R Pole Brings Pole dancing fitness to homes & health clubs worldwide

Pole dancing has been stripped of its sleazy image and become a rapidly expanding, popular choice of exercise for many women in recent years. Now, worldwide fans of this fashionable way to keep fit and have fun will be free to pop up a pole at home, at the health club, at the beach or even in the pub, with the launch of the first, truly portable pole - the R Pole (http://www.r-polefitness.com).



Designed by pioneering pole dance and fitness school, Pole Passion (http://www.polepassion.com ), the patent pending fitness pole is self-standing; it doesn’t require a stage or tools and takes just minutes to set up and take down. And being 50% lighter than its nearest podium based rival, the R Pole sets a new standard in portability and creates a new world of opportunities for pole fitness.

Stephen Penney, director of Pole Passion, says: "To be honest, my aim was initially to make my own life simpler by inventing something that users could easily put up themselves. But it's become an instant hit with women who've had enough of paying for hardly used health club memberships and are bored with the same old aerobic classes."

He continues: "We're finding that the home version of the R Pole particularly appeals to women who are after more entertaining ways to work out. With the R Pole they can practice in the privacy of their own homes, or make pole-fitness part of their daily workout and even their next girls' night out!”

Created with personal fitness in mind, the studio version of the R Pole will also be a boon for professional pole dancing and fitness instructors. The split pole design clips together in seconds, without the need for butch spanners or step ladders, minimising set-up and maximising teaching time. And being completely self-supporting, the R Pole won’t damage floors or ceilings with screws and fittings, making it possible for professional studios to add more pole fitness to their weekly timetable.

Kay Penney, a fitness professional for 18 years and creator (in 2008) of the popular REP's accredited Pole Fitness Instructor training qualifications, says: "At long last we have a portable, professional pole fitness product we can use for teaching without the outdated connotations of dancing on a portable stage. It's genuinely different to anything currently on the market anywhere in the world right now."

Instructors and students don’t have to worry that safety or stability have suffered in pursuit of mobility: the R Pole has come through three years of stringent design and testing in conjunction with the University of Brighton. Its secure, wide base provides a natural exclusion zone and is covered with a safety mat to protect student dancers if they get into a spin.

Pole dancing fitness is a great, all round fun and fitness routine, incorporating all nine elements of fitness. It helps to build core strength, increase flexibility and coordination, and provides all-over body tone. And because it uses a person’s own body weight rather than the resistance of a machine, it results in leaner and more shapely muscles.

Fitness is not the only bonus: pole dancing & fitness techniques also boost confidence and self-esteem, and can help women feel sensually empowered. And, above all, it’s fun. Pole dancing fitness classes are safe, supportive environments where laughter is encouraged, making them as much a social event as an exercise class.

The R Pole was demonstrated across the UK during the recent six day masterclass tour by Felix Cane, the Australian champion and the current World Pole Sport and Fitness Champion 2009. Cane said: “The R Pole is probably the best free standing pole available at the moment.”

- ends -

Notes for editors
About R Pole construction
The R Pole is made from high quality materials sourced in the UK. It comes in a range of models suitable for professional use in gym studios and health clubs - the ‘S’ Class - and at home - the 'H' class. Features include a smaller than usual hand grip of 38mm, which makes it easier and safer to grip. Dr Steve Deadman, a leading British osteopath, has endorsed this size in preference to the more challenging style of the wider 50mm hand grip, which is more difficult for a female hand to hold during pole fitness routines.

About Pole Passion
Pole Passion Ltd, established in 2005, offers hen parties and fitness lessons from gym studios, mainly in the South East of England. In 2008 it gained accreditation with Skills Active and the Register of Exercise Professionals for its Pole Fitness Instructor Training programmes. It launched the largest, annual Miss Pole Dance UK championships in 2005 to showcase pole technique and fitness, and to change public perception of the sport. Pole Passion currently employs four full time staff and 10 part time instructors.

