Alrighty, I have tried posting a hoop blog three times in the past few weeks, and each time something happens with my computer and it freezes up. Bizarre, huh? How can I get all of the happenings of the last month into one blog?! Bullet point list.

• Tricks I have learned- Not many! Neck hooping –I finally took my neck piercings out-, left arm up and head duck out, forward step through, hinge looking move, consistent eagle –although it starts rolling on my back, I cant figure out how to flick so that it rolls down my right arm first-
• Got an e-mail from Deanne that she was thinking of starting a hoop troupe, and was going to have auditions. Got excited, then got nervous that I wasn’t good enough to be in the troupe.
• Became part of the Tokyo Hoop Stars suddenly and happily!
• Got sick during the most important rehearsal week, but hooped through it.
• Performed at Womb in Shibuya, with the other members of Tokyo Hoop Stars- Deanne, Lady Elle, Stina Sparkle, and Melissa. Had an amazing night, although I got incredibly nervous before I went on. We definitely rocked it, and I feel so lucky that I got to perform.
• Finally, I really want a travel hoop! The weight, and foam make learning some new tricks much easier. With other tricks, the travel hoop makes it more difficult. For the second time ever, yesterday I one legged hooped- jumped back in- then brought it back up to my waist!

I still feel so lucky that hooping as come into my life. I have made some AMAZING friends, and we have been bonding with the more and more every time I see them. You guys are truly talented, I am so happy to travel on this hoop journey with you. -MWAH-

October 13th Hip Hoop Update

Since I practice most everyday, its becoming a bit hard for me to remember exactly what happened each day that I hooped... so I will just start giving weekly overviews as best as I can. Kristen and I hooped in the lovely Arisugawa park. She taught me a great kick it in the air pick up, and for that day, I learned a behind the back pass! The pass has since evaded me, but Im quite sure it will come back soon. I worked on my booty bump a bit that day, and Kristen pointed out to me that I move in an arc when Im bumpin. Its something to think about....

Saturday, I went to a lovely Hooplovers class. I loved the huge space, and the small class size. I really sweated it out that day, and feel like the hoop was spinning around my body for at least an 1 hour 45 min of that 2 hour class. Usually, in the classes I have attended, there is a little more downtime with working on isolations, or talking getting advice on new tricks. We worked on looking sexier with the hoop- what does your face look like? hands? feet? We also did an excercise I loved, where towards the end we were changing what we were doing every 5 seconds. It was tough, but when I got home and looked at the vids of the hoopdancers I really loved, they are consistently changing what they are doing... This is my newest challenge. We also did some hooping blindfolded. It really is a great feeling, you can let go, and let everything just pour out. I cant do that at the park at night, so I was happy to have the chance to do it in class. I also kind of learned how to get into the booty bump position. I kind of have to roll to the right a bit to get it, but its a start. Now... to get OUT of the booty bump...

Onto Sunday, where I went to Nagisa Music Festival and hooped with Deanne... We werent on a stage but we drew a crowd whenever the hoops started spinning. Lots of people wanted to try, and there were extra hoops so they could. I was a little nervous at first for two reasons. One, there were alot of people. Two, I was hooping next to Deanne who is just amazing. Usually, when I am hooping out in public, its with people who are at a similiar level to mine. That being said, I only thought about that before I started hooping and about 2 minutes into hooping. Once I started dancing, my worries just spun off into oblivion. I had a great time dancing to the very funky beats. I dropped the hoop on several occassions. but just smiled and picked it up and started up again. Its pretty easy to keep a smile on your face hooping when everyone is smiling at you. You can feel the hoop love! Thanks D for giving me the chance to come out with you.

This weeks hoop focus--

• remembering to work with both sides of my body, and spinning in both directions


• make the tricks I already know look more solid/fluid, rather than learning new tricks -aside from standing still shoulder hooping, I have to keep working on it bc its driving me a little crazy that I cant do it-


• adding grace, sexiness, thoughtfullness into my hoop dancing...


• 5ish second changes


• ISOLATIONS

Two Weekends of Hooping!

