Journaling of a producer of female and mixed wrestling videos and events. Videography, match shoots, coordination, editing, imagery, training: it's an adventurous line of work!
It's been harder and harder to blog these days. Aside from not having many new adventures to blog about in this past year (in 2020, that is), I have otherwise been so busy with a great many other things: working on my own personal OnlyFans and Twitter presence (wrestle & fight-related, of course!), trying to get the DoomMaidens.com website caught up with the releases we've made into the c4s store, working out in the home gym and getting variously bigger, and working on my house and physical studio.
But focusing on Twitter and social media has NOT been a reason for my lack of blogging.
In fact, I am falling quite out of love with Twitter and social media lately (where Doom Maidens is concerned, that is).
For one, I feel like I am just permanently shadowbanned on Twitter as my Doom Maidens account self. I won't go into that too much, but do know that it has been a real downer for someone who likes to post a lot and interact a lot. Secondly, likely because of some aspect of the shadowban, my posts were being seen less and thus getting less interaction, and that would lead me to do endless scrolling on the platform as I waited for something to happen. Endless looking at the trending hashtags (which were alternatingly depressing, infuriating, and anxiety-inducing), scrolling through ads, wasting time without really realizing it. So, needless to say, I took a break from that. Though I do peak in on occasion to post quick updates.
But anyway.
Oh, my dear long-form blog, we've had so many good times together. Both my Adventures blog here and my Bondage Wrestling Blog.
I was reminded of the dear old blog today when I sat down to do more website catch-up. I noticed there was a Retro Video Revival re-release sitting on my desktop and waiting to be re-released. And this was one I remembered fondly. So, I got right on it. And working on that re-release is what brought me back to the blog. The re-release was VeVe's catfight wrestling match with Clobberetta, from November of 2010.
This match was from the days when we were dipping our toes into catfighting, using "found spaces," and having a great many adventures. Many wrestlers I filmed with then were very adventurous, open to trying all sorts of new things, curious about going to all sorts of locations, into pushing themselves in very physical and gritty contests.
Anyway.
I recalled that this match featured a very interesting ending. A totally organic and spontaneous ending. It was the first time that a "Punishment Round" ever occurred in a competitive FvF match... and, if I recall correctly, it was the first time we had a victory pose in an FvF context.
The ladies were clearly revved up from the intensity of the match, which was full of slapping and hair-pulling, two things which really get the emotions raging and blood pumping. Both VeVe and Clobberetta were tough and fearless fighters, both were also trash talk-y and arrogant. And so, it made perfect sense when the final winner jumped up to put the mouthy loser into her place with what I've been calling a "proto-Punishment Round."
I know it's a bit spoiler-y, but I don't want to have to beat around the bush in a blog entry. That'll get awkward pretty fast. So, I'll reveal with it was VeVe who was the final winner. This was a big deal for VeVe, because it was her biggest FvF size mismatch in a competitive setting. And it was a chance for her to show genuine dominance when she put Clobberetta through her paces at the end. Clobberetta was arrogant in defeat, and so VeVe showed her who's boss with unopposed face slaps from a school girl pin. Clobberetta was rocked and VeVe furthered the point with a victory pose.
And so.
And so I was compelled to come over to the blog and make this blog entry because I'd been writing so much about this first proto Punishment Round, but I hadn't been expanding upon that where I was writing. And it was a little e-mail I sent out to our FvF mailing list that made me think about the blog. And so, here I am, at the blog, writing a little bit of stream of consciousness, inspired by the re-releasing of this match video.
And so, there ya go. I'll post this blog entry up and get back to those website updates I'd originally intended to do. I'm not sure who's still reading this beloved blog of mine, but, as always, I hope to come back to it again in the future.
Hello Blog! It has been waaaaaay too long this time around! I've missed you, but I've been just so much about the Twitter-verse. But whereas Twitter is fleeting and brief, the good old blog has longevity and room to expand! So, what brings me to the blog on this extremely hot summer day? It's my...
Retro Video Revival Project
The Backstory:
Earlier today, a customer had written in asking to directly purchase an older video from our catalogue. It was a video from 2012, so, really, not that "old" a video, but it was a Standard Definition video that I'd shot using my original wrestling-videography camera (aka a still camera that also shot video). And so, it is considered on the older side. But anyway...
