When was the last time you picked up a Hoop?

Because I freaking love my LED's....

2011-04-03T17:25:51Z

.... and hoops are for life, not just for Christmas.

My beautiful babies were handcrafted by the incredible Ryan at www.illumi-nation-hoops.com. They are custom made, 36 led's each, one rainbow and one with the oh so exciting strobe led's - shiny!
I absolutely love them and cannot say enough good things about Ryan - he was super patient and informative throughout the whole ordering process, gave me advice and kept me updated on the creation of my hoops, even sending me pictures of them when they were done and ready for shipping. He's a really great guy!
(And if you do decide to buy one of his hoops tell him Cazz Pickles sent you!)

The photo's were taken by my good friend Gee, a really talented photographer who knows his way around lighting. They were shot in and around Brighton and, if anyone on here lives in Brighton, you can see some of these photo's in the flesh at his gallery opening this Thursday at The Latest Music Bar in Brighton :)

programmable rgb led hoop

2011-03-31T21:38:41Z

my new programmable rgb led hoop. i am having fun thinking of new designs to put on.

brand new firehoop for sale

2011-01-03T20:00:36Z

so yeah i'm selling my never used trick concepts hoop. it's a long story

I am trying to sell my brand new 40 inch Trick Concepts Fire Hoop.

I ordered this thinking I'd need a larger hoop for firehooping, however since I apparently fail at reading comprehension, when I ordered it, I
ordered it with silver cross tape, when I wanted silver skull tape. I'm
not proud of this.

As such, it's never been used. Since it's custom made, I can't return it. It cost me around $225 however I'm asking $125 and am totally open to negotiations regarding the price. i just want to see this hoop go to a happy home.

Here are the specs:

Fire Hula Hoop (40in (102cm),
Spine Length for the wicks is: 6.5" (165mm)
Wick Heads are: Large

This hoop is double-taped with black gaffers tape and then has Silver Cross
tape and Purple Glitter tape accents (the purple, by the way is
AWESOME).

Again it's never been lit up so the wicks and the body are in pristine condition.

I live in Santa Monica and would be thrilled if someone wanted to pick this up. Otherwise I can drop off in the LA metro area. Otherwise shipping would be $10USD

email me at bridget.mcgraw@gmail.com if you're interested. i can provide pics too

12-31-10 Playing Around

2011-01-01T00:35:56Z

Playing around. Working on movement (arm mostly) and flow. With an extra special graceful ending.

I had to post this :)

2010-09-29T11:42:35Z

I had to post the new Diana Vickers music video because a) it features some lovely circus people, including 5 hula hoopers and b) one of the hula hoopers is me!

We shot this a few weeks ago in London and it finally emerged on the intertube today. I'm the brunette at the back (who sadly spends her longest on camera shot looking away from camera) and the other hoopers were Miss Sally Cox of Happy Hula Monkey, Tiina Annukka of Hoop La La, Martha Sunarah Major of RockaHula and Chloe Lloyd, currently studying at CircusSpace (and student of the lovely Tinna).

They have disabled embedding (coz they smell) but HAVE A LOOK!

YEY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNcRSmtQ6Qk

***Added alternative link as I think they've removed the youtube video***

http://www.56.com/u25/v_NTUxODYzOTg.html#Lword

Burning Man!

2010-09-13T05:34:52Z

Just wanted to share some photos that were taken of me hooping at Burning Man this year!

Thank you Steve Fritz!
http://home.comcast.net/~burningman/bman.htm

Hooper in Contest

2010-08-31T21:13:11Z

Was scrolling through the photos for this promotional contest of a textbook rental company, and I noticed that one of the contestants was a hooper. Perhaps for publicity we should show our support an vote her picture up. (You can vote 5 times/day.)
Go Here http://rent-a-tat.rent-a-text.com/gallery and click "Most Interesting Person" and then click the thumbs up on this picture:

Because, of course, hoopers are the most interesting people.

SUPPORT OUR HOOPS - PROTEST!

2010-08-17T15:37:14Z

EDIT: The start time for tomorrow's protest has been changed to 5:00 am so that the media can cover it. Please pass it on!

SUPPORT OUR HOOPS!

Hoopnotica is organizing a peaceful hooping demonstration in front of Las Vegas City Hall this Wednesday, August 18th in protest of the City Council's proposal to ban hula hooping from historic Fremont Street.

Hoopnotica believes that hooping is beautiful form of self expression, protected by the First Amendment. Hooping should not be banned, regulated, or controlled by any government entity in any way.

