Pole Fitness

Pole-dancing: Olympic sport or strip-club sleaze?

Interesting article about pole dance as Olympic sport.

Alex Shchukin

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/11208931/Pole-dancing-strip-club-sleaze-or-Olympic-sleaze.html

Source: The Telegraph

SWISS POLE SHOW 2014

This incredible meeting of the best pole stars was held in Zurich last weekend. Pole dance freaks had the opportunity to attend many workshops at LOFT1 pole studios and the whole event was crowned with pole show in AURA club. The performers came from all over the world and counted 9 celebrities:

Anastasia Sokolova, Fawnia Dietrich, Saulo Sarmiento, Natasha Wang, Marion Crampe, Nadia Shariff, Karol Helms, Lolo Hilsum and Phoenix Kazree.

For those who didn’t get chance to come or be present at least online at Livestream, here is the link.  Enjoy ;-)

http://new.livestream.com/Poleranking/SwissPoleShow/videos/66062812

Anastasia Sokolova, photo: facebook.com

POLE STARS 2014

Pole Stars 2014 was held on 18th October in Municipal Library in Prague. It was whole day event with semifinals in the morning and afternoon and finals in the evening. It was very hard to decide for the judges because all the competitors were of high level with unbelievable skills!

From 16 competitors of each group in semifinals, eight got through to the finals. Here are the results of each category:

Professionals

1.       Anna Nikulina

2.       Štěpánka Šaškovičová

3.       Růženka Kunstýřová

Amateurs

1.       Regina Gayfullina

2.       Arina Pushchina

3.       Zuzana Fialová

Doubles

1.       Pavlína Neveselá a Lucia Štulrajterová

2.       Kristina Kovačić a Jelena Adanić

3.       Simone Fluhr a Irina Mauch

Absolute winner was Anna Nikulina who also won prize money of 1000€ from Dragonfly!

Big congrats to all competitors and also organizers of this event – Jarmila Ptáčníková and Jana Páclová. It was a pleasure to be part of it!

See you this week in Switzerland at Swiss Pole Cup!

Love, Petra

WORLD POLE SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS LONDON 2014

Hi Dragonfly fans!

Late but still..we are coming with a few words about WPSC 2014 in London!

This year World Pole Sports Championships in London was held again in York Hall on 19^th – 20^th July. Saturday was almost full and Sunday was sold out. We have to say this year was amazing, well organized, athletes were well prepared and the whole weekend was just the one you would never forget about.

Semifinals on Saturday showed us more than 130 competitors from all over the world. Doubles, men and women did their best and proved that the level is getting higher every year. It was a pleasure to be there, meet and see people who are the top of world pole sports.

Here are the results!

Category Masters 50+

Greta Ponterelli

Candice Prior

Mika Higuchi

Greta from US was amazing again and it took our breath away. We recommend to watch her performance!

Category Masters 40+

Alexandra Gerland

Yvonne Haug

Yvette Austin

Category Junior

Bernadette Floch

Jazmin Petervari

These little girls are so flexible! They do incredible stuff and it is worthy to see some videos!

Category Novice

Evelina Bragina

Camila Castro

Aimee Hilton

Category Mixed Doubles

Joaquin Dezzotti Valentino & Belen Serra

Terri Walsh & Lisette Krol

Akane Sato & Nodoka Mikami

Our big favorites were champions of last year Terri  and Lisette. They are so inspiring! But it is hard to choose the best group every year – they are all amazing!

Category Senior Men

Felipe Mendoza

Vecislavs Ruza

Alex Shchukin

Big “oh” to Alex :-) Was he nervous? No, he was a delighted father! He was perfect but this time there were better. Beautiful performance!

Category Senior Women

Oona Kivela

Victoria Rame

Alina Saifutdinova

Oona was just the best! But we are pretty proud of 5^th and 8^th place – Ruzena and Denisa from Czech Republic! Our girls are in world’s top ten!

Photos: facebook.com

WORLD POLE SPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014

Don't miss out this event!

Finally this weekend.

See you in London very soon!

CHIA SEEDS

Chia grains are oval and about 2 mm long with irregular dark red-brown markings over a brown to black base. Chia seeds were cultivated for centuries by the Aztecs of Mexico and the Indians of the Southwest of America, these tiny seeds formed part of their staple diet.  Aztec warriors were said to use Chia to as a high energy 'supplement' on their conquest.

7 reasons to start eating chia seeds:

1.       Help weight loss

2.       Feel fuller faster

3.       Hydration for athletes

4.       Reduce your blood pressure

5.       Omega-3 source

6.       Benefits for diabetes – blood sugar control

7.       They are easy to digest

Recipe which we tried once and since then we eat it every day for breakfast :-)

Chia seeds pudding

·         1 banana

·         1 cup of milk (coconut, rice, soya, spelt)

·         2 tablespoons of chia seeds

·         organic maple syrup

Mix banana and milk in blender, add chia seeds and put in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight. Drizzle maple syrup over the pudding to serve.

