Studio Review: Esh Aerial Arts, Cambridge MA

Esh. Trevor on the floor, students milling about.

I've done silks for many years, but on a sporadic, on-and-off basis. Most recently I had my own rig at my last place in Chicagoland, but since I moved to MA I haven't found a place to set up (nor really had time, as I was both working and studying full-time this past year). So I really hadn't been on the silks since last summer. There's not really a circus school that's conveniently-enough located to me without a car (I'll get one eventually...), so I wasn't about to start frequenting anywhere locally. And I wanted a chance to review my skills (after the better part of the year off) before showing up for open training somewhere.

The perfect opportunity presented itself in the form of a silks workshop focusing on drops. I hadn't had room to do drops at my place in Chicago (just saltos and the wimpiest slack drops you've ever seen), so it was material I needed a review on anyways. And the only prerequisite was being able to do a "star drop," or a 3/4 side rotational drop as I knew it from my beginnings at Firefly/NYCAA/Circus Warehouse, so I figured it wouldn't matter that I was rusty. Either there would be some new material I'd never learned, or it would be all review and I'd just be a rockstar.

I was confused in registering because I never got a confirmation email--Esh doesn't use Mindbody but something called Zenplanner that I've never heard of? Anyone else use this? So I wasn't totally convinced that my registration went through (long story but I once registered for a marathon and got a confirmation screen but never the emails and found out like a week before the race that my registration hadn't gone through and I was SO MAD AND SAD and had to scramble to find another race in another city to expend my 4 months of training on, the upside being that Lisbon was lovely), but I checked my bank account the night before and the $50 had been deducted from my account, so I figured all was well.

The class was yesterday afternoon, and I arrived somewhat flustered because I hadn't been able to find the entrance to the school. There was no sign, I found the address but the door was unmarked so I thought I must have the wrong entrance, and there were buzzers but only 2 were marked and none said Esh. Pacing up and down the block, I went on their website in hopes of calling the front desk for directions, but neither their website nor google listed a phone number. Fortunately a lady at another local business told me which entrance to use and the door turned out not to be locked, and I was able to finagle my way to the studio's room. It wasn't obvious though, so leave extra time!

Being used to bigger spaces like the Brooklyn Lyceum and STREB, I was surprised how small Esh was. It was 2 rooms that were pretty average-sized, but with ceilings just high enough to do big drops from. One of the rooms had a boisterous class of people doing some sort of acro-balance and laughing like they were having the time of their lives, and the other was quiet and mostly empty with a pair or two of silks released from the ceiling. I was greeted by someone who was one of the studio managers or owners or something, and by the time I finished getting dressed the other workshop participants were starting to straggle in and stretch on the floor. Everyone was quiet and not talking and I felt disappointed that the atmosphere wasn't friendlier (like pole studios, circus spaces are intimidating to visit for the first time), but things warmed up quickly once we got to introductions.
The instructor was Trevor, who had trained at New York Circus Arts Academy around the same time as me, but had gone on to the pro track at NECCA while I went on to focus on my poling. So we knew a lot of the same people and drops, and fortunately for me he was able to translate terminology into something I would understand (circus move names are even more nebulous than pole move names).

Trevor gave us a handout of the moves we may or may not have been learning (we had a list of possibilities and chose from it based on our levels and what people wanted to learn) so that we could take notes, but of course I didn't because I suck about taking notes and I think I lost the handout anyways. There were 6 participants and we released one set of silks for each, but the rule was that only 3 people could do a move at a time so that the instructor could keep an eye out. Also, the ceiling was higher on one end of the room, so for bigger drops we could only use the silks on that side anyways. So while we had 6 silks open, only 3 were usually active past warmup climbs.

Trevor's teaching template was to fully explain a move, then demo it, then answer questions about it, then let us try. We also had to check in with him before throwing a drop, and like everywhere I made him say "3-2-1" before every throw so I wouldn't chicken out.