If you agree, please join us from 5am - 10am this Wednesday on the sidewalk in front of Las Vegas City Hall (400 Stewart Avenue @ 4th Street)

We will have FREE HOOPER TANK TOPS and water for everyone!

Please RSVP here and PASS IT ON!

KEEP HOOPING LEGAL!

Can't be there - click here to sign our petition!

Does the surface you are hooping on make a difference?

2010-08-17T13:30:45Z

Hi hoopers!

I recently started to find my groove with hooping at the knee. I tried and tried while I was home, but then a few weeks ago while I was at the beach, I finally hooped at the knee! I did it a couple times while I was standing on the beach in the sand...it was sooo exciting!

So then I got back home from the beach and started hooping in my living room (with hardwood floors). I went to knee hoop again, and the hoop fell to the floor...day after day, over and over again. I had no luck!

Just last Friday, I was hooping outside in the grass with some friends and I tried to hoop again at the knee...and I did it! I found my little groove and I kept with it, even trying to bring the hoop up to my waist from my knees and everything...

So then I got back home on the hardwood floors...I tried again, with no luck. I even tried switching up my stationary leg to see if that would make a difference. I apparently can't knee hoop indoors!

This is really frustrating so...has anyone else experienced anything like this? Would this indeed be because of the surface I am hooping on or do you think it has to do with just me hooping indoors?

When I was hooping at the knee on the beach I was wearing my swimsuit, then the other time I was able to do it I was in a skirt that fell below my knees (100% cotton). At home, on the hardwood floors, I just had a pair of boxers on (also 100% cotton). I figured I'd let you know in case you would ask!

Any ideas? Or tips for that matter?

Thank you! :)

*Also posted on the Tricks and Flow forum on Hoopcity!

FIRE HOOPING

2010-08-01T04:59:20Z

I fire hooped for the first time tonight. There was a hoop jam at the beach near where I live and a fire artist had poi and a hoop and I was able to try the hoop. It had 5 spines but I only did one lit tonight, as recommended by the owner of the hoop. In real life, it wouldn't have hurt to have tried the hoop without any lit just to get the idea of where the spines fall and all.

It was a little freaky, and very awesome. I didn't do any back lifts, just front lifts because I was nervous about where I put my hand when I couldn't see. But I watched the pro do it after I did and saw that it's not that big of a deal. It was trippy to neck hoop with the flame so close to my face. And I fumbled a little bit around my body when an unlit spine nudged my hip a little, but that's something that practice would help to avoid. I didn't do any walk throughs or vertical off the body stuff, but I did spine the fire out when I could tell it was fading, and that was really fun :). It was really really fun.

And someone else had an LED hoop and that was REALLY fun to play with. I am working on having my own, just haven't gotten there, yet. But that is something I really do want.

Hooping Icons

2010-07-31T22:47:53Z

Hi! I'm new here and new to hooping as well. I'm not much for introducing myself (sorry!), so I'm just going to ::wave:: and say "Hi!"

A friend of mine was bemoaning the lack of hooping icons for LJ the other day, so I went on a bit of a binge this afternoon and thought I'd share.

Teasers:

001	002	003


004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012


013	014	015


016	017	018

Created with angelamaria's Icon Table Generator @ Bauble

Feel free to take any you like. Feel free to take any you don't like. Credit is groovy and comments are groovier, but I'll never know if you don't do either, so follow your heart.

Enjoy!

07-20-2010 Playing Around

2010-07-22T16:58:02Z

a friend posted a song online that i just had to get up and dance to. i decided to record it, and this is the result. not a lot of thought went into this. it was purely for fun!

but it is also helpful because in reviewing the video i found some things i need to work on.

1) remember to breathe 2) keep my pot belly tucked in for better control 3) quit going stiff when i am going around. keep on pushing!

xposted to another hooping community

UK Hoop Gathering 2010

2010-07-13T09:50:07Z

Almost a month ago today I posted here about feeling like I have no flow or elegance.

I went to UK Hoop Gathering 2010 (Push it forwards) at the weekend and whatever it was I felt I was missing, I found it there. The weekend was utterly amazing, filled with workshops to help learn advanced tricks, letting go of everything to better your flow, using the hoop on different parts of your body, using the hoop with out your thumbs, aco-balance workshops and performance tips. In the evenings there was led and fire hooping, fire poi and a renegade for people to perform if they wanted to do so.

