Columnist tries popular class that separates the men from the women.

I am clinging as if clinging to life itself, muscles I didn’t know I owned now straining, parts of my body previously unfamiliar to me suddenly calling out, begging for a break.

Or a Valium. Or a Budweiser.

I am feeling many things at the moment, not one of which is sexy.

“One of the great things about this,” Collette Kakuk says, “is that it caters to you as a woman.”

This is when I realize I probably should point out to my instructor that I am not, in the most technical sense, female.

But there’s no time for that now because now I have to execute a spin, hooking one leg and twirling the other while lifting myself off the floor, all the while exploring my sensuality and expressing my flirtation nature. And trying to protect my groin.

You know, men really shouldn’t pole dance.

“We have noticed,” Kakuk says, “that it doesn’t look right.”

No, it doesn’t. Personally, I resemble a square-dancing primate, my moves not from The Great Gatsby but more from the Grape Ape.

Thankfully, this isn’t about being a good dancer or really about dancing at all. This is about toning muscles, burning fat and building serious self-confidence, even if it’s sometimes done while wearing FootUndeez, a product that bills itself as “underwear for your feet.”

This is OC Pole Fitness, a company started in Aliso Viejo 21/2 years ago by Kakuk, who recently opened a second location in Huntington Beach.

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Yes, you read the headline correctly, Pole Fitness enthusiasts want Pole Fitness to be a contender in the Olympics. And by all indication, they will keep fighting until this eventually happens.

A worldwide online petition was started late in 2008,  to have Pole Fitness considered by the Olympic Organizing Committee as a contender for the 2010 Olympics. www.omninerd.com/articles/Pole_Dancing_An_Olympic_Sport

And why not when you consider that curling is an Olympic sport.

In recent years BMX racing and Snowboarding have been added and now there is talk about adding skateboarding and hopefully Pole Fitness.

There is no denying that Pole Fitness has gone mainstream. For those unaware, Pole Fitness has grown well beyond the $1million dollar stage and has expanded into an organized worldwide competition for prizes. “It really isn’t that different from a training perspective, it’s that this just happens to be vertical”.

People that have never been inside of a Pole Fitness studio don’t understand the parallels between gymnastics and pole tricks. If Pole Fitness were presented at the Olympics this would help break down those barriers (Not to mention boost ratings that have reportedly been declining in the past years), and prove what pole enthusiasts all over the world already know. Perfecting the pole is hard work that gives the participant tremendous confidence.

Pole work involves a lot of gymnastics and requires a gymnasts discipline because of the time it takes to acquire that type of agility and flexibility. Generally speaking most women get involved in PoleFitness because they are traditional gym goers or even gym junkies, who enjoy the fitness challenge of mastering pole spins and tricks. It is quite common to hear “Wow I didn’t realize pole dancing was this hard” from women taking there first pole class. Those that have the patience and passion to master the art of pole pleasantly surprise themselves (and others) with the pole tricks they have learned.

Pole enthusiasts liken themselves to skilled athletes, not much different than an ice skater, or gymnast that you see at the Olympics. It has been argued that if a pole athlete’s pure strength, flexibility and artistry was seen performing on a pole, during the Olympics, it would “officially” be recognized worldwide, as a serious sport.

With all the hard work, hours, dedication, application and passion women put into their pole workouts they naturally want to the art and mastery of their craft to be shown. What better place than the Olympics?

Perhaps Pole Fitness won’t make it to the 2010 Olympics but its contenders say they will keep on pushing for the year that it will be recognized by the Olympics as the true sport that it is.

If you attended the fundraising event, Artists in the Park, hoping to see the pole dancers announced in the June 10 Citizen, you were out of luck. So were the Spinning Angels who were planning to demonstrate their art for you. Their approval to appear was withdrawn when pressure was brought to bear on the event organizers. Because I recommended the Spinning Angels for the event, and because I believe this sort of censorship bullying strikes at the very heart of an open society, I feel compelled to comment on this development.
There is no point in being coy about why the Spinning Angels were excluded. In our culture, pole-dancing is associated with exotic dancing in bars, an activity some people find so inappropriate or provocative that they feel compelled to protect the rest of us from its influence.

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Regarding the letter “Pole dancing debases yoga,” (April 30) in response to Kylie Mendonca’s article about the Yoga Centre (“Move your body,” April 16), Mendonca reported that yoga was being made more accessible, not by offering pole dancing, but through the Yoga Centre’s new Yoga Therapy programs, as people with chronic pain, illness, disease, and injury find a typical yoga class in this town is not possible due to their condition. The fact that the Yoga Centre has chosen to offer pole-dancing classes is no different from my choice to offer various forms of movement weekly, including women’s ecstatic dance, aikido (martial art), gyrotonics and gyrokinesis, as well as various forms of yoga: pregnancy, intro to yoga, vinyasa yoga, beginner yoga, and yoga therapy.

