Season's Greetings, and Holiday Flexing and More!

Hello, Everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season so far and looking forward to more good times before the year's over.

I personally, made a HUGE mistake this year and saved every bit of my shopping until the very last minute.  In fact, Saturday when I could have been doing it, I instead spent the whole day making holiday video clips as well as a few short customs.  The upside is that now when I'm out wrestling (ha, ha) with the shopping crowds on Christmas Eve, you can all be comfortably enjoying some new videos.

First up, I have a special Holiday Flexing video clip on YouTube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ei3wHPBUaY

There is also a little holiday squeezing and scissoring balloon gimmie:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8udqy8PpLE

Plus a holiday "gift-wrap" escape challenge and A LOT more balloon popping in my clips store:  http://www.clips4sale.com/studio/54709

Aaaaaaaand my match against MariQueen and a bearhug spy-assassin domination with Mark are in the queue just waiting to be released, and I've got a new bondage wrestling challenge (duct tape, ouch!) with Keri and a New Year's Resolution showdown with Hanz lined up bright and early in 2013!

Best wishes to you all!  Keep celebrating!

     - VeVe

video shoot extravaganza

Well, I'm now one day away from the end of this filming blitz that launched December.  Tomorrow Keri and I meet for a custom rematch of our 2011 bondage wrestling match.  Much higher stakes this time - the conditions include winning conditions of a full, immobilizing hog-tie, a humiliation round for the loser, and no draws allowed!  Of course, ties are allowed though ;)  Exciting!

Then after this I'll get a (much needed!) break for about a week...until Mark arrives in town on a holiday visit.  He's still the best beatdown victim I know, so I'm not about to let the season of peace on earth get in the way of my ladies and my waling on him.  The only question is how shall we do it?  Will Orlandoe, who's been branching out lately and looking to open her own clips store, terrorize him with her particular brand of physical Femi-Nazi domination?  Will Clobs crush him?  Or will I finally pull a few of my own evil plans off the back burner?  Competitive facesitting?  Mixed MMA?  My own SSC?  Time will tell!

But what I can certainly tell you right now is that in the past couple busy weeks we've gotten in some incredible matches around here.  This is just a super quick rundown:

Nov. 29 Shoot - In which I got to meet Page, a very spunky and fun beginning wrestler, for the first time; Bettie and I both proved that superior skill skill cuts bigger opponents right down to size; and Bettie and I had a rope-tie match that was as awesome for the excellent high-level wrestling as for the huge and perilous tangles of rope.

Bettie vs. Hanz

VeVe vs. Bettie with Rope

VeVe vs. Page 

Dec. 5 Shoot - In which plans changed.  We were scheduled to shoot Tommi vs. Adrian, but Adrian had to reschedule at the last moment.  We still had the studio booked, though, so I switched tack and filmed a few special requests from my balloon/inflatable fans -- a big yellow 36" balloon non-pop inflation, a 99-Cent Store beach ball deflation, and a donut balloon sit-pop.

Dec. 6 Shoot - In which we met MariQueen, who impressed the hell out of us all with her great attitude and insatiable appetite to fight everyone!  Also her ability to give me a serious run for my money after fighting Clobberetta in a BBW battle AND Adrian in a competitive match before me.  Fantastic.

Clobberetta vs. MariQueen

Plus, MariQueen's matches with Adrian and me are still in the works, pictures coming...

And later that same day, we were back for the rescheduled Tommi vs. Adrian.  Tommi was in high spirits, first demolishing Adrian almost faster than he could blink in a competitive round, then gloating and rubbing in her victory in second round.  Adrian was having fun too, as impossible as that may look...

Tommi vs. Adrian

Dec. 7 Shoot - In which Athena reprised her role as karate bounty hunter in Athena's Karate Nylons II.

Dec. 8 Shoot - In which a fantastic and beautiful shoot with Orlandoe adapting the SCUM Manifesto into her own version of SSC and then shooting additional domination scenes for her coming clips store was tragically compromised by a ridiculous musical theater rehearsal next door.  D was furious and has been working passionately to see what footage can be saved from the terrible background music.  Some quick excerpts (showing Orlandoe's *incredible* outfit) are on her brand new YouTube channel, OrlandoeSupreme.

Dec. 9 "Rest Day" - In which I got my only chance in sight to finally get to the grocery and laundromat -- in the rain -- and still shot some new bondage escape customs at the Brooklyn studio!

I should mention that in the midst of all this, there was also an all-day bodypaint photo shoot for a friend of a friend's portfolio.  I'd been hoping the images would work for my portfolio too as I work on branching out from fitness and fetish posing into more varied modeling.  I'm not sure, though, the finished product looks enough like me to be directly useful that way.  Still, a fun shoot and very interesting images -- a really lovely, delicate Venetian mask look on my face...which suddenly morphs into full-on superhero when you add the whole body.  (Credit to Merideth Haring for the painting and Last Witness for the photography.)

And finally, finally, I've been struggling with the frustration of just NOT having enough time for all the training I'd like to be doing right now.  Gym time has taken a sad hit, and I can't wait to get back in quieter days.  On the upside, I've discovered I do really like my academy's MMA class, and I'm doing the best I can being consistent with that. Interestingly, it's a class full of strikers -- we'll work on our stand-up and boxing and it's clear to me everyone is much more experienced there than I am; then we go to the ground, and - BOOM - I'm at the head of the class.  Great stuff -- back there tonight.

Then it's filming with Keri tomorrow, and sometime soon after that...Christmas shopping!

surprise super-workout

So that was a little crazy last night, just saying.  I had already trained an hour at my Muay Thai class in the morning.  My plan was to go to my academy's women's BJJ class (an hour of fairly light technical drilling and rolling), rest and hydrate for half an hour, and then try the later one-hour MMA conditioning class for the first time.

But no.  First off, the women's class was cancelled, so everyone who showed up for it was funneled into the 90-minute mixed class.  Longer and heavier training than I expected, and there went my 30-minute break before the next class!  But I had a fantastic class.  It was my first time grappling with a girl I'd known only from Muay Thai; she never mentioned before that she's trained judo since she was 13.  So exciting!  I have an instant new favorite takedown training partner.  Plus it was the night for the bow-and-arrow choke -- very funny.  I almost never use that move, but somehow I got it on two people last night.

