Super Busy December of Wrestling and Filming

Well, I must say that today - Christmas Day - I have enforced a strict "no work" policy for myself.  Sadly, I have already broken this policy by re-posting some video announcements just minutes ago.  I was pretty good all day, but with so much in the queue right now, I can't help but be antsy.

And what is the reason that I had to enforce this No Work policy today?

The reason is because I've been running on the video-making hamster wheel all month!

I blame myself.  But I also blame VeVe.  And I blame all the visitors who came into New York City one after the other after the other.  We set up a bunch of shoots with visitors such as Bad Bad Bettie, her protege Page, Toned Tommi, MariQueen, ShortFuse Mark, and hometown lady Orlandoe.  And, of course, VeVe.

I had a little surgery at the end of November, and that put me out of commission just as the first shoot of our Whirlwind of a month was coming upon us.  So, I left the camera in the capable hands of Hanz and VeVe, who traded off filming duties.

That first shoot involved VeVe, Hanz, and visitors Bad Bad Bettie and Page.  VeVe took on Page in a submission wrestling bout.  VeVe then took on Bettie in a rope-tie style wrestling match, since VeVe and Bettie had already had a straight-up wrestling match about a year ago for Robin.  Hanz also took on Bettie and Page, one after the other.  And everyone arm wrestled each other at some point.

I was sorry to have missed seeing Bettie again on her trip here and meeting Page, but...

The next thing I know, VeVe dropped a ton of video footage at my studio doorstep.  And the heavy December began...

Once December came on, I was back on my feet and working the camera again.

As I was preparing, processing, and exporting all of this footage, the calendar landed on our shoot day with Toned Tommi, who arrived in NYC in the very first days of December.  We had set Tommi up for a competitive match against male wrestler Adrian.  When the shoot day arrived, though, Adrian had a family emergency and had to postpone the match until the following day.

No sweat.

However, that following day also happened to be when we had scheduled to shoot with other visiting wrestler MariQueen, a newcomer from New England.  So, we just set the Tommi vs Adrian shoot to take place later in the day, after the filming with MariQueen.

MariQueen was scheduled for a match against Clobberetta bright and early at 10 am in the morning.  VeVe also wanted to do a 2-on-1 match of MariQueen + Clobberetta vs her.  And that was the plan.  But upon arriving at the studio, we had a last minute idea to call in Adrian to see if he'd be able to come and film with these two ladies as well.  Luckily, he responded to the last-minute call and hopped on the train to join us.

As we were filming Clobberetta vs MariQueen, Adrian arrived.  And it was great that he did, because following the ladies' match, Clobberetta had to leave.  So, no 2-on-1 match as VeVe wanted.  But MariQueen was feeling really good and energized, so we decided to match her up with Adrian for a competitive mixed match.  And after that match, MQ was still raring to go - and VeVe was getting antsy from sitting and watching - so we gave MariQueen yet another match within that 1-hour time block in that studio.  So, after fighting Adrian, MariQueen then went on to wrestle VeVe.

That was a lot of wrestling for MariQueen, and I was impressed with not only her stamina and tenacity, but also with her highly professional and pleasant attitude.

Following this shoot, we had a bit of downtime before we had to head back to the studio again that day to film with Toned Tommi, Adrian, and Hanz.

We filmed a competitive match of Toned Tommi vs Adrian, which Tommi totally rocked.  She had a lot of fun with this match, kicking up some great taunting and trash talking as she spun circles around her opponent.  We then filmed a competitive match of Tommi against Hanz for Hanz's video store.  And Tommi took on Adrian and then Hanz in arm wrestling matches.  It was a great shoot, and everyone was in really good spirits.  Long shoot day!

Ok, speaking of long, this entry is getting long.  But at that point in time, so was my work queue.  And it was only single-digits December.  Oh boy.

Two days after that shoot day, we had a shoot with Orlandoe and Jason.  I call this "Orlandoe + Jason, Take #1."  The studio was lovely, the colors of Orlandoe's attire were splendid, the to-do list was doable.  And it was all going well until... this piano cut in.  I was right there in the middle of filming a moody spy episode for the Lethal Leotards series (more info on that later), and then in comes a jazzy piano from the blackbox theatre next door.  I thought I would jump out the window.

So, from that shoot, we got a lot of footage to start up Orlandoe's personal clips4sale store, called Orlandoe Supreme.  However, I wasn't satisfied with the femme fatale footage that I was going after.  So, I pursued Orlandoe and Jason for the following week, trying to get their schedules to line up for a re-shoot.

And I'm glad I did.  Because we did meet for a reshoot (Orlandoe + Jason, Take #2), but I changed the location of the shoot and I slightly changed the premise.  And I also made some drastic changes to the lighting.  The result was a very lovely piece called "Agent Orlandoe: Lethal Leotards Syndicate" - a spy domination piece - you know, jump you in your own home, I've been following you, and all the related loveliness.  And, of course, leotard and tights for the femme fatale.

Oh goodness, this is so long.  I will cut to the quick!

As all of this was going on, a fan suggested and sponsored a Bondage Wrestling rematch between VeVe and Keri Spectrum.  We were able to contact Keri and set up the shoot.  And this new bondage wrestling shoot took place, chronologically, between Orlandoe+Jason #1 and Orlandoe+Jason #2.  A splendid shoot-night that generated "Bondage Wrestling REMATCH: VeVe vs Keri", which proved to be very popular and held the #1 spot in the overall Bondage category on clips4sale for a week at least.  We also filmed a second bondage + wrestling video with Keri that evening ("Bondage Wrestling Race").  Even though I have that 2nd video processed and complete, I cannot even begin to think about preparing it for the store right now!  Talk to me in 2013.  ;)

What else?  Whew, I'm exhausted.

