Pole is a Lifestyle !

Part 1 of a 3 part series

I am constantly asked questions about our business and what Bad Kitty is, what we do, how we are different etc.  I found that it was next to impossible to explain our company without first explaining what Pole is.  My common answer these days is that Bad Kitty is a next generation lifestyle brand built around Pole with Apparel at our core.  Sounds good right ;-)  However, about a month ago when posing this answer to an inquisitive mind, I was told that “pole is not a lifestyle, skateboarding or surfing are lifestyles”, I carefully explained how similar Pole is to these 2 sports, gained a new pole fan, and then decided to write down and share my thoughts on the topic.

Lifestyle: (n) A way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group (www.thefreedictionary.com).

First it is important to note that an individual can be a part of multiple lifestyles. For example, being married and living in the suburbs is a broad cultural lifestyle as is being single and living in the city.  Hip Hop, Skateboarding, Surfing, Snowboarding are subcultural lifestyles as examples.

Pole is similar in some fashion to each of the above, and Pole enthusiasts can learn alot from each of these sub-cultural lifestyles and how they grew.  Lets start with Rap Music and the Hip Hop lifestyle.  I was in High School between 1983-1987, what I like to call the dawn of Hip Hop, it had been around a while, but was just starting to move from underground to mainstream.  I lived in the City of Boston and we had access to all the New York Rap music via our proximity, local shows, college radio and friends/family. We were very much into Hip Hop and we started emulating and dressing like hip hop artists with adidas shell toe sneakers (which I still wear to this day), running suits, kangol hats etc.  We stood out in a crowd, used to break dance in the street and loved everything about it.  But we were the “early adopters”, we “got it” it was different than anything we had ever seen or heard and it was ours.  However, that wasn’t the case with record companies, radio stations, labels, businesses, night clubs, record stores and especially parents.  In fact, when reading about the pioneers of Hip Hop you read stories about how everyone told them to tone it down, lose the gold chains, lighten up the language etc.  But people like Russell Simmons (founder of Def Jam & Phat Farm) knew that would kill it, that the “powers that be” were telling them to be R&B artists not Rap artists, pioneers like Simmons let the artists define what Hip Hop was and refused to change, instead they did it themselves by creating fans and staying true to who they were.

It is important to understand that at time, the concept of a DJ and 2 guys “talking” into a microphone was first laughed at and ridiculed by about anyone with an opinion.  But from this, new brands were built around Hip Hop, other brands discovered the lifestyle and created products for it, Rap got better, went mainstream and today it influences almost everything we see or do in some way or another.  Before Rap fought its acceptance battle Rock & Roll had its days of denial and before them was Jazz.

Watch the documentary “Dog Town & Z boys” and you can see what skateboarding was and  how it got to where it is today.  Skateboarders, after all, where just a bunch of “stoners  destroying public property”  their events had 100‘s of attendees, the thought of being a  “Professional Skateboarder” was comical at best...It was a 2x4 with wheels screwed on  it...Today...not so funny anymore...Skateboarders have pushed the envelope and advanced  the sport to a level of jaw dropping entertainment and competition with celebrities from the  “Skater World” now everywhere.  The tricks, the skill and performances are amazing and  are now regularly factored into concerts, live events, music videos, etc etc.  Tony Hawk is a  household name and became a gajillionaire in the process while every kid was out buying a  skateboard.

When the press didn’t cover skateboarding, skateboarding created its own magazines and  newsletters, promoted its own talent to others who “got it”.  Next came bigger events supported by the companies that made products for them like Vans and the different board and wheel companies and the rest is history.  Skateboarding is now a lifestyle, a multi billion dollar industry with major influence in fashion, music and technology. Lifestyles come from people doing what they LOVE and finding each other over and over.

Snowboarding was once NOT allowed on ski mountains.  Ski resorts HATED snow boarders as did many traditional Skiers.  But after a ton of determined boarders, passionate fans and innovative companies kept at it, we have Gold Medalist and American Superstar/Hero Shaun White!  Shaun has long red hair, wears baggy pants, and defies gravity but he is also as good, if not better on a Skateboard than he is on a snow board; thus making him a Dual (sub-genre) Sport Athlete and one of the most famous people on the planet.  Shaun White is the result of a lifestyle, he was introduced to both sports at a young age by others who were either pioneers or early adopters, he emulated those that came before him, understood the essence of the sports and advanced it to never before seen levels.

You have to be a certain type of person to skate, surf or snow board, you need to have guts, determination and a huge desire to learn with alot of bumps and bruises along the way.

I see the all same things in Pole ! I see Passionate participants, determined competitors,  Innovation in the sport, Mind Blowing Tricks, amazing entertainment, growth in studios, Innovative products, bigger events...the list goes on and on.  Bad Kitty now has 20,000 fans on our facebook page, I am too busy to count, but would estimate that 80% of them have a pole or something pole related in their profile picture.  That says something about their love of Pole.  I have met 1000’s of new people through Pole, hundreds of Business owners and hundreds of athletes.  We all come from different backgrounds, we are old and young, male and female, single and married, with children and without, we come together from all over the globe and gather around a pole and we have a blast ! We entertain each other, we gasp in awe and in suspense, we emulate and admire, we learn and share.  If that’s not a lifestyle I don’t know what is.

So the next time you think of Pole think of it as a lifestyle and not a workout, Think about  how you got involved and how it has changed you, perhaps you are in better shape, maybe more confident, less bored, more entertained or maybe it’s that you have met a bunch of people that seem to “get you” better than others and that anomaly seems to be becoming more normal.  You discovered something that you enjoy and in doing so have met a bunch of people with a similar passion and in most cases the similarities don't end there.

Pole is still in its infancy and is still being defined, let it define itself, it is not ONE thing to one group but rather many things to many people.

