Author Archive

AGRO – Superpull 2013

The Anti-Gravity Relaxation Organization was founded in Houston, Texas in February of 2004 by Rick Pierceall and his wife Angela Marsh. Every year, on the first Sunday in February, A.G.R.O. Houston holds it’s annual Superpull Sunday, marking the anniversary of that very first meeting. This is an event exclusive to the Houston chapter, where A.G.R.O. got its start. In honor of Superpull Sunday, A.G.R.O. Houston opens its meet and welcomes the other A.G.R.O. chapters and suspension teams from all across the country to join in on a massive flesh pull.

dec 20th

This year will mark Houston’s 6th annual Superpull Sunday and we are changing the event up. Instead of everyone joining in on a central hub and just pulling aimlessly – we will have the hub, and we are making this a Tug-O-War competition, with an AGRO Superpull 2013 trophy awarded to the winning team. Read more

Hanging at the Hotel Chelsea

Dave Navarro is becoming a regular guest here on Hook Life as he continues documenting his personal experiences with body suspension. In his latest outing, he and Steve Truitt performed a suspension on the balcony of the Hotel Chelsea, which has long been rumored to be haunted. For those of you who don’t know the history of the location, feel free to check out a bit more about it here. But first, here is what Dave had to say about his suspension there:

Steve Truitt and I stepped onto the balcony at 4:30 AM in an attempt to avoid any attention. He had set up the rigging earlier in the evening and all we had to do was throw the hooks in my back and get me up. Out in the morning cold, days after Sandy swept through, there was a calm stillness about the city and in the hotel itself. The place is supposed to be haunted by many of the spirits of past tenants. I consider myself an open minded skeptic, yet I swear I could feel them. So it was me, Steve, a few friends and possibly others we weren’t directly aware of. Steve threw his hooks and we got up.

Of course I have had many times at this hotel in the past. Jane’s used to stay there and I have spent countless nights in different rooms throughout the years with an assortment of friends. Some nights I recall more than others, but they were all good. Sex, drugs, music, and blood letting were common occurrences, regardless of who I would visit. One can’t even begin to imagine the levels of inspirational and sometimes destructive energies that residually dwell within this sacred building… Shrine… Temple. Just about anyone who has spent any time at The Chelsea could write an encyclopedia worth of stories. Naturally, this place just felt right.

I don’t know if it was the company, the height, the cold, the hour, the history, the ghosts, or a combination of all of these things, but this night was my best experience with suspension so far.

This post was shared with us from Dave’s website. Be sure to stop in there as well to keep up with what else he has going on.

Personal Journey

In a previous post, we took a look at Dave Navarro’s first suspension. Each person’s experience with suspension is so unique, and even with talking to them about it, it’s impossible to capture the personal nature of what it was for them unless it comes in their own words. Luckily, Dave has recently taken a moment to write on his website about the long journey that brought him to finally take the leap to try it, and is letting us steal the post to feature on here as well:

I first became aware of suspension in the early 90s. There was a bookstore in Silverlake called Amok Books and one of their bigger selling titles was a RE Search book called Modern Primitives that was published in 1989. This is where I learned about Fakir Musafar. (He has experimented on his own body with body modification techniques such as body piercing, tightlacing, scarification, tattooing, and suspension, and has documented, shared and taught others as part of his life’s work making him an underground icon in BDSM, kink and fetish communities. – Wikipedia) I was instantly intrigued by Fakir and his practices. I read as much as I could find on Fakir and quickly found myself at different happenings in Los Angeles. Art shows, both visual and performance, conventions, odd book store openings, fetish community gatherings… Whatever I could find. It was at this time I learned of Ron Athey and had the opportunity to meet him at one of his performances. (Athey’s work explores challenging subjects like the relationships between desire, sexuality, and traumatic experience. Many of his works include aspects of S&M in order to confront pre-conceived ideas about the body in relation to masculinity and religious iconography. – Wikipedia) These guys were both inspiring and fascinating to me through their penchant for performance and seemingly super human powers.

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Icelandic Adventure

This was written and sent in by Jussi, telling us about the suspensions they did in Iceland recently. The photo are fantastic, and who better to describe the experience than someone who was there firsthand. Thank you Jussi!

On September 2012 me and Sakari from the Finnish Supersankari Suspension team flew to Iceland to attend the Reykjavik Tattoo Expo. We also had brought some suspension gear with us. The plan was to perform a little guerrilla suspension somewhere near Reykjavik.