Oh yes.  So, less than a week after the filming with Keri, ShortFuse Mark came into town, and VeVe snagged him for a custom video.  VeVe and Mark did a secret agent themed video which I've dubbed Squeezing Seduction.  It's not a leotard & tights video; in this one, VeVe is a leather mini-skirted spy-assassin.  They also had a little belly punching wrestling match, and Mark proved to be pretty bad at punching... so, he ended up getting punched quite a lot.  A lot.  And, of course, VeVe and Mark arm wrestled as well.

Then moving closer into Christmas week, we made a nice little push to get out some holiday-themed material.  This, however, meant that the regular materials in the queue got put on hold.  But what resulted was VeVe performing Holiday Flexing (see excerpt on youtube), Holiday Balloon Squeeze-Popping (see excerpt on youtube), and Holiday green+red duct tape bondage escaping.  All this in addition to a ton of balloon-related videos and a very lovely duct tape mummification escape attempt.

And this brings me to here and now: Christmas Day at 10:40 pm.  I've been working the New-Release-O-Meter really hard this month, so I am trying to give everything some breathing room.

But there you have it, my update for December.  All of December.  I think.  Enjoy, and Happy Holidays to all!

Concussion by VeVe's Fast Hands

As some of you know, last week here in New York City, we faced the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, the most devastating hurricane to hit our city in.... its history?

Our subways were shut down for days as they were flooded, later to be effortfully pumped and restored.  Despite the water damage and power outages, many of us in Brooklyn were not directly affected.  However, we were confined to our borough.

Since VeVe, the studio, and I were all in Brooklyn, we took a moment to play some hardball.  So, on last Wednesday evening, we met in the studio for some sparring.  We engaged in a light 20-minute technical submission grappling bout before pulling out the MMA gloves and getting to our feet.

We had a great little rumble that evening, working our Muay Thai, wrestling, and ground & pound games against each other for the first time.  We threw lighter punches at the face, but didn't hold back too much on body blows.  Despite the attempts at "lighter" face strikes, lips were smashed and teeth chipped slightly.  More specifically, VeVe walked away with a bruised lip and I somehow increased the size of the chip in one of my teeth.

So, when we met again the next evening, I opted for a mouth guard.

And I'm glad I did....

On Thursday, we racked up again for another bout.  This time, though, it seemed like there was a bit more blood hunger in the air.

We warmed up once more with light grappling, and then moved to don our gloves.  I briefly mentioned setting up the video camera on a tripod, but I dismissed the idea for fear of the camera falling over.

But maybe I should have taken the risk... and just secured the camera very tightly.  But no shoulda, woulda, coulda...

The fight was long and glorious and especially fierce.  And at times, tempers flared.  Ok, well, to be honest, VeVe's temper flared much more often than mine.

We worked kick boxing from the feet, with me looking to take the match to the ground as soon as possible. I had an undeniable reach advantage, which worked in my favor for striking both on the feet and on the ground.  On the feet, my kicks could keep her at bay, and when I was on top of guard, I could easily rain down blows while staying out of range of upward retaliation.

My takedowns were great, considering the confined space, and my endurance held well even after VeVe threw sneaky punches to my abdomen whenever she could (she really seems to like doing that!).  But after 30 minutes of fighting, fate took things into its own hands....

... when it took my face into VeVe's hand.

Well, more specifically, when it took my jaw into her fist.

While on the feet, I decided to change up my game a bit, and I stepped in with a body punch.  At the same moment, VeVe was launching a right hand punch my way.  Her right hand connected with my jaw while I was moving forward, and my head was rocked back, a la whiplash.  The pain in my neck was pretty jarring, and I saw a few bright circular shapes in my left eye.

I pulled back, cursing my over eagerness, and waiting for the shock to subside.  It wasn't a knockout blow, but I felt at that moment a glimpse of a punch-to-jaw knockout.  I walked the mat area, calmed myself, checked my neck.... and continued!  And I wasn't happy.

After a few more exchanges both on the feet and on the ground, I had to take a break as wavy lines started to appear in the corner of my left eye.  They were increasing in my vision, from the top far corner of my eye. I wrote it off to dehydration, since we'd been sparring and sweating for quite a while without stopping for water.

I took a short break, took some water, checked my pupils in the mirror, and the wavy lines subsided.  And, after a 10 minute rest, we went back for yet another round.

By the end of the evening, my lips were a mess and I had a tad bit of headache.  And VeVe?  She was happy as a clam!  And even though her lips were pretty battered as well, she loved the entire sweaty battle.
...

On later examination and inspection, I believe I suffered a mild concussion as my head jerked back from the jaw punch.  It was pretty minor, I should be fine after a week's rest, and the neck took more punishment than the brain, but there you have it:  concussion by VeVe's fast hands.

And I am kicking myself for not setting up that candid camera!

Hurricane Update from Us in NYC

Hi Everyone,

We here at the Doom Maidens studio have weather the storm all right!  Our videography studio is located inland in Brooklyn, so the electronics department didn't suffer any flooding.  Our Brooklyn space never even lost power at any point.

The ladies are all fine and well, and I think most of our guys are as well; though we have yet to hear from Hanz, I'm sure he's all right.

There was massive flooding in Manhattan, and our subways were all shutdown yesterday.  They are still shutdown today, and 7 tunnels have been flooded.  I expect our Manhattan studio is closed today, but Brooklyn is of course still open.

There was a massive fire in the borough of Queens last night, but as far as I can tell, no one from our team was affected.

Right now, there is some rain off and on, and some mild-to-moderate winds.  Things are generally calm, and the city is attempting recovery.  The sky is cloudy but bright now at 9 am Eastern time.

Halloween is tomorrow, and Manhattan had hopes of having its usual huge parade and an enormous after-party at Webster Hall in the East Village.  Here's hoping that will be able to go on.

In the meanwhile, it seems like VeVe may come by the studio to make some video clips today.  Maybe other ladies as well....?  Let's find out.

Recent Bondage Wrestling this Season

Well, hello again!  October is finally now upon us, and here I am pushing to make a new blog entry.