There was a good mix of drops I knew and drops I didn't. I even volunteered to demonstrate one that he called a "New York slack drop" because of what a staple it is in the NYC circus school scene. I found the other students (who had mostly been studying a couple years) to be supportive and eager to try new things, even when they were complicated or scary-looking.

Despite being small, Esh was still a fun place to spend a weekend afternoon, and I was able to leave feeling accomplished, happy, and just the right amount of sore and tired. However, the class ended at 4:30, and the train schedules being what they are I didn't get home until after 8. Sure, that gave me some quality shopping time at Downtown Crossings while awaiting the next commuter rail, but don't expect to see me there too often.

Oh, and because I know my readership is mostly pole people: Esh sometimes has classes in swinging pole. No, I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but sounds intriguing, huh?

Stats:

Esh Aerial Arts
Equipment: Didn't count everything--there were at least 6 sets of silks, some trapezes and stuff, a swinging pole...
Amenities: 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, changing stall, some sort of changing room-type situation
Drop-in price: $30 for aerial stuff, $20 for ground stuff (the workshop was $50 for 2 hours)

Facility Review: Chung Dam Spa, Cheltenham PA

Part of my time in Philadelphia I spent hanging out with my old circus teacher Cypher (see Masterclass with Cypher Zero). It was coincidence that we were in town at the same time. So we did typical circus stuff: training at an aerial space, consuming many calories, and hitting the spa.

Cypher wanted to check out Chung Dam Spa, a smaller Korean spa outside Philadelphia. So we headed there the Saturday afternoon before I came home. As with the last time I went to a Korean spa (see Facility Review: King Spa, Chicago), I was having a Very Bad Day, and a couple of hot tubs sounded like a good idea.

Chung Dam was way smaller and less impressive than King Spa or Spa Castle, but we weren't there to be impressed, we were there to relax and restore.

Be forewarned: unlike the larger spas, almost everything here is gender-segregated. Only the salt room and lounge are coed. So, it's not a great place to go and spend time with a member of the opposite sex. Also: we were both given a set of towels, but only the ladies get bathrobes. (The locker rooms had baskets of the typical Korean spa uniforms that you could wear into the common area.)

Here's a weird thing: as in other places, there's an area to take off and store your shoes before you go into the main locker room. But the shoe storage was just cubby holes, not lockers. So there was a sign up next to them advising against leaving your shoes unattended. Uhhhh, so that's why there are shoe cubbies right at the area where you're supposed to remove your shoes? (True story: I had a pair of sandals stolen from the NYSC locker room once. They weren't even nice. WTF?)

So once you get dressed or undressed, there are showers that you are required to take before using the hot tubs/not hot tubs.

The big question everyone has: Do you HAVE to be naked? I'm going to go with a yes-I-think for the hot tubs. There was a sign that said you could not even wear a bathing suit in the "lower body tub." But only one of the three tubs was labeled "lower body tub." I'm going to assume they meant all 3 tubs, because they were all about the same size, so what's the difference?

In the hot tub another American woman struck up a conversation with me. It was her second time and she was there for the salt scrub (a typical treatment in Korean spas), and she looked at me like I had 2 heads when I said I wasn't getting one. Side note: I cannot relate to people who talk about massages and spa pedicures and scrubs saying things like "It's ONLY $60 and it's SO WORTH IT it's like for 2 hours." As a person who's been broke and busy for most of my adult life, neither spending $60 on recreation nor laying around doing nothing for 2 hours sounds appealing. I don't even like the time and money investment in mani-pedis. I'd much rather get my eyebrows threaded. You're in you're out, here's $8, I look good.

The tub that was labeled "lower body tub" was not hot at all. Lukewarm. No one was in it. The third tub was a cold one with a stream of water dropping into the middle so you could give yourself a nice shoulder massage under it.

After that I went into the coed area to touch base with Cypher. The lounge was nothing special, although the recliner I ended up in was comfy. There were muscle magazines with frighteningly veiny men on them. NOT RELAXING.

