The first time Ray Kayan stepped up to a fitness pole, he thought he had it covered.

He was a regular at the gym, had taken part in bodybuilding competitions and had even played hockey. He assumed adding pole for fitness would be straightforward.

“I can do this easily,” he remembers thinking.

He discovered a much more challenging reality.

“Gym strength does not translate into pole strength,” the 58-year-old says. “Not at all. You’re bruised all over your legs, your body aches and you can’t even spin around the pole properly. It was very humbling. A lot of people try it once and think, ‘I’m never coming back.’”

But Kayan – who was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to Los Angeles with his parents when he was one – did not give up. He was enchanted by the idea of using a pole for fitness.

“Just watching people do amazing things on the pole, how they spin, how graceful they look – it was something I really wanted to do.”