Now, of course, going to a class that ends when the next one begins will make you late for the second class. I almost backed out of trying the MMA class under the reasoning that it's unacceptable to be late the first time you show up to something.  But judoka girl is completely irrepressible and also wanted to try the new class, and together we had strength in numbers.  So we requested to join in late, were admitted, and only then did I discover that the one-hour listing on the academy schedule was wrong.  Really, this was a 90-minute class as well.

Again it was a great class -- quality work on boxing, kicking, takedowns, AND grappling, plus sparring with good partners.

I'm very glad I went, but I was expecting a lighter night by far!  It's a tired and sore morning!

baltimore last weekend, videos upcoming!

I first off wanted to put out a quick note saying what nice trip I had to Baltimore this past weekend.  It was super quick, just one day (and my sincere apologies to the guys I couldn't meet because scheduling was tight - I'll have to make a more extensive trip in the future), but it was completely worth it.

First off, I got to experience the joys of NY/NJ gas rationing with a rental car issued to me near empty.  This was a bit of a scare, but good luck turned it into only a mini-adventure, and then it was a smooth ride south.  I want to thank the guys who made it out to to see me for some very enjoyable sessions.  I got to inflict a marathon of torture in a many-hour scissors-slapping-wrestling humiliation session, and I got to box myself exhausted (but not as exhausted as the other guy!) in the hardest boxing session anyone's ever asked me for.  So much fun and so much giddy adrenaline!

I'd also like to thank the hotel's next door bar for still being open when I finally got a chance to grab dinner Saturday night, despite the awfulness of their live band.  And I'd like to thank November for a gorgeous day and beautiful late fall foliage all through my drive home on Sunday.

Second bit of news - video matches for the early December NYC visitors' boom are shaping up, but feedback is needed!  Clobs and MariQueen have settled on a time for their competitive BBW wrestling rumble.  Immediately afterwards, we also want to pair these ladies up for a size-domination double-team against a smaller opponent - but who should it be?  I personally am crazy or cocky enough to really want to take on this challenge myself.  Or we could opt for a full-on domination of a hapless male victim.  Votes and opinions very welcome!

We're also starting to officially work on scheduling with Bettie, and we've got a ton of ideas for her - a competitive match with Hanz, a rematch with me, a bondage match with me...  But here's the thing, Bettie's friend Page is visiting too, and we don't know her as well.  Here's what we do know:  Page's wb270 profile.  So, suggestion time.  What would everyone like to see Page do?  Match suggestions?  Custom requests?  Hit us up! 

the hurricane and after

I guess the most obvious place to start is with a hurricane report.  Despite the battering NYC took last week, I am fine!  In fact I was very lucky.  My neighborhood is well in the center of Brooklyn on high ground -- we were well-sheltered, unflooded, and electrically capable the whole time.  The subway shutdown did cut me off from Manhattan for a week, but since my office was also closed due to power outage, that wasn't a huge problem.  Being cut off my gym and grappling academy too gave me a week of forced rest, which I probably needed since I am THE WORST at voluntary rest.

It was quite incredible to discover that without work, gym, or training, I STILL didn't have time for everything else I wanted to get done in my downtime.  (Witness, for example, this blog only getting posted after I was snowed in last night with our SECOND big storm in two weeks.)  I set ridiculously high goals in that department, though -- quite a bit DID get done.  Mundane things like closet cleaning and computer work backlog (exciting to me!), but also heavy doses of filming, dipping my toes into the MMA sparring arena, and even a session when one fellow volunteered to walk from Queens to meet me at the Brooklyn studio.  Now, that was dedication.

Since Diablo and I both live near the Brooklyn studio, we had a pretty easy time meeting up for shoots.  We'd hoped Orlandoe and Wrecks would be able to join in, since they're both in the area too (quite a little wrestling community we've got out here), but coordinating that many people's post-disaster schedules was too much.  So we stuck to solo shoots for me.

First up, I set out to fulfill a long-standing request for flexing and posing in a "clingy" outfit -- the result:  Mini-Dress Flexing.  This was great, as I'd had a long-standing desire to show off in this dress myself ;)

After that, we started getting more creative with a whole series of bondage escape challenges.  I've gotten pretty good, if I do say so myself, at wriggling out of rope ties, so we upped the stakes with duct tape bindings (and more duct tape bindings).  A good idea!  The stickiness makes slipping and slithering escapes impossible so I had to revert to strength to stretch and tear the tape giving my muscles a better workout (and display!).  Branching out even further, we tried an escape-peril clip (tied in a bathtub with the water running), and a special challenge for my balloon fans -- blowing up and popping a balloon with my hands tied behind my back.  Who'd have thought that would be the hardest thing of all!

Last Wednesday and Thursday, Diablo and I also put in some training time at the studio.  We train together in grappling quite often, but I've been angling to shift into MMA training lately, so we figured we'd play with a little MMA sparring.  Now I swear these were training bouts with friendly intent.  We agreed to keep the strikes to the head light and strikes to the body not-crazy.  But between not wanting to give the other person TOO much leeway and wanting things "real enough" to be a useful fight simulation, this was a balancing act.  Add in that when the other person's moving too, some strikes won't land AS lightly as you planned.  And add in the other person's reaction to that.  Conclusion:  trading blows will tend to heat things up a bit!

We ended up having two still friendly but pretty aggressive -- and pretty awesome -- bouts.  Diablo may argue that I punch too much to the belly, but it only took receiving one very winding punch myself  to sell me on the value of this technique!  He may also argue that I punch too much from defensive positions, or that I punch too much in general.  Now strategically, in the long run, he may have a point and more practice will tell, but in the first flush, after six years of grappling and thinking "Oh my god, from here I could just hit you!" there was a beauty in getting to do it ;)

We ended up going at it for around 40 minutes straight each day.  Hard to stop, once you get going!   And I would gladly have kept it up every day of our Brooklyn exile, but on the second day, a slight mishap befell us -- actually, it befell Diablo's jaw.  He decided to switch things up and duck in for a low  shot -- not sure if he was thinking body shot or upper cut, but regardless, it meant he brought his head straight in line *and was moving forward* at just the moment I was throwing a should-have-been-light right hook.  Rocked him back pretty sharply.  Did I mention this happened at the beginning of the bout?  Yeah.  One of those shots that contributes to heating things up.  It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that he began feeling that all was not right and perhaps we should stop for the day.  We concluded he'd actually gotten a mild concussion -- quite mild, really, but enough to put an end to sparring for a week or two.  Sad.  But we'll be back at it ASAP.