It has been a busy season (when hasn't it?), and there is such a variety of things going on, that it is overwhelming to even begin writing about them.  Why?  Because A) I will inevitably leave something out, which I don't want, and B) I will probably end up writing way too much.

But since I am in a hot and stuffy room right now, maybe that will force me to keep it as short as possible.  But then again, I do always try to keep it as short as possible.

Well, here goes.  To keep things simple, I will just address the bondage wrestling work.

More Bondage Wrestling with VeVe

Like, everyone's doing it.  At least this season!  The most recent victim was your humble narrator.  Just this past Monday evening (3 days ago), I made my return to the small Big Screen in a custom request video which is titled both "Bondage Grudge Match" and "Hogtie Abuse."  Both titles are accurate sum-ups.

Hanz manned the camera for me on this one, and he did a great job.  I was able to add a bit more mass to my body since my last video in July - VeVe's Mixed Wrestling Challenge - where I seemed to be headed back to leanness (not quite June 2011's "Interrogation Torture" or "Indra vs Diablo: Bondage Wrestling," where I was 10 lbs lighter).  So, I was pleased with that.

Anyway, enough talk of beef and back to the bondage wrestling.

This video started with some good, competitive bondage wrestling.  Both VeVe and I have come quite a ways in terms of understanding rope use in wrestling, since our first bondage wrestling video together in Nov 2010.  For example, folding the rope in half and using loops is certainly much better than attempting to tie knots during the initial phases of a battle.

It actually took me quite a while during Monday's match before it occurred to me to start working for knots. Loops, snares, and lassos are really just so much better.  Knots are more of a finishing touch type thing.

Look Ma, no hands!

But as fate would have it, I didn't end up tying any lasting knots that evening anyway.  No, instead they were tied upon me instead.

By special request, VeVe threw me into a hogtie, taking a very specific route about it - she had to work to make the ties in a specially requested order.  Starting with a particularly painful double hammer lock tie with my arms behind my back.  She got only one arm behind my back first, and I fought single-armed for quite a while.  As a matter of fact, I continued to fight for the entire time.  Single arm, no arms, bound legs, you name it!  I will admit, I did have to quit once the ball gag went on.  I hate those.

It was a long video, and my shoulders got put to the test in that hammer lock tie.  Ouch.  Because once I was fully hogtied, there was still a lot more to go.  Teasing, taunting, ha ha ha.  I got to stomach the whole nine yards of VeVe's delighted meanness as a result of getting caught.  Gah!

Orlandoe Gets Her Share of Hogties

A week or so previous to the above mentioned bondage match, VeVe faced off against her ol' rival Orlandoe in an Escape & Attack challenge.  I talked a little bit about this in my Bondage Wrestling Blog earlier this morning, so I won't do too much rehashing.

Basically this - after VeVe first attempted the Escape & Attack challenge with Jason, we decided to keep working in that specific sub-genre of the Bondage Wrestling super-genre.  Plus, there just needed to be an F v F version of this!  Orlandoe was an absolutely excellent candidate, for several reasons: wrestling and rope skill, plus pre-existing affront to VeVe!

At the risk of being redundant, I will say that VeVe proved to be the savvier escape artist.  And Orlandoe, well, she ended up tied into a rather unhappy ball.  The title of that video?  It all became clear with the match result: VeVe's Vengeance!  Bondage Wrestling.

Oh goodness, I am seriously running out of time here.  Quick summary, then:

Previous bondage work in September included a very artistic-looking "Ballet Shoe Bondage" video with Indra and VeVe playing rival ballerinas.  And in a related, but not specifically bondage wrestling vein, we had the kick off of our new Stockholm Syndrome series of mixed wrestling domination videos.  So far, VeVe, Indra, and Athena have appeared in this video set, along with Adrian and Thrash.

We also filmed competitive matches with Clobberetta and newcomer Sircee.  And to make a nice, ancient Grecian theme (somewhat!), we filmed a competitive match between Athena and Sircee.

More to come!  Back to the grind!

Post about Download File Types. WMV vs MP4

I may write more about this in the future.  But for now, let me repost something I recently sent up to our yahoogroup regarding file types for downloadable video, which has prompted me to make this post.

After researching and trying and erroring, I am still not sure if I should abandon WMV and produce only MP4.  I'm right now delivering in both formats simultaneously, based on what I think people prefer.  I would like to reveal that MOST people we deal with are opting for WMVs, with a much smaller minority selecting MP4s.  The MP4 people are out there, I can see, but, again, they are a much smaller percentage of users.

I will also reveal that I can get a slightly higher bit rate into an MP4 than I can into a WMV of the same file size.  Basically, if I aim to make a file 200 MB in size, I can squeeze a tad higher bit rate into the MP4 version without going over the 200 mark, as I have discovered.  It could be a difference of, say, 3 mbps vs 3.45 mbps, just as a random example that I am making up off the top of my head.

But the playback is nearly identical.  If I scrutinize, I might be able to pick out playback differences.  And I would be interested in doing that at some point when I have time.  And I'd like to report back about it.

I do know that a small minority of Mac users should choose MP4 over WMV (as we produce them post-HD-upgrade) because of issues with the sound encoding.  But most users, especially tech savvy users, on either a Mac or PC, using the VideoLAN player, report no preference between the two file types.

Ok, now to the writing that inspired the above writing:

From my yahoogroup post:
_________________________________
This is the less exciting tech end, but just a reminder....

I am about to close the poll in our Doom Maidens yahoogroup regarding the file type people prefer for downloadable videos.  So far, there haven't been too many votes one way or another, but WMVs are leading the pack.

Remember to vote in that poll, since it closes this week:

(link went here)

And I will say, people do seem to prefer WMVs when given the choice in our MixedWrestlingNYC clips4sale store.  Some of you may have noticed that recent videos are being released in both WMV and MP4.  Our dear friend Hanz Vanderkill is kind enough to point out that MP4s are playable on mobile devices, just a side note.  But WMVs (Windows Media Video) are apparently the preferred choice of Windows / PC users.  But Mac users have enjoyed them as well, courtesy of the VideoLAN player.