What was cool was the salt room. I'd been in salt rooms before, but none that had A GIANT PILE OF SALT IN THEM.

I wasn't totally sure what to do with it. I tried rubbing it on my skin, but that didn't feel like anything special. I figured it was too hot to bury yourself in. (It was a salt sauna, not just a regular room with salt on the floor.) I settled for sitting on the bench and digging my feet into it. Later, when I looked through the window and saw other people in there, I saw them laying down in it. I guess that's what you're supposed to do? Anyways, it reminded me of being in Bolivia.

Finally, it was time to check out all the other saunas. These were back in the gender-separated areas, so you could be naked if you wanted, but not everyone was. Some people wore their robes, some wore their uniforms. If you're gonna be naked though, you should probably lay on a towel. That's why they give you like 3 towels.

The "hot clay with charcoal room" was pretty nice and smelled good. The "warm granite room" was super lame. It was supposed to be 98 degrees but it didn't even feel warm enough to be a summer day. I was like, "Is this thing on?" No one else was in there either, so I guess they agreed with me. Or it really wasn't on.

There was a steam room that according to the website is supposed to be "mugwort" but it seemed pretty normal to me. Still nice though. Steam rooms are my favorite.

There was also a regular sauna, which always seems wasted in a Korean spa. It's like "WE HAVE 10 KINDS OF SAUNAS and also a normal one."

All in all, it's not a mega-spa, and it's probably more worth it if you're getting a salt scrub (the $20 entry fee is included for that). But it's clean, cozy, and a nice place to relax if you're in the area.

Chung Dam photo from chungdamspa.com
Photo of me by Cypher Zero

Snark is bullying.

As with many feminist-tinged communities, polers are apt to speak out against bullying. The power to love and accept your body as it is is a defining tenant of pole for some people, and as cattiness and intimidation is as rampant as it is in any female-dominated industry, taking a stand against such behavior is smiled upon.

What startles me is that the same people who say they are pro-supportiveness and anti-bullying will use social media to say, or, more passive-aggressively, retweet and share mean-spirited comments and captions under the guise of humor.

What's the god-damn difference?

Is it "ok" because it's funny? You think bullies don't think they're being funny? They think they're fucking hilarious. They're not name-calling and teasing to be jerks, they're doing it to get laughs. Any stand-up comic can tell you that nothing feels as powerful as making people laugh.

Is it "ok" because you're shaming a faceless group of people instead of shaming a specific person? I guess that makes racism, misogyny, and prejudice against all kinds of people "ok."

Is it "ok" because you're doing it out in the open and not behind someone's back? Well, when your victim reads your snark and has their feelings hurt, they can take solace in the fact that you're humiliating them in public.

I think I have a sense of humor. I use sarcasm, irony, wordplay, self-deprecation, and I think I'm clumsy enough to add slapstick to the list. And as you can plainly read in the pages of this blog, I have opinions and am not shy about expressing them. But I really do try to stop and think about how my words will be taken. Maybe that's more practical than big-hearted of me. I'm not famous or popular and I can't afford to make enemies. But I'm not going to try and get popular by putting people down for a few yuks, either.

I've come out against this kind of bullying before (see Four Things Women need to Stop Doing to Each Other and Stop Skinny-Bashing), but I was probably too specific. Let me open it up.

I don't always wear nice shoes. I accidentally write your instead of you're. Oh, and I sometimes use emoticons. ;) If making fun of me for these things and getting likes and lols makes you happy, well, I guess it's wrong of someone's happiness to make me sad, but... that's kind of sad.

And if you wear leggings for pants, you can still be my friend.

Studio Review: Philly Premier Pole Studio

I'm in Philly on music business for a few weeks. Since I finally have immediate access to urban public transportation for a bit (no commuter rail for me!) I thought I'd take the opportunity to get out and pole a bit.

