Challenge 44 – Hoopla

Hooping is back!

Although hooping is estimated to have been in existence for thousands of years, the modern plastic hula hoop craze began in the 50’s. The Hula part of the name came from British soldiers who noticed similarities to the Hawaiian Hula dance. There was plenty of hula hoops around when I was growing up, however they went out of fashion around the same time the yo-yo started to invade our schools.  Go figure.

Well, dust off your old hoops people, cos the hoop is back! A quick search of the internet will find hooping now being promoted for its health benefits, from digestion through to building muscle tone and as a cardio workout. There’s people who have run marathons with them and who can hoop a 90 pound tyre!  Nevermind the circus performers who can have dozens of hoops going at once. The world record for longest consecutive hooping is 90 hours. Holy rotating hoop Batman!

Really though, it’s hot watching a pretty girl (yes, you Maria) move her hips and make that hoop dance. It is of course not nearly as hot when you’re smacking yourself in the head with it as you try and master a move, or chasing a hoop across the park.  Or as hot as your sunburn the next day as you were having so much fun you forgot to put on sunscreen.

By the end of our few hours playing though we could both spin the hoop above our heads and bring it gracefully (more or less) down to revolve effortlessly (more or less) around our hips. Maria was even a gun at revolving it around her knees and her feet! Amazing. The girl who ran the course in Bronte park first picked one up 5 months ago, and has been doing it obsessively ever since. I was truly impressed by the skills she learned in such a short time.

I was so dizzy, my hips were spinning.  It sure was a fun way to spend the morning. Give it a whirl!

Fire hooping, for added flavour