Hoop hate.

What hoop move do you hate most?

For me, it's angled waist hooping. It's awkward and ugly and uncomfortable, and the hoop keeps twisting me around. You have to stick your bum out to do it. It just feels silly.

But I practise angled waist hooping every day, even if only for 30 seconds.

I know from past experiences that hating a move means it has something to teach me.

I used to hate isolations. Isolations require such precise and controlled movements to look good, and I couldn't be bothered with that. I'd rather go do something messy, like a pizza toss. But I kept practising isolations, and I learned that persistence pays off. Now I love isolations! I can do them well, and I use them a lot.

I used to hate knee hooping, because I couldn't do it. I would practise for hours on end but that hoop kept sliding to my ankles, no matter what I did. I watched tutorials and asked people to help me. Nothing worked. I decided I had to let knee hooping go - my body would decide when it was ready. So I practised each day for just a minute or so, then moved onto something else.

And it was one day when I was least expecting it that I realised - wow! - I could knee hoop.

So from these two moves I learned that sometimes you need to be persistent with a move. Sometimes you need to let a move go. And the wisdom comes from distinguishing between the two!

I don't yet know what angled waist hooping has to teach me. Right now, it feels like it has nothing to teach me other than how to be really awkward!! But I'm sure the lesson will come eventually.

Next on my list of hated moves? Wedgies. Ugh... let's not go there yet.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

All about head hooping.

Ta-da! Here is my very first hoop tutorial on YouTube, which covers a few head hooping moves. It was nerve-wracking to make, and I'm not thrilled with how it came out, but I decided not to be a perfectionist about it.

I didn't ever intend to make a tutorial video, but I've had quite a few questions on Instagram about how to head hoop, and this seemed the best way to deal with those questions.

I hope you enjoy my first hoop tutorial!

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Do the work.

I love my online hoop community. Being a mostly solitary hooper - which suits me fine - I still appreciate the interaction with like-minded hoopers on hooping forums such as Facebook. But sometimes I encounter someone who makes me shake my head. Like the young woman who wrote this message on a recent forum:

“I’ve been hooping for a couple of weeks and I’ve learned a few moves, but it frustrates me that I can’t hoop like [insert famous hooper’s name]. Can anyone tell me some tricks that will  give me flow?”

I've had a couple of students over the years who have said to me, I'm not interested in this waist-hooping crap, teach me to hoop like you.

First of all I do understand these hoopers' sentiments. I distinctly remember being a couple of weeks into my hoop journey and thinking, this feels so good but I wish I could really flow with my hoop. Followed by, if I keep working I’ll get there, eventually. I never wanted, or expected, a short-cut to hoop flow. If someone gave me the ability to magically become the best hooper in the world, instantly, I don’t think I’d take it.

Because hooping, like any practice, is a journey; and it’s a journey with no end-point. It’s that very journey that I love. I don’t hoop to become a famous hooper or to impress people [although I do enjoy inspiring people to take up the hoop themselves] … I hoop because it feels good, it gives me the ability to express things within me that can’t be expressed any other way, it teaches me about myself. I love the days hooping makes me feel graceful and powerful. I love the days when everything is effortless and I drop into flow almost immediately. I even love the days that I am low in energy – because I know I need to go back to the basics. And the days that I am frustrated - because I know I’m learning.

And guess what? The famous hooper that this newbie hooper referenced is still working on her flow, even after years and years in the hoop.

One of the great things about hooping, that makes it so accessible to anyone, is how quickly you progress. If you practise for 30 minutes every day for six months you will be amazed at how much you will learn. But you cannot expect to pick up a hoop and have instant flow.

You need to do the work.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Why I'm not teaching anymore.

After thinking about it for a while, I've decided I'm not teaching hoop any more. Well, maybe not for a couple of years.

I'm just not ready for it.

I know that might sound silly, since I taught my first class when I'd been hooping for just six months. I'm happy to teach informally, as I do at the River City Hoopers, but I don't want to teach formal classes any more.

I've noticed that it is acceptable for any one who can swing a hoop to set themselves up as a teacher. That's what happened with me. That's the ad hoc way the hoop community operates; and there's nothing wrong with a hoop enthusiast teaching interested people how to hoop [especially in a place where there are no other hoop teachers].

But for me, personally, it doesn't feel right any more.

I have been hooping for just over two years - I'm hardly an expert. If I'd been learning ballet or football for two years, I'd never think of setting myself up as a teacher. I consider myself an intermediate hooper, and I probably will be for another couple of years. I am still very much finding my own flow, my own language, within the hoop. For now, I want my own learning to be my main focus.

