Circus at Home is a unique digital package offering lifetime access to tutorials in 8 circus disciplines: Juggling, hula hoop, poi, staff, flowersticks, diabolo, magic and handstands. All for only $100 or you can use your NSW Creative Kids Voucher
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Our new students often ask teachers about training aerial at home or at their local gym.
We love that you are enthusiastic and passionate about aerial training! To progress faster and learn good habits, we recommend you do lots of core and upper body conditioning at home – talk to your teacher about exercises best suited for your needs! There are many you can do at home (without needing an aerial rig!) for the tricks you’re learning, from straight leg inversions to toe hangs.
We appreciate that in the world of Social Media that it seems so simple to have a set up at home however there are so many risks that you should consider. Aerial is an inherently dangerous sport. These risks are mitigated at our studio through having high level safety equipment and procedures, experienced teachers and progressive skill development for students.
For anyone under 16yo we strongly advise against having an unsupervised aerial set up at home unless they are training at an advanced level. If they wish to do additional training then we suggest open training sessions or private lessons.
For adults, before you venture into setting up your own aerial rig, make sure you have answered YES to every question in the following safety checklist:
Do I have someone to train with?We do not recommend training without coach supervision as a beginner, it’s not safe.
While it might feel as if the teacher is simply showing you how to do stuff, there’s so much more going on that you don’t see. Your teacher will be well aware of the sorts of mistakes students make and will head off a dangerous situation even before you actually get yourself into trouble. Often they will simply position themselves in a way that keeps you safe, or point out the seemingly small error that, if left uncorrected, will result in a twisted wrist, or with you landing on your head.
Training alone is not a good idea until you are an advanced aerialist. Once you’ve been training for a while, you’ll see why having supervision is so important – even during open training, we recommend that our seasoned students always train with a buddy. Your training buddy should also be experienced in the skills you are practicing. So parents supervising children at home is not any safer unless the parents are experienced aerialist themselves and understand the risks and correct safety techniques. This is particularly relevant for aerial silks as an incorrect wrap can result in getting stuck and needing assistance to get untangled.
Can I rig safely?A lot of work goes into ensuring an aerial rig and equipment are safe to use – ours are inspected on a 6 monthly basis, once by an external qualified company and once in-house by our experienced staff. The loading points are typically designed to endure at least 20x over the aerialists’ weight! Simply attaching your favourite apparatus to a steal beam that was not inspected by a rigger will not keep you safe and may result in serious injury. As a general rule of thumb, think about whether you would hang a car from the rigging point. If not, then you should not hang aerial from it either.
And please, please don’t rig from a tree. They are incredibly unpredictable, and while there are ways to make it safer, they are not obvious unless you are a very experienced rigger or arborist. It doesn’t matter that you are not intending to go high up as you can be just as badly hurt by a branch or the gear falling from above you. You can read more about it here.
If you want to rig at home, just about the only way to do it safely is to get a free-standing rig like this which costs approximately $2000-3000. We would be happy to recommend reliable vendors and riggers for experienced students.
Do I have a crash mat?Crash mats are important. As much as we like to think everything through, accidents happen – and a good crash mat might just make the difference between a couple of bruises and a trip to the A&E. An old mattress might seem like a good idea but it won’t save your neck if you fall. A good crash mat is essential for any aerial training set up and should be a minimum 150cmx150cm x30cm. If you fall, you dont want to have to hope that you land on the yoga mat sized cushion underneath your equipment.
How did you go with these questions? Do you still think you are ready to set up a safe aerial training rig at home? Have a chat to our trainers if you do and we will try to advise on the safest system for you. If you are not sure then remember we have lots of training opportunities at Roundabout including casual Social Aerial Sessions on Sundays for teens and adults
Stay safe, stay strong, do your conditioning! 
You may also ask what is so special about hula hooping and what is hoop dancing?
When people think of hula hooping they think of waist hooping which, is one of the foundational tricks of hoop dance however hoop dance is much more than just waist hooping. Hoop dance involves a range of tricks combined with the flow of dancing. It is a creative art form that expresses joy, fun, movement, flow and develops strength, stamina, balance, spatial awareness, body awareness and mindfulness. It embodies the connection of the mind, body and spirit and is considered a meditative art form.
It has health benefits for the spine, enhances deep breathing, increases core strength, improves posture, encourages circulation, hand eye coordination improves, increases flexibility and has mental health benefits.
Sacral rocking is the key movement when waist hooping and is significant as it can loosen the fascial (connective) tissue surrounding the sacrum enhancing movement of the pelvis and assisting the flow of energy around the body via the sacral plexus. The sacrum is also the location of the second chakra, the sacral chakra, which is the center of gravity of our bodies and governs emotions, creativity and expression.
Hula hooping also massages the areas the hoop passes over which helps keep the muscles and connective fascial tissue toned, stimulates blood flow and lymphatic circulation, realigns the organs under the abdomen, aids digestion and digestive issues and nurtures sexual health (just for the adults!). Hooping also assists with rhythm, aligning ourselves with our own heartbeat and rhythm and allows us to become more conscious in our movements.
Both hooping and flow arts in general are wonderfully self-healing exercises and all flow art forms can increase self esteem and confidence, increase muscle mass, boost self awareness and spatial awareness, gain hand eye coordination and bi-lateral motor skills, improve dexterity and reflexes, develop timing, patience, persistence and understanding of your body and physics.
Of all the forms of exercise flow arts and specifically Hula hooping and poi spinning are the most
fun and healthy I have ever engaged in and has proven to me that I can achieve the goals I set. Whilst I recognize this is subjective and everyone should find their activity they enjoy, not everyone knows about the joys of hoop dance and I want to spread the word in case this is something you just haven’t found yet.
Over the last 14 years of poi spinning and 10 years of hoop dancing I have shared this art form in a variety of ways and would love to share it with you. I make Hula hoops to order through my business Hoop Pursuits and Poi Joys and you can choose your own colour and size with some of my favourite examples in the hoop spectrum above. I will also be running Hoop Classes Thursday evenings with Roundabout Circus (currently via zoom). Beginners at 6:30pm and Intermediate at 7:30pm and keep as eye out on Roundabout TV for some upcoming tutorials. I hope you can join me.
Carly
