Athletes are judged on their ability to perform complex movements (e.g. spins and strength and flexibility poses), choreography, style, and expressiveness.
Poles in IPSF pole-sports competitions are brass, 45 mm (1.77 in) in diameter, with 4m (13.12 feet) of usable height.
The practice has a spiritual component, involves acrobatic and yogic movements, and was first developed as a tool for wrestlers.
[11][12] Mallakhamba has grown into a contemporary sport: When mallakhamb re-emerged in the nationalist period before Indian independence, it was practiced separate to wrestling.
At this point, paradoxically, the actual form of mallakhamb in its new incarnation became influenced by English competitive sports and took on the structural framework of colonial British gymnastics.
[14][15][non-primary source needed] Poling for fitness and sport grew out of strip clubs and striptease.
[18][19] This included Image Studio in Canada in the 1980s, where male and female "exotic dancers" were trained in pole dance, floor work, and choreography.
[20] Fitness model, performer and former stripper Fawnia Mondey-Dietrich is often credited with developing some of the first instructional pole dance videos in the 1990s.
[4][18] Students in pole classes learn how to perform spins, supporting their body weight with their hands.
They learn how to climb the pole, invert (flip upside down), and perform complicated maneuvers or tricks.
[10][18] Poling has sex-positive aspects, may challenge gender and sexual stereotypes, and studies have indicated that polers can feel empowered.