciative of everyone's abilities despite our differences in taste and I do not know anyone (nor would I want to) who revels in another polers' misfortune when they are disqualified or fall short of their goals in a competition. Quite the opposite, I hear so many people coming back from the USPDF Nationals talking about how great and unique every single dancer there was and how much they enjoyed being there! That is what I feel is the true essence of pole (the LOVE of pole) and just being able to see everyone perform. When it comes to the judging aspect it seems to make a lot of people uncomfortable…I can't imagine the inner struggle those judges go through! I mean, no matter how air-tight you set your rules or how fair you feel your judgement is you KNOW some people are gonna be pissed off or at least disagree w/ you.
Anyway, blahblahblah. All this has just been running through my mind lately w/ all the talk after the USPDF Nationals. Then I saw that comment on Felix's video and I realized "You know, this competition/judging aspect really does not reflect accurately or positively on the inner pole community. It's misleading to anyone who may be interested in taking up pole and it probably scares a lot of people away from ever starting."
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I'm not 100% sure, but I am pretty sure that the comp where Jenyne fell was at the one in Zurich. I do not know anything about how either of these competitions are judged or how the competitors are chosen. That's kinda what I was trying to find out, lol! It appears that no one really knows for certain, wow. Makes me feel even more sure that I have no need to compete…EVER…we need more showcases!!! That's so much more what our very supportive community is about anyway! 😉
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Hey, thanks for looking into it for me! I bet you're at least 90% right on w/ your rivalry theory! I hadn't even considered that! I was thinking there was something about the competition itself (unrelated to Felix not winning first place) that was causing people to go off on it. Anyways, thank you for the details, Runemist! 🙂
And, Charley, I hear ya on the pole kitchen lately! LMAO I'm all for criticism and questioning things (that's how you find answers and keep judges fair, lol) So long as it's constructive VS. destructive criticism. I wish more people would put themselves on the line by giving details on how they formed their strong opinions rather than just spouting out some nasty crap as though it's the gospel truth without illuminating further. Like it or not, we all have our favorites but I can't stand when people whip theirs out at me like they think they have a bigger d@*! or something. Haha!