As for the end of the week, this is when the hurricane coverage I had been seeing about expedited government aid and the gradual restoration of the transit and power systems, which all sounded hunky dory, started giving way to stories of uneven recovery and severe conditions in the worst-affected regions.  So on Sunday I spent the morning rounding up donations for the nearest relief center, and most of the rest of the day on my bike pinging between the center and nearby shops picking up and dropping off supplies.  It was a drop in the bucket, but I figure one more drop is a good thing.

Now this week I'm back to work as usual, and though I'm keeping an eye on post-hurricane news and local relief effort's updates and supply calls on Twitter, everything is seeming quite normal in my little corner.  Since the hurricane break brought so much solo filming, it seems high time to get some good wrestling action on camera.

On Monday, Wrecks did make it in to the studio for a special-request full nelsons match with me.  This was a match with wrestling singlet attire and an inescapable holds theme -- the full nelson had to be held for a full 15 seconds to score a point.  Somehow, Wrecks can manage to turn even a fight into a laughing matter, so this was not only an interesting challenge but also a ridiculously fun match.   The only people not having a good time were the studio's downstairs neighbors, who've been unusually quick to bang on the ceiling this week.  I suppose there HAS been quite a lot of fighting going on.

I'm beginning to feel the pinch of having fought (and occasionally demolished) the same guys time and again.  I love 'em all and plan to keep shooting with everyone, but variety is the spice of life.  So a casting call for new male opponents and victims is in the works.  Look out to hopefully see a few fresh faces in the coming weeks, or *if you have a serious inquiry* apply yourself.

And coming up just a little later, Bettie, Page, and Tommi are all going to be visiting NYC around the end of November/early December.  I don't know Page well yet, but I'm hoping she may be up for a good competitive match with me.  I'll be super excited if Bettie is up for trying out a bondage match -- and maybe a straight grappling rematch too, since it has been over a year since our last battle.  And of course match suggestions and custom requests for the visitors or any of the Doom Maidens ladies are always very, very welcome!

late summer wrap-up

I'm getting a little distressed as I look at the calendar and realize I'm days away from September.  Summer is my favorite season BY FAR, and this year it's been so busy, I feel like I haven't had a chance to enjoy it.  I've certainly enjoyed all the training, wrestling, and travel, of course, but I feel like I haven't gotten to really stop and appreciate the summer itself, if you know what I mean.

Mixed Wrestling Gauntlet

This past month gives the perfect example -- I had a combo get-away + session tour scheduled for early August.  The weekend before, I had a huge four-match video shoot set up with Tommi and Mahea during their NYC visit.  But just as everyone was arriving for the shoot, we got word that Tommi and Mahea were having an accommodations crisis and would need to reschedule.  Since everyone else was there already, we went ahead with the shoot...with me fighting Diablo and Hanz back-to-back in an Exhaustion Gauntlet Match.  

My match with Tommi

My match with Mahea

And THEN we proceeded to reschedule with Tommi and Mahea for various weekday times, which meant that I had to bolt out of my office on two different days to do my matches with them during my lunch breaks!

I was feeling very accomplished and super-pleased with all the fantastic wrestling action after this but also super-ready for that vacation.  But it was not to be, at least not as planned.  Diablo was coming with me on this trip, and the very day we were to leave he tore his MCL (a knee ligament) in morning BJJ class.  We still made it to Wildwood and D.C. (an especially fantastic stop, by the way, with great sessions, great people, and a lovely microbrew pub dinner with friends).  But we cut out the stop in Charleston, which was to be the most relaxing and beach-y, and brought him back to NYC for a doctor's appointment in the middle of the week.

We've since gotten good (and bad) news back from the doctor.  The tear is only partial and will heal on its own...but that will take six to eight weeks.  So I'm happy (and sad) for him, and relieved (and disappointed) that soon but not as soon as I'd like, I'll get my best training partner and video victim back.

So that brought me up to practically the end of the summer in a whirlwind, and am I ever working on making up for lost time now.  This past weekend was glorious -- on Saturday instead of going to class, I took my Muay Thai gear out into the park for a little open-air training.  And on Sunday I finally did make it out to the beach on Long Island where I soaked up sun and discovered an amazing little place that makes its own turtle cheesecake ice cream.  And I did get myself home in time for one Sunday night video shoot -- an utterly fun bondage custom with princess dresses.  Oh, how I love costumes!

Now, with Labor Day weekend up next, Indra is back in New York, and she and her plus-one will be joining Diablo and me for a holiday trip up to Montreal Fetish Weekend.  Road trip + Indra at a multi-day fetish gala -- this couldn't promise to be more fun.  I still have a little shopping to do to create the most fantastic domina attire possible, and there will most certainly be pictures.  And dancing.  And pictures of dancing.

That's it for now; more after this coming weekend adventure...

whirlwind recap

WOW.  Life just exploded at me this past month.  There is so much to report, and of course that's why I haven't been able to keep up with reporting it.  Actually, I took a "sick" day from my office job last week just to get caught up.  That started out nice and leisurely.  I went to morning training at my academy, had a terrific class, and didn't have to run out early for a change -- wonderful!  Got some grocery shopping done, took my laptop to the coffee shop, and then...more busyness.  In just a couple hours, I had two more video shoots scheduled:  a belly punching custom and a gi-clad beatdown between Bettie and Graveyard.  And since I was going to be traveling Friday and Saturday, I had schedule both for Sunday night - after the all-day personal training workshop that was the reason I'd cut my trip off on Saturday in the first place.

So obviously at this rate, I'll never cover everything I'd like to out of the past month.  Here are the details of just the most current and immediately important bits.

First off, I did finally set my schedule for my August session tour,which is coming up very soon now.  Can't wait - yay, roadtripping, beaches, and of course wrestling!  I'll be visiting these cities; write to veve.wrestler@gmail.com if you'd like to meet up!