Last Saturday, I gathered with my hooping buddies in Yoyogi Koen. Some people came around 1, some people a bit later. We hooped all day in the park, and it was so much fun!! Love you ladies, thanks so much for coming! We had quite a few people join us for a bit of hooping, so its a good thing there were a couple of extra hoops. Maybe I am a bit selfish, but when I have my hoop, I don't always necessarily want to lend it out to everyone that wants to try it. Generally, I do it anyway, but I am thinking I really need to get at least two extra hoops just to lend out to those who who want to give it a whirl. The next day, I met with Kristen and Yuka and hooped for a couple of hours, but my body was definitely aching from the day before and even though I was trying to give it 100%, I was working at a maximum efficiency of 75%. I did, however by a sari at the Indian festival and spent some time hooping in it. It was beautiful, but a little difficult to hoop in!
I hooped two other times later in the week, working on some behind the back passes and the eagle -rolling over the back trick-. I think my MEGAhoop down on Saturday was a bit much for me. Left my body aching for a few days! Gotta listen to when my body is telling me to sloooooow down.
Today, Kristen, Yuka and I met again and I worked pretty hard on learning some new tricks. In the morning, I was with Nikichan in Chiba, and I successfully did the eagle several times! I was so excited!! So at the park, I worked on that one a bit more. The eagle evaded me in Yoyogi, the eagles prefers to fly in Chiba I suppose. But- at least I know I can do it! The other thing I worked on at the park was one-leg hooping and jumping back in from one leg hooping. I succesfully jumped back in and continued knee hooping TWO times today, at the very end of the day!!! YAY!! I am so, so, so SOOOO happy! It took a lot of hard work, and I have a nasty bruise on my knee from making mistakes and letting the hoop get down too far. The back of my knee is also swollen, but nothing is life threating and I think I will survive.
Other hooping updates-
I think I am going to switch to a smaller hoop for awhile, lots of tricks are easier for me with the smaller hoop. My one handed isolations are getting better! Shoulder hooping is still hit and miss, on days and off days. I still get nervous if I feel like too many people are watching me. I love to perform, used to do it all the time, so I wonder why this is making me so nervous. More practicing in Yoyogi should cure me of this. I really feel my back, arm, and shoulder muscles are getting stronger making many tricks easier. I am also becoming more flexible. aLsO---- I still LOVE HOOPING! Finally, I hope Deanne is having a great time in California, but I miss her and look forward to having her back in Tokyo!

One Week Hooping Hiatus

I decided spur of the moment -48 hours in advance- to head to Taiwan for my four day weekend. I had a fabulous time, but didn't bring my hoop with me. I wanted to take it, but this trip was my first time to travel to a different country on my own, and I was worried the the hoop might slow me down my travels, or be difficult to move around
So today was the first time I got to dance with it in a week. I did have a major break through today! I can sort of shoulder hoop! YAY-HAY! Super stoked!!!! This is the first time I have been able to shoulder hoop at all, without it instantly raising to my neck. I am still in the very beginning, and rough stage of shoulder hooping... looking a bit like Lurch from The Addams Family, but its a start.
I missed my hoop in Taiwan.
Maybe if I plan ahead of time, I can take my hoop on my next trip!

Inside my hooping head... something I would like to share. In Tokyo, I lost touch with myself a bit. It happened slowly, and I didn't even really realize it happened. Hooping has helped me reconnect to myself. Buying more fun and funky clothes again. Cut off my hair, and got a cool dye job. Started wearing more glitter again. And started dancing again... the kind of dancing that makes me feel happy inside, and warms up my heart.

PICTURES
First pic is me practicing the crane in The Martyrs Shrine.
Second pic is of me with Damper Baby in Taipei Tower.

Week 5.1 My Hoop Marathon and subsequent hoop hangover

Well, yesterday I hooped my heart out! Started out hooping at a HOOPLOVERS four hour workshop. After that, Kristen, Tracy and I decided we needed to hoop some more, so we headed on over to Shinjuku and hooped for another hour in Kabukicho. Grabbed some FANTASTIC Korean food, and a few beers and said good night! On the walk from the station to my house, I saw my little hooping spot, and had to just squeeze in another half an hour of hooping before I called it quits for the night. I feel asleep, a tired but very happy hooper! Check out Kristens website to see a short video she put together of our Shinjuku Hoop Adventure. MEDIA TINKER!