The other issue I have with teaching hoop is that I haven't yet learned to teach authentically. Hooping is so much more to me than just physical exercise, but I find it difficult to communicate this to others. I want to learn how to do this before I teach again. May be I will take some teacher training to help me with this.

Of course, this doesn't mean I will never teach any one any thing to do with the hoop, ever again. If I meet some one who wants to learn from me, I'm not going to turn them away. The more hoop love there is in this world the better!

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

This is my flow.

This is my flow

There are many like it

But this one is mine

It's revolutionary by design

-Tiana Zoumer

It's ironic that I begin this post with a quote from Tiana Zoumer, because this post is about how I discovered I didn't want to be Tiana Zoumer.

Recently, I've taken a few hoop lessons via Skype with the one and only Brecken Rivara. Brecken and Tiana are my two favourite hoopers, so to learn from Brecken is a dream come true. She is a great teacher and a thoroughly likeable person, so if you get the chance to take a lesson with her, do it!

In our first lesson we spent quite a lot of time talking. One of the things we discussed was hoop speed. I told Brecken I had got a shock when I first videoed myself and discovered I am actually a very slow hooper. I do not move fast in my hoop, even though I feel like I do! I shouldn't be surprised by this because I have never been fast at anything, but there you go.

During our discussion Brecken made three points on this topic:

1. a naturally slow hooper incorporates speeds easier than a fast hooper incorporates slowness;

2. a good hooper, whatever her natural speed, will learn how to vary her speed at times to provide texture;

3. if I'm a naturally slow hooper, it's my mission to make that my personal style.

I found myself thinking about the last point during my next session in the hoop. I realised that deep down part of me had wanted to be some kind of hooping composite of Tiana Zoumer and Brecken Rivara! If only I dedicated myself to the hoop enough, I would magically develop Tiana's speed and energy and Brecken's athleticism. Sigh.

Tiana and Brecken aren't much-loved members of the hoop tribe just because they are fast, energetic and athletic. They are admired for their unique flow and their creativity. So do I want to be a copy of Tiana or Brecken, or do I want to be myself? Do I want to force my body to do things it doesn't want to do, or do I want my body to feel gooooood?

The answers are pretty obvious.

I also realised that the times when I walk away from my hoop feeling dissatisfied are those times that I have been comparing myself to someone else [usually Tiana or Brecken] - which is never a path to happiness!

So my hoop mission for 2014 is to begin finding my own flow, my own personal style within the hoop. This totally makes sense to me, and I wish I had thought of it before.

This does not mean that I now believe I have nothing to learn from anyone. I'm still going to take lessons from Brecken, and you bet I'll be learning everything I can from Tiana when she comes to HoopFest in March [squeal!]. But I no longer want to be Brecken or Tiana - I want to be me.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

No more teaching.

I've really enjoyed my experience of teaching hoop over the past year.

I've made new friends, helped to build a little hoop community in my town, and I've learned as much - or more - from my students as they've learned from me.

But I'm not teaching hoop any more.

Well, I sort of am, informally. But I'm not being paid to teach, and I'm okay about that.

I live in a small town, so the market was never going to be big. People are curious about hooping but they're afraid of making an arse of themselves so they won't try it [is that a New Zealand thing?]. Enrolments totally dried up for my eight-week courses so they stopped. My drop-in class at the gym didn't have any new students for months.

I have a core group of really dedicated students who come to every drop-in class. Each week I would plan what move I'd teach them next and what little "hoop challenge" I could dream up to keep them interested. But what I eventually came to realise [it took me a while] is that most of them come to class to waist hoop and socialise. Except for one or two really keen learners, that's what most of them want to do.

Add in the fact that the gym started making it really clear that they'd rather we left and made the practice space available for their super-duper group fitness classes, and I started to feel discouraged about my future as a hoop teacher.

So I decided not to do it any more.

My drop-in hoop class has been re-named the River City Hoop Jam. We're a bunch of people who get together to hoop once a week - whether that be waist hooping and socialising, or learning some complicated new move. I provide the music and the spare hoops. The local museum has very kindly let us use their classroom free of charge till the end of the year, and in January we will move in to our [hopefully] permanent home in a disused woolstore owned by a local artist.

That's when I'll start advertising again to get some new people along, who can learn from me or from any of the more experienced students. And I'll charge people NZ$5 per session to cover costs [ie, room hire].

I feel relaxed about all this. While I'm still responsible for organising the group, I no longer feel like I have to keep every one engaged for the entire hour. I can just hoop and enjoy the company of other hoopers.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Breaking and balance.