When I went to look up the video in the DoomMaidens.com catalogue, for my own reference, I discovered that the older section of our website was in quite a state of disarray. Several older video pages were missing elements, had incorrect or out-of-date to-purchase links, had other wonky links, or were just missing altogether.
And I thought to myself: That's not good at all. There was a lot of good material filmed prior to 2012, and it just isn't right that the pre-2012 section of our site is in such a state.
And then I started trying to clean up that section of the site....
... and I discovered that the way the videos were being made available was also a bit of a mess. Allow me to explain:
*****************************
Prior to 2012, we used to produce "final" videos that were actually a collection of several files. This would allow for the video files to be stored and uploaded more easily, since the various files were fairly small. For instance: If a competitive match had 4 rounds, I would make each round into a separate file. So, if you were to get that match video, you would receive 4 separate small-ish files.
That was all well and good for its time. But it did create a problem for distributing via C4S, where each file must be sold individually and Zip files are not permitted. And when the files needed to be listed individually on C4S, sometimes the minimum price of a single round's file would be as much as I wanted to charge for the entire 4-round match. (ex: a 6-minute round would need to be $5.99 as a minimum, and if there were four 6-minute rounds to list for an entire match.... that creates some pricing awkwardness).
Life was hectic and busy, I got my first HD camera in mid-2012, and everything just went full speed ahead from there. The pre-HD videos took a back seat... and they got left further and further behind...
Sure, I'd occasionally grab one of the older videos and string the files together into a single MP4 file. But I never thought much about it, and I just kept going forward with new filming.
Fast forward to mid-2020.
As many of you know, we are in the midst of a global pandemic, and so, video production in our realm has been greatly reduced. And while I definitely do not have a TON of free time, I do have some more time available. And so...
The Retro Video Revival Begins!
My goal is to collect as much of our old Doom Maidens video files and string matches and video together into the single "large" files that today's video-uploading world can easily accommodate.
And so, we begin!
I wanted to do a "Today's Feature" on the 2011 competitive match with VeVe vs fitness competitor Ginger Martin, but -- gah! -- the match was only available in 3 separate files. I then thought, "How about featuring the 2008 match with VeVe vs Kim of Italy?" ... but -- of course -- the match only existed as 5 separate files.
This has to be addressed.
These matches have to have all of their rounds put together into single files. And so, here we go!
I've already started with VeVe vs Kim of Italy, which I filmed in December of 2008. It was a very popular match video at its time, but, because I never combined the 5 round files together at the time, it never made the complete jump with us over to C4S.
And that's such a shame! It was such a pure and exciting match at a very early time in our wrestling realm adventures. And it was one of VeVe's earliest video matches (not the earliest, since there were quite a few beforehand, but it is one of the earliest we still have available).
But anyway, whew, just writing about this is getting me anxious to get back to work on this project!
Away we go. I hope to catch you later, blog friends!
And, as always, you can reach me by e-mail at: orders@doommaidens.com
Last month, we recorded a little webcast featuring usual hosts VeVe and Hanz, along with special guest Ursa Fierce. During this webcast, Ursa talked about some of her first impressions with getting into the wrestling scene. VeVe and Hanz also commented on their early entries into the wrestling scene.
Presented here is a LONG transcript of the relevant dialogue. I will attempt to title the various topic-shift sections in case you'd like to skim it.
Here is the hour-long video recording, and below that is the LONG text transcript of the relevant, non-tangent portions.
.......................
Ursa's First Impressions
VeVe:
So, we were going to speak a little bit about being a new wrestler, new-ish, coming into the session and video world now. It's cool because we have someone who is experiencing being new to wrestling now, and 2 people who've experienced a while ago and can refer to earlier experiences for a bit more perspective now. [...]
How are you finding entering the wrestling scene, Ursa?
Ursa:
Can we break it down?
VeVe:
So how did it come to pass that you got involved with this anyway?
Ursa:
It's a been like a slow approach for me. I joke that I'm very cautious about doing things, and then I jump in 100%.
With wrestling, I went to a beginner workshop a couple years ago at least, and before that I had a boyfriend who was a wrestler, and we would tussle around a bit, which was really fun. But also I got really annoyed that I couldn't really match him at all, which was somewhat fun, but at a point I was like, eh, hm, I'm tired of this. So I went to a beginner workshop that you all were having, and it was crazy to me.