Anyway, new videos in the DoomMaidens.com store are also coming as both WMVs and MP4.  Customers will get both files, with the option to download either/or, as they prefer.  If a video has a MP4 version as well as the default WMV version, it will be noted on the product page.

Ok, enough from me for now.  Go vote before it closes.

________________________________________

July Competitive Wrestling, Female MMA Visitors, and Workout Contests

Wow, now that was a busy month!

July 2012 was VERY full of filming.  A wide variety of filmings.  Belly punching, workout sessions, competitive matches.  Many competitive mixed matches.  And I even got in on one of them.

I'm going to try to make this entry short, since I am in the process of selecting screen stills for the product page of our up-coming release of "VeVe Lane vs Mahea" (that's here).  I've got PhotoShop open and waiting for me, with images crying for yet more attention.  But VeVe just mentioned to me that she was going to try and write a blog of her own, so that reminded me to poke my head in here.

I think I've got the cover photo selected for that one, so that means the hardest part of image selection aspect for a particular video.  What one frame of the video can capture the essence of the entire piece... ?  Since we've had a few varied essences this year, I've also been making some 4-way covers.  However, of course, a single-image cover photo is larger and shows more detail.

Below, see single-image cover vs 4-way image cover:

See what I mean?

Anyway, that Tommi vs Hanz was from July as well.  The Dancewear Judo Domination with VeVe and me was from June.

To kick-off July, I travelled to the SheMuscle gym with VeVe and Orlandoe in order to film various contests between the two.  We filmed a 3-part fitness contest, as a follow-up to the Ab Workout Contest we filmed by special request in June.  Those July contest events were, in this order: Pull-ups, Biceps Curls, and Sissy Squats.  I placed those contests into our MixedWrestlingNYC clips4sale store.

All except the sissy squats, that is.  Why?  Because the ladies ended up being able to do so many sissy squats in so many rounds, that the video of that particular event alone ended up being over 20 minutes long.... of just sissy squats, both bodyweight style and with dumbbells.  So, that contest got pushed to the back of the queue, but I will try to get at it for anyone who really, REALLY just likes sissy squats.

We also filmed a two-way belly punching video, some sweaty glistening videos, and a video showcasing Orlandoe's under-arms.  We also filmed some additional footage to give to SheMuscle.  It was a great, long, productive, and very sweaty shoot day.

We also had the pleasure of filming with 3 professional female MMA fighters in July.  We filmed a special request mixed match with Toned Tommi and Hanz Vanderkill (see cover image above) on the very first weekend of the month.  This was a 60-minute match of "athletic domination" style, and both match participants did a great job with the style and direction.  Though Hanz was a fine choice for this particular video, I was a little sad not to get to have him face Tommi in a fully competitive match.  I do plan on setting that up at some point, but we have to cycle through a few times on various opponents before we will line up a "rematch," even if it is in a different style.

We also filmed with the wonderful Bad Bad Bettie when she visited us in the middle of the month.  We set Bettie up with a vote-determined video.  Essentially, we asked the fans what they would like to see, created a poll, followed heatedly-debated discussions, and finally went with what the majority selected: a one-sided karate-esque strike-based video with Bettie in a karate gi (uniform) against a male opponent.  Though we were originally looking to ShortFuse Mark to be our victim, since he was originally planning to be in town that day, Mark's travel plans fell through.  So, Graveyard stepped up to fill in.

The result was a Karate Strike-fest video in which Bettie showcased her punching, kicking, elbow, and knee accuracy against Graveyard.  And it was Graveyard's job to survive the strikes, stay standing (except for round 3), and make it through the strike-fest.  The video was 3 rounds long, which each round showcasing a different aspect of striking, moving from most punishing (face hits) to hitting the biggest area (body hits).

Then came the competitive wrestling escapades to finish off the month....

Toned Tommi returned to NYC at the end of July, this time accompanied by fellow female MMA fighter Mahea.

We were set up for a long shoot day with the MMA ladies to battle against Hanz, Adrian, and VeVe.  However, a slight scheduling snafu held us up from our original shoot day, leaving VeVe, Hanz, and myself in the studio together.  Never ones to waste a fight opportunity, we set VeVe up for a Mixed Wrestling Gauntlet.  First, I took on VeVe in a 20-minute competitive match (never before seen on our site) while Hanz filmed.  Following that, Hanz took on VeVe for another 20-minute match, with only enough break for her to change her bikini.

The matches were grueling for VeVe and entertaining for her opponents.  However, we filmed them under less-than-optimal lighting conditions, which resulted in less-than-immaculate image sharpness.
The result of that?
They move to the back of the queue, sadly.  Of course, we'd love to re-shoot this mixed wrestling gauntlet under better lighting conditions (except that I sprained my knee in jiujutsu class last week!  so infuriating! so, it may have to wait a while).

The very next day, we rescheduled with Tommi and Mahea, and we all proceed to film a ton of matches.

We grabbed VeVe on her lunch hour and first filmed the competitive female match of VeVe vs Tommi.  That was two 10-minute rounds in bikini / two-piece outfit, followed by a 10-minute 3rd round in the jiujitsu gi (uniform).  We also filmed an arm wrestling match after that.

Since Adrian was unavailable for the Monday shoot, we immediately called on Blazin' Ben.  It was a very last-minute shot in the dark, but with only a few hours' notice to prepare, Ben responded affirmatively and made it over for the match.  And so, about 10 minutes following her match with VeVe, Tommi took on Blazin' Ben in a competitive mixed match of 20 minutes in length.

We took a break for a few hours and then returned later in the evening to film Mahea vs Hanz.  As far as I know, this was the first competitive mixed match on video for Mahea (pronounced "ma-HEY-a"), though, being a pro MMA fighter, she has her fair share of training experience with male training partners.