Consider for a moment what a bicycle is ?  A bike can be a means of transportation, it can be exercise, you can race bikes like Lance Armstrong or do incredible tricks like Mike Miller (watch here) it can be a hobby, a business, a passion or all of the above. In many ways Pole is similar, You can use it as exercise, it can be a hobby, a release, a performance, a competition, a career or a toy.

Don't worry that Pole is new and misunderstood, has negative associations with it or is not mainstream. Just ignore the critics and do what makes you happy... embrace the lifestyle...WE GET YOU as do many others around the globe.

Watch the below video of Flying Laura...Pole is a Lifestyle

Quick preview of DogTown and Z boys

In the past few years, a lot of pole studios have opened up—meaning that more and more, qualified and experienced instructors are in pretty high demand. Quite a few established pole dance studios have their own instructor training program. Some include pole move instruction. Some focus on showing you how to teach and assume that you have basic knowledge of pole dance already. Some include information on opening and managing your own studio. The cost can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars and the in-class time can range from a week to a weekend. Some have been reviewed by larger fitness organizations, like ACE or AFAA, and by taking the instructor training program you will earn continuing education credits to apply towards renewing your AFAA/ACE group fitness certification.

I think that for anyone navigating the plethora of choice out there, it can definitely be overwhelming. There isn’t yet a program that has emerged nation-wide as a clear and accepted standard across the industry, and it can be a significant investment of time, energy, and money to take any of these certifications, especially if you need to include traveling expenses. Think carefully about what you are hoping to gain. What skills will you be strengthening? Who is the lead trainer for the program, and what are their philosophies on teaching? Do you know anyone who has taken this program, and can give you feedback?

Of course, the secondary question is: If you don’t already teach somewhere, and are hoping to begin, why do you want to teach? Is this truly your passion or a way to pay the bills? There's a lot at stake when you are a teacher. You are responsible for getting students excited about pole dancing. You are their gateway to this world that we all love so much. A bad teacher can create an unsafe environment where injuries occur regularly, or discourage a student from further study. Being a teacher isn't about you. It's about your students.

I've only been a teacher for about a year and a half, but I will say that I have been a student for a long while. I think that was really critical in my own development because it enabled me to come up with pretty specific ideas on what kind of teacher I wanted to be.

When I was planning out my transition to teaching, I decided that the first thing I should do was to take as many classes as possible, in as many studios and types of movement as possible, to learn more about how others teach. I took class in every pole studio in NYC with as many different people as I could, went to all the major dance studios and circus schools, and took pilates and yoga classes up the wazoo. I learned a ton about different verbal and nonverbal cues, warmup exercises, and different ways to apply and explain a correction. It was also invaluable to see the ways that the teacher controlled the class, kept up the energy level, and encouraged camaraderie and friendship within a group… or failed to do so. I quickly realized that half of being a good teacher is actual instruction, but the other half is managing people.

Instructing well is relatively straight forward. Being a good student or amazing pole dancer does not mean that you have the skills to be a good teacher. Learning how to break down a trick or troubleshoot exactly what a student is doing wrong takes experience and a different mindset than being a student– and is something that you get better at with time. It took me years before I felt comfortable with that ability with my own pole classmates, nevermind a paying student! You need to be able to completely step into someone else’s brain to understand how they learn and figure out how to translate your teaching into their language. Some people need to know exactly what muscle is engaging, some need to watch you do it a few times, some need to just try it over and over again and have you correct them until they get it right. When you teach, you have to completely let go of your ego and assume: “if this student does not understand, it’s because I’ve done something wrong in teaching. I may not be explaining well enough, or pacing the class incorrectly, or introducing skills that my students aren’t ready for yet.”

Learning to manage the personalities and energy in a class is really difficult, and just as I’m learning more about the technical side of instructing every day, I’m still learning this aspect of teaching as well. I think that students can clearly see passion, joy, and enthusiasm, and they will reflect it back to you if that’s what you’re putting out. If you are happy to be there, then students will feel it and appreciate your energy. If you hear a student being self-defeatist, or negative and down on themselves, and you nip it in the bud with honesty, empathy, and encouragement that comes from a genuine place, then you will help plant seeds of self-confidence. You have a lot of power as a teacher, and if you don’t have pure intentions, or are motivated by any kind of selfishness, you are doing a disservice to the students who pay money to spend time with you. If you foster a respectful relationship with each student in your class, and give of your time to everyone equally without favoritism, then students will see that they don’t have to be “good,” or put pressure themselves, to have fun and feel worthwhile. And that kind of positivity spreads.

I think that to be a good teacher, you have to actually like and enjoy teaching others. I think you should think carefully about why you want to teach, because if you’re not excited about it for the right reasons, then you are putting your students in harm’s way by not being as conscientious and serious about teaching as possible. Some people see teaching as the “next step” in a typical pole journey– once you get “good enough”, you teach. It’s not. Teaching isn’t for everyone, and you lose time to work on your own progression as a student. It’s a sacrifice, and the inherent reward of teaching needs to be enough.

The turning point for me—when I really and truly felt like a teacher—was after I got my CPR/AED certification. There was a moment at the end of the class, after we put away the breathing dummies and got our exam booklets and had our #2 pencils poised. The lead instructor said something along the lines of: “you may or may not pass your written test. If you do, and you get the certification card, and you carry it in your wallet, you know you have the choice to help when you see someone who needs it. But taking this course gives you responsibility: if you pass that person by, who else may be able to really help them?”

Being a good instructor and a responsible human being is a choice you make every day. You are in a position to help people as much as you are mentally and physically able: how seriously will you take that?

This is a slightly edited version of an entry that originally ran on my Aerial Amy blog. If you liked what you read, you can connect with me on Facebook or check out my pole dance blog, which is updated daily!