Ingredients may vary – use organic cocoa powder to make chocolate pudding. Use strawberries or other fruits instead of bananas. Sprinkle with nuts. Add cane sugar or honey to make your pudding sweet.

Bon appetite! ;-)

DRAGONFLY POLE FITNESS WORKOUT vol. 4

DRAGONFLY POLE FITNESS WORKOUT vol. 1

DRAGONFLY POLE FITNESS WORKOUT Vol. 3

POLE BATTLE OONA K vs. BENDY KATE

BIKRAM YOGA RETREAT AND DRAGONFLY PHOTO SHOOTING IN CROATIA

It’s been a year our studio Bikram Yoga Ceske Budejovice organized our first Bikram Yoga holiday in Croatia. This year we already have experience and know what to expect. So we prepared just a perfect week by Adriatic Sea full of yoga, nice food and fun! :-)

Bikram teachers were three and they alternated every day so the students didn’t get bored. Everybody attended one yoga class a day in the morning followed by beach time – sunbathing and swimming :-) 

For lunch, we enjoyed Mediterranean cuisine full of veggies, fresh fish and seafood. 

In the afternoon there was some fitness activity such as running, tennis or in-line skating. The evenings we spent with kind of posture clinic, yoga poses Q&A and again with food and drinks ;-) We brought a small grill so the barbecue smelled nice around every evening. Two times we went to the beach and practiced silent class at sunset – that was amazing! And two times we went for a trip – we visited gorgeous little towns of Poreč and Rovinj.

Beautiful girls from Dragonfly Team were with us on holiday so when they got some tan we went to the beach and took some pictures of new releases. Available soon on our website: www.dragonflybrand.com

Love, Petra

CZECH POLE SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

Already the third Czech Pole Sport Championship was held in Prague on 13^th – 14^th June 2014. The venue was same as in previous years in Palace Theatre in the city centre. But this year tickets were sold out for the first time! As a sponsor from the very beginning of this championship we could see such a big improvement in both - organization and performance.

Here are some news of this year: this was first time when the men division, doubles and youth category were opened. Other already well known divisions were Amateurs, Professionals and Elite Women. This year championship was again divided into the two-day event. And because home of Dragonfly is in Czech Republic not far from Prague – our team was there! :-) We are very proud to say that the level of the competitors in Czech Republic increases very sharply and we hope in London at World Pole Sports Championship 2014 we will get some medals! :-)

Here are the results and congrats to all!

Kids:

Elizaveta Shevtsova

Aneta Janoudová

Natálie Pernická

Youth:

Daria Sheveleva

Marija Pečnikova

Adéla Průchová

Women Amateurs:

Olga Kozlova

Veronika Péková

Maria Guskova

Women Professionals:

Alexandra Kalousová

Pavlína Neveselá

Jitka Sitová

Men:

Huy Hai Nguyen

Roman Gemrot

Women Elite:

Růženka Halamková

Denisa Kudláčková

Anna Nikulina

Doubles:

Nikol Heyrovská, Petra Kijonková

Lenka Havelková, Jitka Sitová

Klára Kaňová, Nikola Palková

GERMAN POLE SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

Other event which we were part of was German Pole Sport Championship 2014 in Bochum. This championship was held in Variété et cetera on 9th June – it was Monday but national holiday so after the weekend the competitors were relaxed and showed incredible performance!

Vivien Feld who organized this championship is owner of 3 pole dance studios and knows what she does :-) So the whole day was exciting, everything was well organized and well situated - this day was very hot but there was an opportunity to relax outside and have some snack or drink. Well done!

Here are the categories and first 3 places of each – these competitors we will see again in London at World Pole Sports Championships 2014!  Congratulations!

Amateur Seniors Woman:

      1. Alina Metzner

      2. Claudia Roling

      3. Nadine Volmer

Amateur Youth:

 1. Tatjana Pizanis-Ellis

      2. Lea-Chiara Vogel

      3. Pauline Windschlügel

Professionals Seniors Woman:

      1. Sandra Jung

      2. Karolina Nogai

      3. Ekaterina Matkina

Elite Doubles:

     1. Simone Fluhr / Irina Mauch

     2. Sarah Christina Peys / Xuerao Zhang

     3. Diana Hoffmann / Nikola Apel

Elite Seniors Men:

      1. Ilya Ananyev

      2. Patrick Pausch

Elite Seniors Women:

      1. Julia Wahl

      2. Rania El-Azzami

      3. Anna Weirich

Elite Masters:

      1. Yvonne Haug

WORLD YOGA SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP 2014, LONDON

Hi Dragonfly fans! This time yoga fans ;-)

This year was the first time ever Yoga Sports finals took place outside the US - in Europe. London is one of the best places to host such an event – many yoga studios, hotels, bars, restaurants and beautiful sightseeing. So when the competition is over, all the competitors and judges can enjoy buzz about the city. But back to business! :-)

World championship was held in Logan Hall in Central London on 31^st May – 1^st June 2014. 107 athletes from all over the world showed up! Skill level was just amazing and is getting better every year. Dragonfly team was more than proud to have one of our teachers from Bikram Yoga Ceske Budejovice studio on the podium! Other Bikram Yoga “celebrities” were among the judges or organizers headed by Rajashree Choudhury.