Then, two days later we reconvened to filmed the final match of the month: VeVe vs Mahea.  Again on VeVe's lunch hour!

And speaking of VeVe vs Mahea... yikes,  I need to finish that photo selection process!  Well, I did say I would try to make the entry brief.  However, the month itself was not brief, and it just wouldn't be fair to short change it, given all the action that is fresh in my mind.

Ok, back to getting that video all set to go.  And now, onward into August!

Upcoming Mixed Competitive this Sunday! And FvF Competitive.

Well, the weekend is finally upon us, and not a moment too soon!  I'm revving up the camera, because this Sunday we have two competitive mixed wrestling matches set up for our visiting pro female MMA fighters Tommi and Mahea.

We have...

Tommi vs Adrian.  Fully competitive wrestling.

Mahea vs Hanz.  Fully competitive wrestling.

All submissions will be legal, except for heel hooks.

And, if we are all on time and on schedule, we will kick off the filming with a female competitive match of VeVe vs Tommi!

But competitive mixed wrestling is our top priority for Sunday.  In a perfect world, we'd sneak in a even 3rd competitive mixed match, but who would fight in that one?  Perhaps Ben vs Mahea?  Diablo vs ?  ;)

By the way, if you don't know Mahea yet, here's her wb270 profile:   http://wb270.com/ind/mahea.htm

Stay tuned!  This'll be a blast!

Regards,
D
Doom Maidens Orders Dept
Female and Mixed Wrestling Videos
Phone: 917-671-8149

Email: orders@doommaidens.com

Web: http://www.doommaidens.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/doommaidens 

Striking Shoots and June Action

Ok, I'm back, as I promised I would be!

I'm no less swamped, mind you.  But I am pushing through to make a blog post!

Now, I know you're all think "great, let's get to the talk about wrestling!"  But I would first like to take a moment to say that this very morning I attended my first kickboxing class.  It's the same class that VeVe attends, and she brought me there to give it a shot.  I have several years of karate and capoeira under my belt from a long time ago, so that was fairly helpful to keep me afloat.  But the instructor is incredibly smart and patient, plus the class is small, so everything was very nice.  I'd be up for trying some more.

Why does this matter here in this blog?  Well, I'll tell you:

Just recently we filmed "Wrestling vs Striking: VeVe vs Orlandoe," which was a special request match style that harkens back to the very early days of UFC.  That was when practitioners of specific martial arts faced off against each other, seeing which style worked best under the given circumstances.  So, in this recent Wrestle vs Strike match-up, VeVe represented submission wrestling, and Orlandoe represented a freeform striking style.  Here's how that was laid out:

In the first round, Orlandoe was allowed to use both strikes and grappling submissions (chokes and jointlocks) to try to get VeVe to tap out.  VeVe, however, was only allowed to wrestle and use grappling submissions.  We allowed all sorts of strikes to the body - knees, kicks, elbows, punches, open-hand strikes (slaps) - but for safety's sake, we only allowed open-hand slaps to the face.  No strikes at all to the back of the head, and, of course, no headbutts.

For the second round, we made the fighting styles even more different; now, Orlandoe could only strike while VeVe continued to only attempt grappling submissions.

Sounds fun, but it is awfully difficult to get someone to submit from body strikes and face slaps alone.  However, this rules set does encourage a lot of strikes to be thrown!  In both rounds, though, VeVe eat quite a number of Orlandoe's kicks and punches.

A winner was determined after the first two rounds.  As a penalty, the loser had to allow the winner to perform her favorite move on her, unresisted.  This led to a very dramatic and powerful scene between VeVe and Orlandoe, as the move-of-choice created a good deal of very real, palpable distress for the receiver.  With the winner not letting up until she forced the loser to answer a particular question.

Sorry to be vague, but I don't want to throw a spoiler!  But, indeed, the match is very strongly punctuated by that "Punishment" scene.

What followed was a third round - a "bonus round."  The ladies swept themselves up, made change of attire, and racked up for another round.  This time, the rules were the same as in round 1, except that any striking submissions would be worth 2 points instead of 1.

Round 3 was filmed with our old, usual standard definition camera - did I mention we've been filming this month with a new HD camera?  More on that later.  Anyway, this round had more moody lighting, both ladies wore black, and the sweat level increased quite a bit, inexplicably.  Round 3 stands alone very well, which was actually the intention from the start.  It is of course related to the first 2 rounds, but the first 2 rounds existed as their own, separate contest, especially with the Punishment round being dealt out.  Anyway, hats off to VeVe and Orlandoe for powering through a long, hard, multi-faceted match!

So, I just spent a lot of time talking about just ONE of the several shoots from this month.

But how does this relate to my doing kickboxing this morning?

Well, following this Wrestling vs Striking shoot, which was our second example of the genre (the first being Wrestle vs Strike: VeVe vs Shauna Ryanne), VeVe and I were discussing a mixed match of wrestling vs striking.

The biggest question there, though, is who does the wrestling and who does the striking?  In a mixed match, the choice of who strikes whom is an important matter to consider.  Choosing one way or the other can mean a lot for the viewing audience.  Does the man get hit or does the woman get hit?

For the record, this would most like be a wrestle + strike vs wrestle only match (like VeVe's & Orlandoe's Round 1).

So with all of this striking and kicking going on recently, and these ponderings about mixed quasi-MMA match videos, I decided I was feeling good enough to dust off my kicks and punches and get to training them again.  Stay tuned.... who knows who'll be swinging at whom next!

Swamped! And Ab Workout Contest

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Filming with Shauna Ryanne and Wrestling vs Striking

Many of you may have seen a flurry of Twitter activity last night regarding the multi-hour filming session we had with VeVe and visitor Shauna Ryanne... and if you didn't see the flurry, then be sure to follow us on Twitter!   http://www.twitter.com/doommaidens

We first filmed an arm wrestling match between VeVe and Hanz for VeVe's personal clips4sale store.  That's here:  http://clips4sale.com/54709/6252411

We then filmed a 20 minute competitive wrestling match of VeVe vs Shauna.

