Forums > Other Toys > The Hop Hoop thread

Posted: 6th Aug 2008
ElectricBlue sorry for late reply on your vid, lol i need to find some dry grass to practice on, i have just got the step in to start but i am still finding that hooping below the hip, especialy around the knees, really hurts so i am trying to aork out other things to do that doesn't involve anything any lower than my bottom lol

Life's too short to worry about where you put your marshmallows

Posted: 6th Aug 2008
Cool, sounds good. Do you have any existing knee problems that are causing the pain? Beacuse that dose sond pretty bad.

One thing i have found for general hooping to be kinder on the knees try and stand with your feet just inside sholder width, rather than close together of far apart.

My foot is pretty much better now so i'll see if i can make up a little video of some other cool starts that don't involve the knees.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
yup i started ballet when i was three and when i was 14 i went up on my point shoes and my knees gave in and i couldn't walk for around six weeks, since then i have had so many problems, the latest being diagnosed with turned out hips. all the years of dancing and being turned out means that i have to be really carful and i'm going through tonnes of physio. i was gutted when it happened as i was due to join the royal ballet a few months later but got the "you can never do ballet again" talk from the doctor.
knee problems also run in the family.

So yes i have to be very carful although i do have a nice walking stick and am in the process of wrapping another one in tape and i have some fantastic pain killers just incase

I have tried hooping with my knees together which is ok but have ound that without using a "power" knee i can not do anything with it.

to be honest it is not the end of the world lol so i tend not the frett about it, life is too short after all and i am happy adapting every thing i do so i do not hurt myself.

I'm glad your foot is better now and more vids would be great, no rush though, i am not going any where

Life's too short to worry about where you put your marshmallows

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
Aw man that sounds horrible. Well i hope you knees are doing ok.

Funny that you mentioned taping your stick, when i was on crutches i also taped them with sparkle tape and gaff.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
*chuckle*... george or malcolm should be reading this... sounds like the beginnings of a new photo comp...

pimped out medical paraphernalia...

knees are the most ridiculously badly designed joint; so many things that can and do go wrong with them. and there's almost no such thing as a person that's played any decent amount of sport and not had some kind of trouble with them.

too many years of football and tennis did mine in; but in my case, at nothing like the level of the royal ballet.


I digressed and almost forgot the purpose of this thread; speaking of which, I haven't touched a hoop in such a long time. perhaps uber will re-inspire me...? it did last time...

--pogo (pat) [forever and always]

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
oh the possabilities with all the different tapes, lol almost makes worth hurting yourself worth it, which i happen to do alot at the moment.

question for peeps, Which ways do you warm up before hooping or do you do a general warm up, or not bother?

i have been doing yoga for about six months now (recorded yoga TV) and have found it helps, i practice the plank for my inner core strength but do not do it as a warm up mainly as a time for me and me only (unless i am doing the yoga bugs with the kids)

Life's too short to worry about where you put your marshmallows

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
I have knee issues too. Not really sure how it came about...but even just running for the bus makes them hurt and feel like they're about to pop out. So I don't work on leg stuff hardly at all, it's definitely an undeveloped area in my hooping, but I decided pursuing it wasn't worth messing up my knees to the point that I couldn't hoop (or dance) at all. Never mind walking without pain.

Oh and I never ever run for the bus anymore.

taken out of context i must seem so strange
~ ani di franco

Posted: 7th Aug 2008
Ooops I almost forgot.

Happy World Hoop Day everyone!!!!!

Any one going to world hoop day events? Unfortnatly it is a friday and i have to work so i wasn't able to organise any thing here. But i will be hooping at a cool gig in the city tonight. Yay!!!!

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 27th Aug 2008
Hello everyone on HOP hoop thread, I have been lurking for awhile (a year or so) and watching this thread grow. I know a few of you from other forums and from real life but I thought I'd join this lively space too :-) Now I'll have even less time for my real life.

I have been hula hooping for 2 and 3/4 years now and I love it so very much. I love to dance but it has taken awhile for me to integrate dance into my hooping. I of course have my own movement but feel pressured to point my toes, arch my back and meet the gaze of my audience with a smile (whether I feel like smiling or not).

Hooping has taught me many things about myself and life: some physical things, mental things and spiritual things. The most important lesson for me has been to stay true to my own experience as it is the only thing I have. This has given me a strong position from which I allow others to have theirs. There is no right or wrong way of doing it, that is just language. I think flow toys take us from this limited communication system and allow us to consciously grow and expand.

Anyway that's enough from me for now, I'm not know for my succinct communication abilities, see ya soon :-)

Dance as though no one is watching :-)

Posted: 27th Aug 2008
Hi Sharna,good to see you found HoP

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!

