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Foot binding began late in the T’ang Dynasty (618-906) and it gradually spread through the upper class during the Song Dynasty (960-1297). During the Ming period (1368-1644) and the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) the custom of foot binding spread through the overwhelming majority of the Chinese population until it was finally outlawed in the 1911 Revolution of Sun Yat-Sen.

There are several legends that endeavor to account for the inception of this custom, one is that the concubine of a Chinese prince named Yao Niang walked so gracefully that it seemed as if she “skimmed over the top of golden lilies.” At that time the “lily footed woman” or a woman with bound feet became the model in China. A second legend says that this concubine, Yao Niang, was ordered to bind her feet so that her feet would look like new moons. A third legend says that women bound their feet out of sympathy for an Empress with club feet. Yet another originating in the Sung dynasty (960-976 BC) in the court of Prince Li Yu, whose favorite concubine who was required to dance with her feet bound, toe-dancing an early variation of ballet, the royal craze moved down the social ladder, eventually reaching peasants who hoped to achieve higher status through smaller feet.
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First Time Play is different for everyone. How it comes about is different. Who it is done with. What you class as play. Different levels. Different situations. Different considerations. But there are some standards, that for safety’s sake, should be taken into account.

Many people had their first BDSM experience before the arrival of the internet. There wasn’t the same promotion of the SSC lifestyle, the lifestyle itself didn’t seem to be as cohesive as it is today (except for the Old Leather scene), and contact with other BDSMers was usually accidentally discovered or explored within relationships. There were no resources promoting safe ways to do what it is we do. Common sense had to be assumed.

For many, those first experiences occurred within loving relationships, where one partner bravely admitted a kinky desire to the other, and aspects of BDSM were explored that way. That was great…as long as the one doing the tying didn’t cut off circulation or do nerve damage. It was mainly trial and error. Something felt good…it worked. Something felt bad…figure out a way to do it next time that will make it feel good.

In a more current sense, with the advent of the internet, vast numbers of people now have access to information about the BDSM lifestyle. Whole new communities have sprung up internationally. Networks of BDSMers are commonplace now. It’s now easy to meet like minded people, if you have the courage to act on your desires. And, there are benefits and disadvantages to this as well. On one hand, the potential for meaningful, interactive relationships, no matter what their definition, is vastly enhanced. On the other hand, it also means that there are greater numbers of people seeking some kind of BDSM interaction with, sometimes, little knowledge of what it is they are actually doing or getting involved in. This means it can be risky. The idea is to minimize the risks.
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If you engage in percussion play – and it doesn’t matter if it is flagellation with canes, whips, floggers, crops, pieces of 4 by 2 or strands of liquorice, there are going to be times, more often than not, where there will be bruising to the tissue no matter how safely you play. It may be severe or mild depending on the level of play and the period one has actually engaged in that particular play. Some submissive/bottoms develop what is called the leather bottom, a thickening of the skin tissue in that area, especially if percussion play is a prominent part of their BDSM play.

