We all have those moves that for some reason we can never get, no matter how hard we try. For me, this is the Knee Hold.

I have been trying this move for ages – and by that, I mean years!! I remember a time in a lesson about 4 years ago where I think I somehow managed to get the Knee Hold for a good few seconds and that’s it. That’s all I have – a very distant, foggy memory.

I have tried my hardest with this one. I have researched about the move, watched pretty much every video I can to try and figure it out. I have asked people how they do it. I have all of this information to hand and yet somehow it still isn’t working.

Now it’s not as if I haven’t practised – I have.. every week. The problem I get is the knee pain, which is expected and I can power through. After one practice I get a lovely, huge bruise that makes it a lot harder to practice. But as soon as that’s gone, I try again.

I’m Doing This!!

I think part of every tricky move is believing you can do it. You really have to believe, or your body won’t let you do it. I was recently saw a facebook post of a new pole friend who is teaching herself one new pole move a week. To me this sounds like a great idea.

I decided that the Knee Hold is my move for the week. I gave it a go, failed miserably, laid on the floor for a bit and almost gave up. I decided to whip out the laptop, watch some YouTube clips, read my pole books and gather any inspiration possible.

The one little note about the move that I read was ‘Excellent core strength required.’ Hmm… I thought that surely that should read something like – prepare for intense knee pain.

I think it was then, that something clicked. I realised that I wasn’t really using my core. Everyone had told me to push my hips forward, yet everytime I tried, my knees slipped right off. I usually put my legs in position on the pole and try and move them around and hold them until they stopped slipping. I would try to push my hips forward, and always proceeded to fall on the floor.

It occured to me that in order to use my core, my hips did not necessarily need to be pushed forward. I finally realised that the position I usually got in to before pushing my hips was the position my legs needed to be in, and that they didn’t need a further push. All this time, I was waiting on something that was never going to happpen!

I tried again with my legs in position on the pole. I kept my hips as far forward as they were ever going to be and concentrated on using my core. To my surprise, I managed to take my hands off… for about 1 second! Still, I was so excited. I tried again and again until my knees were black and blue. I managed to take my hands off, put them behind my head and hole the pose. I had finally managed the Knee Hold!!

The How To Part

This is how I managed to (eventually) get the Knee Hold:

1. Stand side on to the pole. Stand on your tip toes and swing your inside leg high on to the pole, hooked behind the knee. I do this a little higher than parallel to the ground.

2. Place your inside arm high on the pole and your outside arm on the pole, lower than your knee.

3. Bring your outside leg on to the pole. The pole should be on the squidgy part near your knee – not on any bone. Once this leg is in position, hook your feet together. I place my top foot behind my bottom foot. This should help to lock you in position.

4. Take your bottom arm off the pole. Lean your body away from the pole to try and make a straight line as possible with your body. (Head, chest, knees in line)

5. Keep your core engaged, take your top hand off the pole and hold.

I place my hands behind or stretched away from my head to pose. At first you may find you slowly start to swing around the pole but if you’re at this point, then you’re doing the Knee Hold!

Perfecting The Move

I wanted to share my first ever proper Knee Hold with you – the picture attached at the top. I’m so happy that I’ve managed to do the Knee Hold and now need to work on perfecting it. I need to be able to hold it without spinning and I need to be able to get in to this gracefully. Other than that, I’ve nailed it, ha!