where I've been...

Well, it's lucky no one strictly enforces New Year's resolutions, or I'd be in trouble -- I've been neglecting this blog again!  But I'm back now.  Here's a quick recap of what was going on in the quiet time, before I move on to some very exciting stuff that's coming up incredibly soon!

So my last post was in February; I was talking about the killer, 2-hour marathon match that I had with Kevin.  Looking back on February now, it's not surprising at all that I disappeared in March.  I've got to admit those months were hard (but worth it in the long run).

February was absolutely turbo-charged (and for that, I actually blame January, when the weather was so miserable that a we had to postpone a lot of shoots due to models' travel problems).

So we did everything in February!  We shot 24 videos that month, and besides the marathon with Kevin, this also included the Battle of the Sexes bondage match, an awesome but exhausting late-night, hour-long, hard competitive war.  There were some other great creations, like my Handcuffed Smother Domination with Thrash, and the excellent bondage match I got to have with Robin.  All stuff I'm proud of, but add on all my regular training and lifting AND general winter factor, and I was getting pretty tired by March.

BUT we had a big two-day long shoot scheduled with Lia Labowe before there could be a rest.  I knew it was coming to a point because I was losing my voice during the shoot with Lia -- which might have produced an interesting effect???  We did some private commission assassin videos where I had to deliver evil monologues and sounded especially husky.  Always a silver lining to be found somewhere.

Anyway, I went into "hardcore resting" mode after the shoot with Lia in order to be ready for my Northern Tour.  Thank goodness this all worked out -- the tour was lovely with some great wrestling in Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago; I met some wonderful (and tough!) new folks, got to see some of my very favorite regular sessions guys again (I hope you guys know who you are -- you're fantastic!), and got to meet and film with Ashley Wildcat for the first time.  Rounded the trip off with a stop at my parents' for Easter -- a very nice time overall!

Now throughout April, I *thought* I'd been continuing the resting-up theme from March.  But I just counted up the videos from April, and there were actually 25 -- one more than in crazy February!  I think the difference is not having to travel through any snow to get to the studio, and also the fact that we've been working on some very fun, experimental type projects.  There was the 4-Way Superheroine Bondage Battle -- how could anyone not love that and love doing that?  I know for myself, wanting to be in superhero movies as a kid is a big part of why I'm so pleased with what I do now.  And I've yet to meet another wrestling lady that doesn't think the superheroine videos are extra fun.

There was also the Hunt for the Spider Queen video; this was something of a pet project that Diablo, Howl, and I had been dreaming up.  We knew we wanted it to be a bit more like a movie than a clip, and we wanted it to involve a lot of different bondage for Howl.  We were quite committed -- we even ran a dress rehearsal/test run of the video, which was a great benefit.  We tried the concept first as a sort of slow, seductive piece, but afterwards we realized that it would be much better as a more fighty and abusive scene.  This was a great and fun theater experiment type-project that turned out a result I just loved.  I wish we had time to workshop more pieces like this.  Well, for special occasions we just might...  And in any event, the Spider Queen will certainly be making some reappearances!

All right, that brings me up to date.  Good that I had that rest-up time because in two days I leave for my West Coast tour, which is going to be another whirlwind.  See my next post for a preview on that, and a roster of the ladies I'll be shooting with out there should you want to order a custom...

all kinds of training updates

So today I got some great news!  :)

The thing that really gives me hell all the time is trying to fit all the training that I want to and should do into a day with everything else that has to happen.  I am constantly making ambitious and intricate training plans, but they break down when it's time to move them off paper and into practice.  What with BJJ, Muay Thai, and weight lifting, it's a colossal challenge.  I love the early morning classes at my academy -- great for waking me up and kicking off the day -- but the morning MT, BJJ, and no-gi classes all overlap.  I end up needing to go back to the midday classes; my day is chopped up; I feel like I get nothing else done; and, especially now, since I'm so excited about my 2015 Mass Gain Resolution, I get very frustrated if I feel like time is being taken away from my lifting.

So this is actually a very small thing, but I have high hopes for it:  the academy's a.m. BJJ class is being extended.  If it runs longer, I can go to it immediately *after* Muay Thai.  This may *possibly* solve all my scheduling woes.  I do have a tendency to make those ambitious plans, but here's hoping...

