Skip to main content

Karate 2 / pole thoughts

Quick (maybe?) post. Last night I got all 4 of the katas at karate down pat, so there's progress - albeit small - already. I couldn't go to pole last Thursday because we saw Beauty and Beast at the ballet, and this week I don't have Monday night conditioning class since it's done, and all Wednesday thru Friday classes are cancelled. That means I have Pole 2 / Lap 2 tonight and that's it. I can already feel myself getting out of shape. On the positive side, that allows me to dedicate some more time to trying out karate. I paid for it, so I'm going to take advantage of that available time.

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of really beginner pole videos online of people inverting, and it's gotten me a little irked. The girls in the videos, just like Darlene in my pole 3 class (who will no longer be coming due to some rift she got in with Patty) and another girl in my pole 5 class, are all barely managing to get up by monkey footing.

I'm sure I monkey footed the first few times I tried, and I am aware that inverting was one of the few things that came really quickly for me; but it's annoying to see. I'm not annoyed that they're doing it (see aforementioned statement): I'm annoyed that they're trying to be in the advanced classes and doing other advanced/intermediate moves. Basically, that they're completely ignorant to the fact that they are not advanced.

I understand wanting to learn fun moves and also the positive benefits that come from learning moves even when you can't do others. But it's so frustrating. If you can't even get your feet up onto the pole, if you can't even baby invert, you should not be in a pole 5 class. Period. You don't belong there. And I understand wanting to advance and go to an upper level even when you know you'll struggle (I've done that), but it's out of line. And seeing people posting videos of them trying to get help with intermediate moves when they can't even get up onto the pole in the first place is frustrating. I know it comes from a place of wanting to do fun things, but still.

If I don't take my own advice to heart and use it to keep myself humble, as well, I'll have to bite myself.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Running update - 2 miles achieved!

The Monkey Bar Gym has been closed during the week because of Summerfest, which means all my krav and boxing classes have been cancelled. My muay thai instructor and I talked about doing some outdoor exercises in its place; but it was nearly 100 degrees with full sun and incredibly high humidity these past 3 days, so that was out. In fact, I went for a walk on my lunch break on Friday afternoon and felt sick for the rest of the day from the heat. I was hoping then to get some hiking, running, or rocking climbing in on Saturday or Sunday, and to make it to a krav or hot yoga class on Sunday; but none of these things worked out. The heat prevented me from being able to do any outdoor activities, and no one was able to go rock climbing with me. Saturday I went up to Baraboo with Jennifer Koss to do some hiking and swimming at Pewit's Nest, but because it was so hot, we didn't end up doing a lot of the former. But I got home so late and was so exhausted from the heat (also, my shou...

Pole update: layback achieved!

I finally got my cross-ankle layback tonight! I wore my new Wonder Woman shorts so I'd have more grip in my thighs and followed the advice from a blog I recently read, which said to go into it from a reverse Superwoman. It worked! I was able to get it every time except for once, when I think it wasn't close enough to my crotch. And then because I was able to get the layback, I was able to work on bow and arrow and got it on the first try. After that, it was pretty easy to keep doing it (especially since my leg grip was so good). Also, my flag is looking better. I can raise both legs now pretty horizontally and hold them there for a while on both sides.  BOOYAKASHA!

January 21: Dinner Hosting, Streets of Rage with Lea

Most of today was spent prepping dinner for Jenny Weinbloom and Jenny Lim to share dinner at my house. I cleaned everything up, bought ingredients (I made japchae and Korean spicy soup), and made everything. It was a lot of fun, although I'm a little jealous that they seem to have a stronger network here than I did when I moved here and still do. But I supposed they've been in the industry longer than me and are also working in person. Well, Jenny Lim isn't, so I suppose I should check in on her from time to time.  We spend the night sharing, oo-ing, and awe-ing over horror stories that have happened to us: Jenny Weinbloom about human trafficking tenants and me about my crawlspace creep. I feel bad because apparently it was really cold in the house and I didn't even notice, and then the house refused to warm up until AFTER they had left. Now it's cold again... I also spent almost 3 hours on the phone with Jamie, AND I completed the block document for chapters 17-21 ...