For further information, please contact:
Stephen Penney, director, Pole Passion Ltd
Tel: +44(0)1293 888200 / +44(0)7753 585053
Email: steve@polepassion.com
Site: www.r-polefitness.com

http://www.pressdispensary.co.uk/releases/c992383.php

MISS POLE DANCE UK 2009 championships ~ Scala London

Miss Pole Dance UK annual championships was set up in 2005 and has always been about professionalism, education and innovation and the following recent article published in the Camden News is a classic example as to why we need to be educating some minorities

Camden News - By SIMON WROE
Published: 17 September 2009


Contestants Alesia Vazmitsel, last years 2008 champion winner and Tracey Simmonds, who is also a qualified nurse, performing at last year’s Miss Pole Dance UK Championships at Scala, London where she came second and hopes to take the title this year.

So, what kind of licence do you need for this?

After a battle with burlesque troops, council chiefs review ‘pole-dancing championships’...

SPARE a thought for Camden’s licensing officers. With the nipple tassels of burlesque protesters still flashing before their eyes and a row over whether the Town Hall should class them as a striptease act, council officials are now facing their next scantily-clad nemeses: the pole dancers.
Hot on the heels of the July demonstration outside Town Hall which forced licensing chiefs to back down over their classification of burlesque as “adult entertainment”, the finals of the UK Pole Dance Championships gyrates into King’s Cross nightclub Scala next month.
Contestants aged 18 and over will perform athletic five minute routines to music in either the glamour or fitness categories at Miss Pole Dance UK 2009 – just a hundred yards from the council’s Judd Street headquarters.
Licensing officials say they are still “determining the nature of the event”, but according to the competition’s founder, Kay Penney, 43 year old mother of three, the night is about “education”, not titillation.
She said: “People are attracted to the pole because it empowers them. But it has been an uphill battle for us. At first, people thought we were all strippers, some even labelled us prostitutes. It is a form of fitness and an incredible art form with a real mixture of participants. Teachers, police, nurses – you name it, we’ve had them.”
She added: “We don’t bleach it up too much and get into our tracksuits, but there is a strict no nudity rule in the competition. If a costume even moves, the performer will be disqualified. I cut off the music and make an example of them.”
Last night (Wednesday), feminist campaigner and journalist Julie Bindel was among those who failed to be won over by that argument.
“There seems to be some fresh hell every day,” she said. “Whether the women are talented or not, their skills are not on display. It’s a shame King’s Cross is hosting this event when we were promised the sex industry, which was rife in the area, had been pretty much eliminated. These events normalise the sex industry.”
Ms Bindel said: “These twee arguments about pole dancing being a bit of ironic fun that makes you healthy are nonsense. Jogging makes you healthy. Dressing in next to nothing and sliding down a pole should not be seen as anything other than provoking sexual desire in men.”
Ms Penney, a retired health and beauty expert who took up pole dancing to get back into shape after her third child, said Camden’s controversial – and failed – attempts to place burlesque in the same category as strip clubs showed officials were “confused”.
She added: “I think they’re confusing pole dancing and burlesque with strip clubs and even prostitution, which is not what we’re about. I fully empathise with people that don’t understand because it’s something very new. Unless you’ve been to a show or even a pole lesson you’re not going to understand the incredible power and endurance that is required to do pole.”
Licensing officers will make their decision later this month.
A council spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on the specific licence the Scala would need for this event until we have more information.”

The event is scheduled for October 25th 2009.





The Pole Dance & fitness community comments:

I AM infuriated by Ms Bindel's comment. I have been learning pole dance/fitness for over 3 and half years and in that time I have toned up, lost weight and feel much healthier than I did pre-pole dancing. It has also given me the confidence to teach pole dance/fitness to others and to pass my exercise to music qualification. I have achieved much more from pole dancing than I have from going to the gym or jogging. I would love to know if Ms Bindel has ever been to a pole dance lesson. I pole dance for me, not my husband. All the pole moves I know are from pole schools not strip clubs. Pole dance is the best and hardest form of exercise I have ever had. It's about time people started accepting that. There are more important things to worry about in the world than a group of pole fitness professionals doing what they love and want to do.
Mrs Bond