After a very short break, we moved right in to film a 15-minute special request match...

VeVe vs Shauna: Wrestling vs Striking - a competitive bout where Shauna was allowed to punch, elbow, knee, and kick to the body and slap to the face.  And VeVe was only allowed to wrestle and use grappling submissions (chokes and locks).  That reminded me of some of those early UFC events!  That one was a little nerve-wrecking for your humble cameraman, but the ladies are good at what they do and managed to stay safe despite beating each other up.

We hope to release these two matches between VeVe and Shauna soon, as soon as we receive distribution permission from the "Wrestling vs Striking" sponsor.

Following that intense little bout, Hanz jumped up to take on Shauna for a 20 minute bout of submission wrestling for his clips4sale store, Hanz Vanderkill's Mixed Battle Theatre.  VeVe was pleased to get a rare opportunity to sit down and watch.  All as the evening grew later.

And following all of that, Shauna gathered up her luggage and raced off to catch a bus down to Baltimore to continue her east coast tour.  Whoa!

What a very busy evening we all had!

..... and on top of all that, we managed to miss a big thunderstorm while we were inside shooting.  Great - there was enough rumbling going on inside the studio that night!

Regards,
D
Doom Maidens Wrestling

e-mail: sessions@doommaidens.com

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/doommaidens
Web: http://www.doommaidens.com

Blog: Adventures in Wrestling Media Production

Judo, Karate, Rope, Wrestling Catch-up!

Whew, so, it has been a while since I've really had a chance to sit down to the blog.  I've been using the Doom Maidens yahoogroup and our excellent Doom Maidens Twitter account a fair bit to chat, think, and announce.  But all that while, the blog was getting no love.

So, now is a good moment for a recapping, a foreseeing, and perhaps even some speculating.

The most immediate news is that tomorrow morning, Saturday, May 12, Orlandoe will take on Hanz Vanderkill in a competitive mixed wrestling bout.  This will be Orlandoe's first competitive mixed bout on video.  And it will be our first video with Hanz without his mask.

Frankly, I'm excited to see this match up.  Orlandoe has been training like a fiend in grappling, and her legs are looking great and strong lately.

I even got to feel her fury and power earlier this season as her unfortunate victim in "Orlandoe Gets Furious," a mixed wrestling domination video wherein Orlandoe takes out her frustrations against VeVe on yours truly.  That was actually her first mixed domination video, and it was great and hard-hitting... well, hard squeezing!  I've included a little still from that over on the left.

Hanz has also been upping his training.  Over the past year's time, his fitness level has been dramatically improving, and his motivation has been high.  He's been training in Cross Fit for this season, and he's looking good and fit.  But the real question is: does he have the grappling chops to go toe-to-toe with Orlandoe?

We also just bid a temporary farewell to Indra, who was visiting us here in NYC from March through April.  We did a heck of a lot of filming with Indra while she was here, especially where Karate, Judo, and foot domination are concerned.

Indra filmed judo/foot customs and also was kind enough to stay after a shoot to give us "Indra thrashes Thrash" - a close yet unintentional reference to Veronica's "Veronica Thrash Dr DJ" from several years ago.  She also filmed two karate videos with VeVe in a set we've dubbed "Karate Style: VeVe vs Indra."

And speaking of Judo and Karate - they have been popular lately!  We'll come back around to the bikinis soon, but people have lately been enjoying martial arts uniforms, throws, and kicks.

Indra will be returning again later this year, by the way, perhaps some time in the fall.  Just wanted to mention that.

Oh, and one more thing about the bikini wrestling - Orlandoe will handle that for us tomorrow.

And back in March, we filmed with a visiting model named Miss Pandora.  Pandora was very short and giggly, and thus she provided a new and interesting dynamic.  We filmed a female bondage wrestling video with her, since she has a history with bondage modelling.  This was also with VeVe and was called, most descriptively, "Bondage Wrestling: VeVe vs Pandora in Garters and Stockings."  Athena had at that time also returned to NYC from months of travel overseas, so we filmed a video with her, me, and Pandora as well.  The title says it all: "Pantyhose Double Team Mixed Wrestling."

And just one more thing about feet and judo.  We have recently released a lot of videos involving VeVe, feet, and judo throws (or judo ground work).  Just to list them, we had "Judo Throw Punishment," which we filmed with Mark, which involved VeVe tossing him many times while wearing heels (in the first half, at least, before she removed them).

We also had VeVe's recent "Judo Foot Conquest" with Thrash, which was more about ground work and foot/power dynamic than about throws.  And then "Judo Female Feet" with VeVe and Orlandoe, which was a spin-off from "Judo Foot Conquest" and again focused more on ground work, armbars, and triangles.

These are all in the Mixed Wrestling NYC clips store.  And I have a short little trailer for VeVe's "Judo Throw Punishment," here:

All right!  So that was a long entry!

Now to prep for tomorrow's mixed competitive shoot!

Updates! And VeVe vs the Balloons.

Just a quicky!  Sorry, blog, I have been missing you!  Here's one of my recent announcements to our yahoogroup:

-----------

First off...

We were all set to film a new competitive mixed bondage wrestling match last night- VeVe Lane vs a male wrestler who was exactly VeVe's size (5'4" and 125 lbs).  Unfortunately for our bondage wrestling fans, VeVe's opponent wasn't able to make it to the shoot with but 2 hours til go-time.  And, also unfortunately, none of our regular video wrestlers could make it out on such short notice.

So, there we were with a frustrated VeVe, a camera, a late night studio room booking and..... 

A short trip to the store across the street, and we emerged with a bag of balloons, some black nylons, and a beach ball.

