Being a Crafty Cat

Everyone's a little bit selfish

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:13:00 +0000

Sometimes. Or too often. I don't know.

But tonight, I know I was a little bit selfish. Maybe more than usual.

Rainy days bring me down. I know I should be thankful for the rains, especially a terribly hot summer. But there's nothing like commuting on a rainy night that brings out some of my worst traits. The selfish attitude being the most obvious. While on the train platform, I was really patient waiting in line but the moment the train stopped in front of me, I couldn't help but just think of riding it and getting home. The first train that stopped was immediately filled with passengers so I had to wait for the next. When it came, I had to push a little harder than normal (backpack and all) just so I could have some space inside the packed train.

It didn't stop there. When I got to Cubao, I was looking for the line for the shuttle I usually ride. It's not like Trinoma or SM North where each shuttle had an official line. The ones on the side where people usually take shelter when it rains didn't have the line for the shuttle I ride so I had to go out in the rain (the umbrella not helping me much) and had to ask where the line was. It was the third or fourth time since late April/early May that I encountered the lack of callers (or barkers) to guide passengers on a rainy day/night. It was not a good evening for anyone actually and there were passengers waiting in the rain, confused as to where the official queue was. Suddenly the line was moving and people were entering a van. But before I knew it, the driver was telling us to go down but not saying where exactly we should go.

It was seriously confusing but really, my frustration was affecting my temper. I really snapped while talking with the caller. I know that he was supposed to be making sure that the queue was operating just fine. I know that he was probably as baffled as everyone else how to deal with the rain and the queue. So really, I just regret snapping at the person because he also just wanted to get this confusion over and done with.

The driver of the van who told us to get down also just wanted to save himself from the anger of his fellow drivers. I suppose he was a little selfish himself but really, it's also for the sake of the relationship that they have within their association. And at the time, I couldn't blame the passengers for wanting to get on a shuttle because they were confused, frustrated and drenched because of the rain.

The incident tonight reminded me of a quote I've seen all over the internet:

"Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

So yeah. I guess this is a hard lesson for me to learn and deal with but heck, it's better I acknowledge it now than deal with it at a much later time.

Waist Hooping as My Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:26:00 +0000

Most beginners are taught how to do waist hooping. And almost always, the next question is related to chest or shoulder hooping. And sometimes it seems like waist hooping is just seen as this super basic move which is boring etc. For a time, I was guilty of that mentality but for me, I always go back to this move. Here are the reasons why:

Waist hooping teaches posture.
Waist hooping teaches rhythm.

Waist hooping helps me explore my inner space and outer space easily.

Ann Humphreys' video on outer space

Waist hooping is a good place to begin learning antispin and reverse current hooping.

I should probably make a video to illustrate these points but I just had to post them here before I forget all about it. In any case those are my reasons for appreciating waist hooping. I hope it helped you gain some perspective on the move so do let me know if this helped or not, or if you have a different perspective.

Why calligraphy is a challenge for me

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:15:00 +0000

Calligraphy is beautiful. It is an art form that is not appreciated by a lot of people. Some people dismiss it as merely writing words. Yes, it is beautiful writing but it's not easy. To create those curves, those thin strokes, thick strokes, loops and flourishes takes a lot of practice and concentration. To a newbie like me, I can appreciate broad nib and pointed nib calligraphy better now. Both are beautiful in different ways. And my hands are actually suffering the pain of striving for beauty in both forms.

Today's pointed nib calligraphy practice included this.

My overdue homework: a bookmark for a fellow workshop attendee who happens to be a friend.

Reviewing my italics. But it's not as slanted as it's supposed to be. Argh.
Brause is the brand of the nib I used for this particular practice session.

So what are the challenges that I've encountered as I practicecalligraphy? It's not just today but ever since I started seriously studying it.

Familiarity with materials

Finding good materials and their combination is a challenge. Today I used paper from Prestige when I practiced both broad nib and pointed nib calligraphy. It is my first time to use it for practice. I also used Koh-I-Noor fountain pen ink. When I was doing broad nib caligraphy, there was no feathering on the paper. But when it came to pointed nib calligraphy, there was so much feathering and I really hate it. Thankfully I still had some tracing paper from Fozzy's workshop a month ago. It looks like I should really take note of these differences in how the combinations work and which kind of calligraphy I did. Then again, the feathering could be because my ink flow control when doing pointed nib calligraphy still sucks.

Gripping the nib holder and paper angle

The grip for italics is different from doing pointed nib calligraphy. It's so different that I am having trouble with it, especially when I am using a regular nib holder. When gripping the nib holder incorrectly, ink may surge out of the vent causing a big blot of ink on paper. Definitely not pretty. It is messy and may cause you to use more paper than what you intended.

Paper angle is something to consider as well, in order to achieve that proper slant. Each of us has a different way of writing and that affects how our writing is slanted. I used to know how slanted my paper should be. I had to figure it out again earlier.

Steady hands

This is going to affect how shaky your strokes will look like. The shaky strokes don't look clean at all. Sometimes my hands are shaky when I am just beginning. That is why I have practice sheets where I just write the foundational strokes in the type of calligraphy I want to work on. Resting your hand on the desk just so it could glide on it is important. Also table height. If it's too high or too low for writing, your arm might feel some kind of tiredness after some time and it might cause shakiness.

These are just some of the things I've observed from today's practice. I don't know how regularly I could practice calligraphy again as it really takes hours, even just for a few sheets of words. Hopefully, these posts will help me remember how I work with the tools and what I could improve as I practice some more.

Spring Edition: Hooping 30 Day Challenge - May 11

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:22:00 +0000

May 11

I wasn't up to practicing sustained spinning because I wasn't feeling too good this evening. Probably weak from being in the kitchen earlier. Today most of the practice was done on the wall plane.

