A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. Although the exact origins of hula hoops are unknown, children and adults around the world have played with hoops, twirling, rolling and throwing them throughout history. Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately 71 centimetres (28 in) in diameter, and those for adults around 1.02 metres (40 in). Traditional materials for hoops include willow, rattan (a flexible and strong vine), grapevines and stiff grasses. Today, they are usually made of plastic tubing.[1]
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Hula hooping has been a type of exercise and play from as early as 500 B.C. to the 21st century.[2] Before it was known and recognized as the common colourful plastic toy (sometimes with water inside the actual hoop), it used to be made of dried up willow, rattan, grapevines, or stiff grasses. Even though the toy has existed for thousands of years, it is often misunderstood as being invented in the 1950s.[3]
In the 14th century in England, hoops were later extended to adult audiences and were popular for recreation and religious ceremonies.[3] According to their medical records from that era, doctors treated and encouraged patients with dislocated backs and heart attack victims to use this winding exercise. Then in the early 19th century, the term “hula” was added to the toy name due to the experiences of some British soldiers who travelled to the Hawaiian Islands. During their stay, the soldiers noticed and realized the resemblance of the movement of the hips with the traditional hula dances to the movements of people that go hooping.
The hoop gained international popularity in the late 1950s when a plastic version was successfully marketed by California's Wham-O toy company. In 1957, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, starting with the idea of Australian bamboo "exercise hoops", manufactured 1.06 metre (42 in) hoops with Marlex plastic. With give-aways and national marketing and retailing, a fad was started in July, 1958;[4][5] twenty-five million plastic hoops were sold in less than four months, and in two years sales reached more than 100 million units.[1] Carlon Products Corporation was one of the first manufacturers of the hula hoop. During 1950s when the hula hoop craze swept the country, Carlon was producing more than 50,000 hula hoops per day. The hoop was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 1999.
The past few years have seen the re-emergence of hula hooping, generally referred to as either "hoopdance" or simply "hooping" to distinguish it from the children's playform. An International Holiday World Hoop Day has become the hula hoop holiday celebrating the circle around the world. Every year, in numerical sequence starting from 2007-07-07 and continuing through 2012-12-12 hoopers dance in every city and country to raise money and donate hoops to others who can't afford them. Modern hula hoopers can be found among fans of jambands like The String Cheese Incident, Disco Biscuits, Phish and participants of Burning Man and more recently at other music festivals like Camp Bisco, The Gathering of the Vibes, All Good, Coachella, etc.
Many modern hoopers make their own hoops out of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, high-density polypropylene, or polypropylene tubing. The polyethylene hoops, and especially the polyvinyl chloride hoops, are much larger and heavier than hoops of the 1950s. The size and the weight of the hoop affects style of the hooper. Heavier, larger hoops are more often used for slow hooping and body tricks while lighter, thinner tubing is used for quick hand tricks. These hoops may be covered in a fabric or plastic tape to ease the amount of work in keeping a hoop twirling around the dancer, and can be very colourful. Some use glow-in-the dark, patterned, or sparkling tape, and others are produced with clear tubing and filled with plastic balls, glitter, or even water to produce visual or audio effects when used. LED technology has also been introduced in the past few years, allowing hoops to light up at the flick of a switch.
The hooping movement vocabulary now includes many core or 'on body' moves, many 'off body' moves and a multitude of transitions creating the possibility for endless permutations and combinations. When a hoopdancer improvises combinations of movements (usually to music) he or she can get into a 'flow' state where the moves seem almost to direct themselves. The mind detaches from planning or judging the dance and exists in a state of blissful awareness. In order to get to a place of flow more easily and frequently it is advised that one should have a steady practice - daily, if possible. It takes a certain amount of drill to get comfortable enough to get to the flow. Both drill and flow count towards 'flight time' - the actual amount of time in the hoop that is logged.
During the recent revitalization of the hula hoop, its uses have been extended to serve as an implement for fitness. A multitude of websites have been created as a result of this revival, many of which provide links to hooping clubs, online retailers from which to buy specialized hula hoops, and information on workout routines. Hula hooping, in recent years has become a more social activity than it may have been in the fifties.
Within the past few years, some hoopers have taken up fire hooping, in which spokes are set into the outside of the hoop and tipped with kevlar wicks, which are soaked in fuel and lit on fire.
Some companies produce collapsible hula hoops for easy transport and versatility: each hoop breaks down into four or more pieces to later be reassembled. Other collapsible hoops are simply twisted down, and folded in half for easy travel.
An early duration record for the hula hoop was set by 11-year-olds Paulette Robinson, Charles Beard and Patsy Jo Grigby in Jackson, Mississippi lasting 11 hours and 34 minutes (August, 1960). The event was sponsored by radio station WOKJ. 8-year-old Mary Jane Freeze, won a hooping endurance contest on 19 August 1976, by lasting 10 hours and 47 minutes. The current record is held by Bric Sorenson of the United States, who went 90 hours between April 2, and April 6, 1987.[6]
The longest verified record holder is Aaron Hibbs from Columbus, Ohio who broke the record at 74 hours and 54 minutes between October 22, through 25, 2009.[7]
The record for the most hoops twirled simultaneously is 132, set by Paul "Dizzy Hips" Blair on November 11, 2009.[8] The previous record was 107, set by Alesya Gulevich of Belarus, on June 15, 2009.[6]
Records for running while twirling a hula hoop around the waist are:[6]
The largest hoop successfully twirled was 13.88 metres (45.55 ft) in circumference, by Ashrita Furman of the United States in September, 2005. The record for simultaneous hula hooping (minimum time: 2 minutes) is for 2,290 participants at Chung Cheng Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 28 October 2000.[6]
In 2000, Roman Schedler spun a 53-pound tractor tyre for 71 seconds at the 5th Saxonia Record Festival in Bregenz, Austria.[6]
In April 2010, 70 hoopers on Team Hooprama hula hooped the Music City Half-Marathon (21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi)) to raise awareness and funds for Hooping for Hope.[9][10]