   Wildwood, NJ - Aug. 3 & 4
   Washington D.C. - Aug. 5 - 7
   Charleston, SC - Aug. 7 - 10
   Philadelphia, PA - Aug. 10 & 11

Second, the above-mentioned shoot with Bettie was a treat.  She was just awesome to work with, and damn does she pack a lot of power into a tiny little frame.  I was watching the filming of her beatdown with Graveyard, and starting out you have to think, "no way."  It's no exaggeration to say he weighs two of her, and he stands a head+ taller.  




And then you see this deadly little missile launch herself at him with a flying knee, throwing elbows, and you're like, "oh, reach advantage, no problem."  







We actually had to reign in the head strikes after the first round to make additional rounds possible, and Bettie just switched right over to pouring all kinds of power into nasty knee drops and axe kicks once Graveyard was on the ground.  Props to him for soaking up so much abuse and to her for dishing it out.




Bettie was also the puncher (and I was the punchee) in the belly punching custom shot that night.  On request, I wore jeans and a white tee-shirt for this shoot, and not being quite as crazy as Graveyard, I asked Bettie to start light and work up to harder and harder hits as we went.  But once we found out that my abs were pretty good at taking the pounding, she threw in some real slugs at the end.  Not as easy to take!  this video will be coming along soon.

And third, the PT workshop I mentioned.  On its own, not too much to write about.  In fact, I was a little disappointed with it.  Started out well with nice interesting lecturing and useful tips, but got very repetitive with basic information and an extended practice workout toward the end.  I realize this is kind of my fault -- I've been studying a lot for my certification exam coming up next month, so I was perhaps over-prepared for  this workshop.  But that's the exciting part -- the exam is coming up soon; I'm nearly ready for it; I'm feeling very good about passing, and in that case I'll be a certified trainer (which I really should have done years ago, but at least I'm doing now!).  And the more exciting part is how that fits in with so many things that are coming together lately.

Working with Bettie and Tommi at the respective beatdown and grappling domination shoots they just did for us, plus my recent wrestling vs. striking matches with Shauna and Orlandoe, has me very inspired to get into MMA.  It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but the fire's lighting up now.  I'm trying to step up my training accordingly, and I'm feeling great about it.  Summer helps too; that always pumps me up!  I'm getting to more and different grappling classes and liking my performance in all of them.  I've been thrilled to be back at Muay Thai this past month and to start making connections with some great, compatible training partners there.  AND I've loved my recent strength and power lifting programs; I'm back into some recovery hypertrophy right now, but looking forward to another power cycle.

It's frustrating to be feeling so good about everything, wanting to do more, and flat-out not having the time.  But as much as I want it to be NOW, I'm finally able to say that the point when I'll switch over to personal training and sessioning and my own fight training full-time is truly coming SOON.  Full-time physical is going to be amazing.  I'm so revved up for that.

me vs orlandoe + phoenix travel

I have another busy week ahead of me here -- this is what's going to be happening in the very near future.

First up, I'm very pleased that Orlandoe is back from her travels down south.  This means that our ever-smoldering rivalry can again blaze bright.  We have two separate custom video challenges scheduled this week.

On Wednesday, we're going to be filming Wrestling vs. Striking II.  This will be similar to the match I did with Shauna in May but more personal and I'm sure more ruthless!  Again I'm going to be the wrestler not the striker -- I don't expect to get out of this one unbruised, but I think my chances are excellent for pulling off the win.  Orlandoe disagrees...  Then on Friday, after we've both recuperated a bit, we're going to have an All-Abs Contest -- most reps in 2.5 minutes for crunches, sit-ups, and leg raises wins!

After that, bright and extremely early on Saturday morning, I leave for a trip to Phoenix.  This is going to be an all-too-short trip, Saturday and Sunday only, but I've never been to Phoenix before, and it was time I made it out there.  Since it will be a weekend-only stop, anyone in the area who'd like a session and hasn't contacted me yet should do so right away -- time is very limited!  And anyone who knows Phoenix should send me a recommendation for the ONE best fun thing I should see or do while I'm there.

Also a bit more general information -- I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to go back to Muay Thai class this week.  My annoying broken toe is sooooo close to healed, and while it's been great for my grappling to have time off from stand-up training, I'd rather be doing both.  It's silly, but to keep myself from trying to go back too soon, I ordered a nice speed rope by slow post and told myself I had to wait until it comes to return to class.  This does have a purpose -- all my academy's warm-up jump ropes are mis-fit sizes for me and catch my toes when I jump!  And my new rope should be coming by the end of the week...

Finally, this is also the week that I'm determined to set my itinerary for the sessions road trip I'm planning in August.  Today, I started playing with Google maps and got a little distracted pinpointing everywhere I've already visited for sessions.  Very fun to see how many places I've gone -- more than I realized! -- as well as how many I still need to visit and where I need to return.  This got me planning all kinds of things way out of proportion to reality (for now).  But reining it back in, this August, I'm PROBABLY going to be swinging through Philly, D.C., Charleston, and one or two stops in Florida.  Anyone who wants to cast votes for these cities or others along the same route, please do speak up, and speak up quickly!

More news after some of these adventures happen!

the wrestling rumor mill

I just have to comment that it's a little odd, funny, and very noticeable that people are suddenly quite interested in my record and "toughness rating" among session wrestlers.  I see it on discussion forums, and I certainly can't miss the direct emails, "VeVe, did you beat so-and-so?  Did so-and-so beat you?"

On the one hand, it's very flattering; I certainly appreciate everyone's being so interested!

On the other hand, it IS rather funny, because none of this information is secret.  I rarely give out results of my matches, and I never do if it was a match for another company, but all the matches people ask me about are publicly available.  Now I know not everyone is going to purchase the matches (though, frankly, if you're someone who cares about the results, chipping in to support the companies that bring us ladies together to do this is the decent thing to do).  But with the number of people I know have seen these matches, I tend to be a little amazed at all the misinformation out there.

Those in the know seem to mostly keep their own counsel; the rumors, guesses, and speculation certainly outweigh the facts.  It can be very interesting to read about what I've supposedly done, had done to me, or will do.  Which matches people care about is also interesting; some of my best (in my opinion) are ones I never see mentioned.  And I have to wonder -- an awful lot of people seem to want to see me beaten or beaten up.  Maybe they don't like me?  Maybe they DO like me and think I look good having a hard time.  Perhaps some of both...

Couldn't I dispel all these rumors with a single authoritative statement?  NO!  The videos will always be there when someone wants them, but talk on the internet is infinite.  I'd rather enjoy it than ever try to drown it out.