Posted: 28th Aug 2008
A graduate from Melbourne's NICA school is starring hoop skillz in US and A! I caugt one of her shows when she was still studying and am pleased that NICA graduates are rippin it up overseas
Quote:In a show called Desir Melbourne's Marawa Ibrahim, 26, specialises in hooping — as in twirling a hula hoop around the waist, and she can have a dozen or more orbiting her. In a just over a week she's become a magnet for what turns out to be an ardent community of hoop enthusiasts in America.

She's a multi-tasking dynamo and, in the show, she often spins hoops as she saunters around her domain, an ornate circular performance tent at the end of a pier in Lower Manhattan.

Marawa graduated from Melbourne's National Institute for Circus Arts in 2004, and now great reviews and sold-out performances have put her dangerously close to overnight sensation status.

"One main thing struck me about Marawa when I first saw her perform in a student production in Melbourne," says Ross Mollison, the Australian-born producer of Desir, and the main brains behind the late summer performance precinct that houses the show on the pier.

"It was that she was not only a gifted hoop artist, but she had this incredible stage presence — and that's not always a quality that is easy to radiate in the circus."

The eyelashes were still in place, accentuated with vivid green eyeliner when Marawa — she's prefers the Cher/Madonna single-word stage name — and I met recently in the open-air bar that's part of the performance complex straddling the East River.

"The inspiration was Josephine Baker, the African-American singer and performer who went to Paris and pretty much took the place by storm," Marawa said. "I mean, we use one of Josephine's signature numbers, Don't you Touch my Tomatoes, as a kind of theme song for her in the show.

"It's as suggestive as it sounds so I'm glad my dad isn't here to see it."

In fact, Marawa spends much of her time on the tiny round stage of the Spiegeltent in a replica of the scandalous "Banana Dress" that Baker performed in around 1926.
https://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/hoops...9516368805.html

Non-Https Image Link

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always

Posted: 28th Aug 2008
I have yet to see Marawa in person but I love what I have seen of her on youtube. Her reputation has preceded her at many festivals that I have been to. What I like is her sassy and smooth style.

Dance as though no one is watching :-)

Posted: 28th Aug 2008
yeah, alot of technically proficient performers let their show down by simply not engaging the audience enough. This is where marawa's outsize stage personality shines.

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always

Posted: 2nd Sep 2008
OMG!




here's the link;




EDITED_BY: Pyrolific (1220421376)

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!

Posted: 2nd Sep 2008
ok - last one...this girl is a bit...talented.




I thought about taking it up once :shrugs:


EDITED_BY: Pyrolific (1220421452)

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!

Posted: 2nd Sep 2008
This kind of hooping inspires me greatly too:


carolina rodriguez hoop

Dance as though no one is watching :-)

Posted: 2nd Sep 2008
With most of the routines that I find from circus/gymnastics etc. I'm wondering what kind of hoops that they use. They're all silver and I wonder whether they're metal and thinner than what I use.

Our hoops are 22mil at least and quite heavy - especially the fire and glow hoops (practice hoops are a lot lighter than these).
I always wonder whether they are using the same.

I think the weight of fire hoops and also the spokes, limits how much of these other moves are actually acheivable.

Are there any videos out there of firehoop performances where there is more of this circus/dance influence?

Posted: 2nd Sep 2008
Also, the first vid from Pyrolific isn't working for me.

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
ah well - the vid works for me??

Its of a doofer/festival/hippy lady doing really amazingly graceful and flowing things with a hoop...quite inspiring. This girl hoops the way I wish I could twirl. dancing like no-ones watching...really really well IMHO.

complete opposite end of the performance scale to the second vid I posted which is a really really talented "look at me" circus type hooper

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Natasqi, I have also had the same question and often finding the right kind of hoop for you style can be the bane of a hoopers existence.

This is what I have learnt so far:

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Rhythmic Gymnasts need to use a regulation hoop so this is the easiest one to work out. You can have a look at some of them on this web site www.amco.com.au. These hoops are a lot smaller than your average dance hoop and the actual diameter of the ‘tube’ is a lot smaller. The nice thing about these though is that they are quite ridged and heavy.

Circus: Circus hula-hoopers use all kinds of different hoops, mostly it comes down the where they learnt their skills and what style of hooping they do.

If you look at people that have a style like the girls in cirque de solei then they will usually have some thing like a rhythmic gymnastic hoops because that is usually where they first started to learn their skills.

If you look at an ameture or youth circus hula-hooper they usually have hoops similar to the hoop dance ones because you can make them yourself. But they are usually a bit smaller. Also lots of circus hula hoopers use these for training because they don’t hurt as much when they hit you.

If you look at circus hula hoopers that do lots of multi hoop splits you will probably find the will have one of two things, the first being aluminium hoops that are skinny and pretty heavy. The down side of these are they are really LOUD when they hit together, The Second being hoops that are similar to the hoop dance ones but again smaller and usually stiffer.