Isolations

I haven't been practicing isolations much these days and I miss doing that. I forgot how tiring it is to practice them. Strangely, I am really much more comfortable doing isolations in a counterclockwise (to the right) manner even though my on body vertical hooping is naturally done in the other direction. I have to address this manner by practicing the other direction as well. My left hand is once again lacking the practice and it got easily tired. Isopops were also practiced earlier. That is still something I need to work on because it's not yet smooth. Still terribly awkward. Need to do warm-ups, seriously.

Hinge

Hinge is a great transition move and it's a rather fun move to do continuously, pretending that the hoop is a door and the arm/hand the hinge. Both hands pretend to be hinges and the direction can be reversed for better practice.

Elbow hooping

Being used to the elbow pass coming from the right elbow in front, my elbow hooping is naturally biased towards the currents my right and left elbows experience during that move. Tonight was the painful moment of learning the reverse. Another thing I played with was reversing the current of the hoop while elbow hooping by hitting the hoop with my knee/thigh. Also tried out the experimental combination I have. Will do a video on that once I nail the combination but it involves elbow hooping. (Not yet sure if this has been done before. It would be cool if it was not common!) Sadly, no elbow reversals for me yet. Still building up on the elbow hooping skills before I do that.

Ankle/shin hooping

This was painfully tiring. I mainly tried shin hooping tonight, from knee hooping. I was able to keep it going maybe 3-5 times max. It was a good feeling but I couldn't replicate it. This means I just need to practice this more in the coming days. I think the motion of kinda kicking going outside (away from my body but more side to side than forward or backward) is working for me now. But there's a timing issue. :/ I have to really get a feel for that shin/ankle hooping a bit more.

Wedgie

Because it's one of those things that I want to learn how to use for transitions, I want to learn wedgies. My friend Kat Misa gave me a link to a tutorial with a more detailed breakdown. I think that I just need to exert more force and learn to properly tuck my foot. The interest in learning how to do wedgies is because of Sharna Rose and Angie Mack.

Spring Edition: Hooping 30 Day Challenge - May 6-May 10

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 11 May 2013 06:11:00 +0000

May 6 (Monday)
Practice of antispin flowers, ankle hooping and shoulder hooping.

May 7 (Tuesday)
Went to the spin jam and had fun hooping with my LED hoop and Denise's fire hoop. Learned that I could combine reverse weaves with the vertical step through/sliding door. Another combination learned that day is in between off body waist level breaks, stirring the pot can be done in between, where the direction changes, depending on where the break is heading. :) The beats also allowed me to experiment more with hooping faster and folding.

May 8 (Wednesday)
Sustained spinning practice at home. The heat was terrible so I didn't last for more than 30 minutes, even with breaks every 10 minutes or so. :( I kept hitting the things at home even if my arms weren't fully extended.

May 9 (Thursday)
That was more like sustained spinning practice in the park. Also trying to figure out a new move with two hoops, inspired by Jewels. Once again, Randy made me take notice of my breathing and the tension in my body. My arms are usually too tense. In terms of footwork, I was still 'travelling' far from my original spot but maybe not as far off as before because I was able to spot my hoop without consciously having to spin closer to it.

May 10 (Friday)
Hoop practice at home was more like me learning how to move in time with the music. Even with songs that I am familiar with, I take a lot of time to warm-up and feel 'in the flow.' The video in my anniversary blog post was one of the moments that were recorded in my computer. The challenge of combining moves from both the horizontal and vertical planes is still a great challenge for me.

Hoopy 1st Anniversary to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:28:00 +0000

One year and 30 lbs ago, I picked up my first Hoopaholic Cebu hula hoop on May 10, 2012 in the Planet Zips shop. I think I sent Bernadette Yu a couple of messages before settling for a collapsible standard hoop. Thanks to a hoop performance in Spin D and an article about how hooping can be good exercise, I became a hooper.

This is me now. April 2013 blind hooping in Orange Dance Studio. (Image credit: Oli Khosiking)

Way back in October 2011 (Image credit: Martin Mamonluk)

May 2012 (photo by Peppy Salita)

Photos from before my hooping journey and when I just started. I think you'd be surprised if you didn't know me back then. I was almost 200 lbs heavy. I only picked up hooping after I lost 10 lbs. From 196lbs to 186lbs took me 3 months. And after being more conscious of my food intake and hooping more regularly, I am now around 155-157lbs.

It was a struggle to keep my hoop up during the first week I had it. Thankfully I was able to attend Tempest's hooping workshop within that first month of hooping. I learned some really basic passes and turns and she even helped me by giving me tips on how to keep my hoop from falling down. That workshop encouraged me to keep going. :)

A month after that, I just started learning more about the hooping community in the Philippines. I first met a bunch of them in Fete dela Musique. I was a total newbie who was clueless and yet they welcomed me despite knowing so little. After that I took classes under Tempest, with some girls who were such fast learners and I always felt like the slowest student in class. Took me a month, or maybe even two, to get shoulder and chest hooping. I made sure I practiced at least three times a week, aside from attending my hoop classes. Who would've thought I'd be using a fire hoop within five months of hooping? It was one of the happiest moments of my life in 2012. :)

So yeah, throughout the year many things happened to me:

I learned tricks that helped me have a regular physical activity.

Hooping on a regular basis for around 30 minutes or so was great cardio for me. I have no patience for running nor jogging or some kind of exercise that would seem so boring.

I gained new friends.

Our traditional pose in the summer spin jams! (Image credit: Liyan Aprieto or Shiela Tiongco)

During the first summer spin jam in Venice Piazza, also Alvin's despedida spin jam. (Image credit: Oli Khosiking)

I first met them either in a spin jam or on Facebook. Either way, I am really happy to have them in my life and they share the same kind of passion for hooping and flow arts in general. These are people I get to learn tricks with and at the same time, I am able to learn how to deal with more kinds of people because I get exposed to different kinds of personalities. Maybe I could say that my circles are a bit more diverse now.

