Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Self Defense, An Essential Guide to Survival

This past weekend I participated in a women's self defense training at the studio.  The training lasted three hours and the instructor taught a series of protection techniques with different scenarios that enabled us to think in terms of application.  My husband attended the training with me.  I'm glad he was able to participate with me in this training.  The instructor stressed the importance that we both were educated on the information taught so we could practice.  Practicing the techniques taught in a self defense training is important as it enables you to develop muscle memory.  The information that was taught was simple and easy to remember however in a situation where you are being attacked, I can understand that one would not think of such techniques to do unless previously trained.  The instructor also provided all the class participants with a study manual to go over further at home.  I really enjoyed this training and feel it's an important skill one should take seriously and participate in for their own personal safety.  I hope I never have to utilize my self defense skills, however if I ever do, I feel confident that I have the knowledge base to protect myself when necessary.  For more information on Women's Self Defense Awareness, visit: The Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement (www.awsda.org/) or T.A.K.E. Defense Foundation Training (www.takedefense.org/).  There are multiple resources out there, please take the first step and do your research. It could save your life.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Voila! The Aerial Files...

I wish I had something insightful to write about.  Instead I will update my readers on just some of the latest happenings in my ever so busy life.  School is going well.  I never thought I'd be going back to college, I had long assumed my first post college graduation was going to forever be my last.  Never assume you are done learning once you get one degree, the demands often require you to keep going back for more.  My anticipated date of degree #2 completion is looking to be sometime in June 2013.  It can't get here soon enough.

Things are going really well at the studio.  I'm working on my performance for the upcoming Pole Up Soiree', An Evening of Entertainment which will be on Saturday March 31st.  I will be performing a routine on the aerial silks for my first ever silks performance.  I'm still piecing things together but I have a lot of great ideas.  Can't wait to get into the studio and start working on things this Friday.  This will be a challenge for me as I will be stepping out of my comfort zone from pole and taking a jab at the artistic expression within the ever popular circus entertainment.  I think this will be a lovely precursor to an entertainment gig that is being lined up.  I'm looking at performing aerial silks weekly at a local formal establishment in the near future.  Can't quite elaborate on details right now as things are still in the primitive stages.  I'm hoping to have a meeting sometime in the next week or so.  I'm really excited about this prospect as it will enable me to showcase the aerial arts to a wide range of audiences, including my close friends and family who have been eager to see me perform.  

Right now I'm teaching both pole series level 2, aerial silks series level 1, and my trademark Sensuous Flow & Flexibility class.  My level 2 ladies are quite impressive.  They are like sponges when it comes to pole dancing material.  It's been a pleasure watching them progress and come into their own.  My aerial silks classes have been going very well.  I am learning so much along with my students as this is the first run of the program- and the first of it's kind for a silks program in Indianapolis.  I'm seeing all the hard work and long hours of research coming together and beginning to pay off.  I can't wait to see the progression in this week's class compared to last week.  I introduced climbing technique last week and I anticipate a few climbers in the group come this Friday.  As far as my flexibility class, I've seen an increase in students as of lately which has been good for me so I am always researching new ideas to keep the routines fresh. Speaking of routines, that is my cue to bring this blog update to an end as I need to map out my performance routine and work on musicality.