How do you keep a hula hoop from falling down around your ankles?

Well, @LuckyGuy, I think this is a little bit like asking how you ride a bicycle on a tightrope. Sure, they say you never forget how to ride a bike—but that doesn’t give you skills you never had.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think anyone’s going to be able to tell you how to perform those acts, other than to say that it’s a matter of how you move. If you practiced and practiced, your techniques would improve, and you could gain the ability do different things. Watch anyone who’s gained a high level of proficiency in a sport or activity—yoga, snowboarding, diving, tiddlywinks, it doesn’t matter—and you will see a display of skills that the average person can’t just show up and start doing.

The first time I ever saw someone use a mouse and manipulate a computer display, I was fascinated and frustrated by being unable to tell what he was doing with his hand to cause changes on the screen. This was years before they were commonplace. I had no idea that there were two buttons on the mouse and that he was conveying different signals by exerting pressure so slight that I couldn’t see his hand move. In time, of course, I became as adept with a mouse as the next person.

Relevant

I have no clue how people will get the hula hoop going around like just their shoulder or something like that. It is pretty amazing some of the things people can do.

Never underestimate the value of a good wiggle.

As a young woman, I could actually do many of the moves shown by the young lady in the video; but it would be impossible to explain. And unlike getting back on a bike, I can’t even move the thing around my waist in current times.

Some of the moves are simply lowering/raising your body in relation to the spinning hoop; others are actually forcing the upward or downward motion of the hoop. When she’s spinning the hoop around her knees, it is her knees that create the circular motion. When I was able to do these moves it would be a matter of ceasing hip rotation long enough for the hoop to drop to my knees where it’s picked up by that rotation.

It’s easier done than said, and it’s not that easy to do!

I leave it on the hook in the garage.

I tired the move she did with spinning the hoop so it looked like it was stationary and her hand was going in a circle. I got whacked in the face so hard it was a good thing I was wearing sunglasses. I also tried spinning it around my neck and it hurt like heck! Is her hoop weightless? (kidding)
She certainly looks like she’s having fun with it.
I’ll practice a little more before I put it out in the garage – next to the unicycle.

I actually successfully hooped a 10 foot hoop at the Renaissance Festival this year. In a corset. I was terribly proud of myself.

I used to hoop competitively as a young kid (6 years old or so). Hell if I remember how to do the tricks. I’d like to learn again though.

Ten Feet! That is incredible! Now I have another reason to hold you in high esteem!

Could you do it in place or did you have to run forward and backward a step or two?

How about this? Wait for the little guy at the end and count how many hoops he has going.

And this is rather nice in the style category.

@LuckyGuy She’s absolutely amazing. I knew some tricks as a kid, but nothing to match that. You have to get back to where you were as a kid, able to work that booty and hula to beat the band. :-)

All hips, baby. ^_^

I take pictures with them

This is the hoop dancing I am familiar with.

Hoop Dance

It’s called talent, or having the knack as my mother would no doubt say.

It is very hard for an adult to hula hoop. It was easy as a kid and most people assume they can still do it but it is rediculously hard as an adult.

Whenever I try it now I grow a semi, just like when climbing up a rope…slightly alarming.

↑ LMFAO

@Jeruba That dancing was amazing. The guy at the end of the first video pulled it out ! Even when he missed the last ring he manages to pick it up off the floor! Fantastic!
The Push video was so different from anything I’ve seen. There’s a lot of talent out there. Unfortunately I don’t have any of it

@cheebdragon Maybe if I tried it naked my “hoop shelf” would allow me to hula for hours at a time :)

@LuckyGuy, I thought maybe that wasn’t an accident but a contrived slip to show off his skill.

Any video of North Korean synchronized gymnastic feats is going to be amazing and, if you look at it a certain way, scary. Ever see footage of the massed games?

There’s all kinds of talent. I think it takes something to be a good audience and appreciate what you see.

@Jeruba I suspected it was a setup, too. Either way, it was fantastic.

I shudder to think what would have happened if he’d failed.

I just reviewed the video again and I’m convinced it was a setup. He made no attempt to catch it. Still a remarkable achievement. I hope his skill has put food on his family’s table.

If you’re interested, @LuckyGuy, this film would probably answer your questions.

@Jeruba If you suggest it, I’m interested. :-)
I just finished watching the whole movie on NetFlix. It is incredible. Those kids are indoctrinated at such an early age it is scary. I see a similarity to some religious doctrine.

I know I shouldn’t say this but I can’t resist. I’ll be those girls will make spectacular bed partners in 10 years.
(I’m so ashamed.)

@LuckyGuy assuming they don’t totally destroy their bodies in the process of all this training…

Those scenes where they bend over backwards and touch the floor with their heads are incredible.
I wonder if they suffer from arthritis and back problems when they reach 50.

Still, my inquisitive mind (and healthy testosterone level) can’t help but wonder what it would be like.

The gymnasts and former gymnasts I know are already experiencing arthritis and joint problems in their mid-20s.

@Seek_Kolinahr I’d think there would be tons of data from the North Korean Mass Games. The performances have so many participants that start working out at such a young age. Plus they have been doing it for many years. Sounds like a perfect NIH grant opportunity – except for the country that holds the data.
If you get a chance (and have the $9.00/mo Netflix), watch the movie @Jeruba suggested. It was well worth it.

Drat. Not on Hulu. Or in the library system. Grr.

Maybe you can find a clip on youtube . Look for Mass Games North Korea. if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. They are that regimented.

They are incredibly, almost unimaginably, political. That’s the point of the film and not just the amazing synchronized gymnastic feats.

That mindset is what I find so terrifying about North Korea. That film led me to other documentaries and several books on the subject.

@Jeruba Thank you for telling me about that movie. It was much more than gymnastics.
the people shown were the elite. I feel sorry for the millions of people who have nothing.
They think the US controls the weather and dropped diseases and viruses on them.
No wonder they hate us.

@ucme Hula Hoop + Ring toss = good times….

@cheebdragon Haha, I like your thinking, sounds a lot of fun.

@ucme @cheebdragon Ouch! That seems like it could be painful. Probably due to a different peg length.