I found a way to express creativity.

Whether it's through combining moves or teaching the hoop tricks, it involves some kind of creative work. It's not easy to explain certain moves to other people because everyone has a different take on doing things.

I lost weight.

This is partially because of hooping and partially because of the change in diet. I think that the diet and physical activity need to go hand in hand for it to be more effective.

There's nothing like a supportive partner and group of friends.

Me and my dear boyfriend at SpinD last November 2012. (Image credit: Peppy Salita)

When the life and hooping throw stuff my way that's not really encouraging, I get strength from my dear boyfriend and my friends. Sometimes personal feelings do affect my practice. And sometimes, my practice affects other things in my life. My partner helps me through these things and so do my friends. I am so thankful for them! Performing for an audience is one of the things I am learning to handle right now and they go and watch me and tell me points of improvement. That way I learn from them. :)

At the same time I had to wrestle some bad thoughts and feelings. Hooping can be overwhelming especially to someone like me. Some of the things I had to deal with and what I did:

I felt bad about not getting the moves right away.

When almost everyone around you is learning a new move and you still haven't gone beyond the basic drills which are prerequisites to the move, you feel frustrated. There were times that I was tempted to quit hooping in the earlier stage but I just stopped myself because I wanted to give hooping a fair chance before I decide to give it up.

I felt super self-conscious each time there's a spin jam.

Most of the people who attend such events are young people who aren't as big as I am. I felt like a big fat clumsy old person among them. Well, losing weight has helped me become less conscious. But at the same time, I realized that some of the hoopers that I like a lot are older than I am and there they are hooping their hearts' out. Why should I feel upset, right? Hooping is for anyone, regardless of age, gender or size. :)

Being a lone hooper is tough.

It's sometimes necessary to be alone when practicing but I have to admit that there are days when focus and concentration aren't enough and you really have to see other people hoop to understand how a move works. And of course, there are times when it's so much more fun learning together. I practice alone when I need to focus on some things but when I am with other hoopers they teach me and I could also learn by teaching them because I need to break down the move differently for a person who's asking me about it.

I had to learn some tricks the hard way: really asking for a breakdown which was so detailed.

Eventually I also had to figure out moves based on tutorials. Sometimes the breakdown wasn't enough so I'd look for other tutorials and augment whatever knowledge I got there until I could figure out the move. Sometimes I ask other people who already know the move I am studying so I could see it up close. Things I get confused with are grip, vertical hand spin directions, placement of feet or knees (for lower body tricks like elevators and wedgies, I can't seem to get them right based on tutorials and I haven't asked anyone about wedgies yet but I assume I'd get it if someone teaches me in person).

A lot of hoopers have inspired me to get better at hooping. Local hoopers like Bernadette Yu, Daniel Darwin, Tempest, Lady Fiammata and Star Ore have really made me think of how hooping can be so beautiful. I also think Brecken Rivara's video of her hooping in a festival was one of my first inspirations from YouTube because she looked like she was having so much fun while hooping to music. Then Tempest started talking about Baxter and Malcolm Stuart in her classes. Baxter's video on talking about his process made me want to study hooping that way, along with the techniques that he shows in his videos. Ann Humphreys' tutorials push me out of my comfort zone (off body hooping) by showing me things that could be done while core hooping. In general, the local hoopers (many thanks to HoopNation, Flow Philippines and my dear friends at Bangs Brigade!) have been helpful to me as I go on my hoop journey. They inspire me as I watch them spin, evolve and just have fun while hooping. :)

Here's a video of my practice from yesterday. It might not be super impressive but I learned that what matters more is that I keep learning and enjoying my hoop practice. :) I love my hoop and my hooper friends so much that I don't want the joy of hooping to be taken away from me.

So yeah, thanks for reading all this. It's a really long post but I hope you learned something about the hooping journey and I hope you're encouraged to pick it up or keep at it despite all odds. I have a feeling that my hoop journey is going to be more interesting in the coming months. :) Hope we our paths intersect and that we could hoop together soon!

PS: Progress monitored in videos is up on my Hoop Journey - Year 1 YouTube playlist. I have no patience to cut and splice clips together but in case you're curious about my clumsy earlier days of hooping, feel free to view them hahaha.

Spring Edition Hoop Challenge 2013 : May 3-5

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:13:00 +0000

May 3

I tried to work on the new song with the suggestions given to me. In particular I worked with the anti-spin flowers. I used Rainbow Michael's and Drex's tutorials on YouTube. I was not sure if I was doing it right. Aside from that, I tried practicing some sustained spinning but it was just too hot and I got dizzy.

Total practice time was roughly 45 minutes because I was taking a lot of breaks.

May 4

I went out with my friends to hoop at a school fair. We hooped for the kids and we had a little bit of practice time. I mostly worked on my chest hooping as there wasn't a lot of space for practice. Most of us were new to performing for a crowd so I guess in a way that was a practice of how quickly we could combine moves to the beat of a song. In the evening, I hooped to my friend's song in an open stage/open mic event.

Total practice time was roughly 20 minutes.

May 5

Today, I reviewed knee hooping and kick start because I don't really do much hooping below my hips lately. Then I added ankle hooping to the top of my to learn list. I hurt my shin, toes and ankles tonight because of that. Making circular movements when the hoop is below the knees was kinda ok but when the hoop got lower, it became awkward and that's when the hurting would happen the most.

Knee Hooping Tutorial by SaFire

Ankle Hooping Tutorial

I start the shin/ankle hooping by doing a kick start but not fully executing it. I just kick up the hoop somewhere above the ankles. I tried to make big circles while the hoop was by my ankles but I was ridiculously kicking everywhere. But no pain, no gain so yeah, I will come back to learning that move again.

Sustained spinning was difficult to practice because of the heat. I get dizzy faster.

Total practice time was roughly 1 hour.