Mmmmm ... breaking. It's my current hoop obsession. I've spent all of October focusing on my breaking technique.

What do I mean by breaking?

Breaks are a whole series of moves that involve breaking the flow of the hoop by hitting it [usually against a body part] and sending it back in the opposite direction. For example, you could be hooping around the shoulders and break using an elbow. Or you might break the flow of an off-body move by hitting the hoop against your knee.

Breaking is usually done in quick succession so the hoop is going back and forth, back and forth. In this it differs from reversing, which is simply sending the hoop in the opposite direction. Then there's paddling, which is propulsion of the hoop using the hand on the inside of the hoop.

These moves were pioneered by Jonathan Baxter of The Hoop Path; but in my opinion you couldn't get a better set of breaks than those by the lovely Caterina Suttin. If you watch the video clip above, you'll see what I mean.

What I have learned from practising my breaks this month is balance. In hooping, there is a risk that your body can become unbalanced if you focus only on your dominant side. [It's something I'm always aware of when I hoop - I practise my non-dominant current all the time and try to incorporate it into my flow.] To do breaks successfully you must learn balance: between both sides of your body, between both currents. Otherwise they just don't happen.

Maybe that's why I love breaks so much.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Teaching versus practice.

Sarah practising a new move during a break in class.

I've written before about my love of teaching hoopdance. I find teaching deeply satisfying. I love the delight and astonishment on a new student's face when she realises she can get that hoop spinning around her waist. I love the laughing and joking that accompanies my intermediate class. Some of my students have become good friends.

But I've realised I've fallen into what must be a common trap for teachers of all stripes: my teaching is threatening to swamp my own practice.

It seems like a long time since I had an intense hoop session on my own - so much of my hoop time now is taken up with teaching, or preparing for classes. [I've also started making and selling my own hoops, but more on that another day.] This term, I have classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and the past few weeks I've also had Saturday morning classes. This wouldn't be so bad if I was hooping full-time. But I'm not. I have a full-time job and a family who also need my time and energy.

I could, I suppose, allow myself to focus solely on my teaching, but I don't want to do that. It's important but it's more important that I keep my own practice going. I began hooping for the love of it, and it will always be my first love. Besides, how can I expect my students to learn and grow if I'm not learning and growing myself?

I've decided to cut back one class next term. And I'm saving up to rejoin the gym - having a dedicated space in which to concentrate solely on hooping was fantastic for me last year. I'm also fitting in practice where and when I can. I've started going to my classes half an hour early so I can practise before my students arrive. Sometimes I hoop while I'm watching television. Every little bit helps.

Some thoughts on teaching.

My first term of teaching hoopdance is nearly at an end … boo-hoo!

My mother has always said I should be a teacher of some esoteric skill, and it seems she was right. I’ve adored this term of teaching more than I ever thought I would – it’s not merely something I have to do; I actually look forward each week to my class. I always come home from class feeling super positive and energised.

And I think I’m okay at teaching. I still have a lot to learn, of course. I’ve certainly learned a lot about the right and wrong way to teach hooping during the past eight weeks. I’m good at breaking a move down to show my students, I think I explain everything well, and I’m patient. I also suspect I’m good at conveying my utter joy in hooping [ie, obsession] to my students, something I believe is important for any teacher. But I do struggle with troubleshooting. If a student is having problems nailing a move, I’m not so good at working out why she isn’t succeeding. So that’s something I have to work on.

Next year I plan to do some formal training in hoopdance and hopefully that will round out my teaching skills even more.

I reminded my students during this week’s class that the course was nearly finished, and it was gratifying to see their disappointment. Nearly all of them have asked me to teach a level 2 course for them next year, and it looks likely that will happen. My students [aged between 30 and 70] are bright, bubbly, enthusiastic and positive women, and each class is full of laughter, clapping and encouragement. I feel so sad about saying good-bye to them for the year!

Do you remember the woman I met on the beach? She comes to every class religiously and is probably my most dedicated student, with a devotion to hooping that nearly matches my own. She’s a joy to teach! And it all happened because of a chance meeting on the beach.

Any way, I’m glad to say my teaching isn’t over for the year. I also teach a class at the gym I attend and this will run right till the end of the year. This is quite a different class – it’s a drop-in class, with new and experienced students coming along every week. That provides a whole different type of challenge, as I need to provide instruction for numerous levels of hooping. It’s actually a very relaxed, fun class, and I enjoy it as much as the other class.

I have plans for another type of hooping class for next year … more about that later!

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Lesson plans.

