PLAY
HOOP THERE IT IS
The hulu hoop is not just for your little sister anymore. // BETH BEAVERS
S Sunday and Wednesday nights. South Park turns into a myriad of light, color and movement. Hips and bodies of all shapes and sizes swing and sway holding up hoops of sparkled, and
curved PVC pipe. The hoops don't stay in one place for long, winding up, down and around legs, arms and chests.
For the fourth summer, Hoop Mamas is hosting playshops in South Park on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. Ali Fitzgerald, who founded Hoop Mamas in 2007, started the playshops as a way for hoopers to get together and share tricks. She sees all different kinds of people at the playshops, from young to old. "People think because they couldn't do it as a kid, they can't do it now," Fitzgerald says. "But it's accessible and it's easy." It's easier because the hoops are heavier, and easier to keep up. And even if you lack rhythm, that doesn't mean you will be a bad hooper. Betty Shurin got kicked out of an aerobics class because she lacked rhythm. Now known as Betty Hoops, she has been teaching and studying hooping since 1998 and has her own instructional hooping DVD. She says she can teach anyone to hoop in less than five minutes by watching the way they move.
The method Shurin teaches is different from the kind of hooping we did as kids because it focuses on posture and how the muscles in the core move. It can burn up to 600 calories per hour, and it can improve flexibility and coordination. Her method also promotes better digestion and circulation because the weight of the hoop massages the internal organs.
But even hooping for fun with friends can be good for your body. Samantha Hewitt had been trying to lose weight, but was bored with normal exercise routines. She started hooping about a year and a half ago, but switched to fire hooping in December. A fire hoop has six to eight spokes that stick out and are lit on fire. Hewitt says her fire hoop is a lot heavier than a normal one, and
the hoop took extra practice to get used to. She started fire hooping five times a week and she's lost more than 30 pounds. "Fire hooping is easier to do more often because the fire hoopers get together more often," she says. "It's a very social exercise."
Hooping can be a social exercise, but it doesn't have to be. When she was teaching herself how to hoop, Fitzgerald spent a lot of time doing online research. She recommends www.hooping.org, which is a non-profit organization that promotes hooping with daily videos and weekly tutorials. Fitzgerald says she would also try to learn a trick every day on YouTube. "I would watch the video on the computer then run outside to try it," she says. Tricks can be basic, like keeping the hoop up on your waist or lassoing it on your wrist. But tricks can get as complicated as the hooper can make them, usually involving a lot of movement and sometimes multiple hoops.
Shurin says people hoop because of the sexy, playful and alive feeling they get. Sarah Kunen, Lawrence senior, says through hooping she has learned to dance again. "I have arthritis, so a lot of kinds of exercise I can't do," she says. "But this is a fun and energetic exercise that I can do."
There isn't a lot of equipment involved in hooping. Fitzgerald makes and sells hoops on her website, hoopmamas.net. You can also purchase hoops at Beyond the Door, 918 Massachusetts. She sells basic hoops for around $25, but fancier hoops and LED hoops will cost more. You can also find instructions for making your own hoop on www.hooping.org. Jp
Hoops Mamas Playshop
7-9 p.m. Wednesdays through
October
South Park, 1300 block of Massachusetts Street
Photo by Karsten Lunde
Social circle. Weekly hooping events in South Park are just one way to get involved in this growing sport. All Fitzgerald, founder of the local group Hoop Mamas, says hooping is easy and easy form of exercise.
HOOPING RESOURCES:
www.hooping.org - A non-profit organization that promotes all things hooping. Features videos of the day, tricks of the week, etc.
www.hoopmamas.net - You can find resources for hooping in Lawrence, book private lessons or buy a hoop on this website.
www.bettyhoops.com - Betty Hoops' website. Buy her DVD and learn about the benefits of hooping.
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