After the First Classes
Okay, so I've officially completed a week of classes! I'm having so much fun! So far I've done three aerial classes and one contortion class, plus my nightly stretching routine.
For aerial, the beginners start out on the static trapeze first. We've learned how to get up on the trapeze and down from it and a few basic tricks. I have very little upper body strength, so it's been quite a challenge, which I love. I won't lie, I was very excited to find that my hip flexibility was actually a plus when learning the "gazelle"-- I was able to completely let go with both hands without the instructor having to hold my leg up against the rope. We've also learned a bit on the spanish web. For example, tonight, another student and I learned how to hang properly from the hand loop (we were taught how to climb up and down the web in our first class) and worked on a cradle, A sit, and...I don't remember what she called it, haha. I have a knot forming on my right wrist from the loop (we only worked one side on the web today which is strange because with aerial we're supposed to work both sides equally). My hands are definitely starting to callus and my muscles are very sore. Hot baths in epsom salts are my close friends right now.
Now for contortion. ^_^ I've had one class so far and I have my second tomorrow. Now I've always had some degree of natural flexibility. When I took dance classes as a child, I was always the most flexible and even in college it was true. I wasn't a contortionist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have a natural tendency toward it, I think. My at-home stretching routine has been sporadic. I'll sometimes go for a few months where I stretch religiously every night, but something always happens which causes a hiatus. It doesn't take me long to get back to where I was when I start up again, but that's been my training up until now.
When I walked into the studio last week, there were a few girls sitting around waiting for class to start and talking. I quickly got very intimidated because they were discussing their straddle splits (which I've never had, even as a child) and elbow stands and I began to worry that I'd gotten in way over my head. When the class started, there were only two of us who were new, so the instructor asked if we had any experience with stretching. The other girl does yoga and I honestly answered that I'd been stretching on my own at home, but wasn't sure if I was doing it right.We did some warm-ups and such and then we started with front splits.I slid down into my right front split and was fairly happy with myself, until the instructor walked up to me. She asked me to lift back up some and then she shifted my hips. My hips weren't square!! This entire time I've been practicing my front splits and I haven't been square in the hips! I was a little devastated, lol. Next we did some assisted stretching and the instructor commented that my knees were tight but the rest of my muscles were very soft. So, they made me stretch my knees. I didn't know you could do that! Lol! So, I sat with the edge of my butt on a bench and my heels on another bench with my legs straight out in front of me,. They placed a sandbag on my knees, straddling the actual kneecap, and asked me to reach for my toes while someone pushed on me. I held this position for five minutes. It definitely did the trick. After that we did assisted straddle split stretches and the instructor commented that my muscles were very loose and that she could keep pushing me farther, but that she wouldn't because I was in pain. She actually didn't believe me when I said it hurt at first, lol. That's pretty much how it went for the entire class. The instructor kept telling me that I actually had a greater range of motion than I thought and that my muscles were very soft (apparently a good thing, lol). We did some stretches for shoulders and backs against the wall and I impressed everyone, apparently. It seems I'm pretty flexible in my back, which is a complete surprise to me as I've always thought I was way more of a frontbender than a backbender. By the end of the class, I was very happy and not feeling intimidated at all. The assisted stretching is great and it's always nice to have an instructor push you when you don't think you can go any farther, but actually can.
I already post videos on YouTube practicing my Japanese, but I think I'm going to start posting contortion progress videos as well. I think it will be fun to track my progress now that I've started real training. ^_^
Phew. If you read all that ... that's impressive, lol.
For aerial, the beginners start out on the static trapeze first. We've learned how to get up on the trapeze and down from it and a few basic tricks. I have very little upper body strength, so it's been quite a challenge, which I love. I won't lie, I was very excited to find that my hip flexibility was actually a plus when learning the "gazelle"-- I was able to completely let go with both hands without the instructor having to hold my leg up against the rope. We've also learned a bit on the spanish web. For example, tonight, another student and I learned how to hang properly from the hand loop (we were taught how to climb up and down the web in our first class) and worked on a cradle, A sit, and...I don't remember what she called it, haha. I have a knot forming on my right wrist from the loop (we only worked one side on the web today which is strange because with aerial we're supposed to work both sides equally). My hands are definitely starting to callus and my muscles are very sore. Hot baths in epsom salts are my close friends right now.
Now for contortion. ^_^ I've had one class so far and I have my second tomorrow. Now I've always had some degree of natural flexibility. When I took dance classes as a child, I was always the most flexible and even in college it was true. I wasn't a contortionist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have a natural tendency toward it, I think. My at-home stretching routine has been sporadic. I'll sometimes go for a few months where I stretch religiously every night, but something always happens which causes a hiatus. It doesn't take me long to get back to where I was when I start up again, but that's been my training up until now.
When I walked into the studio last week, there were a few girls sitting around waiting for class to start and talking. I quickly got very intimidated because they were discussing their straddle splits (which I've never had, even as a child) and elbow stands and I began to worry that I'd gotten in way over my head. When the class started, there were only two of us who were new, so the instructor asked if we had any experience with stretching. The other girl does yoga and I honestly answered that I'd been stretching on my own at home, but wasn't sure if I was doing it right.We did some warm-ups and such and then we started with front splits.I slid down into my right front split and was fairly happy with myself, until the instructor walked up to me. She asked me to lift back up some and then she shifted my hips. My hips weren't square!! This entire time I've been practicing my front splits and I haven't been square in the hips! I was a little devastated, lol. Next we did some assisted stretching and the instructor commented that my knees were tight but the rest of my muscles were very soft. So, they made me stretch my knees. I didn't know you could do that! Lol! So, I sat with the edge of my butt on a bench and my heels on another bench with my legs straight out in front of me,. They placed a sandbag on my knees, straddling the actual kneecap, and asked me to reach for my toes while someone pushed on me. I held this position for five minutes. It definitely did the trick. After that we did assisted straddle split stretches and the instructor commented that my muscles were very loose and that she could keep pushing me farther, but that she wouldn't because I was in pain. She actually didn't believe me when I said it hurt at first, lol. That's pretty much how it went for the entire class. The instructor kept telling me that I actually had a greater range of motion than I thought and that my muscles were very soft (apparently a good thing, lol). We did some stretches for shoulders and backs against the wall and I impressed everyone, apparently. It seems I'm pretty flexible in my back, which is a complete surprise to me as I've always thought I was way more of a frontbender than a backbender. By the end of the class, I was very happy and not feeling intimidated at all. The assisted stretching is great and it's always nice to have an instructor push you when you don't think you can go any farther, but actually can.
I already post videos on YouTube practicing my Japanese, but I think I'm going to start posting contortion progress videos as well. I think it will be fun to track my progress now that I've started real training. ^_^
Phew. If you read all that ... that's impressive, lol.
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