Now, speaking of the mass gain resolution, here's a little update on that.

Weight: 126.8 pounds
Biceps:  12.25 inches
Thigh:  21 inches

I knew as soon as the holidays ended and I got back to forms of training other than the gym, it would get much harder to put on any weight.  And, definitely, it did.  My weight stuck at 125 for about two weeks despite quite a high calorie intake; finally getting past that was exciting.  Much more exciting was seeing an increase in my bicep measurement!  Better and sooner than I'd hoped!  I'm very pleased.  And I forgot to take a starting thigh measurement at the beginning of the month, but I'l keep track of it from here on out.  Hopefully, I'll get some photos for an update tomorrow since there's a video shoot scheduled in the afternoon...

I could go on and on about recent and upcoming video projects, but I did that last week.  And, indeed, there are always countless video projects in the works.  I'm sure I can talk about them next week too, if I feel like it.  So for now, a couple other quick announcements.

DM training sessions are starting up again!  It's been a while since we offered regular training sessions, though there were some pretty good by-appointment bondage wrestling tutorials during the past year.  But starting Tuesday, the goals will be to bring more people together for practice at once and hopefully to see some new faces too.  Should be neat, and it'll definitely be worth blogging about how the launch goes.

And finally, my first session trip of the year is scheduled!  This is a little overnight trip to Philly on Feb. 5 & 6, and I'm very quickly seeing that I should probably have planned a longer stay.  This little visit is filling up quickly.  Oh, well, it'll be a whirl!

And that's the news 'til next week!

  

video & session tour West Coast - customs call!

Hello, Everyone!  

I'm going to be hitting the road for my West Coast + Las Vegas tour THIS SATURDAY, and Diablo will be joining me, video camera in hand.  There are so many amazing wrestlers and models on the other side of the country, and we're currently lined up to shoot with at least five of them!

Also, to note:  My full tour schedule is Las Vegas (5/17-5/19), San Diego (5/19-5/21), Los Angeles (5/21-5/23), San Francisco (5/23-5/24), Seattle (5/26-5/28).  If you have a custom request for me to work with ANOTHER wrestler in one of these cities, let me know, and we MAY be able to fit it into the busy schedule.  

And, of course, if you're interested in a session in one of these cities yourself, get in touch, but do it quickly because there's very little free time left!

Send us custom requests for any of these ladies ASAP!  Keep in mind we'll be filming in hotel rooms, and the primary opponents/partners available for these ladies will be Diablo or me.  Possibly we'll be able to line up local opponents (especially if you have someone in mind), but the rest of our New York roster won't be available.

In San Diego, we'll be shooting again with Sinn Sage.  Awesome, since we immediately wanted to shoot more with her after meeting her this March.  

Sinn Sage
​Sinn's Bondage Wrestling for Doom Maidens

In Los Angeles we're booked with Savannah Foxx and Mistress Kara (different days).  We're thrilled to see them both again after working together in NYC last October since they're both fantastic.

            
​Mistress Kara​                                                       Savannah Foxx

Kara's Doom Maidens Videos                                 Savannah vs. Thrash for Doom Maidens

In San Francisco we're shooting with Ariel X and Andrea Rosu (same day, same shoot).  It's been nearly three years since the first and only time I met Ariel, and it'll be my very first time meeting and filming with Andrea, so exciting!  

We are currently seeking a big, tough, athletic guy crazy enough to face these two AT ONCE for a requested video.  Any leads, let me know!

    
Ariel X                                                                Andrea Rosu​
​

Also, we're tentatively scheduled to shoot with Scarlett Devine in Las Vegas.  It'll be great if this works out.  And Cheyenne Jewel JUST tweeted to me that she's available during my Vegas dates too.  Certainly do send requests for Scarlett and Cheyenne too -- it will help us to confirm the shoot!

Scarlett Devine                                               Cheyenne Jewel

Have I overwhelmed you all yet?!  I'd be overwhelmed myself if I weren't so excited to get started on this whirlwind adventure!

Europe tour 2013 continued...

All right, it's time for the second part of this story.

Honestly, there's not quite as much to tell about my stops in Amsterdam and Paris since these were almost purely session stops -- no videos or live performances.  But there was A LOT of wrestling, and there were some funny moments also.