In any event, I guess I'd better stay busy.  I seem to have a lot of hype to live up to all of sudden.

very exciting matches this week!

This is may be the most exciting week for video matches I've ever had.   Three different types of competitive matches (almost four, but more about that later) all in one week.

Last things first, since I especially want to mention next Saturday's shoot with visiting wrestler Shauna Ryanne.  Shauna and I are meeting up for a competitive match while she's in town, and I'm very excited for it for a couple reasons.  Shauna and I have both been beating up on one of my favorite victims (Mark of Brutal Beauties) for years, and he keeps telling us awesome things about each other, but we've never gotten to meet before.  And second, this will be my first competitive FvF match in way too long, and I've missed my roots!

But for all that, it seems a waste to shoot only one match with such a lovely and lethal lady when we've got this chance.  So if anyone is interested in ordering customs (mixed, FvF, or solo) with Shauna while she's here, please get in touch right away!  Write to veve.wrestler@gmail.com.

Working backwards, the next match in line is a competitive bondage wrestling showdown between Hanz Vanderkill and me slated for Wednesday night.  This is another type of match I haven't done in far too long, and I can only wonder why I didn't realize sooner Hanz is a perfect opponent.  After all, we've faced each other in submission grappling, an oil wrestling match, and even a lucha-pro-style spectacle.  Of course, we must face each other in a bondage challenge!  It was inevitable.  And this time he won't be wearing a mask!

Now Hanz may think he can say anything he likes behind my back, but he was foolish enough to spill his strategy to Diablo, who fortunately gave me some advance warning.  It seems Hanz's big idea is to spend all his energy UN-tying anything I can get on him.  Now that's just punkish, and my counter-strategy is going to be to take it to him hard and fast and punish him for such an ignoble scheme.  He'll have to try to tie me just to defend himself!

[Edit 5/25 - Bondage wrestling with Hanz was phenomenal!  Excellent, tough match; dramatic finish; I am SOOO proud of it!  And just released yesterday -- HERE.]

Finally the first match of the week -- me vs. Adrian.  This took place Sunday morning bright and early, and it's actually already up in the Doom Maidens store.  I was SUPER happy with this match.  In particular, I'm proud as hell of some superb bodylock takedowns and beautiful triangle transitions I pulled off.  I was also very impressed with Adrian; he brought in size and strength, put up 100% worth of fight all the way through, and put me in some real pain.  I was definitely more than he expected though!  Only one downside to this match -- if you ask my disgruntled video editor, my bikini was TOO risque.

And a footnote -- there was ALMOST a fourth competitive match this week, but Orlandoe and I couldn't quite match our schedules for it.  This would have been a striking vs. grappling match (Orlandoe striking vs. me grappling) pitting Orlandoe's slaps, punches, kicks, and sadism against my "macho-chism" and submission skills under pressure.  It's still going to happen, but with Orlandoe about to embark on a couple different travel adventures, it's sadly pushed back to mid-June.  Looking very forward to it though!

starting strength stats, for the record

So this is the start of my six-week max strength lifting program.  Let's see where I'm at, so we can see how much I can improve in six weeks.

Monday, May 7th

Back Squat ------------------------------------------------------------- 165 lbs. for 6 reps

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press ------------------------------------- 45 lbs. for 7 reps

   (yeah, I know, the bench press was occupied...eternally)

T-Bar Row -------------------------------------------------------------- 75 lbs. for 6 reps

Overhead Barbell Shoulder Press -------------------------------- 70 lbs. for 6 reps

Dumbbell Curl --------------------------------------------------------- 25 lbs. for 8 reps

Overhead Single Dumbell Extension ---------------------------- 35 lbs. for 6 reps

Next lift on Wednesday!

chicago & news catch-up

I know I'm criminally behind in posting about the latest wrestling adventures -- I blame this (like everything) on my day job which has been loading me with tons of take-home data entry for the past couple weeks.  But that project is SO close to done now I can taste it, and I feel I can afford a celebratory blogging session.

First story to tell: my mid-April trip to Chicago.  This was such a mix of ups and downs it was wild -- definitely one of *those* trips.  To start out with I was simply blown away by the wonderful flood of interest -- thank you, Chicago, and to everyone I simply didn't have time to see, I'm sorry and I'll definitely be making a longer visit next time.

So I catch my super-early flight out of Chicago, land, and make it to my hotel with two hours to settle in and set up before my first session.  Only to find the hotel has overbooked itself due to some conference they're hosting and my reservation is one they've given away.  There's not really time to argue, so I break out the laptop, discover there are two other hotels in walking distance, call the first to find it's gone out of business, call the second to find they have rooms available, and take off down the road lugging my travel mats on my back.

This second hotel is everything you'd expect of a rent-by-the-hour dive, but it's all I can do under the  circumstances.  When I ask for a non-smoking room, the front desk hands me a can of air-freshener.  I have to hope my session guests will find that this adds a seedy, romantic excitement to the whole affair.  I clean up, set up, and breakfast on packaged shortbread Indra had been nice enough to bring me over from London.  And then the fabulous part of the trip begins.

I really had some wonderful sessions on this trip.  A big thank you to the fellow who brought me the lovely purple opera gloves.  And also to the guy who egged me on to do my nastiest humiliation session yet -- I find people *usually* want somewhat playful and safe humiliation, but that was not where this session ended up, which was quite fun and thrilling.  Also terrific to end a long day of wrestling by seeing one of my very favorite regular clients again -- made saving the heaviest, hardest match for last a real pleasure.

Saturday was its own misadventure.  I'd come out for an event in the city as well as sessions.  This day involved a nerve-wracking clown-car carpool with some other hotel guests to get downtown (very bad driver who liked picking fights with other cars -- *never* accepting such an offer again) and my event running vastly later than I could ever have guessed completely bollocksing up my night.  But I survived!  And in the morning I lugged my mats back to the airport shuttle (at the original hotel, grr!) and came home to plan a more relaxed return visit.

