Gettin’ trick with it, or why I stopped the 10 Trick resolution.

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I don’t like the word trick.

Maybe it’s because I had a speech impediment when I was a kid and the R makes it hard for me to say.

Maybe it’s because tricks are cheap or, I never wanna turn a trick or, maybe I’ve just spent to much time on Urbandictionary

Or Maybe, I don’t wan’t my hooping to be all about trick’s.

I started hooping because I wanted a new way to meditate, I wanted a mind body connection, I wanted a skill that was both beautiful and athletic, I wanted to learn to flow, I wanted to be mesmerizing like the hoopers I saw at shows.  Someday I’ll tell you about the night I learned I would hoop one day. I wanted to do something for me and for no one else.  — I’m not opposed to performing, Its just not why I hoop.

But I found as I started, the flow didn’t always come naturally, and that hooping wasn’t one skill I could just pick up, it was a bunch of skills stacked on top of each other and twisted and rearranged into a mastery of the art called flow.

Somewhere in the process I stopped adding to my skill and started learning tricks. blegh.  Not that there is anything wrong with tricks, I’m just not a circus act, not that there is anything wrong with circus acts, It’s just not why I spin. I spin for me.

I quit on day 3, and didn’t bother publishing day 2 (the eagle roll, watch for it in my next demo)  because before I went through to find a trick to learn I tried to run through “everything I’ve ever learned how to do with a hoop in order”.  I found myself breaking my flow, making myself dizzy, trying to remember everything and keep it in order.   I have so much more fun when I just spin.

So I said fuck it. and isn’t that the fun part of the resolution anyway, breaking it?

I’m still continuing to learn new skills or tricks or what have you (obviously, did you check that last post?) I’m just now calling them moves.

I’m actually compiling a list of moves I have learned or want to learn to do with my hoop, but I’m gonna remove the pressure of learning one after another, after another, there will be some I know, some that can be perfected, some I’m working on,  and some I haven’t tried yet.

What’s your favorite move to groove with?

Happy Hooping,

Çaturn

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A Christmas Resolution

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Merry Christmas one and all!  and Happy Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and everything else while you’re at it!  It’s not  New Years yet, but i was thinking I’d take advantage of my time off school and make a Christmas Resolution instead.  I’m leaving for a family vacation in 10 days, but I’m gonna give myself a reason to not spend these next 10 days sitting on a couch.  I’m gonna learn a ‘trick’, a new hoopin’, move everyday for the next 10 days.  I’m gonna try my damnedest to, that is.   I’m begging for suggestions of moves to learn, but also for all your favorite tutorials.

This isn’t some I’ll start it tomorrow Christmas resolution, this started right away today! Yayyyy!!!

Today I learned an ‘Angel Roll’ or an Across the Chest roll if you’ve never heard it called that before.  A special thanks to Caroleeena and her fantastic tutorial, found here.  I thought it was really helpfully, she does a fantastic job of breaking down the full move into smaller bits that are easy to understand.

And for the fun of it, a little video of my learning process.

Things I’ve Learned:

• Careful with the off swing, thats where you loose control of your hoop, it gets off its plane and you beat yourself in the face.
• Plant your feet. Dancin’ is one thing, but when you just move your feet just cause you don’t know what else to do you look like a goof.
• Close your eyes, you don’t always need to see the hoop to know where it is, and it’ll stop you from watching yourself in the video as its recording.
• Watching things in Slow-Mo is fun. Makes it easy to see exactly what your hoop is doing in each step of a move.

Hoopy Holidays,

Çaturn

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