Accomplisments of the day on Sunday- am able to raise from my waist without widening my stance. Looking better. I realized part of my booty bump problem is that I was hunching my shoulders and back WAY to much. I looked the hunchback of Notre Dame. When I straighten out a bit, the booty bump improved alot. I learned how to raise over my head from the front of the hoop, and another way to drop the hoop onto my waist. I also tried foot hooping for the first time, and after hitting myself repeatedly in the face, and screaming and laughing a lot, I finally started to get it. What an ab workout that is!

The dynamic in class was really awesome, and I just felt so lucky to be there. So many women there, all joining together to hoop. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, and there was just a fabulous energy in the air. I havent laughed that much in a really long time. Thanks hoopers!! I was really impressed by how quickly some of the first time hoopers were picking up tricks. A bunch of hooping naturals in the group I think!

Today, I only managed about a 30 minute hoop, as my abs were killing me, as well as my back muscles. I worked a bit on left handed cowgirl, isolations, and some breaks. Then I just played around with my hoop, spinning it around on the ground and trying to make it roll in a circle and come back to me -didnt ever get that one, but it was fun trying-. Gotta work on the strength in my left arm. I can keep my right arm up all day, but my left arm gets tired after about two minutes.

Random Hooping Thoughts

I love how the word hoop can so easily be used in aliterations! Here I go, free feel to add as many as you like. These are ones I have thought of myself, or just heard other people use randomly. Most of them can be left open to interperation I think

• Hey Hooper! Hello Hooper! Howdy Hooper



• Happy Hooping



• Hooping Honeys



• Hoopers Heartbreak



• Hooping Hair



• Hoopers Heaven



• Hooping Hangover



• Hot Hooper



• Holiday Hooping



• Holistic Hooper



• Hardcore Hooping
• Hunchback Hooping

Week 5ish- Happy Hooper

Trying to keep this one short and sweet! I have been hooping three times in the last three days. Once Sunday for a sweet HoOpLovers hoop JAM! Was a bit late, got caught in the ran with no umbrella. Again, got to meet some new people, and I got to see the lovely Deanne, Mark and Kristen again. I really enjoy hooping with Kristen, and I have a good laugh with her. She seems to be as into hooping as I am. So arigatou Kristen!! I really enjoyed seeing the different styles of hoop dance that were happening in that studio. I really liked the hoop jam! HoopJamの人???　はい！！！
The last two evenings, I have hooped for about an hour each go. I have been a bit tired, as after I work I go to the gym. I walk home -takes about 20mins- eat a snack, and then go hoop at the park.
Yesterday, I spent the whole time working on my lower body. Feet work is what I will call it. Stepping to the left, or right. Throwing my hip out. Crossing my feet and spinning. I tried all sorts of stuff and it was a lot of fun. I was going to work on chest hooping, but my back was actually a bit sore so I decided to give it a rest. Tonight, I worked on knee to wasit raises - I can do it sometimes, and sometimes I cant. Something called a Pop Up, where you bend over and kind of swing it over your back - can do this now!!-, and waist to chest raises...... - DID THIS SUCCESSFULLY ABOUT 10 times!!!- My chic-a-dee in Chiba Niki who started hooping at the same time I did, gave me the hint to widen my stance to get the waist to chest raise. The advice totally worked! You rock Niki!
頑張ってHOOPERS!!
PS I have to add that my waist to chest raising looks absolutely ridiculous. I feel like Urkel from the 1990s American Family TV show FAMILY MATTERS. If you do not know who this is, please refer to the picture at the top of the post.

Week 4.2 Eaten Alive

First of all- I have to invest in some bug spray!! I was nearly eaten alive by mosiqotoes. I noticed a couple and got rid of them, but they were obviously just distracting me so that their friends could do some serious damage on my calves and shins.

