CPFA Championships 2012

Hallelujah!

The first Canadian Pole Fitness Association Championships took place on Saturday, October 13 at The Edgewater Casino. I dragged my boyfriend and girlfriend to the show with the enthusiasm of an over-excited infomercial advertiser. Although I cannot speak for how the show went for the athletes back stage, I can give an account of the night from a spectator's perspective.

The performances themselves were spectacular! I highly suggest viewing them all to truly appreciate how much hard work and determination the competitors put into their passion. I didn't see the Amateur division, but did watch the Semi-Pros and Pros. One memorable performance for me was from Semi-Pro Liona, I believe from Quebec, who did a very entertaining number to one of my favorite artists Parov Stelar. She placed third in her division.

Another performance that I enjoyed was from Semi-Pro Tara (I don't remember where she is from, but definitely not from BC). Her performance was very lyrical and you could tell that she used to be an extraordinary dancer - my guess would be ballet as her legs look stunning, and she moves with the kind of ease that I've only seen at ballet performances. In my opinion, I would not have put her up against the Semi-Pros, but rather would have put her in the Pro division. She was heads above all the Semi Pro competitors.

Of course, I cannot go without the mention of our very own Veronica - an instructor and student at our studio, who won the Pro division with her stupefying and nothing short of amazing performance, and who now gets a ticket to Zurich, Switzerland to compete in the World's and proudly represent Canada. The entire room was on the edge of their seats when she was on stage, and the cheers didn't stop. Her routine was fast paced, complicated, and enthralling. She placed second at the provincial championships in BC due to a spin vs static pole mishap, but got through to the nationals as a wild card competitor and blew everyone away, making the most of her valuable second chance. Veronica is an inspiration to all of us and one of the main reasons we love the sport of pole with our hearts and souls. For competition reasons, there is no video of her routine at the moment, but once she has competed at World's, I will make sure to post it so that her inspiration can be shared. Veronica is currently training hard for her big chance, and is trying to overcome such challenges as non-standardized, unknown materials that will be used for the poles at the World's, as well as the fact that her preliminaries do not allow spectators, and hence will not allow her to feed off the cheers and put extra pressure on her due to the silence of the room.

Being the picky perfectionist that I am, I do have to say that, although the performances were all of top notch quality, watching a competition for the second time made me notice more technicalities in the performers. The videos that are posted above hide a lot, and generally make the competitors look much better. Watching the BC pole provincials, I was amazed from the first minute, and thought that everyone was doing so great. The stars were out of the eyes by the Nationals, and I could better see various mistakes, mishaps, and slips, but only due to the fact that I am immersed in the sport, and am sure that to a layman, none of the little imperfections would have been noticeable at all.

The show was at a Casino this year; last year, it was at the Vogue Theater  Although the venue was better suited in the fact that it was the right size for the size of the crowd, as well as the fact that it served alcohol to add to the entertainment factor, I still liked the image that comes with holding the championships at a theater much more. All things considered, it was a good compromise.

The poles were provided by X-Pole, as per usual. By now my opinion of X-Pole is probably common knowledge. The poles looked solid and were attached to the stage rigging at the top. The pole cleaners were none other than our own studio's students, and looked like they were doing a great and thorough job of keeping the poles pristine between all the performances.  I did notice that the competitors were slipping more on the spin pole, but that may have been to the nature of the pole, as well as to the rumors that X-pole competition spin poles have a crazy fast spin. As a side note, I think it is a good idea to have more than 2 pole cleaners and have them clean in shifts throughout the night. I saw some pictures of their poor ankles after the show, and they were blistered and pole burned after climbing up and down the poles 60+ times during the night.

There were still a couple of shortfalls that took away from the show. One was the lighting. It was just regular fluorescent lighting and made the performers look very stark. My guess is that it was like that on purpose, so the judges could see every mistake and judge accordingly. The other factor that I did not like at the provincials, and do not like at the nationals, is the costumes. Only about 5% of the performers had costumes that looked professional and clean; most of the girls do their own costumes and make up, and in all reality, they simply don't look very good. It is a step up to have costumes and make up that are finished and performance quality, and not everyone can do it. I have always been considered the crafty type, and even my costume and make up for my performance at the provincials looked amateur (in a bad sense of the word).  Furthermore, there are tricks with costumes that can cover up crooked arms and legs, which causes unfair judging and unequal competitor advantages. In my opinion, the sport needs to regulate costumes more, or get rid of them all together and provide uniforms to the competitors as souvenirs.

