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The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

theswaddle.com

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Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#71

Post by Jeff_Brown »

Dracophoenix wrote: post #65
Jeff_Brown wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my swing club in grad school we once had a Balboa lesson. The instructor used me to demonstrate, and the way she taught it, the dancers basically mash their hips together and bounce rapidly -- like 3 times a second. It felt designed by rabbits. I was embarrassed but everyone seemed to think we looked cool.

Was the instructor a working professional or another undergraduate or graduate student? How comfortable were you in general when it came to Swing?

I think she was an undergraduate.

If you mean skill, I was one of the better dance students, okay at everything and excellent at a few things. If you mean emotionally, I enjoyed it a lot, even when I felt clueless.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#72

Post by zbyszek »

Jeff_Brown wrote: post #60
alex_smart wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is part of the process of learning the dance form itself. Even in something like sensual bachata, you learn which parts of the body are "safe" and which are not. For example, upper back okay lower back not. In Kizomba, the partners are pretty much always in a pretty close embrace. Kizomba is impossible to lead without a contact at lower ribcage/upper belly with the partner. In any other setting, this would be a pr…

In my swing club in grad school we once had a Balboa lesson. The instructor used me to demonstrate, and the way she taught it, the dancers basically mash their hips together and bounce rapidly -- like 3 times a second. It felt designed by rabbits. I was embarrassed but everyone seemed to think we looked cool.

That doesn't sound quite like the Balboa I was taught, where the contact is at the top of the chest (and along the arms and hands of course) and the partners are slightly offset to the side to avoid shin kicking and toe trampling. As you say, the footwork is very rapid and the hold is close - perfect for fast tunes and crowded dancefloors - but no hip mashing that I recall.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#73

Post by snarf21 »

high_byte wrote: post #23

> The study sums up its finding on “pleasurable hugs” thus: “We advise using a five-second criss-cross hug to model a familiar and pleasant type of experience.”

Yeah, I think the criss-cross hug is best. I think they are missing some things though for the best hugs. The feet should be alternated the same way you would when slow dancing and that is how close you should be. This allows for a tighter hug that isn't off balanced. Additionally, a slow sway left to right to left is also key for a feeling of comfort. When you do use the criss-cross, make sure you head is on the side of your lower shoulder. This is the easy way to the world's best hugs.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#74

Post by Jeff_Brown »

zbyszek wrote: post #72
Jeff_Brown wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my swing club in grad school we once had a Balboa lesson. The instructor used me to demonstrate, and the way she taught it, the dancers basically mash their hips together and bounce rapidly -- like 3 times a second. It felt designed by rabbits. I was embarrassed but everyone seemed to think we looked cool.

That doesn't sound quite like the Balboa I was taught, where the contact is at the top of the chest (and along the arms and hands of course) and the partners are slightly offset to the side to avoid shin kicking and toe trampling. As you say, the footwork is very rapid and the hold is close - perfect for fast tunes and crowded dancefloors - but no hip mashing that I recall.

We were slightly offset, yes; her foot fell between mine, and vice versa.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#75

Post by mudita »

puchatek wrote: post #47
mudita wrote: post #14

Slightly off-topic: I’m a professional dancer, we specifically train hugging. For contemporary dance, because it’s an important skill for a lot of partnering moves, like jumps involving two persons (an example of partnering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1BbxTWsoO4&t=13s ). One important detail I found interesting is that for contemporary dancers, it’s not only about the arms, but how to use the whole body for the…

What brings you to HN? Are you interested in software as a hobby it from a previous career?

Yes, I have a master’s in computer science and was a PhD student in machine learning, before I decided to fully go for dance.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#76

Post by mygoodaccount »

rp1 wrote: post #69
xutopia wrote: post #67

I've been to over 100 cuddle parties. One thing that wasn't mentioned in these studies is the context for these hugs matter a lot. Most people avoid cuddle parties because they wouldn't want to cuddle a stranger and their ideas of what the "party" looks like is usually really wrong. The cuddle parties I have been to were organized in such a way to allow people to refuse more easily any request that comes their way. T…

The concept of a cuddle party is new to me. I’d love to hear more. Specifically, why do people imagine them incorrectly?

Just looked it up. This is the whitest shit I ever seen lmfao

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#77

Post by silicon2401 »

mudita wrote: post #14

Slightly off-topic: I’m a professional dancer, we specifically train hugging. For contemporary dance, because it’s an important skill for a lot of partnering moves, like jumps involving two persons (an example of partnering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1BbxTWsoO4&t=13s ). One important detail I found interesting is that for contemporary dancers, it’s not only about the arms, but how to use the whole body for the…

> abrazo

I've always found the use of loan-words with mundane meanings amusing and baffling. 'Abrazo' translates directly to 'hug', just like 'langsam' in music translates directly to 'slow(ly)'.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#79

Post by WA »

mudita wrote: post #14

Slightly off-topic: I’m a professional dancer, we specifically train hugging. For contemporary dance, because it’s an important skill for a lot of partnering moves, like jumps involving two persons (an example of partnering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1BbxTWsoO4&t=13s ). One important detail I found interesting is that for contemporary dancers, it’s not only about the arms, but how to use the whole body for the…

Interesting. In Tango Argentino, you explicitly lean slightly forward, because your upper body needs to move independently from hips & legs.

Re: The Best Way to Hug Someone, According to Science

#80

Post by distantaidenn »

gbog wrote: post #12

Best hug for me is no hug, thanks. I would bet 95% of the human beings never hugs except between lovers or parents and their kids. I would bet hug is very much a North American thing. I'm French and hate hugs (we kiss on the cheeks, which feels less intrusive to me, but is crasy intrusive in most non-Latin countries). I live in China and, in normal settings, people here won't hug, won't kiss and won't even shake hand…

I live in Japan, but lived in South Korea as well. I have to say, I have never seen so many public displays of affection as I did in South Korea (and I'm an American). Matching clothes -- down to the shoes, hugging, hand holding, piggyback rides, and on more than one occasion a loud lover's quarrel. Take from that what you will.

Another interesting thing I noticed about physical touch in Korea is that the culture doesn't seem to have the same hangups America does about two heterosexual male friends touching. School kids holding hands as they walk together, and guys in their twenties resting their heads in their friends lap as they lounge at the park. It was refreshing and enlightening.

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