It was crazy. I grew up as a theatre kind, as a musician, as a swimmer, which is the least contact of all sports, you're not even in contact with the ground.
Anyhow, so it was just crazy touching people in new ways, and having my weight be an advantage, where in other sports, and in life as a woman, you try to make your body smaller, not overwhelm people. So being in wrestling, especially this kind of wrestling, is a total flip of the script where that's concerned, and that's been pretty fun.
Hanz:
Were you nervous about it at first, going from the beginner workshop and jumping into the videos and having a public persona?
Ursa:
Yeah, totally, I was terrified. Just going to the first workshop was kind of terrifying. And then I was like, oh these people are nice, I don't know about this wrestling thing, but I like the people. And then I kind of slowly came back, once in a while, for over a year, and then...
The video making I was nervous about, but even more than that, once I started practicing and then I had my first competitive match, that was maybe the most nervous I'd been so far. And it was against -- it was from the live event last fall -- with Kari. Well, that was that one I was --
Hanz:
That was your first one?
Ursa:
Well, first, I fought Aqua X before that. But she's very small and inexperienced, so it was like this will probably be ok. And it was still hard match.
But then I'd been training a bit and I was going to be fighting Kari. And at that point I felt like I actually had some skin in the game. 'Cause I was like I know a couple things, like if I lose this, then that'll be terrible. And it's two 8 or 10 minute rounds. I think it was 8 that day. And I was like, oh, that's really long. And it's live, so there's that added pressure. So I was super nervous for that.
VeVe:
That's like how you felt going into the Aqua match vs the Kari match. But then doing the Aqua match vs the Kari match, how does that compare?
Ursa:
The Aqua match -- she was very squirmy and energetic, and I had to keep moving the whole time. And I learned a lot. I think we both learned a lot through doing during the match, which I see happening with other beginning wrestlers: someone tries a thing, and you're like oh that worked for them, and so you try it on them. Or you're getting somewhere with one thing, and then they adjust. So I feel like I learned a lot, but had to keep the momentum up.
By the time I wrestled Kari, she had already wrestled Sweetie Dreams, I think, and maybe someone else also? And she was pretty beat [tired]. So, I went in really, really nervous, and then as we got going, I was like, oh, she's a lot lower energy at this point, so how do I navigate that? She was doing a lot of turtle defense [on elbows and knees in a ball], which I had never seen before.
She's like 280 lbs maybe, so to break down that kind of turtle, I was just hanging on her, like I don't know what I'm doing. But trying to work what I'd learned without -- I don't know -- she's a visitor, she's visiting, I don't want to make it horrible for her. If that makes sense. So, they were different matches, for sure.
How about you guys, do you remember?
Hanz and VeVe Give Their First Impressions
Hanz:
I remember. I wore a mask for the first couple years. That's how nervous I was about doing videos.
VeVe:
Yeah, the first video match that I did was against Veronica Vicious, who was a founding member of the original Doom Maidens, back in the day.
When we first started out -- doing videos was something that Hanz had to be our consultant about, because we hadn't quite figured out how to do that fro ourselves. So, Hanz was the cameraman of the hour. And we didn't have a format, we were just going to try this for the first time ever, and we went, I think, for 30 minutes straight, or maybe there was a short break. But it was exhausting, it was wild.
Veronica and I were both really new to wrestling at the time, and something that I think people only learn later is conserving energy at all. So that was 100% full tilt the whole time, just like murderous.
And I think, you know, it was probably a really exciting match, looking back, but it's also one that I'm really glad has mostly sort of disappeared from the internet because one of the things I also hadn't really learned yet in my novicedom was: I wore this awful tank top, tie dye, and I had an awful haircut. It was very learning experience.
Ursa:
Had you been training BJJ or any sort of wrestling before that?
VeVe:
That was before I started training formally, but when we were just first founding Doom Maidens, we were doing our own practice sessions. So there were a couple people who knew a bit more than I did. So we were showing up for these little get-together self-training. ... So, we knew just that much, a little bit.
Ursa:
Just enough to be dangerous to each other?
VeVe:
I think maybe knowing almost anything can help be a little less dangerous. I know the first couple times I wrestled I did jump in with zero training whatsoever, and one of the first things I thought: I should start learning stuff to be less dangerous.
