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After a LOT of hard work, I'm very pleased to release Club Dance For Men Level 2: Confidence, the follow up to Club Dance For Men Level 1!  Still designed for beginners, Level 2 builds on the fundamental moves covered in Level 1 and steps up the dancing a notch.  Greater empahsis is put on creating movement, style, and musicality - be prepared to move your shoulders, hips, hands, and more! 

Sorry it took so long for this release, but I've put a lot of time and thought into this DVD, and it shows - the DVD program runs over 3 hours long!   I couldn't fit in any more material, so I plan on releasing more videos and thoughts via the included site access.

Again, all the material is based on my teaching experiences with actual students, as well as my own club dancing experiences, so everything shown is tried-true-and-tested.

Ideally, Club Dance For Men Level 2 is best paired with the upcoming Club Dance Partnering Level 1, which covers easy and fun partnering moves you can do in clubs and is great for single guys or couples.  However, it won't be released for another month, but if you're on this email list or a member (by buying a Pickupdance product), you'll get a discount when it does release. 

In the meantime, please enjoy Club Dance For Men Level 2: Confidence and become a confident dancer when you go out!

More importantly, a sincere thanks to you for your support and encouragement in all my work!

I've recorded and released a web lesson and dance practice to give you guys something to work with while I work furiously around the clock putting together my jam-packed Level 2 DVD!  In the web lesson, I cover basic musicality to the song "Dangerous" by Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon.  I've covered transitioning moves in my Level 1 DVD, but here it is put to use dancing to a real club song.

If you have a Youtube account, please show your support by rating my videos generously!   Click here to visit my Youtube channel.

Also, at the request of some students, I've put up a forum.  It's empty right now because I'm super busy making a quality video for you guys (and girls), but I intend to get active on it once I release my Level 2 DVD. 

If you're reading this article and are wondering how to get notified for more lessons, make sure you sign up on my email list!

Again, thanks for all your support!

Support the artist and buy the song.

I have to apologize for not blogging in a while, but my reasons are good.  I've taken and tested my dance moves all over North America - from the hottest nightclubs in Las Vegas to the more laid back venues in Waikiki, Hawaii to the friendly country clubs in the eastern Maritime provinces of Canada.  Of course, all the while I've thrown in some of my favorite hobbies - surfing, rock climbing, and random travel adventures - for good measure.

Now that I'm back in Toronto, I can reflect on my experiences and report the good news.  If you're just looking to get comfortable, then for sure, the basic moves covered in my Beginner's Level 1 DVD will work. Sometimes, I show up at a club winded or get tired quickly if it's packed and stuffy.  During those times, I'll switch to those basic moves to keep moving to the rhythm or to build my state back up.

Of course, it's also my job to step it up a notch, so during my travels abroad, I've visited classy nightclubs, tourist hot spots, smaller venues for locals, salsa scenes, clique Asian parties, reggae beach parties, dances in public squares, street dancing at festivals, wedding crashing, impromptu dancing on the subway, you name it.  The moves I have planned for the Level 2 and Level 3 series work great, while I've also acquired a few extra moves I plan on developing.  In general, no matter where I am, people are generally out to have a good time and dancing is definitely a unifying activity.

I've filmed much of the material for the Level 2 series, which covers more styling moves and ways to lead a girl, and given the good response I've had for it, it looks like I might become a hermit for a short period while I do some serious editing to bring it out.  The good news is that for any of you who have Twitter, I've just joined it so you can follow me and get any tips that come to mind in real-time.  If you dont have it, I put a Twitter feed badge on the pickupdance.com website so you can visit the site and see my Twitter updates (tweets).  Click here to see and follow my tweets.

Note that I'm also a personal development enthusiast, so you'll also get a slice of wisdom with an adventurous touch on the side (I loosely keep another blog at www.risingbean.com).  But hey, after all, isn't learning how to dance personal development?

Unless man purses come into fashion, we're dealing with more and more junk to carry around these days - wallets, iPods, cell phones, Blackberries, PDA's, etc.  Pockets bulging in the wrong places are unsightly.  You want as clean of a look as possible on your pants as possible and leave the bulging to where it's relevant.  Here are some tips on keeping your pockets lean and clean without having to resort to vertically striped pants.

