I'd be rock solid, baby!

When it comes to sports, there comes a point when natural ability becomes null and void. Sure, some people have an aptitude for [insert sport here] in the beginning; they're the ones who skyrocket on the learning curve. But eventually everyone reaches that point in their training when they can't depend on that raw talent anymore and they have to begin really working for it.

In the past, I'll admit, I reached that point with various activities and gradually lost interest or motivation and they simply disappeared from my life. In most of these cases, I whole-heartedly regret this. I've now reached that point in my pole training. While for the past two years everything has come fairly easily (not to say I haven't worked my ass off, but the aptitude I mentioned before certainly carried me far), I've been finding that recently my tricks aren't progressing like I want them to. I've hit a plateau.

And so my focus has shifted. Where before I was constantly pushing for new and more challenging tricks, now I'm determined to build my strength and flexibility in order to improve the tricks I have. It's very much about attitude. I have to do away with my frustrations and channel my energy instead in a direction of pure and solid strength, away from the pole. New tricks will come, but not until I have the muscles to facilitate them. Even in the few short weeks that Pole Fit has been running at Mariposa Dance Company, I'm already feeling stronger. The fact that those are all beginner classes is beside the point. We do conditioning exercises and work on technique just as much as in the advanced classes at Spinbuddies. Yes, the exercises are easier, but they still build strength and doing them five or six times a week makes a noticeable difference.

For example, in tonight's advanced class down in Newmarket, I was working on the same tricks I've been hacking away at for weeks, months, months and months, but I felt really strong doing them, which allowed me to push just that little bit further. I still can't hold my Iron X, but every week it gets closer, more solid, more controlled, and that's what I'm going for right now. Nothing worth getting comes in a day.

So a note and shout-out to all my MDC Pole Fit ladies: in the short amount of time you've been under my "care and guidance" I've already seen improvement. Some of you make it in leaps and bounds, some of you tiptoe your way along, but you're all doing better and you're all getting stronger. I'm so proud of you and I'm excited every single week to teach and train you all.

I'd live in a forest.

Pole Fit at Mariposa Dance Company kicked off this week. On Saturday, Corinna (the studio owner) and I assembled all the X-Stages. We have six for the studio with 45mm chrome poles, plus my personal brass pole (I call him Paul). We have a rack that all the stages sit into when they're not being used so that we don't have to set them up from scratch before and take them apart after classes. We got all the stages onto the rack so that we could test-run setting them all up and figure out the easiest and fastest way to get everything ready for class. It only took us about five minutes to get all the stages spread around the room, which was faster than we expected. We were a little concerned about set-up time before class because of how many poles there are to set up and the weight of each X-Stage. We managed to develop a system though, so between the two of us, we can get everything ready within about 10 minutes, including checking each pole to make sure they're all secure. It was definitely neat to see them all in the studio... like a forest of poles.

Tuesday was our first night of classes, beginning at 7:30. We had three classes in a row. Being my first time teaching, I was nervous, but things seemed to go off without a hitch and all the ladies enjoyed their classes. We had a fun night, laughing, working out and doing some basic pole moves. For week one, I introduced some conditioning exercises that we'll be working on for the next two months, as well as the simplest skills and spins for beginners. Over the next few weeks of the course, we'll be building our repertoire of spins as well as starting some combinations and choreography.

Besides the Tuesday classes, we have one on Friday nights and one Saturday afternoons. Unfortunately, Simcoe County has just been slammed by a snow storm, so Mariposa's dance classes for tonight, including Pole Fit, have been cancelled due to the weather and road conditions. Our Friday ladies will be a week behind the other four classes, but that's just how it'll have to be. The roads are practically impassable. Oh winter. Oh Canada.