Hooped for about two hours today and had a blast! Spent about 30 minutes dancing and 90 minutes working on some new and old tricks. I worked a bit on the continuous step through, didn't make much of an improvement on that one, but it was fun trying. Flailed around trying to vortex... and finally got it! Woo hoo! Hooped on my elbows a bit, and passed it back and forth between elbows. The sweat that I quickly generate out hooping, makes it a little hard to keep the hoop on my elbow and it flew off quite a few times, but I kind of have the hang of it. I tried to work on shoulder/chest hooping but I have a hard time keeping the hoop in the same spot. It always makes its way up to my neck... I am assuming that this is because I am shimmying my shoulders. I gave up on that, because as I mentioned in the post before, I have neck piercings and its not so healthy to neck hoop right now. I think I have decided to take them out... maybe this week.

ACCOMPLISHMENT of the DAY!

I am beginning to be able to raise from my knees to my waist! YATA! The only way I can do this is if the hoop is right above my knees. If the hoop drops to where it is actually spinning on my knee caps, or right below my knees- all bets are off. So I am sure there is way to get it up if it is on those spots, but I am not worried about that right now. I will take what ever small victory I can get!


A little ramble, if you will indulge... My lovely hoop is pink and blue. Its like cotton candy. I love it. My hoop must be sending some sort of vibe to my subconscious because... today, I decided to paint my toenails just in case I took my shoes off while I was hooping. I wanted to be able to look at my toenails without cringing at the old chipped paint. I painted my toenails pink and blue.... I didn't notice they matched my hoop til I was headed out the door. AND THEN- I was thinking of what I should wear hooping. I think to myself, lets try out that new mushroom shirt you bought in Harajuku the other day. Its sparkley, and cute and... the mushrooms are pink and blue also! Just so you all know, pink and blue are great colors but I have never gone out of my way to look for pink and blue things... My hoop and I must have a cosmic connection -hehehehehe!

Finally, I had a slight wardrobe failure today. The strings on my shirt kept catching on my hoop, and it took me forever to figure out that to solve this problem, I need only to tuck them into the shirt. My shoelaces wouldn't stay tied. Even after I double knotted them, I accidentally stepped on one and pulled the lace really tight on my foot and it hurt. And not so much to do with wardrobe... when I was trying to vortex, the hoop kept getting caught on my ponytail. Ohhhhh.... whoa is me!!!!

Week 4.1

A quick update while things are fresh in my mind. Went to another hoopGLOW class, and although I was trying hard.... I kind of let myself down. This was entirely my faultt a, as I went to the class tired... I probably should have canceled but I really thought I would pep up once I was there. I had enough steam for about the first hour of class, and then I just poot.... pewt.... phewssssssst.... ran out! I was really having fun focusing on moving my feet around more, and am feeling like I am getting closer to bringing my own natural dance style into the hoop. I was literally huffing and puffing after I was -feet focusing- and I think I just over did it.

I took some really positive things away from class today, even though I was SO tired. I really enjoyed watching everyone improve! Everyone is getting so much better. Its so great to be able to chat with other people about what is hard, and exchange little tips and bits of advice. Got to see some old faces, and made some new friends. Dinner after class was great! An awesome little vegetarian place in Shibuya. Thanks for inviting me guys!

Gonna work hard this week, and make up for me sleepy time hoop class!

PS I wore my Bruce Lee ring, and had full intentions of channeling him into my hooping-but the tiredness overrode the craziness that could have been a Bruce Lee Super Double Kick Hoop Trick. Next time.... oh yes, Bruce Lee hoop tricks are coming...

The Beginning of Week 4

I know I just posted something two days ago, but I had such a great night hooping that I have to post before the excitement wears off. First of all- weather conditions are- finally- NOT RAINY. Its about 26C/79F and 84% humidity, which means you break a sweat just standing outside, so hooping today was SUPER sweaty.

I think the most exciting thing of the night was that I figured out some music that I was really able to get down to. I recently downloaded Cheb I Sabbahs La Kahena and La Ghriba La Kahena Remixed. The music is tribal, diverse, spirtual... its amazing... beautiful female vocals. If you have not listened to this music, please try to get your hands on it!

The other two great things of tonight were....

1. I can shimmy the hoop from my waist to my neck. Now, about that- I have piercings on the back of my neck. Three horizontal piercings. The barbell is surgical tubing for each one. I havent decided if I am going to take them out yet. If I intend to hoop on my neck, they need to go. I can hoop on my neck with them in, and the pain is minimal but... the hoop is dirty and the piercings need to stay clean and all in all its just an accident waiting to happen.