I spent some time over the weekend working on lesson plans for my eight-week hooping course, which starts on Wednesday. I've had my plans roughed out for a while but I went into it more detail with it over the weekend. {I have a special journal for planning which has been scribbled in a lot recently - mostly hooping stuff and wedding stuff! That's where I've been writing my lesson plans.}

I love going back to the very first moves I learned in March and April, and dissecting them for my students. These days I do a lift-up without thinking about it {I could probably do it in my sleep} but it wasn't so long ago the lift-up was my holy grail of hooping. I watched clip after clip on YouTube, trying to work out how to do it! I think that move is a thrill for most new beginners - being able to lift the hoop off the body for the very first time. So I've been going over this and other moves, pulling them apart and working out how I will explain and demonstrate each one for my students.

Last week the manager of a local gym and I negotiated for me to teach a hooping class there, too. This class will be promoted as hoop fitness rather than hoop dance, so I'll probably have to come up with a different set of lesson plans for that course. It doesn't start till next month, though, so I'll focus on it later.

I really love this, you know? I love planning my lessons - even though I know they could go right out the window once the course starts! At least I'll still have those guidelines. I love taking each move apart in order to be able to teach them. And I'm really looking forward to meeting all my students. {I have 15 of them - the class sold out two weeks ago!} I just know teaching them, watching them connect with the hoop, will be a joy.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

Spring dance.

I wanted to do something special to mark the spring equinox, which this year fell on 23rd September. Of course, my first thought was to do something hoop-related. It was a glorious day, just a few fluffy clouds in a dazzling blue sky and no wind.

So I took my newest and most favourite polypro hoop [a pale pink one - appropriate for spring], and headed down to the beach for a bit of hoop loving by the waves. I found myself a flat patch of sand beneath the sand dunes and began to dance.

For what was I believe the first time ever I felt like the graceful hoop dancer I've longed to be these past seven months. [And, let's be honest, I've had a secret hankering to be a graceful dancer my entire life.] I guess you'd say I found my flow. Every move was smooth and effortless, even the ones I've been struggling with recently. I actually felt beautiful.

I hooped without stopping for about 20 minutes, every movement a prayer of gratitude to God. I was thankful for the sea, the warm sunshine, my hoop, my good health, my loved ones, my upcoming marriage. And I was grateful for the unfolding spring. I love this time of the year, with the promise of summer and warm days to come.

My meditation was broken by the sound of coughing - a light, apologetic cough - behind me. I turned to see a woman standing there. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, but I just had to talk to you. Are you involved with the hoopdancing class at CES next term?"

I laughed and told her I was the teacher.

"Oh good. I thought you must have been." She told me how she'd heard about the hoopdancing class and had been trying to decide whether to take it or not. She really wanted to, but her friend thought it was stupid.

"But now that I've seen you hooping I've decided I will take your class. I'm going home right now to fill out the enrolment form."

We talked for about 10 minutes, and she told me how she loved to hoop as a child but hadn't done it since. "Seeing you do it - well, it just reminded me of myself as a child, and how happy it made me. I want to feel like that again."

When she had gone - "see you in class!" she said gleefully as she left - I continued my dance for a little longer, overflowing with gratitude and happiness.

Life is good ... but hooping makes it great.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x

First class.

Tonight I taught my first formal hoopdance class.

I've taught dozens of people to hoop in an informal setting but teaching formally is whole different thing. For a start, people are paying me to teach them to hoop. Gulp. I had 11 people enrol for the class, which was run through the local Community Education Service [CES] as part of adult learners week. Eleven was the maximum number we had allowed for the class - it sold out in less than a week, which I was pretty happy about.

So I spent much of my weekend organising music, practising stretches and warm ups, running through important information to tell the students, and going through moves - the class was focused on waist hooping, but I had to have some other moves ready just in case everyone picked it up really quickly.

Although I felt a little nervous about the class, I was mostly excited and happy. There was a quiet hum of satisfaction in my bones as I made my preparations - a sense that I was doing something I should be doing. I had been hooping for just two weeks when I wrote in my journal: "I'd love to teach hooping classes - obviously I'm nowhere ready to do this [yet] but one day I will be!"

I never imagined that day would be less than six months later.

The class went really well. My students were mostly older women and they were lively, enthusiastic, open-minded and so positive. Every person who successfully spun the hoop around their waists was rewarded with claps and cheers from her classmates. Some of them picked it up immediately; some really struggled, but by the end of the class everyone was spinning happily away.

Tonight's class was just a taster: in October I'll be starting an eight-week hoopdance course through CES. Most of tonight's students said they would enrol for the eight-week course! I can't wait.

Happy hooping,
Anne-Marie x