Philly Premier Pole Studio was the place I really wanted to check out, partly because they were on my trolley line, and also because they accept male students (not into all classes, but the non-sexy ones). I like to support equal-opportunity studios when I have the chance, and anyways I like training with guys. Plus they had an interesting line-up of classes. There was one called "Modern Pole Dance." the blurb on their website reads:

This class is designed to in corporate the modern styles of Horton & Graham to the aerial performance of Pole. In this class we will learn to think of pole as a tool to take dance to the next level.      

I don't know who Horton & Graham are, but "aerial performance" and "the next level" lead me to believe that it would be the most advanced class, so I signed up for it. If nothing else, whoever was leading the class/wrote the description had a vision for what they wanted it to be, so it would be different. 

Tuesday night I made my way into Philly Premier Pole Studio, and the first thing to hit me was the smell. There was a conditioning class finishing up, and the stuffy room reeked of sweat. You might be saying to yourself, "ewwwww, sweat!" or "oh good, sweat!" and which of those rolls off our tongue probably says a lot about what kind of pole studio you belong in. For me, it's not ambrosia but I know I have to adapt to it if I want a good workout.

I arrived early, and nobody was all jumping up to talk to me, so I butted my way into a few conversations and met some nice people. Since I am self-trained, I mostly go "out" to pole for social purposes.

One of the first things I noticed about the equipment was that they had a handful of brass poles. Most studios economize by going for chrome or stainless steel, so brass is a rare luxury. You could tell from looking, though, that the poles weren't brass due to any splurge, but because they were old school. The studio has been around since before mass-produced dance poles were a big business, so they had homemade, stripper-style (50mm, brass, static) poles. The rest of the poles were chrome X-Poles. 

The class itself was SO not what I expected. It was more like a ballet class for polers. We did all the ballet positions, and pliés, and across-the-floor spins both with and without the pole. 

Now, you may not know (or believe) this about me, but I have ballet experience. I took musical theatre-major ballet, tap, & jazz in college, then tried to keep up ballet & jazz after graduation. I gave up on ballet within a year, realizing that my body was better suited to jazz, and eventually let my half-hearted attempts at intermediate jazz trickle off after a few years, admitting to myself that I just wasn't a good dancer. (I have good rhythm & energy, but lack basic skills like staying upright and touching my toes.) So even though I suck at ballet, I know how ballet class works.

The thing about taking ballet as an adult who didn't grow up with it is that there's not really room for true remedial dancers. Even "beginner" classes are mostly populated with ladies who did ballet as children and now want to get back into it just for fun. I mean, during my couple years of ballet I managed to remain more or less the worst student in the class. Dance is sort of an old boys' club, and if you're not "born" into it by being inducted by the age of 3, there's never really a place for you.

This is a drawn-out way of saying that taking an ACTUAL remedial ballet class can be really helpful, and it was nice to do my pliés and feel like one of the more experienced students for a change, instead of the class dunce like I always was. 

After we were done playing ballet, we worked on the beginning of a routine. It (and the class in general) was meant as a study in transitions. We didn't do any moves more complicated than a fan kick or a--what do you call a reverse grab spin when you don't throw/grab, but start with both hands on the pole? Well, that sort of thing. (btw, I appreciated that the teacher, Katherine, didn't freak out when I told her I have shoulder problems. Anyone with an injury or physical problems knows what I mean.)

I think the whole chunk we did was only 4 bars, and we learned it slowly. It was like a normal dance class, where you learn what move goes on which beat, and the teacher goes back and shows you the tricky parts again, and you run it in chunks and at the end you run it all the way through a million times.

There must have been 6 students, because when we did Across The Floor we were in lines of 3 and 3. 2 of the students were men, which is a good ratio for pole.

Considering what a short & easy routine it was, we got a hard workout in (or at least I did). The teacher filmed the last round of the routine. (Students could opt out.) I think the idea was to give outsiders an idea of what the class was about, which is s good idea, since I obviously hadn't known. I don't think I got caught in any of the video, since I was in the corner, so don't keep an eye peeled for me on the website or anything.