Spring Edition: Hooping 30 Day Challenge - May 2

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:05:00 +0000

May 2

Tried working with a new song. Being unfamiliar with it, I had to listen to it many times. The slow and fast parts of the song seem to be easy to feel but there's no tangible combination of moves per part yet.

Free spinning to a song I am not very familiar with is always a challenge. But it was fun exploring off body movements to a slow song. Off body hooping with slow deliberate movements made me think that doing moves in reverse didn't look good with bounce but apparently that's not true. The reversal of direction looks better with the bounce, according to my coach.

The challenge is to combine tech with a little bit of drama and dance. No need to be totally feminine so this should be a little bit more natural than I originally thought. However, experimenting with the feminine movements should be an interesting thing to do. (For observation: Brecken Rivara, Beth Lavinder)

Moves to be familiar with:

Anti-spin flowers with a single hoop (Combo: single handed isolation, isolation turn/barrel roll, antispin flowers)
Pirouettes (standing, semi-squatting, sitting?)

Moves to polish:

Bouncing isolation
Isolated turn
Isolated barrel roll

Moves to explore and compare:
Spinning revolving door vs (coin flip?) with escalator

Still figuring out what moves go together and in which parts of the song. The moves listed above were suggested for certain parts of the song.

Other posture/movement-related notes:

Breathe. Note when to inhale deeply and exhale to make sure I am not rushing into a move. This is very obvious especially because I am trying a new song which happens to be slow.
Relaxed hands. My hands are still normally tense.
When one hand is still, put it in front, on the side or behind the body. And make sure that the arm and hands are relaxed.
When doing isolations, relax the knees, keep the feet planted on the ground but softly. This part is tricky considering that I seem to be comfortable with doing a horse stance naturally.
Follow the hoop with your eyes. Considering that I am distracted by other people or elements from time to time, this is a practical tip. However it is not just about minimizing distraction but also a way to emphasize movements.

Being naturally drawn to techy-ness, my mind is still drawing a blank with combinations. It must be because the song is new and it feels to dramatic. However, I have to let my techy-ness still show and somehow figure out what he meant by letting my natural techy-ness show. I don't have to be as girly as I originally thought I should be, based on the feel of the melody. Also noted: Combinations should start with something big then gradually transition to non-big moves then alternate with big moves and it normally ends with the big moves strung up together.

To also include some sustained spins to balance the song's melody would look visually good even if the other combinations are not yet formed solidly. Also for inclusion is sustained spinning with 2 hoops.

Spring Edition: Hooping 30 Day Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:05:00 +0000

May 1

Tried out a couple of slow songs.
Getting familiar with a song I haven't really heard before was a difficult exercise but something that has to be done. I was given a tip before by Star that I should try to hoop to a song that I am not comfortable with. This would make me more versatile in the future.

Mostly off body and sustained spinning, but there is not much emphasis on footwork just yet.
The last part of the song is abrupt. I don't know how to stop in order to get that move without problem/s.

Pointers for future practice sessions include:
Champagne glass hands/ballet hands
Keeping the hand either at the back or at the side
Arch of my back

Additional Note:
Even when I feel like I will look pushy, I should still make an effort to invite other people to the park and jam.

Some notes on sustained spinning

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Sustained spinning is a form of hooping which emphasizes the turns while hooping. The hooper usually keeps turning in one direction while sustained spinning. The hoop may remain on body or move off body. It is a practice that might feel spiritual in the sense that you are so focused on spinning and your connection to your hoop.

Beka (Rebecca Halls) at Hoop Con 2010

sustained spinning with 2 hoops

Sustained spinning might be a difficult thing for some. It requires some training if you're the kind of person who gets dizzy quickly. However, some can remain spinning for more than five minutes, without stopping until they're done. One can do sustained spinning with one hoop. Or maybe more. The first video I watched of sustained spinning had two hoops. I first watched this in person last summer. It was a sight to behold. Two hoopers simultaneously spinning continuously. My friend even asked me if I thought that those two ever got dizzy.

Thankfully Caroleeena has tips on how to prevent dizziness from sustained spinning. From her list I think the most helpful for me are the following:

Focus on your hand or hoop.
Keep the head level. Don't move it much.
Maintain a constant speed.

I was just practicing tonight when I felt some dizziness. I was practicing some duck outs while sustained spinning. Some of the times that I was practicing duck outs, I felt the need to speed up. That just means that I must slow down and keep my pace as consistent as possible to prevent dizziness. My head also moved in circles, which aggravated the dizziness.

Sometimes sustained spinning can feel limiting in terms of movement. It's a big challenge but it could be done. Let me list some of the things that can be done while sustained spinning with one hoop. At least for me.

on body hooping in general (though I personally find knee hooping as something awkward while sustained spinning)
passes (regular passes around the body, helicopter)
basic isolations with one hand or two hands
helicopter
lasso
shoulder duck out
shoulder to shoulder pass
duck out from chest hooping
vortex with one hand
vortex with two hands
corkscrew
stirring the pot
rising sun (a bit difficult because you might get dizzy while you are bent down)
some folding
swirl/smear
sparkle
butterfly

If ever you do decide to try sustained spinning, remember to check Caroleeena's blog entry first just to be sure. It's better safe than sorry. For me, sustained spinning is one of the really rewarding forms of hooping. Just make sure that you remember these notes:

Slowly build up your tolerance for sustained spinning. Some get dizzy faster than others.
If you need to stop, spin to the opposite direction first. Maybe three times is more than enough. (Thanks to E.N. for that tip!) That or gradually slow your pace while hooping.
Try to make your stepping while turning as consistent as possible so you don't suddenly lose your momentum.
Practice without your hoop. Just so you could focus on your footwork.
When you hoop while spinning, just move slowly so you won't lose your focus.
You might spin around too much so practice sustained spinning in a big space if you could.