WHAT an ignorant view, especially from a female. please take 5 mins to visit YouTube and see some of the skill for yourself. pole is just like gymnastics, only on a vertical bar not horizontal, and requires the same clothing and makeup as competitive gymnastics. Please don’t comment on something you haven’t experienced. However if you do visit a health club offering this and you consider it to be sleazy, the pole community would want to know and would welcome you view. I think this is unlikely to happen because you didn’t even take the time to do this before writing such a misjudged article.
K. Sands

IT is a shame that we have to put up with this negativity from a woman, who obviously has serious issues over her own self esteem, as she is unable to even be proud of her Miss or Mrs status, using the ever neutral Ms. Get an education MS Bindel before you judge...
S. Calvert

I HAVE been teaching pole dancing or pole fitness for 5 years now and would love to explain to my older students (50+ years old) and my male students (all of which are heterosexual men) that they are classed as a point of sexual desire by men (who are not allowed in my class unless they are training) I think the older ladies would positively split their sides laughing. Also in my class we don’t 'slide down the pole' as the aim is to work at height so everything is moving up the pole so how Ms Bland feels this is not going to get anyone fit or improve their core stability is beyond me (does she have the same view of rock climbing). Maybe she forgets that a lot of women and recently men actually enjoy pole not only for the strength aspect but for a word Ms Blind does not seem to comprehend and that is 'FUN'. I envisage the only place she has seen pole dancing has been on TV with the portrayal of strip clubs as opposed to in a dance studio where the students are dressed in shorts, t-shirts and bare feet or trainers with also a covering of bumps and bruises from the moves. Maybe Ms Bindels view is so feminist to the point of being the male perspective as obviously no woman could ever want to enjoy a sport like pole dancing/fitness for her self out of her own choice!!. Of course its all about the men isn’t it Ms Bindle? Thank you Kay for hosting the competition open to all and promoting a fabulous sport and thank you the wonderful Ms Bindle who has provide myself and my class with the largest laugh of the day.
G. Findlay

MS Bindle.. instead of being so narrow minded..and living in the dark ages and ignorant towards a very healthy sport that involves a pole.. you will soon realise that its more tiring to do than jogging around a block.. get over it .
S. Korver

I THINK that the composition of the front row in your photograph demonstrates that this is a celebration of women's talent primarily celebrated by women. Pole dancing is not justified as 'ironic fun' but is a sport pursued and loved by many dedicated women who are prepared to work hard to master their chosen art. Competitions like this are a source of inspiration and aspiration for those who love to pole dance, which tests their strength, stamina, flexibility and nerve. It takes some courage to hang upside down by your ankles. Anything that encourages such self-confidence and self-trust, promotes such a healthy attitude to one's body - and creates a supportive female community cannot be challenged as unfeminist. As a feminist academic who has studied historical attitudes to sexual display and an avid pole dancer I can confidently assert that pole dancing is not necessarily about titillation to those who practice it. How it is received is unfortunately not always within the control of feminists irrespective of their commitment to the cause. If Julie Bindel wishes to argue that competitions like this need to be curtailed because some men may attend to become sexually stimulated isn't the logical conclusion that women should avoid any activity or dress which may stimulate men, and that if they don't they will be seen to wish to attract sexual attentions. Isn't this the sort of thinking that Susan Brownmiller and Andrea Dworkin campaigned so hard to change?
Dr J. Osborn

I PITY Ms Bindel and her narrow minded opinion. I would of thought journalists kept with the times, clearly she is a bit behind in today’s world. It is obvious to me she knows nothing about exercise. To have an opinion, a respected opinion may I add, she should at least know what she is talking about. I feel sorry for such a negative woman, trying to run down others and what they have achieved, all it is childish jealousy. The outfits worn for competition are no more provoking than a swimmer, a runner, a gymnast. Unlike Ms Bindel, I have done my research and find her rather miserable opinions make me really appreciate the diversity in today’s world. Her comments are merely attention seeking hot air and she will no doubt enjoy reading the responses from everyone. Well isn't she big and isn't she clever!
R. Green


tickets for the show can be purchased at www.ticketweb.co.uk & seetickets.com and www.polepassion.com - tel 0871 318 3838

Pole Passion ~ Jamaica, Suitable for International Students

Accredited Pole Instructor training certifications available in Jamaica for international students


Dates Tuesday 2nd, Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th of March 2010.
The first day is 9am-6.30pm
Day two is 9.30am-6.30pm and
Day three which is the assessment day is 12.30-4.30pm. (Subject to change due to venue conditions).