2. I can chest hoop!!!!!!!!!!! kind of. When I told Deanne that I was having trouble keeping my butt from shaking when I was trying to chest hoop, she mentioned that when she trained that she spend alot of time kneeling down to practice. I didnt want to kneel in the dirt at the park, so I just sat on this big rock and gave it whirl. Much to my surprise, at the first go I was chest hooping. I kept doing this, and was really aware of the different movement that my body really needed to make to keep the hoop up. When I tried to stand up, with my new heighten awareness, the hoop just fell down again. I had to try multiple times of sitting on the rock chest hooping, then trying it standing up before I could get my butt to stop shaking. Eventually, I was able to keep it up there for awhile. All that practicing my back a bit sore, so I stop before I was ready to stop... I try to listen to my body and not overwork myself... but man, I really wanted to keep going. I cant to get out there tomorrow and see if I can do it again.

And finally, I invited Mel and Aeravi to the park with and brought my hoop -of course-. On the way there, I was stopped by a hooper from Vancouver BC named Krista, who was looking for Deanne. Didnt know where she was, but it was nice to meet a fellow hooper out on the street. Then I walk a little ways into the park and...low and behold, who do we run into, Deanne and Mark.... and then along comes Leila and her friend as well. It was great to see them, inspiring to watch. Didnt hoop as much as I had planned as I ended up chatting more than hooping, but it was fun evening anyway.

Week 3- Week of No Hooping

.... I didn't do much hooping this week... It was the first week of the first semester of school, and I was really busy preparing for that... when I did manage find to a little time, it wouldnt stop raining!! It was a crazy week of rain, rain, RAIN! I worked a bit on isolations in my room. But my room is so small, thats all I can inside. Yesterday, I got see my friend Niki hoop for the first time, she started at the same time as me. She is doing great!!! WAY to go Niki! Your a super hooper! I wish Shizu wasnt so far away, we could hoop together every week. So this is a short one, and hopefully I will have more fun information to post next week. I am downloading some new tunes to hoop to now, and will head out to Yoyogi practice in a bit!

Week 2- Woo hoo!

Hey guys! Well, I just tried to go out to the park to hoop it up, and it started to rain. So I decided to take this time to add to my blog. This past Sunday, I went to another hooping class, hoopGLOW. I had a fantastic time there, and met some really cool people. The people that came to this class were a little more relaxed and talkative than my classmate in the beginners workshop, and I love to chat so this made the class even more fun. The atmosphere in the studio is really nice after the sun sets. There were lots of small tea candles around the room, and incense burning. To bring more awareness to our arms and what we are doing with them, we wore glow bracelets! Okay.... I am not as rave-a-licous as I used to be, but I will still jump on the opportunity to wear something glowing when ever I have the chance. We learned a few new things in class, and I have been practicing them this week. We practiced doing isolations, side step through, a foot trick where you grab the hoop with the top of your foot when you are swinging it your body, passing the hoop around your body, neck, over your head, around your knees and some move where it looks like the hoop is kind of just hovering around you.

I have gone to the park twice to hoop this week, each time for about two hours.

On Isolations -photo- When you see someone doing a basic isolation, it looks really easy... but its not. You have to have really strong arms to keep the hoop on its axis, and to keep it from wobbling around. You try to make it look like a bubble, just hanging in the air. I have been getting better at them, but if I try to speed them up at all, the hoop starts doing what it wants. It seems like there is a fine line between me forcing the hoop where I want it to go, and letting the hoop do what it wants.

On Side Step Through- When you see someone do this, it does NOT look easy. During class, I didnt start getting it until the end of class, and it was far from graceful. Not only was I not getting it, I kept whacking myself in the head. This trick looks really cool, so of course, I wanted to learn it as quickly as I could. I have practiced a lot and I can finally do it consistently stepping in through the right, and about 30% of the time coming from the left. Now, just bc I can do it, doesnt mean it looks pretty, but all in due time. I got a little cocky on Tuesday when I was practicing and tried to speed the hoop up and step through and hit myself really hard above my right eye, on my eyebrow. I got a HUGE goose egg. I decided to slow down after that... The day after I practiced this move, my butt was really sore. All of those high steps must be good for your gluts!