My one complaint is that we only did the routine on one side. We did it a million times and it was driving me crazy not to be able to "even myself out" by switching sides for a few rounds. 

Even though the class had me winded, my inner pole trixter felt neglected, and when they didn't kick us out at the end I played a bit. Nothing show-offy, just to scratch the pole itch. (I was too sweaty to do most stuff anyways!) Some other students pole played, and some stretched. I got to chat with Katherine and some of the other students a bit. They were really cool and respectful of me as an outsider, which means a lot to me. At the end of the day, whether or not I have fun at your studio has more to do with how nice you are to me than what I learned. That might not sound like a good policy, but tell me it's not true in your book, too.

Generally I don't love group routines in pole, because pole is an individual (or potentially team) art and not an ensemble. But I do think it's good for polers to have a safe place to learn classical technique. There are so few places where you can really do that, and it's so beneficial.

Philly Premier has 16 poles, but some of them are in tight spaces. They apparently have another space with 16 foot poles (!!), but there are only 4 so it doesn't get used for classes regularly. The main pole studio location a few blocks from city hall (and next to Nodding Head brewery where I enjoyed some frosty pints with friends afterwards) is über-convenient. Overall, I'll stick with my nose's initial impression. If you want to sweat, come here. If you want frills & pampering, go somewhere else. 

Stats:

Philly Premier Pole Studio

Equipment: 4 homemade brass 50mm poles, 12 X-Pole chrome 50mm poles

Amenities: some chairs?

Drop-in price: $15

Slow and Steady

For a non-elite poler, I am relatively strong. I've taught conditioning classes, and strength training is something I'm known for as a teacher.

Wanna know what my current gym routine is? 2 sets of pull-ups, 2 sets of bench presses, lots of stretching, and usually some abs. MAYBE a set of shoulder presses if I don't feel like leaving the gym yet. Less than 20 minutes--and most of it spent stretching. And oh yeah: I only go twice a week.

My students will probably feel ripped off to read this. "But Pippi! What about all those conditioning exercises you gave us? You said I had to do 10 reps of that awful exercise 3 times a week! You don't even do them?" Not at the moment. But I did. I did them a lot. I did them a lot over the course of several years. And I will probably take them back up again when I need them.

The thing is, I've been working out for... does the math... 11 years? I've reached a base level of strength that I can maintain without a ton of effort. Sometimes I'll decide I need to be stronger in a certain zone in order to do certain moves, and I'll ramp up effort. But if I have other priorities, I can more or less coast.

Pole (and cirque nouveau) is such a young art form that my 9 years make me somewhat an old timer. (Although plenty have gone before me and paved the way for me and the rest of us.) Most of my students, even very advanced ones, have been training for much less time. I often have to remind them: "I'm not at the level I'm at because I'm something special. It's because I've been doing this for 9 years."

The problem is that "slow and steady" doesn't sell. We all know we're a "gimme now" culture, and that applies to skills as well as to material possessions. (See Training when you don't have enough time.) Plus, there are always outliers you can point to and say "She did it in only 3 months! I should be able to do that too!"

The truth is, I'm really into efficiency. But there is also a place for patience and growth over time.

I always hear/see people say/post "I'm going to get this move by the end of the month!" Goal setting is admirable, but you don't decide when you're going to get a move. You can influence how quickly you're going to get it by how hard and how smart you work, and who and what you consult for help. But ultimately, your body is going to make that decision, and if you try to force it, you'll hurt yourself. (See Are you overtraining?) And if you try to hold to unrealistic goals, you'll frustrate yourself.

I do believe you should work hard. But I also believe it's OK to say "If I practice this move a few times per session regularly, I'll get it eventually."