Moments later, VeVe was on camera squeezing the daylights out of the inflated balloons and beach ball.  And thus we focused VeVe's frustration and collected her first scissor & bearhug balloon popping video, along with a separate video of VeVe's abuse of the beach ball.

Our first clip from that shoot is ready and in our clips store:  

VeVe vs the Balloons: http://clips4sale.com/47489/6132807

Running time: 6 minutes.

And here's a teaser!

Next item...

I'd like to mention that yesterday we uploaded a very brief set of excerpts from VeVe's "Domestic Discord" video to our youtube channel.

This is a scenario-based video in which VeVe plays a spy-assassin who reveals to her husband (played by Thrash) that the time has come for her to execute him.  And to do this, she uses his most beloved fetishes against him...  The excerpts on the youtube upload are just a small taste of this and the very beginning of the video.  Filmed in July 2011.  A chance to see VeVe and Thrash in some scene work together:

More to come.  Stay tuned!

Mixed MMA Poll Results

We just closed the poll for MMA in the underground wrestling world (see below), and the results imply that people want to see male vs female MMA.

... hey, maybe we could have guessed that by the sudden surge of interest in male vs female military combattives contests on youtube? (thanks for the linking Vinnie!)

In our poll, the interest in mixed MMA beatdowns is equal with mixed MMA competitive.  Clearly, MMA's influence is growing, growing, growing...

These could result in some brutal videos (and have, see VeVe's Bondage Beatdown at our clips store, or VeVe's MMA beatdown at Mark's clips store).  But how about a video that is set up as if it were an MMA contest that just happens to turn out to be a beatdown?  In a cage?  Ring?  That sort of thing.  Both contestants with gloves, looking for the win.  Food for thought.

As for competitive mixed striking videos.  VeVe has been entertaining the idea of a competitive mixed wrestling street fight, with open hand strikes.  That could result in some serious pain on both sides, but it could certainly look good.  The hardest part, aside from the recovery, would be finding a good location for filming!

Below are the poll results from the yahoogroup:

POLL QUESTION: MMA (mixed martial arts) has been growing in popularity. Women in MMA have been making waves. But what about in the underground wrestling world?

Where does your interest fall? Vote for all that apply. 

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- I only like wrestling (no catfighting, no MMA), 2 votes, 5.41% 
- I want to see female MMA matches by underground companies., 8 votes, 21.62% 
- I want to see female vs male MMA matches (competitive), 11 votes, 29.73% 
- I want to see female vs male MMA beatdowns and domination videos, 11 votes, 29.73% 
- I'm only interested in wrestling and catfighting (no MMA), 5 votes, 13.51%  

Mid-March Mega Video Shoot: Mixed Wrestling, Tickle Wrestling, Arm Wrestling!

All right, so, it's been a rather busy past two days.  Thank goodness that I'm organized and that my assistant is on the ball.

On Tuesday, we called a bunch of ladies together and banged out as much footage as we could in the 90 minute time slot we had in the studio.  Considering how short 90 minutes is in the world of wrestling video production, I'd call that shoot a "mega shoot" due to the sheer density of work volume accomplished.

Last week, VeVe and I were discussing setting up Orlandoe and Jason for a competitive mixed match.  We realized that Orlandoe hadn't done any mixed wrestling videos yet.  How could that be?!  We had to remedy that.  So, we hollered out to these two kiddies.  Orlandoe was good to go for Tuesday.  The studio was good to go for Tuesday, but Jason wasn't good for Tuesday.

However, a bunch of other ladies happened to have been available for Tuesday.  And two of them needed some new profile photos.  So, one thing led to another, and Clobberetta and Nyx were on board.  VeVe too, of course, was on board.  But for the men?  I was all alone on this, but since too much of one thing is not a good thing, we fortunately learned that Ben was available as well.  We ended up with six people coming together for the shoot... for which, I'll say again, we only had 90 minutes!

Never let it be said that New Yorkers are not ambitious.

Clobberetta has returned from a brief hiatus, so she needed some new photos.  She's down to 270 lbs from 300 lbs, so updated profile pictures were certainly in order.  Nyx is a new lady who's wrestled at parties before, but who is only now getting started in session and video work.  She's been studying brazilian jiujutsu for about 6 months.  She's about 190 lbs.

We are curious to set her up with a competitive match against Clobberetta at some point.

On to the talk of filming!

We received sponsorship for some of the footage we shot, and our company funded some of the footage.  I'll discuss the filming in the order in which we shot it.

First we filmed a mixed wrestling domination with Nyx and me (Diablo).  Following that, we filmed a mixed domination video with Clobberetta and Ben.  This video we've released already, and we've lovingly called it "Clobberetta's Crushing Return."  VeVe calls it "Size Domination."  It was initially called "Clobberetta's Size Domination," but I wasn't pleased with that as a title.  Basically, Clobb explains that she's back on the attack, she goes out into the hall and grabs Ben, drags him into the studio, throws him onto the mat, and proceeds to demonstrate her crushing and body pressing skills.  She works him into some school girl pins in there where she covers his head entirely, at one point telling him that escape is "hopeless."  And, of course, she can't help but throw a few arm bars and shoulder locks into the mix.  Oh, these grapplers.

Then we filmed a tickle wrestling video with Orlandoe and Ben, where Orlandoe proves yet again to be a sneaky little trickster!  She hoodwinks Ben by false-starting on a supposed bondage wrestling match, only to tie his hands behind his back and tickle him into hysteria.  We just released that one into the clips store.  That one was absolutely crazy.  Ben was super ticklish and Orlandoe was a relentless mad tickler.  Basically, it was wild.

We also filmed a tickle wrestling video with Clobberetta and Ben.  Poor Ben.  Fortunately, we had a bit of arm wrestling between the two tickle videos!  Some of the arm wrestling was more "fantasy" style... but VeVe and Orlandoe went head to head for a real arm wrestling bout, first with the right arm and then with the left.  I put that up on youtube: Arm Wrestling: VeVe vs Orlandoe.

