Hoop there it is
When the Nash clan traveled to Wanderlust Isabelle and I “found” hula hooping and had a great time. She had saved up more than enough pocket money to buy her own but the onsite store had sold out, so I told her that we would get her one when we returned to Auckland.
It was actually harder than I thought it would be to find a hoop. The ones we found in toy stores (and Rebel sports) were too small and light for Isabelle to keep the hoop spinning.
My searched turned towards online stores for hoops similar to those we had used at Wanderlust and not long after we returned to Auckland I ordered hoops for the both of us. However weeks after placing the order and constantly dodging questions from the mini me I was finally told that the company could not fulfill the order. Thankfully when I contacted Deryn, an Auckland based Hula Hoop Instructor and owner of Hip Hoop Fitness she had two custom hoops ready for collection within days.
The quickest way for me to get the hoops (that Issy had been waiting over a month for) was to pick them up from a hoop fitness class, so being the “doting Mum” that I am, I went along to my first ever hoop fitness class last night. It turns out the hoop fitness is a dance class with hoops. It’s probably good that I didn’t know that prior to turning up, I’m not great at moving fluidly to an eight count, but as I was at the back I don’t think I was too distracting for the other 7 ladies in class.
After the warm up (which was kind of a cross between dancing, aerobics and hooping) we moved into the section of the class where you worked through hoop tricks/skills and transitions and these elements are incorporated into a choreographed routine that the class performs at the end of the session. Deryn explained that both the skills section of class and routine are changed every 6-8 weeks to keep things fresh.
I was the only newbie in class but I think the lady who had positioned herself next to me at the back had not being going for very long so Deryn gave the two of us more beginner movements and let us work on those while she instructed the rest of the girls through more advanced skills. Once we had (semi) mastered one skill we would progress to the next and Deryn moved seamlessly between the two groups for the duration of our session.
The skills section took up the bulk of the class but we also did a core conditioning set and the rest of the girls performed their choreographed hoop routine as a group. I was supposed to join in but I played audience instead complete with the clapping at the end, I have enough trouble working out my left from right let alone moving in circles whilst spinning a hoop on my hips. 😉
Hooping is yet another activity where you watch people who are really good at and think “man that’s REALLY cool I want to do that” but just like everything else, it takes lots of practice, patience and perseverance. I did manage to pick up a few basic tricks that I’ll definitely keep working on, but more importantly I had fun!
“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!”
Ben Franklin
Deryn holds kids hoop classes in the Central City and adults hoop classes at various locations throughout Auckland she even supplies the hoops. If you’re keen to attend one let me know, I have a feeling that James will draw the line at a “hoop date”.
Till next time