1. Your wallet. You don't want a thick wallet.  It screams someone with too many burdens, an overzealous World of Warcraft player, or an obsessive-compulsive packrat.  Really go through your wallet.  Toss as much as you can.  Throw out old receipts.  Cancel excessive credit cards.  Burn that VIP membership card to hotbabesXXX.com.  When you're done, it'll feel really good.  If you really have trouble pruning, buy a thin secondary wallet or money clip used for you go out and transfer only the essentials: cash in larger denominations, one credit card, driver's license.

2. Loose change. Get rid of it.  I keep anything under a quarter in change in a jar.  Every few months, I take the jar and take it to a Coinstar machine at a local bank.  I don't get charged for using it.  Most Coinstar machines charge 9% which is quite a lot if you're converting months worth of change.  I know some machines don't levy the commission if you use them towards a gift certificate to specific retail stores.

3. Breath Fresheners. Gum, Pocket Paks, mints, etc. You need to carry a pack of these no matter what - bad breath is your enemy.  I've had varying experience with different kinds, though I generally stay away from the mini spray canisters and stick gum because the paper packaging makes them vulnerable to heat.  Listerine Pocket Paks take up the least space though I find the traditional tablet gum lasts the longest.

4. Keys. You really only need your car and house keys.  Keep them on a detachable so you only go out with those.  I have a fat car alarm pager, but I substitute it with a tiny secondary pager that doesn't have the paging function.  I know German car owners have thick fob keys - I'm not sure if there are any smaller alternatives to those.

5. Cell phones. These days, phones are cheap.  You can easily get a thin flip phone for under $50 off craigslist, Kijiji, or eBay.  You need your phone of course to collect numbers, so like gum, you need to reserve a spot for it.  Make sure the phone has the ability to store and transfer interesting photos from your computer.  I put my rock climbing and recent travel photos on my phone.  When meeting new people, photos are a great communication tool.  The iPhone is great because you can play your own videos, though in context with this article, I'm not a huge fan of it because of its size.

Note: Playing videos of you biking down the World's Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia is cool.  Playing viral Youtube videos that everyone has seen before is not cool.

Extra Note: Never wear your phone on the outside of your pants on a clip.  I know it's really convenient, but in terms of style, it's an eyesore.

6. PDA's and Blackberries. PDA's can be left at home.  If your phone is GSM enabled, then get a small flip phone and swap your SIM card over to it for when you go out.  Staring at your phone and punching away at it like a Gameboy all night in a club has lost it's cool.  For many, the Blackberry is your phone, camera, organizer, GPS, etc.  I like the all-in-one concept, which really helps save pocket space, though I'm scared of its addictive Crackberry properties.

Reminder Note: Never wear your phone or Blackberry on the outside of your pants on a clip.  I need to re-emphasize this because it's like the fashion faux-pas of wearing a t-shirt under a shirt.

7. Digital cameras. I used to carry one around when I first starting going out to clubs a lot to "track my progress" - it was encouraging.  After a while, I stopped carrying one around because of the pocket burden.  Now, I occasionally carry one to film some rough live footage of my dancing.  If your camera has a decent camera with a mini-flash on it, this is probably the better way to go.  After a while, club photos with random hot women and friends all look the same.  This one's up to you though.  If you really love pictures, then by all means bring a camera.   Just try to get a model as thin and slim as possible.  I know Canon, Sony, and Casio all carry pretty thin models.

Exceptions. If you have a medical condition that forces you to carry medicine, inhalers, etc that fatten your wallet, then by all means carry these items.  If your pockets are getting bloated by these or of the above items, I have seen some decent looking waist bags that hang stylishly off your belt, and don't look like purses.  I've seen overpriced Gucci waist bags, but since waist bags are popular in Asian culture, I know some Japanese fashion stores carry Japanese men's Hanpu waist bags that carry the same function and look even better.

Also, you might consider wearing a sports jacket or a heavily pocketed military style jacket as part of your club wear to get more carrying capacity.  Just remember, the clubs get hot.  I love how a jacket or club blazer looks, but it doesn't combine well with dancing unless you sweat very little and have a high tolerance for heat.