For more information on suspension visit – http://www.suspension.org/

Regardless of your chosen beliefs or lack thereof, I think we can all agree that there is an amazing energy that comes with body suspension. The connection it brings between each of us and the powerful effect of that experience can be life changing. For me, I view body suspension as one of the greatest gifts ever put into my life, and likewise, the greatest gift I can share with anyone. Many of us know the overwhelming joy of helping someone go up for the first time, or being there as they move through the process from suspendee to a skilled practitioner. Peter Tabaco was one individual lucky enough to have shared this beautiful craft with so many people that he loved and considered family. Working with Disgraceland Hook Squad, he was there for many of the practitioners that are still with them today as they learned the ropes. After he passed away, Disgraceland, along with a few close friends, offered up the most fitting tribute they could; a day full of suspensions in the same place so many of them had learned with Peter.

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After over a year and a half of daily digging and sorting through suspension images, it always catches me off guard when I come across really great suspension photos where I don’t recognize any of the people involved. It also makes me extremely excited; it means another group in our growing family of practitioners that is taking the time to do something beautiful with our craft. Levitate Tallinn is one of the newer additions to the community, and it seems that they are off to a wonderful start so far.

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It is always interesting to see how varied the reactions are to body suspension from region to region and culture to culture. Here in the US, one neighbor witnessing a suspension can alter the laws of an entire city based upon their close minded views of it. That reaction, however, is drastically different than the warm reception it seems to be receiving in Brazil. Diabos Mutantes Suspension has been hard at work educating themselves and sharing their craft with others.

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For many of us, our first suspension was a moving and personal event that marks a great moment in our lives. There are some experiences, however, that also make a dramatic impact on not only the suspendee, but those lucky enough to witness it as well. One of the most touching suspensions I have seen are these photos from Tom‘s first steps into the body suspension community; they happen to be the first steps he has taken in almost 10 years.

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“Our family is a circle of love and strength. With every birth and every union, the circle grows. Every joy shared adds more love. Every obstacle faced together makes the circle stronger.” -Joseph Campbell

I have been amazed by this community since the first day I stepped into it. My eyes were opened to an incredible group of people who had an amount of love for both this craft and for one another that I had never seen before. There is something that is so much more than friendship between the members of our suspension community; we are without a doubt a family. As with any family, there will always be arguments, disagreements, and bumps in the road, but we have shown through the tragedies that have hit us over the last few years that when times are hard we will pull together with unmatched strength and loyalty to get one another through it. That amazing unity has inspired the creation of SynerG Metals, and their first run of suspension pendants which will raise money to benefit those who need help in the suspension community.

The creators behind SynerG Metals were so moved by the outpouring of love, support, and donations after the car accident, which eventually cost us one of the most loved individuals in this community, that they came together to find a way to help. They turned to the form of expression that they knew best, and this pendant was the outcome. A small batch was made to be sold at Jill‘s baby shower originally, and after a little downtime, production has begun again. The proceeds (after material costs) from the current design being produced will go to aid in the medical bills surrounding the many months of treatment and care that were needed for Arwen “Spliff” Rosa. They are a beautiful design, and will go towards a great cause. Not to mention that the price will include a custom inscription on the back to make each piece unique.

I hope we see one of these on every person at suscon this year. It’s such an incredible way for the creators behind this to give something to this community. And just in case you are curious, the artists involved are not only making no profit from the pendants, they are not being paid for their time either. It is strictly a labor of love. As time goes on, they hope to continue using SynerG metals to help others in the suspension and modification community as the need arises. If you would like a pendant, please visit their ‘How It Works’ section of the group page for information about payment and custom engraving. Also, for those of you attending, if you order before January 28th you can opt to have your pendant delivered to you at Superpull rather than shipped.

I realize that we have been vague about who the individuals are behind SynerG Metals. Those taking the time to create these pieces are members of the suspension community, but ask to remain anonymous. This project is being done for the love of the community, not for a pat on the back or recognition. The choice to reveal the members working on this will be up to them. 

