Have Fun, Be Healthy and Give to Charity with Hula Hoops

It’s been 54 years since the hula hoop was introduced in the United States. It’s a simple toy that gives hours of joy. The hula hoop craze reached its peak in the 1950s. It became a National Toy Hall of Fame inductee in 1999. And the humble toy indeed has come a long way. It has entered other modalities – exercise, art and dance. The hula hooping has taken movements from rhythmic gymnastics, fire dance, twirling, freestyle dance and hip hop to develop its own style.

Folsom Hula Hoop

But rather than being a new invention, hula hoops had been existent in Greece since the 5th century and used for play and exercise. It has long been used by patients with back problems and those who had suffered heart attacks in 13th century Scotland. Thank the American sailors who saw the hip movements of the hula dancers in Hawaii for attaching the word “hula” to the hoop.

Hooping

Individual and group hula hoopers have emerged, delighting spectators with the grace, flow, daring and creativity of their hooping performances. Cirque de Soleil has featured spectaculars using hula hoops. Fire dancers have incorporated specially-constructed hula hoops in their routines. Expert hoopers use not just one but multiple hoops, twirling them around their necks, legs, arms and waists. The current record is 132 hoops twirled simultaneously, set in 2009 by Paul “Dizzy Hips” Blair.
Fitness instructors combined hula hooping with Pilates and yoga. It’s used as a break from routine of aerobic exercises. It helps burn fat, tones core muscles and improves your fitness level. It improves your mood, your coordination and the flexibility of your spine. And to think that a hula hoop does not cost that much. With all this many health benefits, maybe it’s time to have another go at the hula hoop, if you haven’t done so since you were ten. 
   
World Hoop Day

If you are not familiar with this day, this is an international holiday that is celebrated annually. It is a charity event to raise funds for children too poor to buy their own hula hoops, and provide support to orphanages, camps, schools and villages around the world. The idea was started by Annie Leffingwell O’Keefe, a recreational hooper. She wished for just one day for people to stop what they were doing and  have fun with a hula hoop. She traveled the world seeding her idea to people until it finally caught on.

It started on July 7, 2007, with hula hooping activities synchronized in six continents. Hula hoop donations have been sent to children in the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Haiti. The dates for the World Hoop Day work on a numerical sequence, starting with 2007-07-07, followed by 2008-08-08 and so on. The next World Hoop Day falls on Wednesday, December 12, 2012, or 2012-12-12. From 2013, it will be held on the first Saturday of October.
 
So why not buy a few hula hoops to donate, buy a ticket for the event in your locality and gear up for the fun. There are usually hooping workshops, performances, raffle, a sale and spin jam on that day.

by: Bernadine B. Racoma
Editor, Day Translations, Inc.
“The most accurate translations on the planet!”

Photo Credit:
- Folsom Hula Hoop