Comment by Twisty Gypsy* on September 13, 2010 at 10:59am

How old are you? 27

When did you first start hooping? September 2008

Would you call yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced hooper? intermediate

How often do you hoop? Not enough - several times a week.

Do you have an indoor hoop space? Yep, my living room is nice & open and I can even hoop in my kitchen.

Is there a hoop group where you live? Yep, every Monday evening. Yay, that's today!

Did you start it? My friends & I started it.

Would you say that you are obsessed with or addicted to hooping? A little bit, it comes in waves.

Have you posted hooping videos? How many? Not sure if I've posted them here, but I posted a couple performance videos on facebook & youtube. My camera's sound card doesn't work very well though, so I don't take a lot of videos (Bassnectar show blew it out I think).

Do you have friends nearby to hoop with? Yep, if I didn't have local hooping friends, I wouldn't hoop nearly as much.

Do you teach hooping? If so, how many people have you taught? Nope.

What kind of songs do you listen to while hooping? A wide variety - I love everything from tribal to electronica. Probably my favorite bands to hoop to are Beats Antique, Kan'nal, Tool, and Pretty Lights. It really depends on the mood.

What is your favorite song right now? To hoop to? Hot Like Sauce by Pretty Lights

Do you buy hoops or make your own? I have made one, bought a couple online (including my LED), and bought/bartered for several others from a good friend who makes & sells hoops.

Have you lost weight since starting to hoop? No, I've probably gained a bit, which is good because I have always been pretty skinny, so I've built some muscle for sure. But I don't own a scale, so who knows.

What size is your favorite hoop? 37" collapsable LED hoop from Holistic Hooping

Are you comfortable hooping by yourself in a public place? Yeah, I do it all the time. It probably helps that I started hooping at a festival.

How did you learn the majority of the tricks you know today? From friends at hoop group and hooping videos.

Who is your favorite hoop teacher? Safire rocks. My friend Kelsie is working on becoming a teacher and she is really good at explaining tricks, too.

What advice would you give to to beginner hoopers? Don't beat yourself up for making mistakes; that's how you learn. And don't be afraid to hoop in public or think you have to be perfect before you can bliss out and hoop in front of people at a festival. Go with the flow, feel the music and be the hoop! :)

Do you fire hoop? If not, do you want to? Yep. Just got a fire hoop after practicing with a friend's for a while. I'm hooked. It's amazing. I still can't do that many tricks on a fire hoop but each burn gets a little more comfortable.

Do own an LED hoop? Where did you get it? Yep - HolisticHooping.com - I met them at Earthdance, they are a great company!

How much time do you spend on Hoop City Hooping Community? Not that much...

What was the first trick you learned (besides waist hooping)? lifts

What is the last trick you mastered? passing the hoop around my body on my elbows

What trick so far was the hardest for you to learn? they're all pretty hard, I've never been that coordinated so it takes me a lot of practice to really nail a trick. the elbow pass has definitely been one of the trickiest so far.

Which one are you finding is almost impossible to get? getting the hoop back up my body from my knees

How many hoopers would you say live in your town/city? Not too many, but there's only 1,000 people in this town. There are probably a LOT in this county though, I live in Northern California.

Have you performed hooping in front of an audience? Yep, I've done two performances at benefit events for a local non-profit and one at a nightclub with friends. We're doing our first fire hooping performance at a barter faire next month.

Has anyone told you you were too old to be playing with a hula hoop? Don't think so... if they did I'd laugh and tell them that's like saying you're too old to have fun or dance.

What’s the worst injury you’ve acquired from the hoop? some pretty gnarly bruises, especially on my bony knees

Have you ever hooped naked? nope, but damn near naked at Burning Man :)

Have you been to a hoop camp/retreat? Which one? No but I'd love to, especially Hoop Camp or Movement/Play

Comment by Contralto on September 13, 2010 at 3:19pm

How old are you?
Two weeks from 20.

When did you first start hooping?
March 2010.

Would you call yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced hooper?
Toeing the line of intermediate.

How often do you hoop?
At least 30 minutes a day.

Do you have an indoor hoop space?
Thankfully!
Our new apartment has a pretty big living room.

Is there a hoop group where you live?
Yes, though I've still been too shy to go.

Did you start it?
Nope.

Would you say that you are obsessed with or addicted to hooping?
Addicted, yes.

Have you posted hooping videos?
There are a couple floating around that others have posted.

Do you have friends nearby to hoop with?
Not really.

Do you teach hooping? If so, how many people have you taught?
I've taught a LOT of friends the basics, but that's about it.

What kind of songs do you listen to while hooping?
Everything. I try to mix up genres.