Finally, don't confuse patience with laziness. The second half of "slow and steady" is "steady." I've been poling for 9 years--consistently. I've been doing silks for almost as long--on and off. I would feel comfortable in any advanced pole class anywhere in the world, but I've never been truly advanced at silks or any other circus art.

Meanwhile, not to be cheesy, but enjoy the journey. Polish what you can already do, and appreciate the movement on an internal level: not because you like hearing the applause or lust after respect from your fellow artists, but because it feels amazing to do it. If you don't feel like Superman when you're doing a superman, you're missing the point.

Facility review: King Spa, Chicago

There's no Korean mega-spa in the Boston area, so visiting King Spa was high on my list when I came to Chicago to visit for the holidays. Living here for a year, I found that the aerialists were familiar with Korean spas, but the polers were completely in the dark. I tried to arrange an outing, but we got snowed out, and meanwhile I was surprised at how much misinformation there was out there about what it's all about. So I thought I'd write it up so people who have never been might be less intimidated to check it out.

The following FAQ is about King Spa in Niles IL, but mostly applies to other Korean spas as well.

How much is a manicure?
That's not what you do here. I think some Korean spas might offer that kind of service, but mostly it's about visiting the facilities (saunas, hot tubs, etc), and optionally paying for salt scrubs and massages.

Is it a massage parlor with happy endings?
No.

Is it a gay hook-up joint?
Qualified no. That's definitely not what it's about--it's normal to see families with little kids running around. On the other hand, these places are open 24 hours, so I don't know what might go on in the men's section in the wee hours.

Do you have to be naked?
Not exactly. You'll definitely see naked people in the hot tub/shower area. However, men and woman are in different rooms at this point (attached to the locker rooms), so it's not that different than just getting dressed in front of people.

Do you have to be naked?
I'm going with no on this one. My experiences have varied. Last time I was at King Spa, it was a weekday afternoon, and most of the women were in bathing suits. (My male friend said all the guys were nude.) This time, Sunday night, EVERYONE in the hot tub area was naked. So whether they started enforcing a no-clothes-allowed rule or it was just a different crowd, I'm not sure. But if you're feeling modest, bring a swimsuit just in case.

Keep in mind that this is only for one small part of the facility. Most areas are coed and clothed. You could just skip over the tubs if you weren't comfortable with all the boobs. I'm sure no one will complain if you shower in a swimsuit.

What should I bring/wear?
You don't need to bring anything besides your credit card, but you could potentially bring a swimsuit (see below). You won't be wearing your clothes, so just wear something comfy that you can get on and off easily. Slip-on sneakers and yoga pants are great. Don't wear make-up, as you don't want it running once you get wet/sweaty.

I think it's easiest to go to these places with someone who's been before, but in case you don't have that person on hand, I'm going to walk you through how a visit to King Spa works:

You check in at the front desk. Don't listen to your GPS--the entrance they bring me to, by the Home Depot, is actually the back door, and then you have to walk around to the front, where they have the real entrance and parking. It's much more impressive-looking if you see the real entrance first.

You pay $25 (they have a loyalty card you can get, something like buy 10 visits get 1 free) and receive a bracelet with your locker number and key.

Then you enter either the men's or women's entrance, which brings you to the locker room. BEFORE YOU GET ALL THE WAY IN, you'll see a sign to remove your shoes. There is a shoe locker area that comes before the main locker area. It's the same locker number and key for both lockers. So lock your shoes up and continue on to the main locker room.

In the main locker room, you'll find your locker, shelves full of pink (girls) or grey (guys) clothing, stacks of not full-sized white towels, and toiletries at the sinks, as well as lots of staff members keeping everything immaculate. There's also a counter where you can buy things like hair clips or socks.

The outfits are arranged by size: S, M, L, and child (which are yellow). They consist of a baggy tshirt and long shorts that you'll wear in all unisex areas. Some people I've tried to explain this to get weirded out at this point, but it's actually awesome. First of all, it ensures that things say sanitary--no dirty clothes from outside. Second, you're gonna sweat all over them, so aren't you glad it's not your own clothes you're mussing up? Third, they may not be flattering, but they get the job done. They cover enough of your body that it's easy to sit or lay on the hot floor without feeling burned, and the material is thick enough that nothing is pooking through.

