Besides some insight into breaking grips, that was my big realization of the night. I left the gym...somehow covered in glitter. A friend joked that I'd been to a pole dancing class that's all the rage now and it hit me that pole dancing is the opposite of jiu jitsu for the following reasons:
- In pole dancing, clothing is minimized...in jiu jitsu, you're likely wearing a huge, unflattering, rough slab of thick woven cotton covering you from your neck to your ankles.
- In jiu jitsu you're wearing no shoes. Pole dancing...
- Pole dancing, it's rare to find a man in the class...in jiu jitsu, lots of guys.
- Pole dancing, no contact, no touching...jiu jitsu, lots of contact, lots of touching. So much touching.
- Jiu jitsu, 90% of the time, you're on the ground...pole dancing, you're spending a lot of time in the air.
- Feel free to add your own!
**Disclaimer: Apologies to pole dancing aficionados if I got any of that wrong. I've never taken a class (I don't see how you guys get over the fear of falling) so I speak purely from the tales of friends.
Heh... I love to wear glitter in my hair and in my skin moisterizer... I had to stop wearing it because whichever poor male teammate who rolled with me was then teased mercilessly by the others.
ReplyDeleteLOL...that's great.
ReplyDeleteBrazilian Jiu Jitsu is accidentally sexual.
ReplyDeletePole dancing is purposely sexual.
Lol@Dagney...good one!
ReplyDeletethere are a few similarities though...
ReplyDeleteThey both require grip strength... the more the better!
They both require a balance of flexibility and strength. ;)
I love your blog, Megan. Thanks to your Roy Dean piece below, I spent some time today reading reviews of his stuff, his website, his youtube channel, and then purchased the 'Best of Roy Harris' collection he produced. My first ever instructional purchase.
ReplyDeleteAs for this pole dancing business, I have to believe that a proficient pole dancer would have some really useful BJJ attributes (hand strength, athletic body control, push-pull sensitivity, etc). Not that I'm all that familiar with pole dancing or anything.
But is BJJ really accidentally sexual? I hope not. Intimate for sure. Not sexual. :-)
Looking forward to some free time so I can read more of your stuff here. Keep it up.
David
LOL! Love it.
ReplyDeleteHi David!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I would have to say it is accidentally sexual...or at least accidentally perceived as sexual. No fault of its own, but it's just the nature of a few of the positions. I'd honestly never thought about the applicability of pole dancing skills to BJJ until a friend started taking serious lessons and began complaining of the things she couldn't do. She sounded a LOT like me when I first started training.
Glad you got something practical out of the Roy Dean piece! It was one of my favorites to date...the man is a fascinating person. Thanks for reading!
haha! Funny analogy! You crack me up! I never would have put the two topics in the same sentence, by the way i am loving the color scheme of your blog. Easy on the eyes....
ReplyDeletelol@Manny...thanks on the color scheme. I think I've finally found something I like.
ReplyDelete