To end this entry, a quote from Rumi:

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars, the stars form a circle … and in the center, we dance. – Rumi

Getting Started: An Introduction to Hooping

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:30:00 +0000

I've been hooping more than I've been crafting these days. Well, I suppose that learning how to hoop can be treated as another craft, just a different form. ;) Some of my friends have already started hooping even if they live far away from me and I think they've caught the hooping bug. :D

With some of my hooper friends some time in 2012. Photo credit: Maan Hernandez.

The Why

Let me ask you first: Why you want to learn how to hula hoop? It's something I don't always ask people when I see them in person. I think I am too excited to have another hooper to talk with. But just ask yourself why first. Curiosity might not be enough to sustain it. But it might be enough to get you hooked. Some answers might be:

To get physically fit.
To learn how to dance.
To find another activity to enjoy.
To get over the weird feeling from childhood of not being able to use one.
Because hoop dancers look so awesome and be like one of them.

It could be something else. But make sure you're honest with yourself. ;) The answer might change over time, as you learn and love the process of learning how to hoop.

The Other Details

When you've answered why you want to hoop, other details you might be wondering about are the following:

Where to get a hula hoop
What kind of hula hoop to get
Where to have hoop dancing classes
Where the hoopers are

Where to get a hula hoop

You could find hula hoops in department stores, sports shops and online stores. In the Philippines, I find that you could get reasonably priced hoops from Hoopaholic Cebu. They do ship anywhere so check out their shop and you will see the different colors and sizes.

For those who are based in Manila and would like to see the hoops in person before buying one, you could head to the Planet Zips shop in Makati. I don't really like the hoops in the sports shops because they feel weird. The weight and size don't seem to make them easy to dance with. It's a bit tricky to explain but just get a feel for them when you visit a sports shop.

What kind of hula hoop to get

There are different kinds of hula hoops. For adults, I really recommend that they get heavier and bigger hoops.

Kiddie hoops - If it's your child who wants to try hooping, get him/her one. :) Let your child experience the fun. Kiddie hoops are too light for adults who want to begin hooping. They're quite cheap but it's harder to keep them spinning because of their weight. However, if you're used to hooping for quite a while now, it might not be as challenging to use. Typical sizes are around 27" in diameter, 30" in diameter.
Adult sized hoops - Sports shops do have them but it really depends on you if you want to use them. Some of them have really wide tubing or some of them are really heavy because of the metal hoop inside. It won't be easy to do tricks with those hoops. But as I mentioned shops like Hoopaholic Cebu do have good ones which could be used for hoop dancing, not just abdominal exercise. Typical sizes by Hoopaholic Cebu are 36" in diameter and 37.5" in diameter. The weight is around 1lb to 1.3lbs.
Mini hoops - These are really small hoops, around 24" in diameter. They are mostly used by people who want to use them like poi.

Where to have hoop dancing classes

In the Philippines, Cebuana hooper Bernadette Yu (of Hoopaholic Cebu) conducts beginners classes and intermediate hooper classes in CitiGym. She sometimes flies to Manila for events made by Planet Zips and gives lessons to budding hoopers. :) She's a really lovely hooper with graceful movements and clear teaching instructions. If you want to know when she's in Manila, like the Flow Arts Philippines page and watch out for announcements.

Those of us in Manila could go to Mic Callo's hoop classes in the Quezon City Memorial Circle on weekends. Others just meet regularly on Sunday afternoons in Valle Verde 1 Clubhouse or Tuesday evenings in Ayala Triangle. No formal classes in the latter two venues. It's more of a hooper gathering with some music to hoop to and sharing of hooping moves to each other. This summer (April 2013) the Tuesday meetups might be happening in Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill because of the summer spin jams.

If you're too shy to join any gathering, you could check out YouTube for videos too. Some channels that I really love watching for tutorials are the following:

HoopLovers/Deanne Love - Really good basic tutorials, detailed instructions. Also has choreography inspirations for hoopers.
HoopSmiles/John Coyne - Basic tutorials are good, especially for those who hoop to the right. Also posts fun videos with him performing.
Katie Emmitt - Has different tutorials for basic and more advanced hoopers. There's quite a number of off body moves which has detailed breakdowns. She also has her videos of her hooping to music.
Taylor Starr - Some of her basic tutorials are quite helpful to me, especially the one on doing the vortex.
Jaguar Mary X - This is where you could find videos of Sacred Circularities, including tutorials from great hoopers like Anah Reichenbach, Khan Wong, Shakti Sunfire and Ann Humphreys.
GroovingMeGgz - Love her cool moves like that shoulder duck in.
Lucas Hooping - Really calm, smooth moves. Even beginners will find it amazing what you could do with hoops.
SaFire - SaFire is one of the most inspiring hoopers especially because of her Love the Process video. She teaches basic moves, also the use of mini hoops.
Babz Robinson - Her moves can be very tricky sometimes but don't worry. You'd be challenged to master the basics so you could perform her awesome tricks.

Where the hoopers are

They're everywhere. ;) On Facebook, there are various hooping groups including HoopNation (Philippines) and Hoop Tech (international). There's also HoopCity, a forum where hoopers share their experiences and even have monthly hooping challenges.

Hoopers in the Philippines are generally warm welcoming people, regardless of your skill or background. Just bring your hoop and yourself and we'd be happy to hoop with you. :)

It would be great to hear from you if you have questions about hooping, especially if you also live in the Philippines. :) Just post a comment or send me an email.

CraftMNL's Book Binding Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:54:00 +0000

It has been a while since I posted anything craft related so here's one about the CraftMNL book binding workshop I attended last February 24 in Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street. My friend AD gave me that workshop as a birthday present and I am really thankful for that opportunity. Nikki of CraftMNL was the one who showed us the basics of three book binding methods: perfect binding, Japanese stab binding and coptic binding.

Perfect binding is the one where you use a kind of glue to keep the pages and the cover of your book together. It's the easiest one in the methods. You just put your paper and the thicker paper (as covers) together, ensuring that the edges are not loose so it looks clean on all sides. Clip them together and then apply padding glue to bind them on one side. Wait for it to dry and then cover the side with a pretty piece of paper or washi tape.