Lastly if you look at the hoopers when they do ‘stacks’ of heaps and heaps of hoops that are some times thrown on, they will usually use really really light hoops because once you have 10 or so going it can get really heavy. Also if you see somebody hula hooping heaps and heaps of hoops that are all going at the same time from the floor to the top of their hands that is called a slinky and is actually a stack of hoops that is threaded together.




Wow that was longer than I thought it would be. I found all of this while searching for the perfect hoops for my style. I think I have found them but am still saving up my pennies to get a matching set.

Currently I use a set of 8 hoops that are made from high density poly pipe. They come roughly up to my hip bone when I rest them on the floor; I have found that this tends to be the standard sizing for circus hula hoopers.

The new hoops I’m going to be making will heavy duty hot water irrigation pipe this was a recommendation from a trainer at the Fruit Flys Circus. The reason why this stuff is really good is that is really stiff and not flexi, this is a must for doing splitting which is what I’m working on, because other wise all of the effort you put in to moving the hoops gets absorbed into the bending of the hoop. Unfortunately this kind of piping is kind of hard to track down.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Thanks for the info ElectricBlue!

We currently use blueline irrigation pipe for our practice hoops, which is heavier and less bendy that normal poly pipe.

It would be interesting to make an aluminium firehoop by welding the spokes on. Does anyone know of previous trials at this?

Glow hoops are so thick and heavy it really limits the style of the hoop dancing.

Gymnastics regulations say:
Hoop (Rhythmic Gymnastics) may be made of plastic or wood, provided that it retains its shape during the routine. The interior diameter is from 80 to 90 cm, and the hoop must weigh a minimum of 300g.

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
You might have heat issues with an all metal hoop.

You will need to find a way to stop heat travelling down the spokes.

'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Only today I was speaking with Angie Mackman, an Aussie lady who hoops professionally in the Uk, about fire hoops made from aluminum. Apparently the Fire Oz crew (https://www.flameoz.com/flameoz.html)use these hoops and they are super light. I have heard talk that this crew also use fireworks attached to their fire hoops (blimey!)

I recommend the Kaivalya fire hoops from the US, I brought a 33 inch,100psi, 25 mm thick. I made the following vid to see what I could do with it, this is the first burn of this super hoop:

Dance as though no one is watching :-)

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Oh I forgot to add that www.psihoops.com come in the 20 mm o/d thick tubing which is lovely and light and a bit flexible :-)

Dance as though no one is watching :-)

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Originally Posted By: natasqi

We currently use blueline irrigation pipe for our practice hoops, which is heavier and less bendy that normal poly pipe.

Glow hoops are so thick and heavy it really limits the style of the hoop dancing.


Yup that blue line stuff is the kind that i am using at the moment untill i track down this wonder pipe
At the Circus festival i tried some hoops made of it that belonged to another girl and they were just amazing, it is strange how hoops that are just a little be stiffer are so much easier to control.

As far as an all metal fire hoop goes i don't think heat transfer would be the problem. Even after a full burn of my fire hoop i can grab the hoop end of the spokes and they aren't hot at all. I think the main problem might be weight, fire hoops are pretty heavy all ready. Though i think with enough development it could work. I know bear claw offer a completely metal hoop but from what i have heard it is really really heavy.

If you are looking for a glow hoop that is more like the blue line pipe i would check out the psi hoop with the stiffer tubing there are a few different styles they offer.
I have one of those and it is the same diameter as the blue line pipe. I love it. Also there is a link on the psi hoop website to the details of that tubing if you are looking to make one for your self.



EDITED_BY: ElectricBlue (1220491238)

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
Heehee, we already have a fire and a glow hoop. And I doubt bossman would be happy me suggesting getting another!

I like the heavyness of the fire hoop, i think it suits my style of hooping, but then my style of hooping was influenced by the fact I have only hooped wit the heavier thicker hoops.

The glow hoop however is somehow even heavier than the fire hoop.. maybe this can be our double hoop and later on we'll get smaller lighter ones for individual.

Hmmm.. maybe I'll contact FlameOz about their hoops then. Time for Jed to get out his soldering iron

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
They's have wikkid bags too.
For their hoops.

It must be a new surprise every time hoopers cop a 'what do you do with those' comments

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
I have a cool bag for my hoops too. They are pretty easy for you self to make. But you do get even stranger looks walking down the street with what looks like a giant steering wheel.

Mmm maybe i should do one of those library things on how to make a hoop bag.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Posted: 3rd Sep 2008
totally recommend a backup story about the dangers of not having spare parts for random penny farthing break downs.

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always

Posted: 4th Sep 2008
Hey Miss Electric Blue, formally Blueberry, are the aluminum hoops any good? I know they clatter but do they separate well or do you find them too light?

Thanks xxx

Dance as though no one is watching :-)