“Excellence is achieved by the mastery of the fundamentals.” – Vince Lombardi
No matter where you are in your pole journey, it is never a bad idea to go back and review the basics. I’ve been through Beginner twice now and both times learned something in a different way or it just clicked faster than last time. Even though I’m now in Intermediate, I do still occasionally drop in to a Beginner class. Every time I do, I’m amazed that I still learn something new. Often something I’ve been struggling with for awhile just clicks or finally engages properly.
In one of my classes the other week, my instructor said, “Practice makes permanent.” How true that is! I’ve been struggling with Back Fox legs for months now. I’ve been told to tuck my pelvis, to squeeze my glutes, point my toes and engage my thighs. Nothing clicked in my head to get my legs parallel to the floor. I thought I would permanently have dead fox legs. In a Beginner class, Kim just said “Think of pointing your knees to the sky.” I got it!!! It finally clicked! Just that mental image and my legs are finally up!
A few weeks ago I was in a Bendy Babe class trying to remember how many variations there were to Front Hook. As I named them off, I knew I was missing one. I was astounded when an Extreme girl asked, “What’s Front Hook again?” With a journey as slow as mine and a pole card as empty as mine, I couldn’t imagine temporarily forgetting Front Hook. After I showed her, she laughed and said, “I guess I need to go and review some of the basics again!” That was funny to me. The difference in perspective. I look at Advanced and Extreme as almost unattainable some days, wishing to be able to do a Handspring, Superman, Dragonfly, Brass Monkey, etc, and here they are wanting to take a class with me to review the few skills I know.
I will also say, not from experience but from talking with higher level girls, after a while you tend to slip from your solid foundation. Beginner really instills things like shoulder engagement, hand placement, and grip points. If you’ve been stuck and struggling to get a lot of moves lately, it may be good to refresh with a Beginner class. Something may click as to an improper hand placement or grip point. If nothing else, it’s a great confidence booster as you are reminded of how far you’ve come on your pole journey!
