POINTE SHOE FITTER REACTS TO OVERTRAINING FLEXIBILITY!

over stretching is not the way, pass it on.

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Produced, Filmed & Edited by: Jazley Faith @jazzleyfaith @jazleyfaithphoto

[ThePointeShop]

overstretching is not the way to get flexible, pass it on. 🫡

[bruresende]

Ok, this is straight-up child abuse, no matter in what culture, place, or time... This is scary... Jo's reaction was so pure, tho... 💖💖💖

[wantingtang]

This is standard Chinese Dance training. I had to go through this for many years. I am not naturally flexible and was unnaturally pushed and hurt to achieve such results. Even many years later I can still do the splits but its so frustrating that people don’t believe me when I tell them I’m not naturally flexible and went through a lot of pain for my flexibility. My brother is 7 years younger than me and he is getting safe and proper training. He still can’t do the splits yet but he is slowly and naturally becoming more flexible. The new and safer flexibility training methods should be shared.

[revolutionarypresence]

Such a good point. As someone who deals with hypermobility, my "inflexibility" is actually my body saying "your muscles don't support this level of stretch...stop stretching." I actually get more flexible the more strengthening I do

[mermaidopulence]

Ok I'm actually glad you did a reaction to this video. I've actually seen the whole video and other videos that they have and it breaks my heart what they put those kids through. Those babies are literally crying while the coach is pressing down on them or overstretching them until their bones pop and start crying. When I was younger doing ballet I did have a teacher who would make us stay in an overstretched split and it caused me to have pain. I eventually ended up moving to a different studio and didn't have to do that.

[rudetuesday]

It would be really helpful hearing stories from adults of all ages who were trained and overtrained like this as children talk about their physical condition over time, and how their bodies changed.

[Blastimal]

This is how I was trained for my gymnastics. But that was 40 years ago. I teach Gymnastics now and use none of these methods. I also lost that flexibility by the time I was 18. Since I started teaching at 33 I still can't even do a split despite stretching almost everyday, multiple times. Mind you that all of it is done during the classes I teach as I stretch with my students during our 15 minute warm up. I don't expect to ever regain the mobility I had when I was 10-15 years old which is the last time I remember being decently flexible.

[biologynerd]

I remember being in ballet as a preteen and getting injured by a substitute instructor who tried to push me to be more flexible. I was extremely tall and have always been inflexible. I was stretching my leg on the bar and he came over and slammed my leg down with some snarky saying about how I had to push myself. I strained a muscle and was in pain for weeks. Nothing wrong with stretching but there are right and wrong ways to do it and serious pain is always wrong.

[niasomnia]

I was overflexible in dance and swimming (butterfly was my specialty) and now at 30 I’m staring down a potential second back surgery from the micro injuries I was giving myself. This kind of training is dangerous and can not only affect the soft tissue, but also the bony tissue. A lot of young orthopedic candidates are former young athletes who have repetitive motion injuries from poor technique and overtraining like this. This is actually really sad. :(

[catbothelen]

Omg I’m so glad this video exists 😢 When I was little my mom enrolled me in a ballet class. We did no ballet whatsoever, absolutely nothing on the barre, it was just hours of stretching and stretching. Everyone was crying, confused and at the same time mocked by the teacher about how ugly our crying faces were. It felt like pure hell for a small child and after a month I refused to go. My mom went “Oh I guess you’re not cut out to be a dancer then” and gave up on me.

Sadly it still seems to be a common misconception in China that torturous overstretching and even physical abuse should be seen as normal in the dance world. One of the historical reasons for that could be that in the old days, families who couldn’t afford to feed their kids might sell them to performing street artists, at which point the kids were someone else’s property to stretch and beat as they please 😢 Now that those traumatic times are behind us and people start to have access to more research out there, I’m glad to say that I have seen people making an effort debunking those myths even in my home country.

It is also videos like this that really help bring awareness to this issue, as well as advocate for young dancers who don’t yet have the knowledge or power to protect themselves against unhealthy practices. Thank you so much!

[AluraHirsch]

Here in Las Vegas there are stretching classes that overstretch like this and the kids cry. The moms of the dancers really like the classes because they feel this is how to get them to be the best, but when a mom showed me a video (she was proud of it) of her daughter crying, but stretching her back farther and nailing a move, I was in disbelief. I still don’t understand why parents think its ok! Especially to this point! Its not just happening in other countries, it’s popular in the states for competitive dancers too.

[TrueRival]

This just gives me more appreciation for the instructors that run the dance studio my daughter goes to. They never push children beyond their limits.

[yellowbubble]

As a hypermobile person: even if this doesn't hurt you because you're hypermobile, DON'T DO IT! If you're hypermobile, focus on strength/endurance training instead; your body will thank you in the long run.
Whether you're hypermobile or not: this puts a ton of strain on your ligaments AND with certain joints you're actually purposefully dislocating them.

[AbstractlyDelen]

Im 28, disabled, have 2 forms of arthritis, and oh my god, my joints are ON FIRE watching these poor babies 😭 I understand in different cultures they have different ways to train, but think of the babies 💜

[mjgbabydragonlet]

i have a really good friend who goes to China every year, he is a doctor. He said the state level training for kids starts too young. He has performed many surgeries, joint replacements, in China. As his patients continue to grow, they need more surgery. He goes back every year to continue to treat kids who he feels were truly destroyed by the state. He sees the same kinds of injuries here in the US, but the kids are in their late teens. I am honestly afraid to give too much detail; as he does travel often, and I would hate to know something I said could keep him from patients he has bonded with.

[shaldana]

In the 70s when I was little, we did a lot of training like this for gymnastics. It was torture, and I quit. I loved to do gymnastics, but even that little, I was a nope out for pain being mistaken for dedication.

[bopeng]

I’m ten years old and have been doing ballet in China, and this is very true for some studios. One of the first ballet studios I went to was exactly like the ones in the video, thankfully the ballet studio i’m going to now is pretty nice they do ask you to overstretch a bit but not at all like this, it’s really sad.😢

[wynnneal]

I am an adult ballet learner. Always wanted to dance since I was young but never had the opportunity. Since watching you 3 years ago, even I have no ballet background, I was inspired to take up the courage to learn it and your education on pointe shoes and feet have helped me a lot. Watching these babies being pushed to over stretch are painful to watch from a new learner's perspective. Thank you for your reaction on this to let people know that there are dangers of over stretching. Keep educating us. Thank you.

[serephita]

I am so happy that my ballet studio intentionally encouraged us against things like this while training. My knees eventually did a *small* amount of hyper extension, but it wasn't something my teacher encouraged or wanted for any of us. (it happened after 6 or so years of study?)

[martymoo_]

One of the things that really gets me about this is that all these kids are being forced to do everyting to the same leve (same amount of blocks for over splits etc.) so not only is there no consideration of individual bodies needs and abilities, they are also teaching these CHILDREN that if they can't do exactly the same as the person next to them they aren't good. WTF!!!