The venue address for this course is
Hedonism III fully inclusive accommodation,
Runaway Bay,
Jamaica.

The cost for this course is £748 GBP per person for the first level 1 Instructor training and no pole experience is necessary, however it is a bonus.

Please call +44 8713 183 838 for all bookings, payments and enquiries.
for accommodation please contact www.excapesholidays.co.uk

The R-pole will be available for testing and viewing also



http://www.polepassion.com/listings/comps/uk/jamaica-2010/

www.r-polefitness.com

Mr Pole Fitness UK championships 2009

Congratulations go to 27 year old Dance and fitness professional Keem who blew the 4 judges away yesterday at the inaugral Mr Pole Fitness championships with his professionalism, strength, fluidity, 'flight' and performance. Keem travelled all the way from Paris France to attend the new UK competition and did not go home empty handed, proudly clutching his medal, trophy and certificate. 8 other competitors listed from around the UK to enter the competition however only 4 attended, very much raising eyebrows even at the thought of men around poles, however like Pole Passion dispelled and educated in 2005 by creating Miss Pole Dance UK championships it will only be a matter of time for the same to happen with the mens division. OK so perhaps it didnt all go to plan? but then again what was the plan?? until we try it we are not going to know and what fun it was...what sport encompasses the fun we had yesterday? Many thanks to the judges Adam Jay, Steve Deadman, Kay Penney and Deb Riley and competitors 'R' aka Mark Harman Keem Mark Vernon Ben Taylor for showing the true meaning of male pole fitness - watch out for the pictures to follow soon see you all next year www.polepassion.com

Miss Pole Dance UK Professional championships

Introduction of our new Miss Pole Dance UK 2009 Judge



I would like to introduce Stephen Deadman our Guest Judge, one of the UK’s most qualified and renowned Chartered Physio’s & Registered Osteopath’s, one of only 11 in the world who is dual registered.
Stephen treats some of the top athlete’s in the world, including The British Barefoot Waterskiing Team, British Kickboxing Champions, Body Builders, Power Lifters and other World Class Athletes, whilst also treating many pole instructors and students too.

Steve has studied the artistic tricks and moves on and around a vertical pole at length from beginner to Master Trainer status, which coupled with his profound and extensive bio-mechanical knowledge, will be hugely beneficial to the pole dancing community as a whole. As our special guest judge at Miss Pole Dance UK championships this year, at London Scala, with his understanding of the bodies physiological and bio-mechanical capabilities will give his fellow judges a unique insight and understanding of the gymnastic qualities which are being achieved by today’s top pole dancing athletes.

Steve says “I am honoured to be invited by Kay Penney counder and organiser and to be involved in the competition and to bring my experience to the benefit of everybody, to ensure pole fitness is a credible sport for the safe enjoyment of all, with the aim of ensuring that the professionalism of pole dance fitness is carried forward, setting the standard as an Olympic sport.”







R Pole the New revolutionary 38mm diameter pole

We asked Stephen to give us a better understanding as to why he felt, in his professional capacity as to why the 38mm grip pole was a more safer and beneficial piece of equipment than the 50mm grip pole for all pole people practicing the art of pole dance, fitness and sport.

Stephen’s reply
Very simply the 38mm R Pole, is in my professional opinion, a safer pole, not only because of the ability for the participant to be able to have a safer grip but also because it comes fitted with a safety mat as standard, reducing any potential risk of damage to the coccyx and sacroiliac joint (lower points of the spine) when a participant begins to invert (go up side down).

Based on my experience as a registered osteopath and chartered physiotherapist the 38mm pole as adverse to the 50mm is a safer pole because of less physiological and biomechanical stresses and strains which are placed upon the user’s carpal row of bones and ligaments in the wrist where the 38mm pole offers a safer grip.

