You know . . . for adults!

June 16, 2009 3:28 PM

Hooping. The hoops adults use to dance and perform tricks are larger and heavier than the children's toy called the Hula Hoop. As hooping becomes more popular, people across the States and across the world are pushing the boundaries of dance and sport with a simple, easily made tool. Hooping for pleasure, exercise, and meditation is becoming a phenomenon. There's even a documentary.

You can make a basic hoop, make a collapsible one or one that comes apart for travel. If all the sparkly, shiny, glow, and gaffer's tapes aren't enough for you, you can put glowsticks inside, make your own LED hoop, or buy one for a little or a lot. (If you get brave, you can try fire.)

You can find a group or a teacher to hoop with near you, join the growing tribe of online hoopers, or even take lessons online.

There is always something new to learn, someone new to meet; skills can always be improved or improvised upon. Hooping has changed my world, and it can change yours.

And we'll just get this one out of the way now.)

posted by fiercecupcake (24 comments total)

Wait a minute, Mr. Hooper died?
posted by box at 3:40 PM on June 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

I know people who do this with fire.

Of course, I do hang out with Burners.
posted by Afroblanco at 3:44 PM on June 16, 2009

You know, for kids.
posted by william_boot at 3:53 PM on June 16, 2009 [4 favorites]

I've seem some around, some tricks/routines they do are pretty cool, the best seemed up there with a Cirque du Soleil act. But on a different perspective, the group seemed a bit cult like.
posted by sammyo at 3:56 PM on June 16, 2009

How odd, that something I'd not heard of as anything other than a children's game before today has now come up twice in the same day.
posted by jacquilynne at 4:08 PM on June 16, 2009

When I was a kid, "hooping" meant taking your ecstasy by sticking it up your bum. This seems much more innocent, but I can see how the two would go together.
posted by Rusty Iron at 4:09 PM on June 16, 2009

Er, and I made my previous comment before I'd looked at the "hooppath", oh my.
posted by sammyo at 4:10 PM on June 16, 2009

I heard a big long thing about this on NPR over the weekend. I thought perhaps it was an uncharacteristic, extended joke.

If it is, apparently there are a lot of people in on it.
posted by gurple at 4:14 PM on June 16, 2009

The wacky circumference!
posted by The White Hat at 4:15 PM on June 16, 2009

They get around.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:48 PM on June 16, 2009

Hoop dancing from a rather different cultural perspective.
posted by mce at 5:02 PM on June 16, 2009

They had a huge group of hoopers perform as halftime entertainment at a DC Rollergirls match. That's entertainment.
posted by exogenous at 5:25 PM on June 16, 2009

A few of my friends are really into the hooping scene here in Tokyo (in fact j-ster - featured in a photo of the day a couple of days ago - is a very close friend of mine). Another friend had a hooping demo at her wedding a couple of weeks ago.

I don't get the whole hooping thing myself, although I've tried it. Maybe it's because if we go to the park I'm running around after a crazy 1 year old while everyone else is hooping. It's actually a pretty solo activity when it comes down to it - everyone in their own little hooping worlds.

I do know that if you try to duck out of a spin the wrong way you can almost break your nose.

Still it's exercise and getting people outside - and keeping them off the streets so whatever. As long as I don't have to listen to hours of hoop decorating tips I don't mind too much to be surrounded by hooping maniacs.
posted by gomichild at 5:36 PM on June 16, 2009

Hoop dancing from a rather different cultural perspective.

What mce said. Searching Youtube for hoop dance pow-wow or hoop dance Heard Museum will pull up plenty of clips.
posted by Creosote at 5:58 PM on June 16, 2009

Thanks, mce and Creosote! A regrettable oversight.
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:03 PM on June 16, 2009

I just bought a hula hoop this week-and I had never heard of any of this till I just read your post.

Odd.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:15 PM on June 16, 2009

I think this was bubbling up for a while and the inclusion of hula hooping as a cardio activity in Wii Fit just blew it up. I know that's what made me think "Man, I'm still really good at this! I gotta get me a real hoop now!"
posted by padraigin at 6:27 PM on June 16, 2009

That's kinda what happened with me, except I was able to just use a hoop that was lying around at work.

As with almost everything else in life, I'm much better at the videogame version.
posted by box at 6:33 PM on June 16, 2009

über-hoop: ummmmm
posted by mhjb at 6:41 PM on June 16, 2009

I like hooping! (Although strangely, whenever I say that aloud, my husband can only hear "pooping".) I'm looking forward to celebrating world hoop day (this year it falls on 9/9/2009).
posted by Secretariat at 6:48 PM on June 16, 2009

Secretariat, you know folks around here would pay good money for footage of your husband hooping...
posted by gingerbeer at 9:24 PM on June 16, 2009

Er, and I made my previous comment before I'd looked at the "hooppath", oh my.

I took some classes with that guy! Yeah, he has kind of invented a weird mythology around hooping, involving a group of all-female hooping monks in the distant past. But the class made me better at dancing, so I ignored the weird parts.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:19 AM on June 17, 2009

The jasonunbound link for hoop-making is stellar; i highly recommend it. Do not go buy a kid`s hoop at a store, for you will be sorely disappointed. The bigger, heavier hoop is easier to keep up, do tricks with, and actually get tired with.

gomichild+ this big city must be a small world; I have probably met some of your friends then because I have taken some of the classes offered through hooptokyo. Truly a lot of fun (though an interesting demographic+ I have never seen a guy or another foreigner in the classes).
posted by whatzit at 3:44 AM on June 18, 2009

Gingerbeer, it's funnier/more horrifying than you can ever imagine. Some things just shouldn't be recorded.
posted by Secretariat at 9:17 PM on June 18, 2009