Aside for learning all these amazing new things I met some of the hooper's I've taken inspiration from in the last year since I discovered hooping - Sharna, Safire, Diana, Beth and the Pantaloonies and seen other's improve to unbelieveable heights since I'd seen them a few months ago.

The setting was fantastic. Literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees, hills, fields and animals with no phone signal, vegetarian food served up every day. By the end of the weekend I think I'd managed to completely let go and it felt very strange coming back to civilisation where people worried about seemingly mundane things (by that I mean stuff that wasn't hooping!)

I previously posted here about getting the hoop up from my knees to my waist and I finally managed to master this (with and without bare legs!) it was one of the first things I got when I unpacked my hoop!

I've made a heap of new friends and taken inspiration from every one there and would like to thank Gems (the organiser) for such a fantastic time :D

<3

I made a video!

2010-07-03T19:57:08Z

Made this yesterday in my backyard. The song is a remix of 'Raindrops' by Basement Jaxx. Critiques welcome!

newbie here!

2010-06-30T16:36:32Z

Hi everyone! I'm so glad to see a hooping community on here! I've been fascinated by hooping for such a long time, but never had the guts to try it out until recently. I met a girl at a party on Saturday and she was a hooper, and she was teaching me moves and a few helpful tips, and ended up giving me one of her handmade hoops to practice with! I felt honored to have one of her hoops. She was amazing!

Anyways, I've practiced everyday except yesterday for anywhere between a half hour to an hour and a half. I'm in so much pain, but it's so worth it! The girl I met said I was a natural at it, and I believe I am as well. :) I'm having a few newbie problems and I just wanted to ask for some detailed, helpful hints (videos are awesome as well!) to make me become a better hooper. I watched SaFire's videos and she's extremely helpful, but I'd like something a little more detailed. :)

I'm having trouble getting the hoop up to my chest. I can keep the hoop even at the waist and I can ALMOST knee hoop (very close!), but it almost seems impossible to get up to my chest (with or without arms). I've been trying to isolate my ribcage movements and I just can't seem to get it. I know I've only been hooping since Saturday, and I know it takes time, but I'm dying to know!

Also, if anyone has any tips for "warm up" excersizes, or just a daily practice that has helped them along in the hooping experience, please let me know! Maybe a few quick excersizes or so, just to help a beginner along. :)

Thanks so much for any information! I'm extremely happy to start hooping :)

Stuck in the Mud

2010-06-14T18:04:12Z

I feel like I'm stuck with my Hooping.
I've hooping for about a year now and have mastered most of the basic tricks and some more complicated.

But I keep finding videos of AWESOME hoopers and I get all enthused thinking how amazing they look and how I can be like that and learn some of their quirky tricks.

So I go and practice and I feel like I'm rubbish because I can't seem to flow easily from one trick to another, like I'm jarring my moves. It's even worse if I film myself and watch it back as I think I look clumsy and messy. (I started filming short clips of myself as for a while it gave me more confidence seeing that I could do some tricks better than I though and I didn't look like a complete dork)

So what can I do to get rid of this frustration? Getting annoyed with my lack of flow and composure seems silly. I've tried several things, from filming, to not, changing what music I have on, or not having any, the clothes I'm wearing, slowing all my moves down, speeding them up etc etc.

Any advice or help? Anyone else had a similar problem/frustration?

Eccentric Orbit

2010-06-10T15:05:04Z

I've been hooping almost a year now and I still have trouble with this one basic thing. My hoop doesn't spin level. I can manipulate it to spin at an angle on purpose, I can hoop flat at different heights. Knees, hips, chest, ribs. But at my waist, I can't figure out flat!

It has a true eccentric orbit, off in both planes. It droops a bit in front *and* cocks up over my right hip. (I'm a counter-clockwise hooper most of the time). I've tried rolling my pelvis under more, but that has no effect at all.

Does anyone know the fix for this?

Hula Hooping the movie! See the trailer here:

2010-06-09T07:26:58Z

Watch the trailer for "Hula Hoop: the Movie". This movie will be HUGE, don't you think?

hooping @ 2010-06-01T19:52:00

2010-06-01T18:53:32Z

In honour of all the activity round here lately (which makes me very happy) I bring you............ hula goth.

Cotton Covered Hoop

2010-06-01T17:04:09Z

I finished covering a 36 inch diameter hoop with cotton box string. You can see the tape below it a little if you look at it close up, but overall I think it turned out pretty well. It is super grippy! Daughter Unit says it's super easy to chest hoop with even at the small size.

