THE PULL OF FLESH
At A Glance Author mike Contact sick_of_it@hotmail.com When A week ago Artist perth pirate core Location perth western australia
The pull of flesh involves two or more people each placing two hooks in the flesh of your back situated at the top of your back near the shoulder blade, then joined with rope. Each person then paces out until the rope is taught then you lean forward until each person is supported by each other's weight.
Eager to experience the sensation that only what one can call a mind blowing, I decided to go ahead the with some friends of mine in Perth Western Australia with the help of the Perth Pirate Core about a week before Christmas 2004. Danny a friend of Perth Pirate Core who had done a flesh pull before wanted to do another one, so they asked if I would like to be involved. Happy to oblige we set off to get this happening. I had previously done a four-point suspension with Jussi a friend from Finland, so I couldn't see a flesh pull being too bad, I also have wanted to try it out for quiet a while regardless of what seemed to look quite painful.
Todd and Emili who are founding members of the Perth Pirate Core had the best venue for the event, it consisted of a wall of mirrors and they also place mirrors at the front of us. We set up the area and got everything ready to put the hooks in, as I watched Danny get his first hook being put in I thought that was probably not the best thing to watch since I was about to go thru the same and I've never watched any one else getting this done before and it seemed a bit unnerving.
We marked up the points for the piercing in my back while Danny finished up. I lay down and waited for my hooks to be put in. We pierced first and followed thru with the hooks, which taper from ten gauges to eight gauges. The left side that we did first was not to bad, but I sort of knew what to expect from doing a suspension. I felt the right side a bit more than the left but it was still completely bearable. Once I had my hooks put in, which were very comfortable considering I just had two eight gauge holes put thru my back. The ropes were attached first to Danny then myself with a quick check of the knots, we were about to get down to business. We paced ourselves apart until the ropes were taught, with the crew checking every thing was fine and then a slight adjustment of the ropes so that the tension was even on both hooks. A final check of the knots and we were really in business.
As we started I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but what I found was it was quiet pain free. Lacking the buzz of a suspension but was still enjoyable, as we bounced back and forth constantly adjusting the tension on my back from intense to nothing I was finding it hurt more with less tension. I also found that moving my arms was a lot easier, I assume it was from the placement of the hooks compared to that of a suspension. The best thing about it was that we could see ourselves in the mirrors on the wall and in front of us, which was quite weird but great seeing your own skin being pulled from your back as well as feeling it at the same time, previously I had only been to view things like this from a video. Having a laugh and a smoke we thought what we could do to brighten things up a bit. So we made a human clothesline with socks and under ware hung on the ropes between the two of us. After that we decided to add some more tension to the pull, with a person standing in front of me and another person in front of Danny. We linked arms with the person in front of us and let them pull us apart. The feeling was a lot more intense the just than weight of each other pulling, so this didn't last for to long.
After bouncing around for somewhat between half an hour to an hour we decided to stop for the night. Untying the ropes was more uncomfortable than the flesh pull itself as the knots that had tightened quiet a bit. Then with a quick yet gentle jerk the hooks were out, Danny had a few drops of blood but didn't appear to bleed at all.
I'd say that a flesh pull would have been a lot better if I hadn't done suspension previously. I think I would have got more out of it and it would be a great starting point for someone looking to try a suspension, as the initial process is the same.
All the same it is something one must try.