I left London Monday morning on a too-early flight from London City Airport.  The silly thing was that everyone assured me this airport was very close to the studio and easy to get to, but no one knew exactly how to do it.  So I left even earlier to manage the trip, and I ended up on the only flight of my life that's been too short -- no time to nap!

I arrived too early to check into the hotel, but that gave me a nice chance to do a tiny bit of sightseeing and stroll around the Vondelpark and up the Leidesplein.  After check-in, I had three back-to-back sessions -- all with guys who'd booked wrestling but ended up preferring muscle worship.  That was a bit restful after my busy time in London and my early morning travel, but, on the other hand,  I've never done so much arm wrestling in so short a period!

The next day was quite miserable and rainy, which was perfectly fine since it was my major stay-in-and-session day.  One gentleman in particular was completely endearing -- not only was he fun to wrestle, but as a gift he brought me a rubber ducky mascot from his soccer club (so sweet!) and Murakami's 1Q84 trilogy.  This has become the very next item on my reading list; an inspired gift.

And then there was Wednesday.  This was the day I reserved for sightseeing since I'd never been to Amsterdam before.  I mapped out a walking circuit of the city with more stops on it than I could possibly make.  I figured I'd just set out, stop when I felt like stopping, and skip things when I felt like walking.

Stop number one was pancakes.  When I saw Bettie in London, she'd just come from Amsterdam and she "warned" me that the food was awful -- all potato fries and waffles.  I personally couldn't see a thing wrong with this and vowed to sample fries, waffles, and any other local delicacies I encountered, which I found included pancakes, cheese, and beer.  I admit my diet usually consists of "do more exercise" unless I'm preparing for any specific event.

Next I wandered a bit through the Jordan district, where I found two specialty balloon stores right across the street from each other.  Alas, it was still too early for them to be open, and I had to press on.  I came upon the Tulip and the Cheese Museums, which equalled gifts for my mother and sister (tulips) and my father, brother, and 2nd sister (cheese).

I passed the Palace and the New Church and did a bit of lovely, upscale window shopping.  (I would really buy too much at Desigual if I let myself get started).  I headed on to the Old Church, where I got to witness the uncanny degree of secularism in Amsterdam.  At the New Church there had been a visiting exhibit of Ming Dynasty art on display.  At the Old Church they were installing another exhibit "The Museum of Broken Relationships," which featured mementos and text explanations that people across the world had donated commemorating their break-ups.  Plus, the Old Church was smack in the middle of the Red Light District, so the working ladies in their display windows were actually facing the church wall across a tiny little foot path.  Fascinating, and quite un-American.

From there, I headed to Central Station and walked along the water to the Maritime Museum.  I was running low on time now, so I didn't try to go in.  But my hopes were fulfilled and there was an exhibit of historic canal boats moored outside the museum.  I had a great time looking these over, and then I continued to the Botanic Garden, where I used the same tactic of circling the place and seeing what I could see over the walls and through the windows.  I was trying to save enough time to get to the Stedelijk Modern Art Museum.

I soon realized, though, that I would never make it to the Stedelijk before closing, so I detoured into the FOAM Photography Museum.  Not a bad choice.  And very entertainingly, one of the exhibits was "Dalton Anatomy," a series of photos of sculptures the artist had made from found objects and refuse in Ridley Road Market -- which was practically next door to where I'd just been staying in London.

I wrapped up the day with a pass through the Museumsplein (even though everything was closed), a delicious grilled salmon dinner (have to take myself out nicely at least once per trip), and one last late-night session.

The next day I headed on to Paris, but before I leave Amsterdam, I will note that the single strangest thing about the stop was the manager at my hotel.  Bettie had also warned me that her Amsterdam hotel had given her trouble over having guests to her room.  I happily had not a bit of trouble myself, but her warning did make me hyper-conscious of the front desk and whether they seemed to be over-interested in the hotel comings and goings.  In the three days and nights I was there, no matter what time I passed by, the same manager was NEVER not at that desk.  I hope it was a set of triplets because otherwise it was a cleverly disguised robot.  Actually spooky.

Onwards to Paris.  Of this stop, there is very little to say except that it was the busiest session stop I have ever made.  I was lucky to arrive again earlier than I was able to check in to my hotel because in the time I killed waiting I walked two blocks and discovered, without trying, the best almond croissant in the world.  This was the extent of my exploration in Paris, and I'm sure I could have had equally good success at any patisserie in the city.  Lucky too that I've made more leisurely, touristy trips to Paris before.