All in all, the first Canadian Pole Fitness Association championships were a hit and a blast!

Estee Zakar Workshop Review (or She's All Legs)

Last week, after the unforgettable experience of the First Annual BC Pole Fitness Association Championships, I had the opportunity to take two workshops with the ever so fit Estee Zakar. Here's a video of her at the Midwest Pole Competition this year:

As swept away as I was by Jenyne Butterfly's mesmerizing perfection, and as inspired as I was by Marion Crampe's passionate energy, Estee's workshops left me with something to be desired.

Estee reminds me of a personal trainer: a stocky build exuding solid power, she handles the pole with strength and agility. Jenyne and Marion seemed to float on the pole, but Estee almost attacks it.  Although it is always refreshing to get pole instructions from a professional, accomplished, pole athlete, the tricks that Estee chose to teach at her workshops are regularly taught at our studio in the higher level classes. What made Jenyne's and Marion's workshops so exciting was that they brought some of their originality, a twist on an old spin or handstand. Aside from a couple creative transitions, all the tricks Estee taught have already been introduced to us, although we were still working on perfecting them. But, as the old Russian saying goes: repetition is the mother of learning.

Estee puts a lot of emphasis on training your quads/hamstrings/legs; 45 minutes of the hour and a half workshop, we basically were in personal trainer mode - doing plyometrics and pushups like there's no tomorrow. Now that I am at a competitive level, I can completely understand why leg strength is so important to pole.

I'm no physio therapist or "muscle expert" at any rate, but this is what I have been noticing from personal experience. Although my upper body strength developed first on the pole, my leg and back strength has been lagging, mostly due to the fact that these muscle groups are more needed and used in the more advanced moves. It is not surprising that I am only now feeling a definite deficit of leg power. With the help of Estee's ability to kick our butt, as well as my drive to make my 92 cm legs easier to haul up and down the pole, I have the following routine that I do 3-4 times a week to start developing my leg and back muscles (keep in mind that whenever you flail your legs around, a lot of your back muscles become active in order to lift and kick).

When doing the below conditioning, it is important to keep your active leg knee locked and toes pointed. The non-active leg needs to be straight. Really engage the quad.

1. At the pole, perform dancer's leg warm ups: kicking+pulsing+hodling to the front/side/back; take a break only in between changing kick directions, not exercise types. I start with 10, and work my way up as I progress. Do these off the pole to work more on core strength and balance.
2. On a mat, do alternating lunge jumps on the spot, followed by bending forward, putting hands on ground, and moving the back leg forward/back, followed by lunge pulses on same leg. I start with sets of 15. Repeat with alternate leg. This should also be done in succession, to get maximum burn.
3. On the pole, do "Cheerleader Kicks": jumping Russian splits with the help of the pole for maximum height. I start with sets of 10.
4. On the pole, do plie squats. Play around with going on tippy toes (and/or one tippy toe), to make it harder. Do these off the pole to work more on core strength and balance. I start with sets of 20.
5. On the mat, sit in a pike with legs about shoulder width apart. Place both hands on both sides of one quad, making sure back is straight and not leaning back (if leaning back, working more on abs than hip flexers). Raise your leg in a pulsing motion, then, in succession, draw circles with the leg, then hold. I start with sets of 10.

If you are feeling a searing burn in your legs, you are doing it right. If not, raise your legs higher, and do more reps!

The other muscle group that Estee emphasized was the lats, as they are important in being able to isolate the legs from the back, and make tricks such as handstands look more polished.

This is enough to get myself, and anyone, started, but as Estee recommended, your body needs to be surprised with new exercises, to have a more well rounded development. Soon enough, I'll be back on YouTube, hunting for quad exercises and dancer's warm ups.

On a final note, The Canadian Pole Fitness Championships are this Saturday, Oct 13 at The Edgewater Casino. I'll be there cheering on the many Tantra athletes that made it, as well as getting inspired by the amazing pick of talent this year! I may have a bias, but this will be by far the best public event of the year in Vancouver! And of course, stay tuned for a review!