On Learning and Improving and Trying New Things
Ursa:
Yeah. It's funny how just a little bit of knowledge takes you a long way. My first-FIRST competitive match was with Sweetie Dreams, and I had no idea what I was in for.
VeVe:
Oh, I remember. That was shocking to you.
Ursa: It was shocking to me! Cause I had only wrestled her before in practice, and wrestled other people who were very kindly calibrating their skill level to mine. And so, I was like, wait, but it's a video -- you actually use all your skill? I thought it was going to be acting. Just a little bit. So I didn't know how much I didn't know.
She got me with so many smothers, so I was like, oh my god, I can't breathe, rather than I shall turn my head now and be able to breathe.
VeVe:
That's a great thing about doing matches: you learn what you need to work on. It's also a great thing about when you're new: you can learn something every day that's super helpful. Whereas, when you've been doing it for a long time, it takes so much more investment to make small improvement. When you know nothing, everything is a giant improvement. It's a fun time. You really see advancement quickly.
Hanz:
It's true. At first you're just improving by leaps and bounds, and then it gets to a point where you really have to study. Heh.
Ursa:
And you're also just improving incrementally at that point, too, right? It's like [hand gesture curve]?
Hanz:
I've still got plenty to learn.
VeVe: [to Hanz]
We tease you that you neither train nor ever change anything.
Hanz:
I don't.
VeVe:
So you can get better at the 2 things you do.
Hanz:
Yep. Scissors and arm triangles.
VeVe:
You're the same wrestler every time.
Hanz:
But they work.
Ursa:
You just rely on everyone else to change.
Hanz:
I'm the video game play who plays the fighting game and just hits "B" [button] all the time. Just like a constant low kick, and the other person gets pissed, like: why don't you do any real moves? Well, why don't you stop the low kick first?
[...]
Ursa:
So Hanz, you started masked?
Hanz:
I did. That was the only way I could convince myself to do videos and put them out there. Since then, I've actually gone and taken most of those down and away. After a while, I didn't like the way the mask looked, and as a fan as well of mixed videos, I always like mixed videos where you can see both people's faces, and see the emotions of the match. The mask was kind of taking away from that.
Ursa:
I've also heard people say that if the man is masked and is beaten, then he has no skin in the game. Right? You can't be properly humiliated if you're masked.
Hanz:
It's like a shield to hide behind. No just out there. But yeah, I finally decided to do one without the mask. It was actually for you guys, against Orlandoe, and I remember being really nervous about it, like, oh, I'm going to do a non-masked one. So we did the match, and I saw it when it was done, watched it, then I was like, yes, this looks better, I like it better. I'm just going to do this from now on.
But it's scary at first. A little bit.
VeVe:
What was the tipping or trigger point thing that made you say: I'm going to try this?
Hanz:
I think I just got to the point where I would see -- cause I was doing videos for my own store at that point -- and they all had the mask on, and I would watch them back, and I would be like: I would like this video better, like -- I like stuff about my early videos, but the one thing I would change is I wish I wasn't wearing the mask. And also, it was hard to breathe in that thing. And I would breathe loudly. It was kind of Darth Vader-ish. So.... which was kind of distracting as well. So I was just like, you know, I'm going try it without the mask and see how it looks.
Ursa:
You've never gone back...
Hanz:
Nope.
Ursa:
Did you ever think you'd be making the kind of videos you've been making lately?
Hanz:
Ha. No, I didn't. So that's another whole step. Completely unmasked. That was actually less scary than taking the mask off the face. That was a much less scary step than removing the mask originally.
VeVe:
There's nothing more you can do about identity after you've shown the face.
Hanz:
Yeah. The mask is like your face is out there, and this is what everyone sees.
[...]
Ursa:
With the sexier (unclothed) stuff -- I would love to feel like I could do that, but there's so much stigma around it, I think especially for women. There are plenty of women around who do it and are amazing, but, personally, that feel like a scarier step for me than doing regular sexy stuff with clothes.
Body Positivity, Confidence, and Being Yourself
Hanz:
You're always afraid people are going to shame you for it, right? But it can be a very body-positive kind of thing. That's the way I think about it.
Just sort of, growing up, it was always this shame with nudity or eroticism. And to get to just do it and put it out there is kind of freeing in a way. Just be like: no, this is a good thing, and I shouldn't have to be afraid that someone's going to make me feel ashamed of it. Like they shouldn't be able to make me feel ashamed of it.
