Phluha-What?

While I was over at my perfect student's place today, I noticed a large circular object with octopus-like suction-ball things leaning against the wall. At first glance I assumed it was some crazy Korean contraption for drying socks or something. I inquired and the exchange went something like this....

ME: "Hey, what the hell is that!?!"
YUN: "Oh, that? That is a 훌아훕."
ME: "A 'ph..', a what?"
YUN: "Um, a 훌아훕." {slightly different stress}
ME: "Get out the electric dic! {tionary}!"
YUN: "Yes, perfect teacher, here it is, 훌아훕."
ME: "Oh, um, a hula-hoop?" "Why the hell do you have an overly thick hula-hoop with large bulbous bumps on the inside as if it were some strange torture device?"
YUN: "Perfect teacher, I don't understand you!"
ME: "Sorry. What the hell do you do with that thing? And why does it have those {pointing} things!!?!"
YUN: "You play hula-hoop {prounounced something like 'flufau'}. And those things are there to take away the fat." ::Demonstration offered:: "Don't you have these in America?".

It gets a bit less interesting at this point, but perhaps you get the idea. Have I been gone so long? Has the world come crashing to its knees? Has the dark behemoth H.H., returned once again to ridicule and torture our women with his circular pleasures? Yun informed me that it is a 'must-have' for every woman in Korea. She boasted that her mother has an even heavier one and she does it every day while watching tv. I told her that it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. But I promised to research it before putting her down on a regular basis. I gave her quite a bit at the time, however. But, after having googled for hula hoop+exercise, I find that I may have to put my foot in my mouth. Has this been going on a while? Should we be scared? Did I really just spend 14 minutes of my valuable time writing this?