If you have a safer hand grip it takes less time to build up your core strength without picking up minor injuries, which is essential to this sport and your personal fitness.

www.r-polefitness.com
www.misspoledance-uk.com
www.polepassion.com

Mr Pole Fitness UK championships

Calling all male pole dancers
Inspiring Talent ~ Promoting Ambition

The first pole fitness competition for Male pole dancers and performers is being organised by the organisers of World Pole Dance, Miss Pole Dance UK professional and amateur events since 2005

Kay Penney owner and founder of Pole Passion and of the Miss Pole Dance UK championships and World Pole Dance fitness championship competitions has coupled up with top male pole dancer Adam Jay who owns his own pole company Pole FX. The pair met at Miss Pole Dance UK 2005 competition where AJ, as he is better known, was the official pole cleaner!
'Obviously it’s important to not only have a male on the judging panel but also to help organise the competition too. We are delighted to be working with AJ, he's fun and professional and a great inspirational teacher for both men and women so it was important for us to have someone well respected in the industry.' mentions Ms Penney.

Five competitors battle it out...
it is reported that one competitior will be arriving to the poles on a Harley !!

The R Pole brings Pole Dancing fitness to homes, health clubs, beaches, parks infact now any where...

The R POLE BRINGS POLE DANCING FITNESS TO HOMES AND HEALTH

CLUBS WORLDWIDE



Pole dancing has been stripped of its sleazy image and become a rapidly

expanding, popular choice of exercise for many women in recent years.

Now, worldwide fans of this fashionable way to keep fit and have fun

will be free to pop up a pole at home, at the health club, at the beach

or even in the pub, with the launch of the first, truly portable pole -

the R Pole (http://www.r-polefitness.com).



Designed by pioneering pole dance and fitness school, Pole Passion

(http://www.polepassion.com ), the patent pending fitness pole is

self-standing; it doesn't require a stage or tools and takes just

minutes to set up and take down. And being 50% lighter than its nearest

podium based rival, the R Pole sets a new standard in portability and

creates a new world of opportunities for pole fitness.



Stephen Penney, director of Pole Passion, says: "To be honest, my aim

was initially to make my own life simpler by inventing something that

users could easily put up themselves. But it's become an instant hit

with women who've had enough of paying for hardly used health club

memberships and are bored with the same old aerobic classes."



He continues: "We're finding that the home version of the R Pole

particularly appeals to women who are after more entertaining ways to

work out. With the R Pole they can practice in the privacy of their own

homes, or make pole-fitness part of their daily workout and even their

next girls' night out!"



Created with personal fitness in mind, the studio version of the R Pole

will also be a boon for professional pole dancing and fitness

instructors. The split pole design clips together in seconds, without

the need for butch spanners or step ladders, minimising set-up and

maximising teaching time. And being completely self-supporting, the R

Pole won't damage floors or ceilings with screws and fittings, making it

possible for professional studios to add more pole fitness to their

weekly timetable.



Kay Penney, a fitness professional for 18 years and creator (in 2008) of

the popular REP's accredited Pole Fitness Instructor training

qualifications, says: "At long last we have a portable, professional

pole fitness product we can use for teaching without the outdated

connotations of dancing on a portable stage. It's genuinely different to

anything currently on the market anywhere in the world right now."



Instructors and students don't have to worry that safety or stability

have suffered in pursuit of mobility: the R Pole has come through three

years of stringent design and testing in conjunction with the University

of Brighton. Its secure, wide base provides a natural exclusion zone and

is covered with a safety mat to protect student dancers if they get into

a spin.



Pole dancing fitness is a great, all round fun and fitness routine,

incorporating all nine elements of fitness. It helps to build core

strength, increase flexibility and coordination, and provides all-over

body tone. And because it uses a person's own body weight rather than

the resistance of a machine, it results in leaner and more shapely

muscles.



Fitness is not the only bonus: pole dancing & fitness techniques also

boost confidence and self-esteem, and can help women feel sensually

empowered. And, above all, it's fun. Pole dancing fitness classes are

safe, supportive environments where laughter is encouraged, making them

as much a social event as an exercise class.



The R Pole was demonstrated across the UK during the recent six day

masterclass tour by Felix Cane, the Australian champion and the current

World Pole Sport and Fitness Champion 2009. Cane said: "The R Pole is

probably the best free standing pole available at the moment."

www.r-polefitness.com