Coptic binding was the second method she showed us. It is a bit more tedious than the other two methods because you have to prepare groups of paper to be folded in half (they're called signatures) and you have to make holes of even distance on the signatures. You must sew them up together carefully and the pattern on the spine looks like a braid. But you could play with the pattern too once you get used to it. (This one shows how to make it look like Japanese stab binding but it's not.)

Japanese stab binding is the last one taught to us. It is literally to stab the papers with an awl and then sewing up the pages and covers together. If you've been watching Asian dramas such as Sungkyunkwan Scandal, you'd notice that their books use that type of binding too. It does not have to be limited to that because you can create different kinds of patterns for Japanese stab binding, depending on how you put the holes on the papers and the covers.

The methods shown to us were clearly demonstrated by Nikki and an afternoon was enough time to make three projects, as shown in the picture above. We also saw various possibilities with how we could make the covers very pretty or unique, thanks to the samples that Nikki brought with her that day.

If you're interested in making your own journals, check out CraftMNL. They're really into hand made goods and I admire them for being such great artisans. :) They're friendly too!

Merging blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:44:00 +0000

It has been more than a year since I posted a recipe or anything food related here. Don't get me wrong. I super love food and if you know me personally, I talk about food a lot - even while eating! There are food adventures that I haven't written about yet. And other kitchen experiments as well. I guess having too many blogs just made it a bit trickier for me to update any of them. XD So the hard decision has been made. I'll be merging this with my main blog - Being a Crafty Cat. I will keep this blog up here but I won't be posting anymore.

In the future, please visit Being a Crafty Cat. I think I will put a category that's entire for food and the labels will be more general this time, or I dunno. It will materialize in the coming months, probably around holy week, the time when I'd be at home with nothing much to do.

Philippine Flow Festival 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 07:22:00 +0000

February stated out as a fiery month for me because of the Philippine Flow Festival! It's the event I've waited for since last year. It was held last February 2 at the Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill. We had so much fun playing and learning with fellow flow arts enthusiasts and artists.

The event went on for an entire day. Workshops in the morning and afternoon, spin jams and performances in the evening. The workshops were simultaneous for different kinds of flow arts: levi stick, poi, hoops, contact juggling. I really wished I could go to ALL of the workshops but like most people's problems: so many things to do, so little time. ;) I was focused on the hooping workshops because that's my main prop right now. It was great! Yana la Fae (Singapore-based hooper) showed us a bunch of tricks that opened up new ways for transitioning directions and planes. What she taught was something that even new hoopers can have fun with and intermediate hoopers can use to add texture to their routines/flow. Cebuana hooper Bernadette Yu (Hoopaholic Cebu) taught us how to hoop with twin minis. It was such a challenge to make sure that the hoops will not get tangled. Haha. But thanks to her, I can kinda do reverse 2 beat weaves and threading the needle with minis. In the afternoon, I helped out with the beginner hooper workshops while Daniel Darwin (Astroboy from the Gyronauts) taught so many advanced tricks to the hoopers. I saw them do lots of jumps and other wonderful stuff that I have yet to learn! I missed that one but I am just thankful that the hoopers who went are sharing the knowledge. That's hooper bonding! ;) Iain Culp (levi stick), Star Ore (levi stick), Thomas Johansson (poi), Aifique Khaikal (poi), Nino Baring (poi) and Alvin Lopez (contact juggling) were the other flow artists who conducted workshops.

Daniel Darwin shows the hoopers how to defy gravity. (Image Credit: Derrick Lim)

The sunset spin jam was really a great experience for me. Like what happened at last year's Fete de la Musique, we had live drumming at the Piazza. :D They were so good and I wish that I took a chance and borrowed a fire hoop during the jam. There were so many flow artists who showcased what they've been working on. Graah. The fire levi stick at the jam was really pretty and one of my friends took a wonderful shot of the woman who was performing. A surprise of the day was this cute little kid who's probably just 4 or 5 years old and he can spin the fire poi! So envious of his stalls and the fact that he can spin flowers.

Bernadette Yu amazes the crowd with her amazing multihooping skills. (Image Credit: Derrick Lim)

Fire levi stick performers always make me feel like a kid because of how amazing it looks. (Image Credit: Derrick Lim)

Men on fire! (Image Credit: Derrick Lim)

(Click to view more images from the sunset jam by Derrick Lim.)

The performances I've seen during the gala night were all amazing~! I have been in awe of these people even before the flow fest and I think that a lot of them leveled up with their performances. My favorite performances for the evening were by Star Ore, Alvin Lopez, Daniel Darwin, Aifique Khaikal and the trio of Ehrlich Ocampo, Mic Callo and Raymund Flores. Some other notable performances were by Lynne Frayna (who fueled my interest to learn fire fans), Iain Culp (because that flame in his levi stick routine was so cool and the fact that he used one of my favorite songs), Justina Flash's burlesque fire hooping and the second performer from the Pole Academy.

Performer from Pole Academy who made me watch in awe. (Image Credit: JM Ibanez)

Alvin Lopez has the crowd mesmerized with this multi-prop routine. (Image Credit: JM Ibanez)

(Click for more images from the Philippine Flow Festival by JM Ibanez)

You could check out the videos on this particular playlist. I think there's a whole lot more videos on YouTube but my friend Liyan was able to shoot most of the performances that night.