The major project back here lately was a custom karate video with Indra.  I've done fantasy karate videos (Karate Nylons One & Two) before, but the premise here was a technical training encounter between two black belts. This was a big deal because I really have no background in karate and had a short time to pick it up since Indra was heading back to London April 28.  (Good-bye, Indra, we'll miss you until you come back in August!)  So I spent about a week getting a crash course in both karate techniques and attitude, along with a bit of stage combat.  Lots of fun, concentration, and roundhouse kicking.  We ended up making two versions -- a more combative sparring  match which Indra wins and a self-defense back-and-forth which I win, both finished off with a choke to knock-out and a bow to the unconscious opponent.  The combo will be released soon, but there's already a trailer up on YouTube:  VeVe vs. Indra Karate Trailer.

There have been a ton of little odds and ends going on too.  Now that warm(ish) weather seems to be coming back, I've enjoyed a bit of roof gardening and spring cleaning + remodeling around my apartment -- big improvements with more to come.

Spring and summer also tend to get me fired up to step up my training...but I managed to break my toe in BJJ class last week attempting an "experimental" cartwheel guard pass.  In its extremely inconvenient way, this should actually be good for my grappling since I'm having to take a month off from Muay Thai and can put the extra time into ground work.  No trouble with the toe at all when I'm on the ground.  I'm also just shifting into a max strength training phase in my lifting program -- those are always my favorites.  I need to do a nice comprehensive test lift, actually, and post my starting numbers; then perhaps in six weeks when I've got some results to show, we'll get out a new lifting video.

Speaking more of videos, Doom Maidens has been in the market for a new camera lately.  My role has been moral support as Diablo tests and rejects various options.  We're sensing it's time to retire the old camera but finding that new models don't surpass it for picture quality and are infinitely less compatible with our software.  Frustrating.  The hunt continues, but we've got a slew of projects lined up for next week, and for now we're newly determined not to trust any of them to disappointing "upgrades."  On the horizon are mixed competitive and armpit worship vids with Orlandoe; Athena vs. me in a catfight; and hopefully the debut of a new victim facing me in competitive straight and bondage wrestling matches.  Stay tuned for more action...

the weekend - a rant

Right, so clearly all things can't go right all the time.  But seriously now, when they do go wrong, why does it have to be all at once?  I had three things scheduled for this weekend, a session and two video shoots, and every single one fell through.  Now, with both the session and the first shoot, the other person let me know as early as possible that something had come up, and we're talking to reschedule.  No issues there; I even got to make it to a very nice no-gi class I would otherwise have missed.  So that was Saturday, and it was pretty well salvaged.

But, oh damn, this bastard who stood me up Sunday.  This is the problem with making wrestling videos, I find.  Guys who will be in them, will show their faces on camera, and AREN'T FLAKY are a rare and precious breed.  On that note, I want to put a big "Thank You" out there to the awesome guys I do work with before saying anything else.  But at certain points you look over your filmography and think, "Man, I sure do beat up the same people a lot.  Maybe a new face...?"  And then you must Take A Risk.

So, Sunday.  A message to this schmuck:  First off, don't contact me saying how much you would LOVE to do this and totally blow it off when you get a chance.  This really stands to ruin things for guys who write in and are sincere.  Second, it does take some effort and coordination to set these shoots up - it involves scheduling with the studio, the videographer, and video sponsors, so being a slinky little no-show screws over at least three people besides me.  Third, yesterday was absolutely gorgeous -- which I noticed as I hurried through the park, not stopping in order to get to this shoot on time.  Fourth, as I sat there waiting for you to show your punkish face, I determined precisely the favorite restaurant and precisely the glass of wine I would need to brush away this irritation.  Then, after giving up on you and trekking across town with ALL my video and costume equipment, I found the restaurant was closed!  Your fault, I'm sure.  And fifth, Second Choice Restaurant really had inexcusably terrible sangria.  ALSO your fault.

Now, that's not to say the evening was a total waste.  My cameraman and I are resourceful and determined.  We took some new close-up foot photos for me.  I've been practicing karate-style kicks in preparation for a new custom video request, and we shot a little gimme of my kicks with me in full gi.  And we experimented with (but had to reject - for now) some POV camera angle ideas I'd been pondering.  Most importantly, we got in touch with a good and trusty video victim and rescheduled the original shoot for Tuesday.  But did it have to be like that?  No.  It COULD have been the shoot it was supposed to be.

OK, vented.  Moving on.  New week...

judo, L&C, Nashville, and more

A lot to catch up on since my last blog!

The first thing to report is the story of a VERY wild video shoot from last week.  There was one video on the schedule, and it was a very interesting and somewhat complicated custom request -- a judo contest, but with a messy wrestling twist.  The fighters would wear shiny leotards and tights and any time one lost a fall, she would be rubbed and massaged with bread dough while she recovered.  At the end of the match, whoever's shiny attire was still shiny (or at least less messy) would win.  Orlandoe and I were competing, and Indra was to be the ring girl in charge of the dough.

That was the plan.  But another request came through the night before for a lift and carry custom featuring Orlandoe, Indra, me, and a fourth girl.  I knew we had to do it the same night or wait a long time for everyone's schedules to line up again.  So an urgent call went out for a fourth girl who was free at exactly the right time that night.  Only an hour before the shoot we found her; a friend of Orlandoe's could do it.

Now, we often use a public rehearsal studio for our videos -- sometimes they're great.  They store our mats for us, and some of the rooms have lovely theatrical lighting.  BUT.  They've been driving me crazy lately -- getting busier and busier and more crowded, harder to book, and more full of bitchy anti-wrestling yoga and belly dancing personalities.  Not to mention drama-prone drama majors.

So, before the shoot, I'm mixing up the bread dough in the ladies' room.  "What's that?" someone asks.  No problem; it's a theater space.  "A prop," I say.  We film the judo video and it goes quite well (QUITE well -  lovely throwing and athleticism and a great match-up between Orlandoe and me), but it runs a bit late.  So after the shoot, we get the studio manager knocking on the door telling us the next scheduled group in waiting to come in.  What the fuck, little dancing group?  You couldn't knock on the door yourselves?  It prevents making an issue and it saves YOU time.  Like I said, it's the good with the bad at this place.

We sneak into another free room to do the lift and carry video.  This one is two teams performing shoulder rides and having a chicken fight, and the one major request the sponsor had was 10 minutes of continuous carrying -- no breaks or cuts in the tape.  I'd never tried a straight 10-minute lift before, so it was looking to be a challenge.  Turned out to be more of challenge than expected -- Orlandoe's friend hadn't listened to her very carefully about what the shoot would involve, so she'd decided it would be OK to show up a bit tipsy.

