Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paula Stambaugh on August 24, 2009 at 3:41pm

Hi SAFIRE! I got into hooping because I wanted to have better abs but I hate crunches with a passion. Someone said hula hoop are a good ab workout. So...I googled Hula hoop and OMG these beautiful women were DANCING with them! Ok I said I am in with this no matter how long it takes. Next thing you know Miss Rayna was encouraging me to take a teacher certification course and the rest is well, history or is that herstory? Anyway, I plan to hoop and spread hooping till I just can't hoop no more.

Permalink Reply by Lisa on August 24, 2009 at 11:14pm

I started hooping a few months back when I turned 50. It is amazing to me since I started hooping how many others want to hoop as well. I've started a lunchtime hoop jam in the park with other gals from my office (some over 40). Also, just showing friends and family some of the few tricks up my sleeve makes them want to try it too! Hooping is contagious, and brings back childhood feelings of joyful, carefree days playing in the park.

Permalink Reply by Jacque on October 19, 2009 at 11:43pm

It's backwards for me. I have a 17 year old who is hooping because I am.

I started hooping for the excercise; discovered the fun and became obsessed.
My teenager started hooping because she has access to all my hoops and hoop-music.

Permalink Reply by lillie schulz on May 20, 2012 at 6:10pm

my friend told me that she loved to hoop and i was a little surprised at first. i was like hula hooping? and she was like yeah! then she told me about how hooping was newley imporved and now people were doing it perfessionally and were doing tricks and everything. i could remember hooping as a kid and how much fun i used to have and how much i loved it. then a few weeks later i saw a girl hooping in school and we talked. not long after that me and my mom went shopping and we both got kids hoops at walmart. which actually arent that bad by the way. i got good fast then a few months later i got a real handmade hoop at terapin and its the most beautiful thing in the world and her name is true and i couldnt of asked for anything better...weell.. a led hoop would be nice but still i wouldnt trade her for the world:)

Permalink Reply by LJ on October 24, 2009 at 2:18pm

I love the videos of you and they have helped so much. I'm over 50 and just started hooping for the Moms tell them it will make them better dancers that will help. I've got all kinds of over 50's asking me for hoops a lot of them hooped as little girls and want to try again. They all like the idea of getting a waist back. Hope helps. And thanks again for your youtubes.

Permalink Reply by Tink in Tokyo on December 28, 2009 at 2:19am

I've gotten my mom and mother in law, both in their 60s, into hooping by simple demonstration of how fun and joyful hooping is. That's pretty much the same way I've hooked my sister, neice, nephews, and friends of all ages.

I really think age has very, very little to do with the desire to hoop.

Motivations for people of any age might be similar to mine: creating a stronger/sexier body, laughing more, expanding a dance repetoire, developing balance and rhythm, adding variety to exercise, having an excuse to wear costumes and glitter, meeting new people.

Permalink Reply by Rita SpinningEarth on January 13, 2010 at 9:27pm

I saw fire dancing and hooping at a festival, and another flame-tatooed fellow in fancy pants dancing at another music festival. His hoop looked so HUGE compared to what I was used to seeing (I wonder if he had the foam insulation added under his tape?) and bought a couple from a woman there a couple of yrs ago. This year that woman told me to look for SaFire. SaFire's video to the Paramore song, but with other music dubbed over (both pieces of music are great for that video, but the dubbed over) just really hooked me, and her tutorial style kept me moving fwd.

I brought the hoops out at a family yard party, and like you, my mother (70) and her sister (60's) - everyone, really, wanted to do it with these heavier, easier, cool-looking hoops. The more I read and think about it, I think the hoop is a magical thing because NONE of us would get up and dance in front of anyone, or even alone most days. The hoop really is a great "dance partner" as I saw written somewhere in this online community. The way they inspire these people to get up and dance is so wonderful.

I have also brought them to the school where I teach on a few occasions, and experienced hoop magnetism. I learned a little about this recreation therapy in a Circus Camp one summer, and am enjoying sharing as I learn with my students during their break times.