On the Foot Trick- This is really fun, and its cool to start using another part of my body with the hoop. I can do this trick only sometimes, and when I miss, the hoop goes flying. I think I actually need to stretch my legs out a little more before I attempt this trick. I can feel my quad pulling really tight when I turn my leg to the back.

On the Hoop Hovering Around Your Body Thing- I haven't had much success with this yet, as I keep getting extremely dizzy every time I try it. You have to move your hands to the front and back and make sure the hoop doesn't touch you at all, while you are spinning to the left and I just cant handle the spin yet. This move is what I am going to focus on the next time I go to the park.

Also, chest hooping is still not happening at all... and I am okay with this. I am going to start working on it harder next week, but am giving it a rest this week as it has been frustrating me. I bought an iPod shuffle, so I will have a better way to listen to tunes while I am in the park. Another thing... I went hooping the day I started my period, and I got dizzy really easily on that day. Now, it could have been completely unrelated, but I am going to test it out again next month. If you are interested in what any of these things look like just type them into youtube i.e. hooping isolation, hooping helicopter, etc. Thats all for now! Will blog again next week!

My Hooping Begins

So, I have blogged a little over myspace but decided to create this blog so I could dedicate to hooping. I only started hooping a week ago, but I love it already and I want to track my progress and share it with everyone else. Friday, I went out to Yoyogi to join Deanne and her friends/students for World Hoop Day. World Hoop Day was started to help bring toy and dance hoops to underprivileged children. I got to use my first adult sized hoop that night, and had a good time chatting with the people who were there, and shaking my hips. I took my first lesson with Deanne in Meguro the next day. There were four other people in the class with me, and it really was a blast! After the lesson, I bought my first hoop, the Neon Genesis, made lovingly by Miss Bunny Hoop Star who currently preforms and teaches in Australia. I learned some cool tricks at my lesson, like how to pass the hoop behind my back, hand hooping, walking while hooping, and some other things that I cant remember the names of right now... The hardest things to learn were passing the hoop behind my back, taking the hoop spinning from my waist to above my head, spinning from above my head then dropping it onto my waist, and also actually dancing or even walking fluidly was REALLY, REALLY difficult. I was doing a very robotic walk. I also found it frustrating that I couldn't be in time with the beat of the music.

That night, I got to take my hoop to an outdoor party in Yamanashi. Of course, the beautiful sparkly tape, is getting rips and tears already because I am... well, not so good yet and it was hitting the ground a lot. I was also sharing it with whoever wanted to use it, and so it spent even more time swirling on the ground than if I had been using it myself. Starting now, I will write a brief blog each time I get in from hooping. I went hooping three times this week Monday, Wednesday and Friday- each time for two hours. My success are- I can take it from waist to over my head, from over my head back to my waist, I can walk less robotically. I can dance and move my arms a bit, and I learned to helicopter. I cant even come close to chest hooping. I have watched a million tutorials, and read even more tips. Then I practice moving my body like I am supposed to without the hoop -cat, cow, cat, cow like in yoga-.... then when I started spinning the hoop around my chest.... I start shaking my ass and hips. Its like, my bodies automatic response to a hoop is to shake my hips, but the hoop isnt even on that area of my body. The other thing I can not get is how to raise from my knees to my waist. The advice I should heed most, I suppose, is that learning new tricks isnt going to be easy and I have to just give myself some time. Hooping is sooooooo much fun, especially now that I can dance around with the hoop! You should all give it a whirl!!
The thing I have to figure out this weekend is what to do about music while I am hooping. The Ipod is too big, I need something little I can clip to around my neck. The past week I have just been shoving the Ipod in my bra. This is not very comfortable, and it has also caused the device to freeze up a couple of times. Probably all the heat and sweat...
I will try to get out to the park to hoop tonight after it cools off. Its been so humid the past couple of days. Tomorrow evening I am going to another hoop class led by Deanne. Woo hoo!!! LED hoops!