Once I did check into my hotel, I immediately had six sessions that day, fell into bed, and was up at 5:30 am to get started again at 6.  Wonderful stop, wonderful people, wonderful matches with everything from hard competitive wrestling to tickle bondage to boot domination.  Next time I'll plan a longer stop!

So that concludes my Eurotour 2013 Travelogue.  In conclusion, I will be back in 2014, without a doubt.  Some planning is needed, but I expect even more stops (at the very least, Germany, I won't miss you next time!) and more wrestling ;)

europe travel account 2013 (london)

Written on the train b/w Amsterdam & Paris...just getting to post now:

There are no really appropriate words for how overdue I am for a blog entry, so I'll just fall back on the handy phrase “better late than never” and go from there.

I'm 2/3 of the way through my European tour right now,on the rapid train between Amsterdam and Paris. Pity it's such a grey, rainy day (again!) because I'm sure the view along the way would be lovely in sunshine.

Anyway, my first stop in London was an absolute, exhausting blast. So great seeing Monica and Richard again after years since my last London trip, and so great seeing Minxy, Venom, and Honey after their recent visits to NYC (fucking awesome how many Londoners we've had visiting New York lately; means I already know a ton of people when I visit there!)

Also, the was definitely one of the most competitive wrestling-filled tour stops I've ever made. On top of the fact that I went over for Monica's video event to fight some amazing women, quite a lot of the guys in London like to go all out as well.

I flew over Thursday night, and didn't get a direct flight, something I will never do again. So after some chopped up napping on the plane, napping in Reykavik (appropriately very cold), and napping on the second plane, I arrive slightly late in London. I struggle all my baggage (yes, I am carrying my travel mats too) down to the Underground, where the ticket machine won't take my credit card. I head back to currency exchange, then back to the subway. Now I am rushing, rushing to make it to my first session. I arrive at Monica's studio in a rained-on flurry, but ready to go. That's when I get the message that instead of the three sessions I thought I had that day, I really have five! Thank goodness Monica brought me snacks – think it saved my life ;)

So I powered through that night, and had a fabulous time – competitive, semi-comp domination with a huge opponent, competitive again, brutal Boston crab domination (crazy! – I think this guy was more masochistic than flexible, but, wow, he could take a lot, so fun!), and finally lift & carry with a gentleman who only liked shoulder rides.

The next day was sessions in the morning and the video event at night. I won't say how the matches turned out since they're all for Monica's video store, but I will say my two matches were extremely hard fought! I went up against Antscha first, and I was very curious going in to this one. I fought Antscha on my lat trip to London, and I'd heard over and over that she's gotten a lot better since then. But so does everyone who trains – I wondered how much better. Well, A LOT. Antscha was a fantastic opponent who pushed me so hard! She's gotten more skilled, and considerably stronger too! She had the power advantage over me, so I had to be tricky to get my advantages.

My second match was with Bettie. I'd fought her before too, and I'd ALSO been told she'd gotten better since then. In her case, that scared me a little since I already remembered her as one of my toughest-ever opponents. I just hoped I'd gotten equally better. The Antsha match had been hard enough that my arms were actually shaking a little before the match with Bettie. But I knew once we got going that would all disappear. And indeed it did. We fought that match hard, and it was SO close, and so back-and-forth, and thank goodness it was the last one because afterward instead of shaking I was just aching. And then we all went out for Vietnamese food – hooray! Much needed.

I also want to thank all the guys who came out to watch the event, especially the ones who met me beforehand for sessions so I got a chance to see you again. Thanks to my two great opponents. Thanks to the other ladies Venom, Tyger, Geri, and Lydia for putting on great fights, so I got to watch some as well as be in them. And a HUGE thanks to Minxy Li for photos because the one great disaster of this trip is that I forgot my camera charger.

Last day in London. Again sessions in the morning and videos afterwards. The afternoon was spent filming some mixed matches with Monica and Richard. I'm afraid I traumatized their poor victim a bit with a rather tight elbow tie as we were doing a bondage finale to a domination match. Oh dear, he did not like that at all, no he didn't. My second video there was a sporty sort of BJJ match with Richard. A lot of flow and movement, and a lot, a lot of holds. After that it was on to shoot number two.