Bruising is an area of discolored skin. It develops when the lining of small blood vessels are damaged, allowing blood cells to escape into the skin and tissues. A bruise may be very small and may blend in with the texture of the skin, or it may be large, swollen, and painful. A bruise usually starts out as a red area or as tiny red dots or splotches on the skin. Within days to a week or so, the bruise becomes more purple. As it heals, it becomes brownish-yellow. Generally, bruises heal and disappear within 2 to 3 weeks. To minimize swelling, pain, and bruising after a traumatic injury, always apply cold compresses to the injured area as soon as possible and keep them on for most of the first twelve hours, with occasional breaks to prevent excessive chilling. Take homeopathic arnica tablets and massage tincture of arnica into the bruised area. Homeopathic remedies, used as first aid, can soothe the pain and soreness of bruises that come from injury, reduce swelling and fluid leakage into surrounding tissues, and generally encourage healing. A carefully-chosen remedy may also help correct a person’s tendency toward easy bruising and soreness.
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Canes are stiff, yet flexible, regarded by most, and encouraged by writings of the Victoriana School Days of Boys and Girls, as tools for corporal punishment, which of course is true. However their other uses are often over shadowed by the impressions one has of them in one’s mind’s eye. In the right hands they can be sensual and in the wrong hands a nightmare. Caning, sometimes referred to as: the English, the English Method, English Discipline, or English Style, is an art form which takes practise. A lot of practise. An exercise in control not easily attained. It is a serious play implement, it is capable of causing serious damage and is not for use by someone who has read five web sites and hit a pillow a dozen times. It demands a level of concentration above that expected for other forms of BDSM play. If you seriously wish to pursue this as a form of play take the time to seek instruction from an expert. It is not something we would undertake in a crowded or small play space as a back strike could do as much damage to an onlooker as a forward stroke could do to the party being caned. One has to be extremely aware of all the safety measures, strike areas, density, resilience, length and diameters of the implements as they all account for a different effect. No two rattan canes behave in the same way and should be treated individually.
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Sadism is pleasure in the infliction of pain or humiliation upon another person. This term describes consensual practices, often sexual, but not necessarily so, within the BDSM community. Sadist is one who is aroused, excited, or receives sexual gratification from inflicting pain on another. A sadist does not necessarily take pleasure in inflicting pain indiscriminately; for most sadists, the pleasure relies on knowing that the subject is also enjoying the experience. But these terms may be also used clinically, in psychotherapy, to describe mental illnesses, psychopathology or counterproductive coping mechanisms. Sadism is not necessarily associated with criminality or murder. The term sadist is thrown around very easily, the word itself may send signals, may attract and is quite often used to paint a picture that fits the world of fantasy. A seal, if you like, of quality play to come for some. Forbidden fruit always tastes the best. Some may visualise themselves as sadists but that may not necessarily be the case. They may just be extreme in some areas. Have a particular bent that is somewhat darker. Dread… political correctness, is there are some that fit the definition of a sadist however display the controls within themselves to play safely. There are some that don’t.

The word “sadism” was derived from the name of Donatien Alphonse Francois, better known as the Marquis de Sade, a French author who lived from 1740 to 1814, famous for his works of sexual arousal driven by physical suffering. He was imprisoned without trial as an “administrative punishment”, for fear of scandal, after the publishing of “Justine”, and “Juliette”. Later declared insane he was transferred to Charenton Asylum where in 1814 he died of ill health aged 74. De Sade spent 27 years of his adult life in prisons, dungeons, and asylums throughout France for reasons that included “excesses committed in a brothel”, kidnapping and sexual assault, poisoning, and homosexual sodomy. The German psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in 1898 gave sadism the professional definition: a sexual perversion with strong impulses to coitus, coupled with prepatory acts of maltreatment, even murder (necrophilia, then called “lustmurder”) which occurs primarily because of an inability to be satisfied with coitus.
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Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping (Latin flagellum, “whip”) the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o’ nine tails and the sjambok. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or sadomasochistic contexts. In some circumstances the word “flogging” is used loosely to include any sort of corporal punishment, including birching and caning. The flogger, in various forms, has played a surprisingly vital role in shaping the history of mankind. Throughout the centuries, our ancestors have incorporated it not only into their sexual practices, but into their spiritual, judicial and even medical practices as well. Flagellation in the name of a god is far from being a rare thing. Nearly all of the mother religions, the ancient mystery cults of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Egypt, Rome and Persia, and even the religions of Islam and Christianity have, at some point in history, incorporated flagellation into their spiritual rites and practices.

In pagan Sparta each year, during a festival called ‘Day of Flagellations’, young men were brought before an altar dedicated to the goddess Diana where they were whipped for from dusk to dawn. People would turn out from all over the countryside to view the whippings and to cheer and encourage the boys to ‘bear the pain with fortitude.’ Priests, who would bear witness to the entire ceremony, would, at the end of the day, examine the wounds on each of the boys, and, according to the sizes and shapes of the wounds, would predict the young men’s futures. It was not uncommon for some of the boys to die from the terrible wounds inflicted upon them during this ceremony, often without ever having uttered a sound.
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Are there sex differences in masochism? For a long time, this question was asked in relation to Freud’s suggestion that women are more masochistic. Various thinkers, like Helen Deutsch and Theodor Reik, debated whether males or females were the more masochistic sex. This went back and forth for decades.

In retrospect, the whole debate may have been stupid. It is now clear that there are masochists who are men, and there are others who are women. And neither is typical: That is, most men and most women are not masochistic. Masochists are a minority found among both men and women.

But that doesn’t mean that gender is irrelevant. Male masochists and female masochists don’t seem to desire, do, and enjoy exactly the same things. It may be possible to speak of male and female styles of masochism.

