The Pleasure of Pain: An Ode to Spankings

When I think of spankings, I think of two things: transference and release.

A spanking isn't simply the sum of swats on a submissive's beautifully curved ass; it's a transfer of energy from one mind's body into the flesh of another mind and body. Each time contact is made between an open hand and softly taut skin, the bottom is receiving the energy of the Top.

When I am spanking my pet, especially OTK, I can feel the excitement vibrating from my shoulder to my fingertips. In the moments before I strike his ass, I relish the way his muscles tighten in expectation - it only causes my hand to fall harder. I know that I'm transferring my lust and excitement to him. I know that he can feel my blood pumping.

I know that my excitement makes him more and more excited.

That's the gorgeous transfer that all Tops and bottoms experience when they are truly present in the heat of a spanking scene. There can be no boundary and no limit to the amount of energy shared between two partners when minds and bodies are tuned to the energy that flies back and forth through harsh touch and well-crafted words.

Spankings are so often associated with "being naughty" or some other pretext that "justifies" the "punishment" being received by the bottom. To my mind, spankings and other impact play is not so much about punishment (though that has its place) but rather about imprinting someone for whom you lust with your own self.

The easiest example is physical marks: when you use a cane or paddle or hairbrush on an ass and thighs, there are warm, welted, red marks. They may last, they may fade, but in the moment of their delivery, they are the Top's physical lust living in the skin of the bottom. That is no small thing.

On to release.

The release of endorphins is, of course, a fabulous side effect of the exertion during pain. We feel the lash, we feel the impact, and our bodies instantly release these chemicals to relax us and diminish the pain.

Our bodies, it seems, are prepping us to receive higher and higher amounts of input in order to enjoy greater and greater degrees of pain. This is how pain becomes pleasure; this is how our bodies find release under the violently loving hand of a Top.

There is also the utterly unparalleled bliss of taking what your Top dishes out, and doing so in order to please the Top. When you take the hand, the lash, the crop, the cane, and any other impact play tool, you are performing and giving your body over to the Top's desires. You are serving in an extreme and whole-being fashion.

Sadism is not always met with pure masochism - often, the bottom endures the pain not because they find it to be the most pleasurable sensation, but rather because they want to earnestly to please their Top.

The bottom's pleasure and release comes from giving the body over to the whims, desires, and touch of the Top. Service and submission allow us to be made over by the desire of another, and in that makeover, we are released from our own desires.

We are released from being our own self, and are beautifully reduced and enhanced to a canvas.

A canvas need not think, need not plan, but only accept the pain and sensation that form the Top's art. Each handprint, each bruise, is a testament to the release found in reduction.

Heath's Training: High Impact Play, Biting, and Marking

This installment of the account of Heath's training concerns high impact play: marking activities such as biting, clawing, and, of course, striking with various implements. No one should engage in the following activities without training, consent, and full awareness from both parties of the risks involved.

With that being said, let's get to the good stuff!

The Good Stuff

Above are the implements for Heath's preliminary high-impact session. The goal of this play session was to introduce him to the heavier hitters in a time frame devoted solely to his body being marked by implements, fingernails, and teeth. The goal was to turn his skin into a canvas and to see where his initial pain thresholds lay. It turns out, those thresholds are quite high. :-)

As you can see, his ass was warmed quite thoroughly. Pictured is his first taste of a paddle, which he found visually intimidating. He soon discovered that just because an implement looks menacing doesn't mean it can't be used with varying degrees of speed and force. He also felt the sting of the cane across his backside and loved the percussive and rhythmic nature that can be achieved during its use. (Yes, his ass makes a great set of drums.)

You can also see the nail marks that were used to give him some feminine curvature lines along his back. Short natural nails always make the best marks due to being the sharpest and most easily controlled type of fingernail. 

Not pictured are the teeth marks that adorned the front of his body, over 30 in total, symmetrically placed along his ribcage, across his chest, and on his hips and thighs. 

I find that biting is the most intimate and loving of pain delivery methods as it combines the lushness of the Domme's mouth with the severe sharpness of her teeth.

Pictured to the left are the implements used for Heath's follow up High Impact training session. You can see the Big Momma Flogger, paddle, mini flogger, mini slapper, and pinwheel. While only the BMF was added to the already used lineup, the intensity of use for all implements was increased, as was time devoted to the use of each implement.

The BMF is my personal favorite of all my toys, and it delivers quite the thud when used at close range. When used at medium range, the ends deliver hundreds of stings.

 Heath's shoulders, back, and bottom are nicely reddened after a few rounds of the floggers, paddle, and slapper. All implements were used on his back and ass, and changing the implements mid hit certainly caused a great deal of sensory confusion/sensory overload.

I highly recommend lots of pace and implement change-ups to keep the submissive alert and totally immersed at once, but only to those Dommes who are completely comfortable and adept in using and changing implements quickly. 

Here he is, again, in the same pose, but being used as human furniture. I love to give a short break or two during which I balance and/or drape implements over the submissive. 

This practice not only allows their bodies and minds a short space in which to breathe/settle, but it also forces them to still perform while at rest - Heath knows that he must not allow the implements to move or fall from his body.

He is also demonstrating excellent form in keeping his supplicant posture with head down, hands clasped, and feet together. He has made himself totally accessible without spreading his body all over the bed, thus making it far more convenient for me to strike from all angles without moving all around the bed and room.

At the end of the High Impact session, he was left with bite marks, flogger/slapper marks, and a very relaxed body. The most wonderful aspect, for me, of sessions in which the sub's body is worked over is this: the total relaxation that is achieved through sending their bodies and minds into subspace through constant, varied, and delicious pain.