I bussed over to LWS where I had a request for a custom in the Villainess Bondage style. This one was even more elaborate with five different ladies involved. Venom I already knew, but I got to meet Isabella, Puma, and Ivy as well. Isabella was on my team, but the rest of the ladies I got to tie up :)

After this mega project, there were two videos to go. The great tragedy of October's NYC Mega-Filming was that the footage of my excellent bondage match with Minxy was lost. So Minxy, Honey, and I arranged that I would bondage wrestle Honey's “boy” in exchange for her reshooting Me vs. Minxy.

Now I assumed bondage wrestling someone's boy would be a straight out domination, but it became immediately apparent that this guy planned to fight – hard! So I cranked the level right up on this match and took it to him viciously. At first we were trying to do the bondage with some special-for-the-occasion, extra-long pink ropes of Honey's. But they were so very long that it was impossible to do anything but make a tangle. Then Minxy tossed my short white ropes in to me, and the binding started. Once the ropes were cinched tight and all the thrashing and squirming were shut down, then I was able to bring the long ropes back to decorate my captive with pretty pink bows ;) In contrast to my early victim that day, the more horrifically rough and evil I was to this guy, the more he liked it!

And finally, my rematch with Minxy! So wonderfully good! Many, many people will not attack when they bondage wrestle me, or they'll forget within a minute. Not Minxy! She kept getting ropes around my arms, making it so hard for me to do anything, and causing all kinds of trouble. Plus she's hilarious and incorrigible with all her banter and chatter. Unluckily for her, though, I had just done a two-hour bondage session that morning where I had a chance to work out a brilliant new tie. I was beyond determined to recreate it, and ultimately, it looked great on Minxy! She says she'll get me next time, though – we pledged an ongoing bondage rivalry, and I can't wait until she comes back to New York for our next installment.

Oh, dear god, look how long this has gotten. We'll have to talk about Amsterdam and Paris in another post.

where to go?

I'm in the middle of planning a big session tour for August, and I'm stuck.  I've got two options that sound awfully good to me, so I really want input from readers of this post!

Where would you all like me to go?  

Who would want to meet up in any of these cities?  

With whom would you like me to film - or whom would you like me to challenge ;) - in any of these places?

Option 1 - the East                        Option 2 - the West 

D.C.                                             San Diego

Richmond                                     L.A.

Charlotte                                      San Francisco

Knoxville                                      Reno

Nashville                                      Las Vegas

Atlanta

Jacksonville

Regardless, I'm going to be ending the tour at FetCon in Tampa August 15 - 18.  But where to go first?!

may session tour wrap-up

I've been on the road for about a week now - tonight is my last night in Toronto, and tomorrow I head back to NYC.  I've got to say this has been an excellent, wrestling-heavy trip.

It's funny that no matter where I am, I think I'm going to take a break later.  I'm at home training heavy and working on the video store?  I think "Oh, I've got a trip coming up - that will be like a vacation!"  I'm on the road driving, wrestling, and meeting with other companies for video shoots?  I think "Oh, it will be relaxing when I get home"...but really I know I'm going to jump back into training like a maniac.  I do think I'll need to schedule in a couple extra days for sight-seeing on the next trip and also remember (or find time) to prepare more healthy road snacks, but, overall, this trip has been a great success.

The drive out to the first stop in Cleveland was a bit of an adventure.  Driving through Pennsylvania, I had an alternating mix of gorgeous weather and sleet -- yes, sleet in the middle of May.  I also had a flat tire, and when I called AAA, they basically said "Do you think you can handle it yourself?"  Turns out, yes.  Put on the temporary spare, drive to the next town, and get fixed up.  It did set me way back on time, though, so it was almost good (but not really) that Herbodies had to cancel their shoot with at the last minute for personal reasons.  We were both looking forward to working together; I do hope we get to try again in the not-distant future.

OK, so actually there was a slightly rocky start to the trip.  But at my next stop, Chicago, where I go more often, I got to reconnect with some of my favorite regular sessioners.  Highlights included the sweatiest non-stop endurance match ever (against a really big guy, no submissions, an hour of HARD work just holding each other down and SWEATING); a very fun, challenging match against a former high school wrestler; and some wonderful muscle worship (who doesn't love worship?!).

