Though pole competitions are not the end goal for many of us who pole dance, we need to acknowledge that competitions can help a sport develop. In the world of pole, comps have assisted in legitimizing pole as a real sport, structured how pole should be judged (such as on a stationary pole and spin pole in competition), made participants take a hard look at the different sides of the sport (dance versus aerial) and pushed competitors to try trickier moves and more sophisticat

Pondering the origins of pole might not be the first thing that comes to mind when attending your pole class. However, every sport has to start somewhere. Our sport started with innovative people who dedicated themselves to the art of trying something new. If you haven’t been living under a rock, you know that most of pole came from strip clubs. However, it’s likely that a google search of “pole dancing” you may have done ended in reading about the history of pole on Wikiped

Looking back at pole over the last ten years, the sport has grown in a million different directions and thankfully, so has pole clothing. As Bad Kitty® celebrates ten years in the business of making pole and aerial clothing, a quick glimpse at the pole clothing options in 2008 shows just how far pole attire has come. Poling in 2008 involved a lot of unexplored frontiers. First, we had no clue where pole was going except that Felix Cane’s 2008 Miss Pole Dance Australia YouTub

As an athlete, being injured and unable to participate in a sport is devastating. For those of us who pole, it's about the social aspects of class, the stress relief of the workout, the health benefits of fitness and the mental health positives of being at a studio. Preventing injuries in pole starts with education on how the most common pole injuries happen and how to prevent these injuries from happening. Being injured on both a muscular and a joint level are the most commo

Hopeful sports are vying to get on the Olympic platform for many reasons, but the big one is coverage. Having a sport shown to the entire planet can change the face of a sport forever. The Olympic viewership alone creates a gigantic burst of interest and the sport sees a surge in participation, sponsorships and generally some new cash flow. This statement makes some of us in the pole dance community happy and frightens others. Pole’s acceptance from the Global Association of

Our current culture tosses around the term narcissist flippantly, pointing out self-absorbed or selfish behaviors and then quickly labeling them as narcissistic. With the rise of social media we are frequently barraged by a deplorable amount of Instagram selfies, Facebook statuses and pole videos. There needs to be further exploration into what is healthy behavior on social media and what is not. This is particularly important for pole, which has both grown and thrived as a c

So much love. Honored to be part of this amazing family and this cute video. #poledace #poleblog #pole #poledancer #poledancing #polefitness

New Post with Bad Kitty USA! The human body is a marvelous creation. No matter how challenging the workout, eventually the body adapts. Each week, we have a routine: we attend the same pole classes and for the most part work on the same moves or related moves. Of course this depends on the level, but once past the beginner realm it’s easy to get stuck. Perhaps class has gotten more difficult and you aren’t getting new moves as quickly as you once did. You feel like you are st

New Article with Bad Kitty USA. If you visit different pole studios around the world, it’s apparent that different combinations are taught in those studios, diverse teaching methods are employed and there is a distinctive vibe in each studio. From a business perspective, this is all well and good, but the real art behind a pole studio is having a positive classroom environment and fulfilling classes where students not only learn pole but feel like they are a part of somethin

As discussed in previous articles in this series, the body is an integrated system and when one muscle group becomes imbalanced another muscle group will often react to the disparity. The upper back muscles of the aerialist and poler get substantial use and creating lopsided muscle groups is completely plausible and probable. Our previous posts on shoulder imbalances have focused on the origins of the most common inequalities and examined brief postural fixes. At this point,