This weekend, they're having a poi retreat in Boracay, something like a post-PFF thing and I am so envious so I just decided to write about the fun experience. I crave for more learning and fun so I am looking forward to more spin jams this year and another PFF for the years to come. :D

Hoop Challenge 2013: Days 22-31

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:10:00 +0000

That's more than a week's worth of posts! I've been busy so I wasn't able to post much for the latter part of the challenge. I wrote stuff down in my planner so I could remember. Basically the last part of the Hoop Challenge was me spending time listening to music and getting the timing and figuring out which moves go together. :)

Day 22: Focused on hooping to the right
Day 23: Reverse weave practice, minis play time, moving the hoop from waist to lasso (right hooping)
Day 24: Play time with music
Day 25: Core hooping, jump throughs, breaks
Day 26: Off body hooping, trying out breaks from inside the hoop
Day 27: Core hooping (to the right!), handspins with minis
Day 28: Hooping to the right - spinning in place, lasso, transition from lasso to waist and vice versa
Day 29: Passing the hoop with the foot
Day 30: Play time with music, nothing particular
Day 31: Play time with music, nothing particular

I was able to take a video of my practice session. Just picked this particular segment because the flow is not so bad here compared to the others. :P

That's me trying my best to hoop to No Diggity.

After this hoop challenge, I was thinking that I will resume my normal hooping schedule which is practically everyday but it's mostly on some days that I do more intense practice sessions. I can't keep up with the daily 31 minutes ahahaha. Considering I do get home late sometimes, it was really a challenge to keep to the 31 day thing. Maybe I'd do this every quarter. At least I hope to do so.

I think that I have somehow improved in terms of combining moves. It's not easy considering I am not really a dancer. Some of the moves I know aren't in this video because I still don't know how to combine them with the other moves. By nature, I am really clumsy so for now, these moves will do. Nothing very fancy but I just try to do them as smoothly as I can.

Thank you for keeping up with my hoop challenge updates. I will resume to crafting posts and other hobbies some time this month. :)

Hoop Challenge 2013: Days 18-21

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:56:00 +0000

Day 18:
It was one of those I just need to get in the groove kind of days. But I hooped in the office for a bit then again some more hooping at home. I played some music which felt good to hoop to. There's this set of songs that I've been listening to on my iPod just to relax myself and get in a good mood. It seems like I am getting closer to finding rhythm, somehow, while I hoop.

Day 19:
Weekends are fun because there is more time to play.
Like Day 18, it was more of me and music. But I also focused on learning that energy ball trick I saw on hooping.org and I can't say that I have gotten it down now. Still on my way there. Sometimes I end up grasping the hoop too tightly when it should be light. I returned to studying the behind the back weave but still not much progress.

Day 20:
One of the best Sundays ever!
I had arnis training earlier that day so I wasn't sure if I could have enough energy to hoop in the afternoon. But I did. It must be because that the Valle Verde clubhouse has great open spaces where we could hoop. Denise taught us how to learn the neck hooping with knee reversals move. That's exactly one of the things I wanted to learn. She really looked great while doing that move. When it went dark, we brought out our LED hoops! We had music and lights. It was so beautiful. :) Some photos from our LED hoop party, thanks to Kat Misa!

trapped in a rainbow of light

denise and i. denise with her beautiful lotus. me and my rainbow melt.

Day 21:

I wasn't feeling so good. Mainly did some stretching using my 36 in hoop. Also tried to figure out how to use two hoops and do a 2-beat weave in reverse. My arms hurt quite a bit from all my training and hooping so I decided to practice some reverse current hooping on my waist and neck. I still can't connect the two and do a chest hooping in reverse though.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 17

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:14:00 +0000

Played with my hoop when I was getting too impatient with something I was doing. Had a bit of experiment with my hoop. Shoulder hooping while kneeling on the floor. And trying to stand up while maintaining that hoop. That was interesting but nothing beats a bit of sustained spinning even in a small space. :)

Tonight I also brought out my polypro hoop so I could practice neck hooping. Especially vertical neck hooping. I've been trying to follow the tutorial by Blue Tornado. The one with reversals/breaks while doing vertical neck hooping. I realized how terrible my planes are. After tonight, they're still bad and wobbly but not as wobbly as before. So maybe in the next few days I could try those reversals!

One more important thing: I think I have bad posture when I do vertical hooping. Maybe the reason my back hurts is that I have terrible posture. And another could be how stiff/tense my muscles are when I do verticals. That means I should relax before I practice my verticals.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 16

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Practiced weaves. Ugh. For some reason I can't do the weaves with my minis anymore. Ahahaha. It's one of those moves that you get then you don't know it. Hopefully tomorrow it will all come back to me. *cross fingers* I focused on the behind the back weave. Difficulties are in the following areas:

catching the hoop with my left hand
pushing the hoop with my left hand
grip on the hoop - when it gets unstable, it ends up flopping down

I am trying to become more aware of the position of my body as well and it's quite difficult. I've hit my ankle several times. I must remember to sway so that the hoop won't hit me as it falls down on the opposite side of my body. (Opposite of the starting side.)

By now, it must be apparent that I am more comfortable with off body moves. A lot of people would probably say that shoulders are the happy place. In my case it isn't so. I still struggle with shoulder hooping greatly and after watching Ann Humphreys video on the inner core wrap for the nth time, I've decided to practice the basic shoulder hooping once again. I seriously need to. It's very sloppy.

The technique is shoulder hooping intensive so there's really so much to work on. Ugh. I can't even shoulder hoop in the reverse direction yet.

From this point, I should remember to do core hooping aside from my favorite off body moves.

My motivation to get better at core hooping at the shoulders especially? Those inner core wraps will look pretty cool.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 15

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:58:00 +0000

Weave using 2 LED hoops!

I've been trying to learn how to use two hoops on and off. It's difficult because my space at home is small. And well, I don't always have 2 hoops of the same size. In tonight's session, I borrowed my friend's LED hoop and played happily by spinning around and trying to hoop with it and my own LED hoop.

Lights are always pretty and give me a high. :) It was an experimental night. I played with two hoops and the different moves I could do. It was actually tiring because of the way I held the hoops. But it was really fun putting the hoop in an atomic looking form, as well as hooping with two of them at the same time.