Pole dancing in studios today is a movement form, instructed and presented as a Pole fitness activity. Just as gymnastics use horizontal bars or aerial dancers wrap themselves in fabric into beautiful shapes, pole dancing has transformed itself and empowers women to hold their body weight, and improve strength, balance, and body mechanics. There are national and international sport competitions and pole dancing is up for approval for the Olympics. I was raised in San Luis Obispo and being a local business owner consider it a gift and opportunity to provide people a safe place where they can attain their ideal health, both mentally and physically. It would be out of the question that I would offer a program that would debase yoga and its tradition or “perpetuate the culture of pornography” or “objectify women”.

This is one of my favorite quotes, “Not all pole dancers strip and not all strippers pole dance“. It is so true. Just because you’ve seen a stripper doesn’t mean you’ve seen a pole fitness dancer. The two are not the same and for some people, it is just too hard to comprehend. Maybe it’s because they don’t really want to understand why millions of people are fascinated with this dance/gymnastics style. Most assume that the women who participate in fitness pole dancing are uneducated, drug abuser, low IQ, sexual deviants.

Let me tell you the facts about some of the 20 competitors in this weekends pole competition: We have 6 school teachers. Six! Two ladies with masters degrees, four with bachelors degrees, a scientist, a martial arts instructor, fitness instructors, mothers, wives, gymnasts, a military wife, a life coach, a film director, an author, equestrian competitor, and five women who own their own business. These women are not mindless or senseless. If these types of women are embracing pole fitness, there is no reason why any woman regarless of religion, background, or marital status shouldn’t be able to get in shape with a vertical pole or at least accept it and those who practice it.
I genuinly ache inside when a woman snubs her nose at the pole. You have no idea how it will change your life if you just give it the opportunity. Your body will transform, your mind will evolve, and your relationships will thrive with your new found confidence and self worth. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried or seen it. I will put my pole against the treadmill any day!

Meagan Burroughs
Ogden

Pole Dancing – You definitive guide

Pole dancing burns calories, tones body muscles, increases flexibility, improves fitness and can help tone your whole body. If you want to take up pole dancing then head to a class or keep training at home with a portable pole dancing kit and the pole aerobics workout DVD included for the basic moves:

The Walk Around: Stand tall with your shoulders back. Hook your arm around the pole and tip toe slowly and sexily around the pole.

The Body Ripple: Holding the pole with one hand, move your shoulders into it. Stick your bum out and ripple inwards until your stomach is on the pole. Then pull out your shoulders, bringing your pelvis towards pole. Repeat several times so the movement flows. (more…)

We are proud to announce the first and only affordable portable Dance and Aerobics pole kit. Pole Aerobics Dancing Pole Kit with DVD featuring 2 body-sculpting workouts routines. Made by the Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit factory in the UK. It has never been so easy and exciting to get into shape and practice your moves. We support you with our DVD that includes workouts and tips for you to learn and master. This is the craze with pole dancing classes all over the nation it is time to get your own kit for the home. It even supports up to 220lbs. So it is for anyone who wants to join in and get into shape while looking sexy at the same time! Our Pole Dancing Aerobics Kit Features and Benefits. (1) Extendable top section: For use on ceilings ranging for (72) to (86) in height. (1) Handy Carry & Storage Bag: For convenient portability (1) 50mm (1.96) chrome steel pole: Finish that is the choice of professionals everywhere. Finely wrought, slot-together sections: For easy assembly, strength, the ultimate in stability and smooth joints. No ceiling fixings or tools needed: Quickly erect and take down the pole without cosmetic damage to your home. The option to screw your Dance Pole into the ceiling: For loads of over 100 kg (220 lbs) (1)Easy-to-understand Assembly Guide: Getting started is quick & stress-free. (1)Fitness Pole DVD with so much to learn and have fun with! Pole Aerobic DVD features 2 body-sculpting workouts routines In an exclusive for Pole Aerobics users, founder of Long Beach, Californias Pole Position Fitness, Sharon Polsky has choreographed two fun and fat-burning, 20-minute dance routines. Suitable for all dancers from beginner to intermediate to expert, they’ll have you toning up in weeks. The DVD also includes top tips and a simple step-by-step guide to erecting your Dance Pole.