Orlandoe was the one carrying her, and I was carrying Indra, and we both had quite a job to do keeping our riders safe while the fourth girl got way too wild and ruthless with the fight -- for 10 minutes, with no break to calm her down!  But we succeeded, and I was quite proud of our strength, balance, and composure!  Then to top it off, the girl says she didn't realize the video would be released and isn't comfortable with that.  This is a terrible waste as it was an impressive feat in the end and deserves to be seen; I swear I get saint points for honoring her request.  Grrr.  But we definitely want to use this scenario again for a video that WILL be released.

Next item - my trip to Nashville.  Let me skip over most of it and hit the biggest highlight.  Saturday night I was supposed to meet up with a big group of friends for dinner and drinks, but everyone was coming from a different place, and no one had decided where we were actually meeting.  Everyone text everyone when you get near, was the dubious plan.  My ride and I show up first; we spot a likely looking sports bar and text everyone about it.  We go in, and honest-to-god the receptionist says to us "I don't recommend you come here.  Really.  Go to the nice place two blocks away."  And indeed, on the inside this place looks like a hell hole.  We text everyone again, and head to the new place.

Of course, they never arrive and quite possibly some of them ended up at the original miserable dive.  But we get a huge comfy booth just in case they manage to show and proceed to enjoy live bluegrass (it was an Earl Scruggs tribute), awesome ribs, and various superb Southern microbrews.  Ever had Bourbon Barrel Stout or Pecan Nut Brown Ale?  Don't wait - find them, try them.  So that was my mini-birthday celebration.  I'm STILL waiting to be un-busy enough for my proper birthday celebration.  This weekend's looking good.  And Orlandoe and Wrecks are hosting a party Wednesday that should make a nice second warm-up ;)

Third and fourth items, quickly - Taxes, killing me.  This was such a huge stressor to me yesterday.  I've gathered more receipts, and things are looking brighter, but this was a blow to my optimism about getting out of the office job this year.  I didn't need that...or, realistically maybe I did.  It's still going to happen but more likely next year.  Sigh.

AND this week's videos.  Yesterday I got to sit in on a match between my friend Hanz and Amazon Eve.  That was quite something to see!  Hanz isn't a small guy (6'-0" and 190 lbs.), and at 6'-8" Eve just dwarfed him.  Their match was for Hanz's site, not for Doom Maidens, so look for it there.  It was fun to compare notes with Eve afterwards -- I'm of course not too familiar with the giantess and height comparison corners of the wrestle/muscle/strength world, and Eve was very keen to learn more technical jiu-jitsu.

Tonight there's a judo and foot domination match coming up between Indra and Thrash, and I'll be joining the fun as well for a judo torture instructional clip.  Onward to more action...

pandora's visit and rubber ball

So last week was a super-busy one for me.

To start with, I had my last acting class on Wednesday -- it was very good to get that wrapped up before heading into this weekend's set of shoots and next weekend's travel.  If the class hadn't ended, I think my scene partners would have been pretty disappointed in my availability to rehearse, in fact.  My final scene didn't go as magically, perfectly well as the one the week before, but I was almost glad since there'd been a slightly creepy feeling to everyone loving a performance I thought was only pretty decent.  Also the things the professor critiqued were the same things that my incredibly difficult scene partner had been giving me trouble over all through rehearsal, so the bitch in me quite enjoyed seeing her smacked down.  That woman even accused me of grabbing her too hard and making her forget her lines, even though *she* is the one who grabs *me* in the scene.  The prof saw straight through that one, heh, heh.

So class was fun, and while it's sad to just leave it, I'll be thrilled to get back to Muay Thai and the women's BJJ class in the evenings, and I do feel I rather dodged a bullet in getting out of the pairing with that last partner.

Saturday was the next big day.  Athena, Diablo, and I all met up with a visiting model Pandora to shoot a series of three videos.  The first was a judo/grappling custom with Pandora and me.  We were both wearing gis and, to start with, *intense* high-heeled pumps.  The shoes fly off quickly, but even so, I'm proud of us for not taking out each other's eyes in the first minute.  It was a video really emphasizing foot chokes, so that brought the shoes and later the heels, soles, and painted toes, right up in both our faces.  And it wraps up with the loser worshiping the winner's feet :)

Next, Pandora and Athena were slated for a catfight, but Pandora realized that since she still had one more shoot booked after ours, it wouldn't be a good time to chance a black eye.  So Diablo chivalrously volunteered to step in and take on both ladies in a no-striking, 2-on-1, pantyhose match (he's such a giver!).  Of course, this worked for him exactly as well as jumping into a pit of snakes, as the ladies' pantyhosed legs entwined and constricted him every which way.  Afterwards, he said he wished he'd had the camera with him in the match to shoot POV because he would look up at times and see nothing but feet.  It was a great improvisation, but Athena had been really raring for that catfight; I think we'll have to set another up for her soon...maybe with me?

Our last shoot was a bondage match between Pandora and me.  Pandora had a tough time in this one -- she was new to the game and tried to learn on the go, but I stayed a step ahead.  We wore stockings and garters for this one, and one of the first things I did was lash her black-stockinged ankles together with the white rope.  She was at a huge disadvantage after that.  Eventually I was able to get her completely bound and even practice a tiny bit of artistic rope-weaving to top off the tie.

Looking over the footage of all these videos afterwards, I was so pleased with all the colors of the gis, shoes, toes, stockings...quite lovely to watch.  A very productive afternoon!

I rushed out for some emergency shopping after that -- I was going to the Rubber Ball that night, where the International Miss Rubber contest was being held, and I needed some attire.  Or in my case, some non-attire.  Two stores I checked were sold out of latex body paint, and I only managed to run in and get it from a third store as they were closing down around me.  Then back home to spend something like three hours painting myself, jeopardizing my carpet, and lubricating the process with good wine.  Yay, pre-party.  I ended up with painted-on gloves, stockings, and pasties, and not much else.  And, boy, did this ever end up alarming the door guards at the swanky hotel where the ball was held.