Next stop:  Detroit.  Detroit was just INSANE on this trip.  If I'd had any idea when I was making bookings, I would have scheduled another day.  I was wrestling from the time I arrived until the time I left, and I think I had to turn more people down for lack of time than I ended up seeing.  Unbelievable!  To everyone I had to miss on this trip, I'm sorry, and I'll be back!  It's kind of interesting the trends that come out sometimes -- in Chicago I had almost all competitive matches; in Detroit I had two spandex sessions and two very intricate roleplay sessions (plus competitive, scissors, muscle worship...like I said, this stop was crazy!)

And finally I'm in Toronto.  I got in last night and dove right into a shoot with ScissorFoxes.  They were a ton of fun to work with.  We shot four 10-minute scissors clips.  Most were in cute, basic bikinis, but I will reveal there was a Mortal Combat Scissors Death Match in there with me wearing the wildest red bodystocking ever seen.  I'll also reveal that Jay CAN take a lot of pain, it's true, but he probably shouldn't have told ME that.  Many video victims will ask me to go lighter; if you ask me not to, oh boy...

And right after the ScissorFoxes shoot, I did another with a new company Absolute Mixed Wrestling.  This was actually Absolute's very first shoot/match, so good luck to him getting everything rolling!  (I'm sure he'll have a full site coming along soon, but for now:  Absolute.)  We kicked things off with a super-competitive, skillful, mis-match fight -- my opponent was also a BJJ purple belt, but he was 100 lbs. heavier!  Body punching, smothering, and mask-grabbing (he was wearing a lucha mask) were all allowed, so things got a bit heated!

Wrestling on and off today, blogging (obviously), looking forward to one more early morning match tomorrow and then a long and hopefully pretty drive home!

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!

back from down south! and upcoming...

Yesterday I was strolling along in 80-degree weather, actually thinking it was *close* to getting too hot, and today I'm getting nothing but chilly rain and more rain.  But that's OK, I might have hoped I could bring New Orleans's weather home with me, but really I knew it would never fit in my carry-on.

So the trip this past weekend was very nice.  The first stop in Mobile to shoot with Brutal Beauties was quite productive, and it was great to visit with Mark too.  He was one of my first-ever victims when I was still a bit new to wrestling, and the video we did together then was his very first too.  Good to see that he's doing well now with his own company, getting his own studio set up, and planning a lot for more to come.

This time around we did a custom judo video where I first walk in wearing a full gi but also high-heeled sandals.  After I throw Mark around a bit, he gets mad and take a swing at me.  In vengeance for the foul play, I kick off the heels, force him to suck on my toes, and strip off the gi to finish the rest of the match in lingerie to keep him completely distracted and helpless.  I *really* liked my outfit for this video - red lace bra and thong with black back-seam fishnets thigh-highs.  Definitely going to have to come back and edit this post with a photo when I've got one pulled from the video.

I'm even more excited about the other video we shot for Doom Maidens.  This one combined bondage wrestling with a beatdown scene.  Well, really that is to say, Mark's not a hot wrestler, so it was mostly bondage + beatdown.  The premise:  Mark's ex hired me to take him down and subject him to a torture scene.  Not for the faint of heart; he's pretty bruised and marked up by the end, especially around the midsection where I focused on unleashing some hellacious belly punching.  I had a great time toying with him -- untying and retying him in different positions and letting the slaps, kicks, and punches rain down.  AND the video itself looked great -- great light, liked my outfit again :)  Really excited for when we release this one!

So *almost*enough about work, despite that actually being a really fun part of the trip.  Got in some very good sessions also.  One of my biggest, roughest, and favorite clients was nice enough to drive three hours to see me in Mobile.  Gave me a very tough match that really made me earn my vacationing afterwards -- and also gave me a bit of a black eye for the rest of the trip.  Ai!

Headed over to New Orleans when we wrapped up with shooting.  It tried to rain on me Monday morning, but it was over that by Monday night when I headed out for free, it was steamy, hot and summery by Tuesday.  One thing that was fun was seeing all the Mardi Gras decorations still up.  The trees were all festooned with beads; giant masks were hanging on the buildings; and I got the feeling there was *zero* rush to get them down :)  A little disturbing though that the bakeries were all still trying to unload the leftover king cake -- really, it was a bit late for that.