One of the hardest parts of having a community that is extends around the world can be the language barrier we face when sharing information. Although some information can certainly get lost in translation, Nero Daikokudo‘s chest suspension is impressive enough on its own, with or without a perfect description. I apologize in advance if I don’t get the information for his suspension completely accurate, but from what I am told Nero first attempted a one point chest suspension in 2008, which failed due to tearing. Three years later, he finally had his opportunity to try it again. On his second attempt, he succeeded in suspending for 10 minutes before coming down. Although many would consider that an impressive amount of time for a single point chest suspension, Nero wanted to push himself further. For his third attempt, which is shown here, he challenged himself to remain suspended for 20 minutes. I’m sure it was quite intense, but he managed to remain calm and relaxed throughout the experience.  Congratulations on your accomplishment Nero, I hope we see more as you continue to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

Back in October, WayLay Suspension had their first taste of performance suspension at the 2011 Flesh and Fetish Ball in Brisbane, Australia. The show featured a variety of talent that included rope bondage, burlesque, live music, and body suspension. As an added bonus, the show was also Samppa and Aneta Von Cyborg‘s first appearance in Australia. I am sure it was very exciting for the members of their team to be appearing alongside two performers that they enjoy so much.  It was apparent that the crowd loved the show as well; the venue was at capacity and people had to be turned away at the door throughout the night. I’m sure for those lucky enough to get in, it was a great performance to watch and a fantastic evening.

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A few months back we featured a video about a small body suspension group headed up by Alexis Noventa and the growing interest in body suspension throughout Puerto Rico. This next video is one example of suspension coming into the spotlight as more and more people become curious about what it is we do. Alexis was invited to be a part of this news segment by reporter Marjorie Ramírez called Taboo Tribes, which covered a range of subcultures considered by some to be taboo, to discuss the practice of body suspension. Although the segment doesn’t necessarily paint the best picture of what we do, Alexis made an effort to explain that they don’t suspend for the pain, they do it for the joy and happiness it brings into their lives. Hopefully people are able to take away a positive message from it, and disregard the assumptions made by those commenting from outside of our community that we are in someway doing this to be negative or as a sort of teenage ‘rebellion’. Alexis has stayed positive about it though, saying that it gave them exposure, and allowed people who were interested in suspension to reach out and contact them.  It certainly says a lot that he maintained a professional manner as he explained body suspension, even with the somewhat rude attitude of the crew working on it. The most important part was that Alejandra, who is filmed here suspending for her first time, had a wonderful experience with it. In the end, that means far more than what one television crew or priest thought about who we are.

Thank you so much for sharing this Alexis. Please continue to keep us up to date with what is happening in Puerto Rico with body suspension.

Another holiday season has come and gone, and for many of us the tinsel covered nightmares of shopping malls and department stores are still fresh in our memory. However, this year Disgraceland gave one lucky crowd a completely different kind of Christmas experience with their performance at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. This fantastic video by Angelica Vanessa gives those of us who weren’t there in person a little glimpse at the excitement and chaos that took place on stage that night.

The evening started out simple enough as the Disgraceland entertainers eased the audience into the performance with a small dance routine. As the crowd began to focus on the performance, suddenly Kimmy and Stacy were in the air and on the move, swinging above the crowd to shower them with glitter, snowflakes, and candycanes. With that, the show was in full swing as 40 performers worked the stage to thrill the crowd with sideshow acts, play piercings, body skewering, and more. As the girls came down from their suspensions, Mikey took their place in the air to show the crowd just how crazy you can get with over 30 feet of height to play with. As he was swinging over the stage, Mr. and Mrs. Claus wrapped up the night with a flesh pull against one another underneath him.

It seems like the crowd and entertainers all had a wonderful time that night, and Angelica did a wonderful job putting this video together. A special thank you from Kaspa goes to his DHS family, as well as to Angelica Vanessa, Kay, Amanda Chainsaw, Laz Chainsaw, Orb, and Cere for all of their hard work on this.

Thanks for the great video Kaspa!

Body suspension is serious business. Those of us in this community not only perform out duties as practitioners with the utmost professionalism, but also hold one another in the highest regard as colleagues. Being the mature adults we are, we would never enjoy a laugh at another practitioner’s expense. Ever. Well… maybe just this one time. This little piece of mischief was made possible by Allen and a handful of individuals that wanted to give Rick the finger, along with a little encouragement, as his hand heals up.

Of course, we wouldn’t give Rick such a hard time if we didn’t love him so much. He is a huge part of this community, and a wonderful person to know. I am sure he knows this video comes from the heart, but everyone who participated had better make sure to give him lots of love and well wishes at Superpull anyway.

We all hope you feel better soon!