Finally managed to arrive!  Diablo came with me, and we met Indra and her date there.  We continually hear from Indra that American fetish parties don't compare to London's (which begs for me to get over there and visit some of London's).  It's true the play area was very small and most of the party was devoted to the Miss Rubber contest events and the latex fashion show intermission entertainments, but I saw that Indra had still found herself some worshipers and victims by the end of the night.  I loved watching the performances myself, and enough people asked me whether I was one of the models that I think I'll have to look into doing that next year.  Various brilliant latex designers were all showcasing their work, I'd have been delighted to wear most any of those pieces.  Indra's date did get pictures of my much more minimal costume -- hoping to see those soon and that they turned out!

And now, coming up for this week -- tomorrow I'm presenting a demo "Wrestling for Domination" at TES, an NYC BDSM club.  I've given this demo a few times before, and I always try to keep the classic information -- favorite holds, dominating positions, a bit of physical domination theory -- in tact, while also updating with new info and the latest things I've been working on.  It's bugged me that at a former demo a woman asked me "how can a smaller, weaker person dominate a larger opponent for real?" and I didn't have a better answer than "train seriously in grappling for at least two years."  Tomorrow, answers to to that question!  As well as wrestling domination games, scenarios, and "next steps" -- what to do *after* you've wrestled your prey down.  Should be a lot of fun!  Tuesday, 8-9:30 pm, Joria Studios, 260 W. 36th St., 3rd Floor, Manhattan.

Also, still on schedule for my Nashville trip next weekend.  Honestly, the timing here has turned out to be awful and I'm pretty annoyed.  Didn't realize when I scheduled this one that Sweatshop, a very interesting-sounding new pro-domme party, would be this Friday in New York -- I hope the other Doom Maidens ladies make it out to support and investigate without me and that the party's a great success so they'll throw another I can attend in April.  Also, my flights got all shifted around so I'll end up flying way before a reasonable wake-up time, on my birthday no less, and landing in frickin' Newark.  I am counting on an AWESOME stay in Nashville to make up for this!

video mega-shoot and acting class

I wanted to post a wrap-up of Tuesday's super-shoot yesterday, but my office job pretty much swallowed me whole from nine straight through to five, and after that I had my second-to-last winter term acting class.  That was fun but a little odd -- more about that later.

First, the shoot!  I would like to say that it was amazing!  We ended up only being able to get the studio for two hours, and we still managed to shoot seven videos PLUS take new profile pictures for Clobberetta and Nyx while only going 10 minutes over and *slightly* annoying the studio mangager.  HUGE thank you to everyone for being so on target.

The really unusual thing about this shoot was that I was hardly in any videos myself.  Though I do love jumping into the fray, this night was all about showcasing new and returning talent and never-before-seen skills from other wrestlers, which was exactly perfect.  I got to do a little camera work and little directing, and it was fantastic to get to watch the other ladies work, especially seeing their different styles back-to-back like that.  Clobberetta has a big bluff 'n' tough attitude; Nyx is more of a princess, letting her victim know just how gross it is that he's sweating on her while she squeezes him; and Orlandoe is simply insane!!!  But at least she knows it.

We started with Clobberetta's mixed domination video -- she grabbed an unsuspecting victim out of the hallway, tossed him on the mats, and proceeded to launch her comeback with a bang.  I LOVED watching the little guy try to crawl and scramble away as she stalked him across the mats, and when she shouted at him "I was looking for a fight, not a dog!" it was totally priceless. 



Nyx's domination of Diablo followed, and she showed she's a lady who can make scissoring a guy's head look classy and fashionable.  Next, onward to armwrestling -- this was where I got to make a brief visit to the mat.  Orlandoe and I carried our rivalry to yet another arena:  Arm Wrestling: VeVe vs Orlandoe.  I've already been notified that my form is terrible, but I do show off a lot of bicep.  And with corrections to my form (Who knew?  Probably everyone; I feel like a dolt), I may soon be ready to take the arm wrestling world by storm!

We moved next to a pair of specially commissioned tickle domination videos.  Poor Ben got to learn the true meaning of tickle torture as he was the requested victim for both clips.  In his bout with Orlandoe, that sneaky sadist AGAIN pullled a dirty trick to bind her victim's hands right at the top of the match, and after that no matter how much Ben squirmed and thrashed (and yipped, laughed, and gasped) she always managed to recapture his feet and continue tickling his soles.  Ben was looking for a break to catch his breath after that, but it was not to be!  Straight on to another round with Clobberetta, in which she repeatedly forced him into Indian deathlocks, pinning his arms behind his back and exposing his feet, and tickled away.

Our very last video was with Orlandoe, and I will repeat that she is crazy!  She also definitely has an issue with me -- she claimed that my wrestling domination videos are no good and that she could "out-domme" me.  To prove her point, she seized our cameraman, and if domination means choking and choking and choking your victim, I will admit she is damn good at it.  But better than me, I will not admit!  ...Actually, I am a big enough person to admit there is at least one department where Orlandoe is better than me -- I wish I had her legs.  Between the light and the shiny sweat and her nicely muscled capoeira legs, she looked awesome in this video.  But still psychotic!  She even told Diablo (while choking him) that she wished it was my neck she was squeezing.  I may need to be afraid.

That was the shoot! 

My other story is about last night's acting (scene study) class.  I'd previously done only a short practice scene and the beginning of a scene I had to abandon when my partner up and left on a three-week vacation in Brazil (and didn't take me with her, bitch).  This was my first "big" scene, and I was very excited for it because without performing you don't get critiques and feedback, and without that it might as well not be a class.  But after presenting, the only feedback I got was "wonderful, beautiful, great interpretation, great execution."  Now that's extremely nice, don't get me wrong, but damn it, I wanted to know how to make it better!  The scene felt *pretty good* to me, but certainly not perfect.

The really funny thing was that suddenly after I got this great review from the prof, other students I'd never even talked to before came up and started asking me for advice...but the thing they mostly asked about was how to be more comfortable wearing less clothing on stage!  The scene called for me to wear lingerie and attempt to seduce a reluctant man, so I suppose I put on a bit of a show there.  Somehow I don't think that "work out a whole lot and then practice doing sexy wrestling in front of a camera," is advice these ladies will be able to use.  (But who knows?!)  Last night gave me the feeling that domination wrestling is better preparation for acting than acting is for domination wrestling.  But quite likely that only applies to that scene.  I don't want to be cocky, and I DO want critiques.  Next week the Brazilian vacation partner returns, and we'll get to revive our daughter-fighting-with-mother scene.  We'll see how something different goes.