I was watching my classmates during my hoop class, and a couple of them were dismounting in really fast Choppers. It took me a minute to realize they were purposely FALLING out of the hoop and into a Chopper in order to exit! The rest of us, who didn’t know this existed, learned this super fun move. Now, no normal person purposely falls, as far as I know. We aerialists aren’t that normal though :).
I did have some thoughts as I went through it:
“Alright, get your butt out of your way….
don’t fall yet though…
wiggle, wiggle, there you go..
now balance, baaaaaaaalance…..
alright! Ready, set…”
“GO
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
what was I thinking this is crazy
what sane person does this
oh my gods I’m going to die right here right now
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..””
“HO-lee CRAP I made it down and I didn’t die…
ok don’t let go yet….
abs abs abs point the toes omigosh hold on for dear life…..
alright I’m outta here!
Omigosh that was so fun let’s do that again!”
Here’s the whole video:
I kid you not, that’s pretty much my thoughts all the way down–every time! I was spotted the first time, but even then it was frightening. It goes against every natural instinct to send yourself falling, BACKWARDS no less.
I recommend that everyone try it. Sounds crazy, but hear me out. In order to follow through on that move, I had to trust myself. I had to trust in my own strength and my own skill. I was basically trust-falling with myself. That might come easy for some people, but it was definitely a mental struggle for me! Instead of staying perched on the hoop, I just went for it. Once I started, I couldn’t stop it until I reached the bottom.
I’m hoping to build more of that self-trust and carry it into my pole skills too. It’ll help me now in some of my aerial transitions that frighten me. Someday, I’ll be working on more complex pole moves and various drops (like this one), all of which will require me to trust myself even more.
So, there’s definitely more controlled falling in my future! How about you?