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!