On Sunday 16th we went to search for a point to suspend from in Þingvellir National Park. A local tattooist had mentioned that there is definitely a place where we could perform the suspension there. After searching for an hour we had nothing, and the idea was to take some photos of this beautiful waterfall in Almannagjá canyon before heading back to the city. Right next to the waterfall I noticed a spot that could be used for suspension, and rock formations at this place made it easy for the rigging. The problem was that it was a very touristic place, so we had to wake up early the next morning.

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Taking Flight

From Eden Thomson of Skindependent Suspension:

There is something very special when people experience their first suspension. I think a lot of it has to do with the satisfaction and sense ofaccomplishment gained when you let yourself go and your feet leave the ground for the first time. Seeing this on people’s faces is one of the most rewarding things about suspension for me as a practitioner. At our most recent Sunday Sessions, we had the pleasure of suspending Chelsea in a 4pt suicide for her first time. Below is what she had to say about her experience:

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A Flight in the Woods

The trees swing slowly, while some fifty people move around them in a busy and joyful mood. I came from Italy to Croatia, not a big deal of a trip, but nationalities are many here: Norway, England, Serbia, Slovenia, Netherlands and Germany.

Somebody is setting up kitchen service, somebody is literally tying up trees in climbing ropes and other sturdy and reliable high altitude equipment; all the other people are softly enjoying the lovely weather, lying on the grass. The gentle sound of the breeze is broken by jokes and laughs in an ever changing English, painted in so many different accents.

 

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Public Criticism

In the world of suspension there are many random articles, videos, and blogs that contain information about our art form.  Of those, none are truly dedicated specifically to body suspension.  So, until we get our own Fox News, here at Hook Life will do our best to remain “fair and balanced.”  So without further ado, today we present to you an article criticizing Hook Life. 

Cere Coichetti  – When I first saw the contest being posted on Hook Life, my first reaction was one of disbelief. Here was a contest, created and put forth by people in the industry who place safety and professionalism in high regard, that blatantly encourages illegal acts (regardless of what the fine print says); I was immediately against it from the start.


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Theatre Bizarre

Today’s blog comes from our favorite green man (if you were at the Dallas Suscon you understand) Bradde Hamman

I was introduced about 4 years ago to this masquerade when I popped in the eve of the show to help throw hooks for some performances. To my surprise Theatre Bizarre was way more than I bargained for! This show was a lifestyle, a way of living, a career if you must. People sweat and toil year round to give the illusion that for one night the slums of “Detroilet” are a magical spell binding experience.

Having suspension intermingled throughout the grounds has always helped give a certain mystic to the venue. We have also done some main stage acts like the notorious “Devil’s Tight Rope.” John Dunivant approached us with this idea to have a man balance on a tight rope in the the middle of an energy pull, and we took it from there.

This show has been going on for 11 years now and unfortunately the last two have not been able to be on the grounds due to some safety codes. I am asking for any help and/or donations which will go to getting this event put back on the sacred grounds from which Zombo was created. I leave you with a teaser trailer to a documentary to help fund and return all the lost souls to the grounds.

Theatre Bizarre Website: http://theatrebizarre.com/

Theatre Bizarre FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Theatre-Bizarre/123786143679

Theatre Bizarre Documentary FB: https://www.facebook.com/theatrebizarredoc?sk=wall

Zombo The Clown FB: https://www.facebook.com/zombotheclown

Inspiration and Innovation

This is a note from Joe Amato to let the suspension community know about two concepts he has been working with.

Hello Hookers,
I would like to show you some pictures and video from two recent shows where we got to field test some fresh ideas. The bandaged Gilson Hook, and the “art rig”. These are both ideas that have been drawn and redrawn in notebooks of mine, and finally come to fruition. These ideas have come a long way, and have a long way to go.  So, I am excited to see what the rest of the community will do with them, and how they will evolve.

The Bandaged Gilson
So here is the idea, cover and seal a Gilson hook up so that you can suspend, over a crowd, or in an unusual costume, with peace of mind that you are not going to make a bio mess of everything .

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The Person Behind The Stories

Today’s blog entry comes from guest writer Mike “BigMike” Coons of Hooked Suspension

It has been all of our pleasure over the last year to sign onto the HookLife blog and see what has been happening in our community.  Whether you’re on a team that has been written up or you just like to see what’s new in the suspension world, we all owe thanks to Misty, aka. Southtownbaby, for her well written and always entertaining posts.

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Suspension.org is a website for those interested in the art and technical aspects of body suspension and the responsible dissemination of information pertaining to such. It is not designed to encourage people to attempt any dangerous activities.