Anyway, hit up Jax Brewery and conveniently there was some huge group of what seemed to be college theater students on an early spring break.  They were only a little annoying, but the waitress was so sorry about them that she volunteered drinks discounts, and I ended up getting some pretty fancy martinis on the cheap.  Not to mention the terrific catfish.  Yay!

Flew back to NYC yesterday.  I'd really thought that during my travel time I would get a lot of reading done for my personal training certification.  I tried getting certified once before, and I hated the ACSM course so much that I had to abandon it.  Now, I'm trying again with NASM, and I'm amazed at the difference.  The information is so much more relevant, interesting, and better presented, it makes me excited to finish the course.  I'm about two-thirds of the way through the textbook, but though I hauled it everywhere with me, I ended up negotiating a lot of scheduling for projects this coming weekend via Blackberry instead.

I'm running out of time for details, but basically my next adventure is this:  an artist-photographer friend of mine asked me to be an extra in a music video she's working on in exchange for a photo shoot for me.  And we're doing both shoots this Saturday!  First, video shoot of dancing in battle armor, followed immediately by a pro-style wrestling in pantyhose photo shoot.  Should be interesting!

question: so what's been going on?

Answer: SO MUCH. This is just a little whirlwind overview in a nutshell (and you thought it was hard to get a tempest in a teapot)...

Basically, I made the decision a month or so ago that after years of juggling my office job and my wrestling career, I am certain I want to go full time with the wrestling. Now, everything isn't in place for me to make this switch yet. As far as I'm concerned, the day can't come too soon, but I do also want to be fully prepared. So I'm trying to really step up video production, session travel, and training in preparation.

That's going pretty well for the most part. We just had a terrific video shoot last night where we doubled up shooting to create two wildly different videos. I'm pretty happy with both of them.

One was a double-team match where I took on Jason and Thrash at the same time. That one had a really fun, wacky tone, which I attribute quite a bit to Jason's being naturally fun and wacky to shoot with. Neither of these guys can wrestle worth a damn, so the idea was really to see if two non-wrestlers can equal one well-trained wrestler. And well, they couldn't. At all. They could put me in some tight spots, but ultimately, I got to have a blast handing them their asses and keeping up some heavy teasing and taunting the whole time.

The next video was a bondage match with Diablo -- because it was just about time he and I went at it again with rope. This one was a much more serious match: about 10 minutes of intense struggle as he tried to tie me but tried even more to avoid getting tied, and then once I had him bound and immobilized I got to switch into my tormentress mode. I'd worn my full black bodysuit & tights ensemble for this one, so I figured some high-evil femme fatale action was called for.

Now tomorrow I head off for a four-day session and filming trip way down south. First stopping in Mobile to shoot with Mark of Brutal Beauties at his new studio there -- I'm looking forward to some very sadistic bondage wrestling and more judo domination coming out of that shoot. Then off to New Orleans for sessions and, well, New Orleans! Yay, pretty excited for this one.

So, clearly, good success on the video and travel fronts. The one difficulty is training, and it's just a matter of finding time. Here's the issue -- I've been getting such awesome roleplay requests lately, I figured I'd take an acting class to step it up even more in that department. (And the crazy dreamer part of me said, "And if I get discovered, so much the better!") I went for Scene Study, which sounded like the most "classic" acting experience I could get. Now, at the same time this venture is competing for time with my grappling, Muay Thai, and weight lifting, I'm realizing an Improv class would have been more the thing to do.

Not that I'm not enjoying it, but unless I see Improv or some other perfect fit offered at the perfect on next semester's schedule, I'm out of the studio and back to the gym. That would be a bit of a relief, but I do HATE giving up on things or admitting at can't do it all. We shall see how that goes...

There's definitely more to say, but it will follow in other posts!

travel -- details!

I really thought I would get this report out yesterday, but it simply was not to be. Summer is obviously wake-up time for everyone, myself included -- I have been SO much busier lately with email, session and video requests, and more travel planning, not to mention belated spring cleaning of my website. Thanks to everyone who's making this a lovely full season for me -- you're keeping me jumping!

