[Jessie Moniz Hardy, Kevin Smith | The Royal Gazette]
“It has really made me stronger… My taekwondo has also become prettier. I do a lot of kicks and they’ve become more elegant.”
His shoulders hurt, his muscles burnt and sweat poured everywhere.
It was Iejah Caines’s first attempt at pole dancing — and he was hooked.
“I loved the challenge,” he said. “It’s not about being sexy. It might look sexy, but it takes a lot of strength.”
The 33-year-old was drawn to the fitness routine after he saw it in Rihanna’s 2014 video, Pour it Up.
He was fascinated by how the singer climbed poles and turned herself upside down.
“Her athleticism was amazing,” he said.
The taekwondo fourth dan black belt was bored with his workouts at the gym and decided to give it a whirl at Lotus on Victoria Street.
“It has really made me stronger,” he said. “My taekwondo has also become prettier. I do a lot of kicks and they’ve become more elegant.”
In hopes of getting other males interested, he started teaching a pole fitness class geared solely towards them.
So far, he has three students.
He believes the association between pole dancing and strip clubs keeps men away.
“I am very tired and sweaty afterward,” he said. “Men need to stop thinking about it with the strip club mentality.
“I am not a feminine guy. I am a mason by trade. After a hard day at work, it is stress-relieving for me.