Taking running off the menu for the time being since I already did 5 marathons for this half of the year. June has passed rather quickly, taking a break from all the hurt that I had done to my legs, I realised that my old injury which occurred while in my Jakarta race last year had not been fully recovered. Since Ijen, which is my last race at the end of May. Though the race was not considered too tough to many, but I guess I was already getting a bit tired about running, so just enjoying every bits of the trail as I could.
Pole Dance
Going back more to pole dancing and stretching myself. I hope to be able to gain back a more graceful form and also heal back all the injuries that I had incurred somehow or another. SLAP has always been my favorite studio as I started off with Bobbis Pole and most of the instructors there are from Bobbis. My second take with Lyrical Pole, one thing I like about Lyrical is that there is no need to wear the 6-7 inch pole shoes which to many, looks kind of “slutty” but in real fact, it is very difficult to look sexy and dance in those platforms. I had problem even to walk properly and look hot!
Taking the Thursday night class, the instructor was Vanessa Garnell, she is a good ballet dancer who started pole only these few years. Her lyrical class focus a lot on the form and posture as a ballet dancer and I was looking for this. The 8 weeks class dancing to the song “Somewhere Only We Know” by Lily Allen, originally sung by Keane. First few classes focused on the combos that were in the song, some of the new tricks like foot ball grip, left leg grip to brass monkey were some of the more challenging moves that I found hard master.
Ballet moves
There were many instances of ballet stance in the routine. From the pointing toes to the running to the pole, the ballet posture of chest out stomach in and standing tall with shoulders relaxed. The first few weeks needed more time getting used to as my posture had been deeply affected by the long distance running and its training. Making my body very stiff.
Pole Practice and stretching
final front mount grip
foot ball grip : very shaky and can be dangerous if you do not balance well
So this time round, I was determined to make the best out of the routine. Booked a couple of pole practice to perfect the routine and also took more pains to do more stretching in hope to look more flexible in the routine. It did pay off as I could feel my form got better and able to execute more of the tricks that were required in the routine. And it was the first time I realise that the nature of the pole plays a very important part too. I could not seem to stay sticky on a aluminum pole but works better on the chrome. I began with brass pole at Bobbis but its spinny nature makes me feel very giddy, however for show purpose, it is the better choice.
Pole Grip
Attending the class , I find more and more pole practitioners turn to gloves and many other aids to stay grippy on the pole. For me I still find the good old dry hands the best. For the shaving creams, to me it works best on brass poles, there seemed to be a layer of grip on it. Of course the callouses form around the palm, but do not worry, they actually help you to get grippy on the pole.
The dry hands are very good and long lasting for you to stay on grip on the pole.
The pole gloves are good for those who do not want to have hard skin formed.
Finally the end
It does pay off for all the practices and stretching. Although I will not say that I did amazing but in a span of 2 months, I did look a bit more graceful than usual. Here is the footage: