hoops, part 2

Cardio Kickboxing was pretty challenging. But not so over-the-top as to be unattainable. I'd definitely have another go at it. I'll probably be really sore tomorrow!

But the Hula Hoop class was insane. First, the hula hoops were a step up from the average plastic Whamo! hoop. Most of them were very colorfully decorated-mine had a bright orange and teal pattern. This was fine. But mine wasn't 100% round, a fact I didn't pick up on for awhile.

Hooping is kind of hard for me to do. I've never been that great at it. Mostly, I felt like I was in a very silly, retro 3rd grade gym class. I learned that the way you normally hula hoop (say, to the left) is called inflow, and to go the other way is outflow. I also learned other fabulous hoop moves like the limbo, the booty bump, and the Wild West. Most of the class was spent hooping for a minute, giggling, and watching other people drop their hoops or accidently hurl them across the room when trying a Wild West Hand Switch, a manuever that involves twirling the hoop above your head, lasso style. I cracked myself in the head a few times trying this one.

And then!

At the end of class, our instructor had us line up and form a hula hoop tunnel, and each person in the class had to say some kind of positive word to take them through the rest of the day. You could just sense the room filling with tension as we were all totally unprepared to have a moment of touchy-feeliness. Most people hesitated and said 'ummmm.....it's Friday?' kinds of thing. But I exclaimed "Enthusiasm!!" and ran whooping down the tunnel. I tend to approve of this sort of thing as a concept, but in actual practice, it just feels dorky.