We wrapped up the shoot with an athletic mixed wrestling domination video with me and Orlandoe.  That one was also crazy! Orlandoe was venting some frustration and channeling her rivalry with VeVe... I just happened to have been the hapless and unfortunate voodoo doll there!

Somehow I always seem to get suck in these messes.  That video will be coming along soon.  By the way, it's titled "Orlandoe Gets Furious."


Ok, whew, that was a long entry, so I'll bring it to a close here.  Look forward to more work coming this spring!

Indra and Orlandoe for Videos

Hey folks,

Just a heads-up!  

The wonderfully cheeky Indra of London Wrestling Studio will be returning to New York City as of March 6.  You may remember Indra kicking my butt in our mixed bondage wrestling video from May 2011.  She will be staying in NYC for over a few months.

Indra will be ready to go for custom video requests.  If there's anything you'd like to see or like to suggest, please do let us know!

Also hot and ready to go is Orlandoe.  Orlandoe was just promoted to blue belt at her jiujutsu school, so let's all give her a round of congratulations!  She's up-and-coming in the competitive wrestling scene... and we just realized that we have never filmed a competitive mixed wrestling video with her.  That must be remedied!

You may remember Orlandoe from vicious catfights she's had against VeVe and Clobberetta.  She also most recently (Jan 2012) got the upper hand in a mean-n-nasty bondage wrestling video with VeVe (Bondage Wrestling Trickery).  Since her legs are looking great, we know we MUST also get her into some pantyhose & tights and then get her into some mixed wrestling domination action.

Orlandoe is available for custom requests, especially regarding mixed wrestling and pantyhose.  She actually happens to be quite the fan of tights and hose for personal fashion.

Hit us up with custom requests for these ladies, send inquiries and suggestions for & about them, and let's get them up there on the screen this season!

Back from Travel, with some Torturously Fun Videos

I just got home this week from a video-seeking trip down to the Deep South.  In particular, I spent last weekend in Mobile, Alabama, filming with VeVe Lane and Mark of Brutal Beauties (aka "ShortFuse Mark" from our previous mixed wrestling domination videos).

VeVe and I tarvelled down to Mobile to fulfill a custom video request that involved Mark getting judo thrown.  Mark, I must say, is the absolute best judo throw victim I have ever seen.  Seriously, seriously, if you want to see a guy get hip tossed, shoulder tossed, or thrown in some other judo-esque way, Mark is definitely your man.  He's light-weight and average height, which is great for throwing.  He's also very good at "letting go" when it comes to getting tossed; once he feels the throw coming, he relaxes and rolls with it, landing without tension in his body.  For safety's sake, it is very good that he is is able to remain un-tensed and calm - it lets the throw happen as it is intended to happen, and it makes the fall less dangerous.

I've always complimented him on his ability to trust VeVe as she throws him.  He responds that he feels confident in VeVe as a thrower and athlete, so it is not hard for him to trust her.  So, indeed, the combination of Mark's trust and VeVe's abilities makes for some great throwing action.

I will note that he's never formally learned how to do a break fall, though he does sometimes do them unintentionally as a result of his lack of tension.  Break falls are nice because they make a lot of noise on the landing.  They are meant to distribute the force of the fall throughout the body.  But without them, the landing sounds like a hard thud... and often IS a hard thud.

You may notice in that above screen still that VeVe is wearing high heels as she hip tosses Mark.  The fact is, yes, she is wearing heels for that toss.  She wore those heels for about half of that 10-minute long video and executed several throws while wearing them.  She's done it before too, actually, in a video titled "Judo and Foot Domination in Stockings" (not one of my most clever naming moments, but descriptive!).  But in this new video, which we've called "Judo Throw Punishment," she wears the heels for a longer period.

She ends up taking off the heels and her judo gi as well.  And we end up with a very splendid outfit that was underneath: fishnet stockings with a red and black garter belt, panties, and bra set.  From there, yet more throwing, some foot-in-face goodness, and a final victory pose.  But of course!

This is VeVe's and Mark's third judo throws video together.  They make a great combo for this sort of work!

In our next day of shooting, we captured a powerful piece which we have dubbed "Bondage Beatdown for Hire."  As a matter of fact, I just added it to our clips4sale store today.  It's here: Bondage Beatdown for Hire.  Since this content was a bit strong on the brutality and the "attacking of helplessly bound person" aspect, we decided that the clips store made the best means of distribution.

At the risk of rewriting the video product description, here's a brief synopsis: VeVe's role is that she has been hired by Mark's vindictive ex-wife to jump Mark and make a video of him being bound, beaten up, and humiliated.  The unspoken conclusion is that she would then send the video to the ex.

Mark arrives at the studio, expecting to meet VeVe for a routine mixed wrestling shoot.  But she had secretly arrived before him, has been hiding out, and ambushes him with rope in hand.  It goes on from there to become a barrage of different bondage ties - VeVe changes to ties several times for functionality's sake - and of verbal and physical abuse.  The striking, punches, slaps, knees, and all definitely made me wince behind the camera.  There was no pre-determined length for this video, but I eventually had to wave it to an end once I became concerned for Mark and the beating he was taking.

It's actually quite amazing the amount of punishment that he can take.  Really rather impressive.  By all means, check him out at Brutal Beauties Wrestling to see even more examples of his work.

In addition to these videos, VeVe also shot two videos for Brutal Beauties.  I got to just relax for that, since the BB videographer was on the scene.  All in all, VeVe and Mark did a pretty good amount of work together last weekend.  I imagine they must have been pretty exhausted afterwards!  I would have been - but these two just bounce right back.  The sign of physical professionals, clearly!

All righty, I've got to curtail this one now, since it's a Friday night and my text messages are blowing up and calling me out to the club.  Good timing, though, since I was able to talk all about everything in my post's title.  Great!  Catch you later.