One armed pole dancer a star at world competition

Once reserved for seedy hotel bars and gentleman's clubs, pole dancing is slowly gaining its place as a legitimate dance and even a form of exercise.

One indication of its mainstream success is the Ultimate Pole Championship, which finished up in Hong Kong on Friday.

Reuters reported that the competition, now in its sixth year, saw nearly 30 of the world's top pole dancers compete in two categories: Pole Fit, which judges the dancer on fitness, and Pole Art, which rates on choreography.

There is no nudity during the competition.

The tournament consisted of four divisions: men's, women's, disabled and doubles.

The competition's disabled division was won by a woman with one arm.

"I actually got into an underground Goth scene in my teenage years because I didn't fit into normal society," said the Australian Deborah Roach, according to the Telegraph. "And I loved dancing the night away on the dance floor, and that led to stage dancing in clubs."

According to Reuters, to win competitors need to be well-executed, synochronized and performed with energy and a strong stage presence.

Male winner Chris Measday, who is also from Australia was reported as saying, "I'm not the most flexible guy in the world, I'm not the strongest guy in the world, but I am graceful. Trying to find something that balances and ticks all those boxes is probably the hardest thing."