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on January 7, 2010 at 11:00am

A little over a year ago, I was going to a women-only circuit training workout place, and they were running a hooping contest. Nothing fancy - whoever kept the hoop going the longest won (and it was a toy store hoop, so that made it harder). I hadn't hooped since I was a kid, but I thought, "Why not try?" I didn't win the contest - couldn't break the 8-minute mark - but I did come in second and won a gift card to a local restaurant.

I didn't go any farther with it after that, even though I'd bought a kiddie hoop to practice with for the contest. A year went by and the hoop sat collecting dust.

When my doctor started using the "D" word (diabetes) in conversation during my last visit a month ago and advised me to exercise and lay off the carbs, I decided it was time to get serious about my health. I started out with walking videos, but quickly got bored. An article in Southern Living magazine about a hooping studio in Tennessee (http://www.hooprama.com/southernliving) reawakened my interest, and I got my kiddie hoop out of the closet, dusted it off and started hooping again. A couple of frustrating days with that hoop led me to buy a Hoopnotica travel hoop, then to start making my own hoops because I was scratching my pretty new hoop up too much. Two weeks later, here I am, joining online communities and looking for other hoopers in my area.

I'm still just waist hooping and playing around with some simple arm spins at this point; I don't really have the room indoors to go all out, and the weather has been way too cold for these southern bones lately. When the weather gets warmer or I can find a suitable indoor space to practice, I plan to hoop til I drop, and keep on doing it until I feel confident enough to go public at the local parks or out on the beach.

Meanwhile, I'm heading back to the hardware store tomorrow to pick up yet more pipe so I can make some mini twin hoops for arm hooping (my 160psi hoop is a little hard on the backs of my hands, ya know?). And my first Identi-tape shipment is due in tomorrow, hee hee... :-D

Permalink Reply by Rita SpinningEarth on January 13, 2010 at 9:31pm

Good for you! Keep it up. Where are you?

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on January 14, 2010 at 8:24am

Thanks, Rita! As for where I am:

If you mean geographically, I'm on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

If you mean in my hooping, still banging myself on the head trying to learn the basic duck-in/duck-out moves (and sporting a couple of bruises on the backs of my hands from practicing that). Also still trying to get the hang of taping hoops so they look pretty.

If you mean healthwise, I've lost 10.2 pounds as of this morning (yippee!) and I'll know more about my blood glucose levels after I go do bloodwork tomorrow morning.

Hope that wasn't more anser than you were looking for... :-)

Permalink Reply by lisa hunter on January 12, 2010 at 11:37am

SaFire, I hope you are enjoying yourself in Bali! I started hooping almost a year ago when my 29 year old- skinny as a rail-friend dared me... I have been an avid hooped since and not a bad one thanks to your tutorials! I made my first hoop, which was incredibly large, out of cheap tube and electrical tape. Immediately I began being questioned about where I got it. After several months, I had so many requests for hoops that I did the research on proper tubing, connectors and tape (gaff-metallics and vinyl) and have been in business ever since, much to my surprise. My favorite personal hoop is now below my belly button and a 100 psi tube and I love it. I am addicted and hoop every chance I get while pushing myself to learn new tricks. I have always loved to dance and although I am quite intimidated by the fluidity of my Hoop Hero- Ms. SaFire, I am still trying to achieve a more fluid and yet bouncy rhythm. I would like to request a tutorial on more of the hoop dancing. I do know that rhythm is something you cannot really learn or teach, either you have it or you do not (I think I do). I would love to know what goes through your mind while you are hoop dancing and how to incorporate more rhythm and style into my routine.

Permalink Reply by cinnderr on January 23, 2010 at 10:54pm

i'm all for promoting to the over 40 group, but don't assume we are mom's too! :-)

the biggest reason for me? a way to connect to a new group of people. a new type of exercise that isnt so serious, but you get a serious workout. a way to use my body for graceful and wild dancing without going to the night clubs or feeling alone in a huge yoga class. oh and an ex-bf that looked hot doing it, ha! but i digress, i'm married and my spouse is not interested. oh well. he lets me make my hoops and supports me the best way he can.
and so i continue to hoop and watch people try it out for the first time since their age was a single digit and laugh for 10 min straight. thats why i keep promoting it. it makes you laugh out loud at yourself in a healthy way. bringing the forgotten child back to have some fun!
this group is inspiring, i hope to keep hooping as long as my hips and low back let me.

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