You don't need to put on your outfit yet, though. Instead, put all your belongings and all your clothes in your locker (unless you're wearing a bathing suit, but don't quote me on that) and head into the hot tub area.

Oh one more thing: put your hair up. They have rubber bands. Not ideal, I know, but I got away this last time with a long braid so I didn't get a rubber band stuck in my hair,

Jump into one of the shower stations. You can change the temperature of the water separately from the pressure. They are set to 40 C by default.

Then you can get in the tubs. They have a few different ones, but the temperature difference is not that great (they do have a colder one, but I've never been in that--that is so not why I'm at the spa), so just go in whichever has the most room. Also in this area is the steam sauna. The steam sauna at King Spa is amazing. The temperature is perfect and it smells good. Big upgrade from the ones at NYSC I used to go to.

They also have sitting-down shower stations. I tried it last time I was here, but I'm just not Asian enough to get it.

This is also the area where you'd get special services like salt scrubs. I've never had one, as I am a cheap bastard and don't want to pay for it. Those are off to the side behind barriers.

After you're done in the hot tubs and steam room, you can dry off and put your outfit on to head into the main area. Now, you may be tempted to wear something under your outfit, but it will not be comfortable once you start sweating balls.

Lounge. Photo from kingspa.com

The main area is made up mostly of different-themed saunas in little igloos/huts, and big princess chairs to sit in. They have free wifi, chess boards, flat screen TVs (playing the Simpsons when I was there), and even if you just come here to sit in the big pink princess chairs I think it's money well spent.

Inside of the Salt Room, photo from kingspa.com

The saunas are mostly based on different minerals in the walls--stuff like amethyst, ochre, and charcoal. And it's not subtle, it's like, the walls are filled with charcoal, you can see it and touch it. The huts are cute and little, can fit maybe 10 people at a time. Most of them have mats and hard head-rests so you can lay down, but you'll usually at least want to keep your knees bent to make room for everyone. (Sometimes the saunas are crowded and sometimes they are deserted, and that can change in an instant if a group of friends comes or goes.) There's an especially hot room (fire room or something) for which you have to crawl through a tiny door. I'm guessing that's so not so much hot air gets out when people come and go. They also have special mats and rules for that room. It's hotter than the others but not mind-blowingly so; you'll be fine.

There is a food court that serves smoothies and Korean food. I've never had anything from the food court at King Spa, but you should probably plan on eating there. They don't allow outside food, and you'll be hungry. Besides the "swimming" (even if you're not doing laps, being in the water can make you ravenous), being in a sauna raises your heart rate so it's kind of like exercise. So if you plan on staying for more than an hour, expect to get hungry.

There's also a movie theatre. I didn't watch anything (by the time I was ready to get out of the saunas they were between showings), but the lineup for the night included The Mask, Son of the Mask, and Remember the Titans. The theatre has giant cushy recliners, I think the same ones as in the meditation room.

The meditation room is upstairs. You can either "meditate" coed or in the women's or men's section. It's basically the same as what Spa Castle calls the nap area. Big cushy recliners that go all the way back. There were also some mats and headrests on the floor that were a little cushier than the ones in the saunas. Either way, no one was actually meditating. Just napping, chatting, reading, or playing on their phones.

So who goes to these things? Well, it probably is mostly Koreans, but far from exclusively. There are a lot of Russians and other Eastern Europeans, who have more of a spa culture than we do. There are plenty of Americans, as well. You will NOT feel out of place!