Research on these different styles is just beginning. I can tell you roughly how male and female masochists differ. What these differences mean is harder to say. Keep in mind that these are merely broad, general trends, while every masochist is a unique individual, there are many males who are closer to the feminine style than the masculine style, and vice versa. You can make generalizations about masochists, but there are always many exceptions.
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Subspace (also sub space, headspace, flying, or floating) is a specific state of mind that a submissive may enter, particularly after intense activities and/or (depending on the person) intense pain play, characterized by euphoria, bliss, a strong feeling of well-being, or even a state similar to intoxication. Thought to be related to the release of endorphins in the brain. The euphoria associated with subspace may last for hours or sometimes even days after the activity ceases.

Subspace is a metaphor for the state the bottom’s mind and body is in during a deeply involved play scene. Many types of BDSM play invoke strong physical responses. The psychological aspect of BDSM also causes many bottoms to mentally separate themselves from their environment as they process the experience. Deep subspace is often characterized as a state of deep recession and incoherence. Deep subspace may also cause a danger in newer bottoms who are unfamiliar with the experience, and require the dominant to keep a careful watch to ensure the bottom isn’t placing him or her self in danger. Many bottoms require aftercare while returning from subspace.

Subspace is a form of trance. Trance in its essence is a state of being, different from your “normal” state of being. During trance your mind excludes most of its input and concentrates on just one or only very few impulses, completely disregarding all others. Trance is the result of hormonal activity. Hormones are substances in your body, responsible for communication between the brain and the cortex and the rest of the body. For subspace a group of hormones, called “peptides” is important. Peptides are amino acids. Many look like morphine and have attributes, that can be compared to morphine. For subspace endorphins – a group of such peptides – are an important ingredient.
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Male chastity belt (or male chastity cage, or penis prison, or chastity tubes) is a device which encloses the male genitals to prevent stimulation and erection. Chastity tubes or cages, or even piercings, are stimulation prevention devices for males – these popular devices are commonly referred to as “chastity belts”. Ironically, modern male chastity devices are almost exclusively used as a sex aid and in BDSM play. Since most chastity devices effectively prevent masturbation, it means one partner gives the other control of all orgasms. This can be a great deal of fun for both people. A female partner locks her man’s penis into one of these devices. She takes the key to work and leaves it there. The very fact that she now controls when he can enjoy sexual release is a turn-on. Over a fairly short time, most men will be very anxious to get unlocked long enough for a chance to come.

The period from 1850 to 1930 is full of truly strange sexual history. For example, in the 1850′s it became a widely held belief that male masturbation caused insanity. This triggered nearly a hundred years of increasingly demonic inventions designed to prevent young men from playing with themselves or having wet dreams. Male inmates in asylums were routinely fitted with devices to prevent them from making their conditions worse through ejaculation. Males were protected from themselves; prevented from touching and stimulating themselves. Ideally, they were also prevented from nocturnal emissions as well. Today, according to Paul of Access Denied, chastity belt maker, seventy-five percent of chastity belts are for a male wearer. Three quarters of all delivered belts are male belts, and the remaining quarter are female belts. You can read about female chastity belts in our article Female Chastity Belts.
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Breathplay is a form of edgeplay that is a hard limit for some BDSM players. However it comes in many forms and you may find a variety you enjoy. This article discusses the various forms of breathplay, risk and safety and how breathplay feels.

There are many ways you could break down these forms, below breathplay is devided into three categories.

- Compression of the carotid arteries

- Compression of the trachea or wind pipe

These two are often combined, for example when trying to stop bloodflow in the carotid arteries you may be applying pressure to the trachea.

Throttling with the hands and strangling with a rope share the same risks however when using the hands pressure can be controlled more easily. A hanging scene is more dangerous again with the subs body weight applying the pressure to the neck, tip toes will work as well as being off the ground. First the sub needs to be firmly on the ground then the rope removed. You cannot trust that you will be able to remove the rope with your hands. Always have EMT scissors ready. Never drop a sub into hanging as this could damage the spinal cord.

If the purpose is to reach unconciousness a stranglehold is very effective and can achieve this in roughly three seconds. This is much more comfortable for the sub.

- Other play that restricts airflow

Hand over mouth – putting your hand over a partners mouth during sex is probably the most common form of breathplay. The hand can form a tight seal with the option of blocking the nose to increase the intensity. This is a good place to start for beginners to breathplay especially in the missionary position where the Top can watch the bottoms reactions.
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