What is your favorite song right now?
Requiem, Kashiwa Daisuke.

Do you buy hoops or make your own?
I've bought my hoops so far,
but hopefully I will have enough spare cash soon to start making my own.

Have you lost weight since starting to hoop?
I'm already horribly underweight.

What size is your favorite hoop?
38", right now.

Are you comfortable hooping by yourself in a public place?
MUCH more than before.

How did you learn the majority of the tricks you know today?
I learned a lot from YouTube, a few from SassyHoops,

Who is your favorite hoop teacher?
SassyHoops. :)

What advice would you give to to beginner hoopers?
Spend a lot of time by yourself at first!
Use videos, learn a trick, show it off.
It can be a hard thing trying to hoop when you're face to face with great hoopers;
don't forget your me time, or you may become frustrated.

Do you fire hoop? If not, do you want to?
I am counting the days until I feel that I am ready.

Do own an LED hoop? Where did you get it?
Yes! My first hoop was an LED.
Trick Concepts, $99, totally worth it!

How much time do you spend on Hoop City Hooping Community?
Not as much recently, as I've had trouble getting near a computer.

What was the first trick you learned (besides waist hooping)?
Lifting up.

What is the last trick you mastered?
Kick starting, finally.

What trick so far was the hardest for you to learn?
Leg out and in.

Which one are you finding is almost impossible to get?
A successful, flowing Portal.

How many hoopers would you say live in your town/city?
Quite a few.

Have you performed hooping in front of an audience?
Sort of. There's always people watching.
I might as well have had an audience at the carnival a few weeks back.

Has anyone told you you were too old to be playing with a hula hoop?
Only if I'm just carrying it.

What’s the worst injury you’ve acquired from the hoop?
Sick bruises on my legs from trying to leg hoop.

Have you ever hooped naked?
Alone in my apartment, yes.

Have you been to a hoop camp/retreat? Which one?
Not yet. :(

Comment by Sherri on September 14, 2010 at 7:07am

How old are you? 48

When did you first start hooping? May 24th, 2010

Would you call yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced hooper? Beginner/intermediate?

How often do you hoop? Almost every single day.

Do you have an indoor hoop space? Yes, I have a large screened lanai that is perfect.

Is there a hoop group where you live? Not that I know of. ...not yet anyway,

Did you start it? I am thinking of trying to start one.

Would you say that you are obsessed with or addicted to hooping? Addicted

Have you posted hooping videos? How many? No, not yet

Do you have friends nearby to hoop with? No :( ...haven't found any that will stick with it yet!

Do you teach hooping? If so, how many people have you taught? I will encourage anyone that shows an interest to give it a try.

What kind of songs do you listen to while hooping? I prefer energetic, although have been having fun with some Santana lately.

What is your favorite song right now? To hoop to? Too many to list...always changing

Do you buy hoops or make your own? Made my own..I have made about 10 hoops and a couple of sets of mini's, just bought another 100' roll and getting ready to make some more : )

Have you lost weight since starting to hoop? Clothes are fitting much better, and sometimes to loose : ) Been hearing comments, so after a little more than 3 months...yes definate difference!

What size is your favorite hoop? It's 38" diameter, 3/4 inch 100 PSI

Are you comfortable hooping by yourself in a public place? Just starting to get there...hooped at Daytona Beach last weekend by myself...had a few people come over and ask about it, saying it looked cool.

How did you learn the majority of the tricks you know today? Youtube and tutorials

Who is your favorite hoop teacher? I have several Fav's

What advice would you give to to beginner hoopers? Stick with it...it gets so much better!!

Do you fire hoop? If not, do you want to? I don't have one yet. One day I def want to try it!!

Do own an LED hoop? Where did you get it? No not yet...but birthday's coming : )

How much time do you spend on Hoop City Hooping Community? Try to visit daily.

What was the first trick you learned (besides waist hooping)? lasso lol...probably knee hooping

What is the last trick you mastered? I hoop to the left natural...but this past weekend got lifts and vortex to the right!

What trick so far was the hardest for you to learn? lifts to the right..with my left hand (felt so awkward)

Which one are you finding is almost impossible to get? shoulder hooping arms in

How many hoopers would you say live in your town/city? Not to many...haven't found them yet anyway!

Have you performed hooping in front of an audience? No

Has anyone told you you were too old to be playing with a hula hoop? No

What’s the worst injury you’ve acquired from the hoop? Horrible bruise on the back of my knee (learning one leg hooping)

Have you ever hooped naked? No... but in my bikini

Have you been to a hoop camp/retreat? Which one? No

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