It took all of a 420 foot roll of string plus part of another to do half hitches around the entire hoop, and several hours of work. If I make another, I'll probably go for a larger string.

x-posted all over because I'm ridiculously proud of the thing. ;)

'Ello! :)

2010-06-01T13:26:16Z

Hello lovely ladies and gentlemanlinesses!

I'm relatively new to hooping--I've been doing it for about two months now, and am completely in love and totally addicted. :) I'm so happy this community exists, and I hope you don't mind if I pick your brains occasionally (mmmm, brains...). I have a solid background of Tribal style belly dance, so I think that helps with the body manipulations--but there are other things I really don't have a clue about.

FOR EXAMPLE!

I do a lot of hand hooping, trying to build up strength, muscle and coordination, which I think I'm achieving...but my hands are always bruised. I hooped for about an hour yesterday, and my right hand (which I hoop with more than my left, I'm trying to get the times more even so my left gets that worked, too), the fleshy part on the top of the hand between the first finger and the thumb, is completely bruised...again. I'm assuming this is normal? Is there anything I can do to help it (hoop longer, don't hoop today, bandage my hands before hooping, etc)? After awhile, will this stop? I hope so? :D

Thanks so much for any guidance or tips!

hooping @ 2010-05-11T10:46:00

2010-05-11T14:48:06Z

hello beautiful people :)

community.livejournal.com/hooping/38078.html <-- that was my first post.

I unfortunately haven't been able to hoop as often as I want to because of our "big move" into a house, but this weekend I picked up and started hooping and practicing...

I FINALLY figured out how to chest hoop...almost....I started to do it and then I got so excited that I dropped the hoop. I am stubborn and I am going to continue to practice and practice! Do any of you use 1/2 dia hoops? I was thinking about making one because I thought it would be easier to practice with? I wasn't sure...

I joined hoopcity.ca (I am Magg Patt on there, if you want to add me!) this morning and I have been watching so many youtube videos...

I love hooping! And as always, thank you for your guidance here!! :) :) :)

Thank you!

2010-04-15T16:33:55Z

I just joined this community yesterday, and I read over the past couple entries and one was about my current hang up - knee hooping, and going from knee to waist. Well, this morning I went for a spin and successfully brought hoop from knee to waist by shimmying from the balls of my toes rather than putting it in the knees or hips. Don't know how better to describe it, but it worked, finally :). So thanks for that little gem.

I've been playing around with my community's hooping group since last July, but I didn't even have a borrowed hoop untl 2 months ago. Then about a month ago I wanted my own so I made a few and I now have different sizes and weights and love it (plus the different sizes make learning moves easier). I'm getting much smoother and even stronger - I had a wrist injury from last June that made lifts and stuff almost impossible, but starting with a light hoop my injury is actually much improved, and I can now do lifts even with my friend's weighted exercise hoop :). Plus, my arms are looking awesome.

Besides perfecting knee to waist, I'm also working on off the body moves that bring the hoop horizontally over my chest and face (basically, having to lean back, or do a back bend) but I have sucky abs and neck, so it's hard. Any tips on getting better at this sort of thing? Right now, I practice standing around leaning backwards and tilting my head back and holding it as long as I can, and I do the hoop moves as well as I can, I just can't go back very far.

Thanks!

Knee hooping and flow!

2010-04-04T11:45:26Z

Hey all,

Been lurking for a while and wondered if anyone has some tips for me.
I've been hooping inbetween uni and work since June last year and theres one move I'm really struggling with. I've gathered advise form my hoop groups but still can't do it - getting the hoop from around the knees back up to your waist again! Any tips? I'm ruining my knees trying to do it!

Also, has anyone got tips for improving flow? Some one told me to do a few ballet lessons. What do other hoopers suggest?

Look forward to hearing reading some replies :D

i'm new...

2010-03-30T15:52:18Z

Hello fellow hoopers!

I just joined. I am currently at work, daydreaming about hooping. I just started hula hooping back in October '09 and I fell in love! I went ahead and made my own hoop at that time, too! I just made another one recently and I am decorating it with duct tape (which I am finding I actually don't like as much as I liked using electrical tape).

The only trick I know how to do is pull the hoop over my head, but my husband and I just moved into a house (we were in an apartment) so I am very happy to have yard space to work on tricks without being worried about knocking stuff over.

What are some of the first tricks you learned to do? Where do you suggest going to learn new tricks? (I am assuming hooping.org, but I wasn't sure if there was some place I didn't know of!)

Well, I hope to learn a lot from your entries - I can't wait to read them all!

yay hooping!