King Spa has far fewer facilities than NY's Spa Castle, but the spirit is the same and the feel (since I've last gone to Spa Castle, which was before it was called Spa Castle) is better. It's a good thing to do with friends, even though you're technically not supposed to talk in the saunas. There are plenty of other places where you can hang out and chat. You just have to be comfortable seeing your friends naked. In my case, I couldn't find anyone to go with me this time (holidays and family and all), but I was having a stressful day (holidays and family and all) and some quiet time by myself to soak and sweat was just what I needed. I felt a million times better the instant I got into the first hot tub. It really was the best present I could have given myself.

STATS:
King Spa and Sauna, Niles, IL
Amenities: lockers, gender-separated hot tubs/saunas/showers, 8 different saunas, movie theatre, "meditation" rooms, food court. Pay extra for other services. Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
Drop-in price: $25

Photo of King Spa entrance by me

In defense of momentum

Question:

Would you ask a little girl in gymnastics class to do this without jumping off?

Would you ask an Olympian to do this without swinging?

No? Then why would you ask your pole students to do as much?

Momentum in pole pedagogy is ironically taboo. "Ironically" because the spins and swings which are at the origin of Western pole dance are almost entirely momentum-based. And yet some teachers forbid their students from jumping, kicking, or swinging into various moves. "Muscling" any kind of inversion is seen as the "right" way to do it, and using any kind of momentum is "cheating," and even decried as unsafe.

Also ironic because most teachers themselves learned the very same moves by using momentum. But now that they've gotten it into their bodies and gotten so used to it and had so much time to train it that they can muscle it, they realize that they were "wrong" and are going to keep you from making the same "mistake."

It's funny, because it's only in pole that I really see this. Way back when in circus school, we were encouraged to use momentum in certain kinds of inversions. I once trained silks with a high-level professional aerialist who asked me why I kept muscling my inversions. And much of gymnastics would be impossible without a running or a swinging start.

Momentum isn't what you should be afraid of. You should be afraid of flailing. In my studio, it's OK if a beginner jumps into their inversion--heck, I don't deadlift most of the time I'm working from the ground, especially if I'm in a tight space--but it's not OK to spastically throw your outside leg to the pole and hope you hit close enough to kick yourself over.

Momentum is about flow. You go with the energy, like you're riding the wind. You should never jolt, even if you're throwing something hard. I often use the term "hard throw" when talking about certain spins, but it's about the amount of energy in my movement and the angle of my extensions, not any kind of force. A pitcher who throws a ball hard can do it with ease and flow, or by forcing it. When they force, they dislocate a shoulder or tear a rotator cuff. Same thing with you.

They can also hurt themselves by overdoing it over time, and so can you (and so have I). Practice your moves on both sides, and don't overtrain the same moves over and over, especially when they are new to you. (See Reasons to learn tricks on BOTH sides and Are you overtraining?)

Reading over testimonials my students have written about me, I am known as being a trainer who promotes strength. But professionals know that muscling everything is an inefficient use of energy. It's great to build up the strength, but if you've got a dozen shows a week, you can't be wasteful.

Nonetheless, it's good to be able to work up the strength to deadlift as many moves as possible, for the sake of control as much as for showing off. After all, if you're going to get yourself in a tricky position, you need the muscle control to be able to get out of trouble if something goes wrong once you get there.

Meanwhile, how do you use momentum without flailing? A lot of it is psychological, not letting yourself tense up or hold back. Remind yourself to ride the wind instead of thrashing about. Easier said than done when working on a new move. More technically, it's about paying attention to your form. You can't just think about getting to the end position by any means possible. You have to know the position of your body, even if you're upside-down and the world is spinning around you. Here I tuck, here I twist, here I extend. A good teacher should be able to tell you the sequence of movements and as many subtleties as possible. But ultimately, you're going to have to find the sweet spots yourself. Until you get there, pay very close attention to your coach's instructions. It's more important to think "hips up" than to think "nowwww GO UPSIDE-DOWN!!!" If you keep good form but you don't make it all the way, that's OK! Better to learn good habits in the beginning.

There is a time to muscle and a time to ride the wave. Having good technique in both cases is the end goal.