I am also happy to see the progress that the Makati hoopers have. They seem to be having so much fun too. :) That's something to be happy about.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 14

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:38:00 +0000

Spent my practice session with the music playing from my laptop and trying out transitions. Most transitions I played with were off body. Weaves - from forward weave to reverse weave, moving the weave from the right side to the left side, back roll to weave (this one still looks bad because of my hand being awkward), weaves to something similar to a barrel roll isolation but only using one hand.

Realizations:

It's really much harder to 'dance' in a small space. I need a big one.
I have been practicing my off body moves more often. I should go back to doing core.
Hooping with music can actually be fun and interesting. Though I still prefer hooping in silence, I must admit that having music compels me to follow the beat.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 12

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:36:00 +0000

More off body practice!

The energy ball is really tricky when it comes to the stalling on your wrist. I sometimes end up grabbing the hoop instead of just supporting it with my other hand. Ugh.

There was plenty of weave practice earlier and I actually tried to follow the behind the back weave by Khan Wong. I thought it made sense to practice the behind the back weave too. I've been working on forward weaves and reverse weaves today on each side.

My problem with the behind the back weave is making my body move along with the hoop so that it won't hit the hoop. I've been moving my body and it was making me a bit dizzy. Probably dizzier than the times I've practiced sustained spinning. I have yet to really understand that particular weave.

I am still looking for weave combinations to play with. I think that weaves have a lot of potential when it comes to transitions. Maybe that's why I am getting obsessed with them at the moment.

2013 yarn craft!

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 01:41:00 +0000

I've been mainly posting everyday because of this hoop challenge I participated in. Even though you always see me posting about my practice time, I have been making stuff with yarn again. :)

A friend of mine said she wanted a hat before she leaves the country. She has her color preference and I didn't have a lot of those colors in my stash that I could combine well in a hat project. I made her one using black yarn and a variegated violet/red/blue/green yarn made of acrylic and wool. It was a crocheted project using one of my favorite patterns from Pierrot yarns.

The colors really change as you go along because it's how the yarn was made. It's a really soft yarn that another friend of mine got for me from Europe. (They have interesting yarns and she got me a mixed bag of them with interesting colors and textures.)

Aside from that hat, another thing I am doing is a knitted hat for a friend who is practically an enabler for me hahaha. All things pretty and creative, this friend encourages me to pursue my hobbies and I am really thankful for that. It's a really late birthday + Christmas present and I am hoping it will turn out fine. I am so nervous about getting the gauge wrong but it might be a forgiving hat because it's meant to be folded to show that it's reversible. :) Here's a work in progress photo. It's not so clear though. My phone camera isn't so good.

Originally posted on Instagram

I think that this is more like a stretchy rib/garter stitch thing. I don't know what the stitch is actually called but each row just alternates:
R1 - K1P1 all throughout

R2 - K all throughout

It's a fairly easy pattern for a flat knit hat. It's the mattress stitch that will be a hassle to do later on.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 11, Day 12

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:16:00 +0000

Day 11

That was mostly practicing reverse weaves and the energy ball. I think my problem with the reverse weave was that my wrist was getting strained in my earlier practice sessions. Hrmm. It's less painful now. I think I am getting the hang of moving my body with the hoop. Still not smooth though.

The energy ball is still tricky. I can't seem to let it slide/roll on my arm and my other hand still grabs the hoop and closes my fingers on it. I need it to stall for a bit and my hand is just a resting point. Must practice that stall!

Day 12

That's me being silly.

It fell on a weekend so I came up with a playlist. I challenged my self to hoop to songs I like. As in really hoop and try to dance along, even if it means less tricks. So far, the only song I kinda liked from that session was terribly recorded by my laptop. This session made me realize some things:

I seem to be getting more and more comfortable with off body hooping. Most of the moves I did in my practice video are off body. The video I am sharing has me doing some on body moves but not a lot of variety.
Transitions are really important. I still don't know/understand how certain moves could be done one after another.
My face - My facial expression looks terrible. I don't think I could perform for an audience just yet.

Not my best video but hey, I am learning so much.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 10

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:56:00 +0000

Tonight was different. I put on a list of songs which was basically my background music. I tried to get the feel of the songs playing as I hooped. Some were slow, some were fast. There were times that I was just waist hooping and flailing my arms to get a feel of the melody. It's one of those times that I felt self-conscious even if I was just by myself. To flail like that was pretty silly and it's most likely not pretty at all ahahaha. But at least I could see how weaves can transition to on body moves after a jump through and if I was fast enough, follow the jump through with an elevator. (I'm not fast enough to make it look cool but I could imagine the potential.)

After some time, I decided to start learning new things. The songs reminded me of two things I wanted to try: the energy ball and the vertical knee breaks/reversals.

The energy ball has the reverse weave as the prerequisite. I had to practice the reverse weave first. It feels really weird. Then again, I've often had problems doing things in reverse. It took me forever to learn the reverse weave in poi. Thankfully, I kinda get the hang of doing this with a hoop (I think) but I have to start with the forward weave first then switch. I can sort of do the hand roll but it's a bit wobbly. Must work on this.

The video tutorial of the Energy Ball.

The vertical knee breaks were a bit frustrating for me. I think I am not nudging the hoop strong enough.

Knee reversals.

So basically that's how my day 10 went. I do hope that by the end of the challenge I could do both of these.

Hoop Challenge 2013: Day 9

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:31:00 +0000

Hooping to the right practice. I tried spinning it from lasso and bringing it to my waist. I still can't seem to follow through nicely after 'catching' it on my waist. It ends up as a waist-stall like movement which is very wobbly. That probably counts as some progress with regards to hooping to the right. My challenge is that I need to catch the hoop properly and spin with it nicely.

Tried some isolations but I feel that my arm gets too strained. I should do my warm-ups the next time I practice again. Arm stretching and all. Maybe it's time to start training my arms more.