 

On Saturday semifinals started in the morning. Men and women showed their best and it was just wonderful spectacle. This year was not only first time in Europe but also first time where could take part also the champions from previous years. Familiar faces and world champions such as Joseph Encinia, Jared McCann or Gloria Suen stepped up on the podium again and left the audience with the mouth open. This exciting day finished up with top ten men and women in the evening. Somebody went to bed or relaxed other way and our team went to the city for a dinner and sightseeing – to celebrate our Veronika who got to the finals :-)

Sunday morning we dropped off Veronika at Bikram Yoga Highbury&Islington to get ready and warm up for the finals. Meanwhile we got back to the Logan Hall and watched Youth division – these girls and boys were pretty amazing! How flexible and strong at a time! Logan Hall began to fill up with the audience passionate about yoga. Especially the men division was a bit surprise but that is yoga – you have to calm down and demonstrate the best you got and sometimes you just can’t or something happens which disturbs you. Women division was thrilling especially for us, two Czech girls were in top ten and the whole Dragonfly team was sitting there silently and eagerly fingers crossed. In conclusion we got 7^th place and Bikram Yoga Prague studio 3^rd place. How happy we were!!

Here are the results, congratulations to all the participants!

YOUTH BOYS

RANK    NAME   COUNTRY           TOTAL SCORE

1             Delbaere-Sawchuk Danton        Canada 48.620

2             D’Quebec Alan Kane     USA       47.400

3             Basso Riccardo  Italy       45.370

4             Smets Ansel      Belgium               38.420

YOUTH GIRLS

RANK    NAME   COUNTRY           TOTAL SCORE

1             Sougata Jana     India      46.710

2             Ripley Holly        New Zealand     46.440

3             Martini Agnese                Italy       44.540

4             Fok Reiko Alice Japan    42.910

5             Patterson Aisha               Australia              41.800

6             Bansal Gargi       New Zealand     41.190

7             Wachauf Marlena           Austria 39.120

8             Smets Sophia    Belgium               38.460

9             Fort Ber Cristina               Spain     37.000

10           Massaccesi Mariana       Italy       36.860

11           Guzman Perez  Mexico 36.100

MEN

Rank      Name   Country               Score

1             Zeb Homison     USA       57.38

2             Jared McCann   USA       56.6

3             Erik Persson       Sweden               55.31

4             Jorge Eduard Rodriguez Moreno             Mexico 53

5             Joseph Encinia  USA       52.97

6             Mark Valenton Australia              51.66

7             Michael Tuang  Australia              50.56

8             Kanisorn Namchaiswadwong    Thailand              49.92

9             Alessandro Moura Venegas       United Kingdom              48.98

10           Juan Manuel Martin-Busutil       Spain     42.18

WOMEN

Rank      Name   Country               Score

1             Gloria Suen        USA       63.42

2             Gianna Purcell  USA       62.39

3             Anna Cadkova  Czech Republic 59.49

4             Lauren Martone              USA       57.34

5             Almania Colombo           Italy       56.06

6             Paulina Lawson                Mexico 55.84

7             Veronika Fiserova           Czech Republic 54.44

8             Fiona McNamara             Ireland 49.38

9             Karla Gonzalez  Mexico 47.67

10           Dippanita Mondl             India      42

 

We celebrated afterwards at the Vietnamese restaurant and with one day off – Monday shopping in London ;-) The way back is always more tiring, whole trip took almost 3000 kilometers! But we love travelling ;-) See you in London in 2 months at WORLD POLE SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP 2014!

Love, Petra

POLE FITNESS HUNGARIAN OPEN 2014

Pole Fitness Hungarian Open, an international championship has been accredited by IPSF since 2012 and is now a fully accredited and endorsed championship, which allows its top 3 athletes to qualify for the World Pole Sport Championship.

This year Pole Fitness Hungarian Open was held in Budapest in Budapest Arena from 10^th to 11^th May. Pole sport championship was a part of a whole day event – fitness expo. Hundreds of people showed up to watch, to try, to eat, to spend the day sporting.

Dragonfly team was there to support the event and enjoyed it very much! :-) Event organizers Liza Szabo and Orsi Pall prepared the event very well and invited Alessandra Marchetti, world champion, who was among the IPSF certified judges.

Here are the results, congrats to all competitors!

Novice:

1.) Patricia Nadasdi

2.) Niki Jancsovics

3.) Adel Gresiczki

Junior:

1.) Jazmin Petervari

2.) Fanni Cseh

Doubles:

1.) Judit Gabris-Baczako / Eszter Vagra

2.) Nóra Berthold / Zsuzsanna Toronyi

3.) Iris Heindl / Sandra Einfalt

Men:

1.) Jakub Kolasa

Women:

1.) Anna Chigarina

2.) Tetyana Lytvynova

3.) Maria Lovas

This was our first trip to Budapest. The capital city of Hungary is just beautiful! It is definitely worthy to visit, Dragonfly team highly recommends ;-)