Anyway, the trip. Since it was a quick session trip, I did spend a lot of time in and out (mostly in) hotels with not too much chance for sight-seeing. But a few things that I did see were the Chicago subways and the Milwaukee bars. These things may sound unexciting, but I am always comparing everything to "how it is in New York," so they were fascinating to me. The Chicago trains have working intercoms, and the above-ground tracks are very scenic and pleasant. But there are no Unlimited Ride Passes -- that makes no sense. And you can still smoke in Milwaukee bars. In fact, they sell cigarettes in the bars. I'd forgotten such things were ever (and still, obviously) done.

As for fun highlights, also in Milwaukee I got a chance to meet up with the Madtown Beatdown crew, a bunch of grapplers who've lately been bringing rough combat and martial arts paly to the Madison BDSM scene. I'd been corresponding with these folks online for a while -- it was awesome to meet them in person and hear about what they've been doing to build a recreational fighters' community out in their area.

And of course we celebrated the meet-up with a party -- matted out my hotel room for a late-night open mat. The featured event was a thong bikini anything-goes catfight match between myself and Zen, one of their fighters. We allowed submissions, slapping, hair-pulling, spanking, smothering, and even licking, and despite all that it was still a very fun, friendly, and sometimes hilarious match. Also, with Zen standing at just 5 feet, I got to fight someone smaller than I am! We did film the match, but the bikinis proved so flimsy that the final product turned out too scandalous to release. Great still photos came out of it though:



I have an entire new gallery dedicated to this fight up at my website, here: Fight with Zen Gallery

And the rest of the party was very good too!

On the way back home, I stopped in Cleveland. Cleveland was an old stomping ground of mine when I was in college; I pleased I got to revisit a favorite restaurant there -- a New Orleans Blues venue where they give you crayons to draw on the table clothes and provide you Mardi Gras beads. (New Orleans Blues in Chaicago? -- I know, I know.)

Here I also got to shoot another fun video that, I believe, WILL be released. I was working for the second time with Utopia Entertainment and much enjoyed demolishing the producer, Kip, in a scissors domination match. Again on the comparing everywhere to New York topic -- NYC would never spare space for such a filming studio as that, or if it did would charge for its use in bricks of gold.

So now I'm back home -- got back to the gym on Tuesday and back finally back to training last night. Whether I got too much rest over this trip or not enough, that was an unGODly gruelling class. Welcome back me!

I'm really going to have to get a good and disciplined groove going with my training immediately, since I'm going to have so many disruptions from MORE travel throughout the summer.

Should hopefully be posting my calendar for that (travel, not training) later today. Or tomorrow, if things go the way they did yesterday with this bog post.

excited for travel...

So things are a little quiet at the moment, but they're about to get exciting. Right now I'm hanging in, keeping up with my training and lifting, making a concious effort to get up-to-date everywhere and with everything online (getting my MySpace out of the Stone Age...), and looking forward to getting my poor old clunking laptop fixed up at the Apple store tomorrow.

But I'm very excited my upcoming session tour at the end of the month! I got the whole thing confirmed after a good bit of uncertainty, and I'll be making stops to offer wrestling sessions in Pittsburgh on May 26-27, in Chicago on the 27th-29th, in Milwaukee on the 29th-31st, and in Cleveland on the 31st-1st. It will be a lot of driving, but fortunately I love that. It's high time to get out of New York for a little while and take the fighting on the road!

Also on this trip I'll be competing in a grappling tournament on the 30th (I can't get enough, clearly). AND I'll finally get to meet some online grappling friends from the Madison area -- they'll be coming to my tournment and hosting a fight club afterparty at their hotel that night. Cheering squad + party = tons of awesome. Can't wait to meet these folks. And to top it all off, I have a few video prospects along the route as well.

So this trip probably doesn't count as a vacation. It will be great, but madly busy. That said, anybody out there in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Milwaukee, or Cleveland who'd like to get together for a session while I'm visiting should get in touch and schedule! Time will be precious!

And as a final note, things are getting ready to pick up back home in New York as well. I have a few video and photo prosepects brewing here as well; more soon when I see what materializes from them. Grapple Den is increasing its training workshops from once to twice this coming week, and since the weather is FINALLY getting nice, the Wednesday session will be moving outside to Washington Square Park. And of course the Grapple Den Nerds vs. Jocks Party will be May 20. Should be a good kick-off to the travels!