So. Yeah. I thought about it for a long time: do I really want to do this? It's kind of a big step, and once I came to the conclusion, it's like: you grew up feeling ashamed of this, so this is kind of like stepping away from that, which is nice.
Ursa:
It can be empowering. Just talking about body-positivity, a lot of this wrestling has been therapeutic for me in a way, in that I'm like, yeah, this is my body, and it's not just thin, fit who can show their bodies in bikinis. I can also, and it's going to be wonderful. And it's out there for the world, and that's how it is. Fully own it. It can be good.
VeVe:
You can get a totally realistic assessment "by doing" of what you're body can do. And here's how everything feels, and here are my abilities, and here's me up against another person. And I think a lot of so many assumptions are out there. Even just today, after I've been doing this for some many years, I went into a session and got: "you're pretty strong for a girl."
Just "by doing," people find out --
Ursa:
Have you seen my muscles? Have you seen them? They're still muscles, even though I have tits. It's crazy.
VeVe:
They work, and they move, and they do things. And by wrestling, you get rid of some of those assumptions. I can't do this. I can! I'm doing this right now.
Ursa:
I think it's something that you've challenged me a lot on. I'm like: my body doesn't do that! And you're like: just maybe keep trying. And then I'm like: oh, I can do it. It just took practice. Because my body's used to sitting at a desk and not squiggling under a human.
Also, it's so nice to get all of the positive reinforcements from fans. So when I meet people being like: oh my god, you're so gorgeous. And I'm like: yes I am, and people in the mid-west never appreciated me. I'm like: I was wasted on everyone else, and now I'm finally getting the recognition I feel like I deserved all along, and it's so nice. It's so nice getting that. So, thank you. And I'm like: I know, I know, and it's nice that you know too.
VeVe:
That's one thing I always say when I have a muscle worship fan. I'll get a couple questions, like: do you like being worshipped? I'm like: yeah, of course! And: "I so like your muscles" or "I so like your body." and I'm like: That's really nice, because I do! And I put a lot of work into doing it. So it's nice to know other people like what I like about myself. And that's pretty cool.
Ursa:
And I feel like in this work too, it's sort of a reflection -- and I'm going to get a little philosophical here -- but I feel like there's a fan for everything, there's a fan for every body type. Your fans may not be the same as my fans. But really, the more you are yourself, people like it. And I feel like that plays out in the real world too, in that you're like: well, if there's everyone who likes my body, maybe I don't need to try to be so one way or another in the world, and I can just be myself and somebody will like that.
It's a nice little playing out of that theory. Because people talk about, you know, oh, well, just be yourself, go all Hamlet, "This about all, to thine own self be true," but it's nice in this work to actually see that play out. And the more you are yourself, the more you share of yourself, people are like oh my god, you're amazing, and getting that immediate feedback, you're like, huh, yeah, all right, great!
Hanz:
Do you actually find in doing this that the confidence [you build] -- do you find that crossing over into your non-wrestling day-to-day life?
Ursa:
Yeah, I think it feed back and forth, you know. I think me feeling confident and good about myself allows me to do wrestling. And I think the more I do it, the more feedback I get that comes back and feeds the other. So I think it all kind of builds. And it gives me more confidence, and having more confidence gives me more wrestling mojo --
Hanz:
I've told a few people that part of the thing that made me jump off -- because I've always wanted to do this and try this, but I was always hesitant and nervous -- but the thing I always think to myself: when I get to the end of my life, when I'm in my deathbed, my worst fear would be looking back on my life and thinking there are all these things I wanted to try and never did it because I was too scared. If I could be in that moment and say: there are all these things I wanted to try and I tried then, even though I was scared and I did it anyway, at that point I would be happy and look back on my life.
Ursa:
No regrets.
Hanz:
Yeah, that was a faster way to say that.
Ursa:
I feel like another thing I've been learning in my own life and in wrestling is to deal with discomfort. Which I feel like in the US and Western civilization we're taught that if something's uncomfortable, you shy away from it, you don't do it. And just learning to be like: ah, I'm being choked right now, or, like in our match, I'm being body scissored right now, very hard, and I could tap right now, or if I just chill out, I could probably get out of this. So, that's a nice --
Hanz:
You're very resistant to my body scissors.
Ursa:
Yes! I'm so happy. I actually said I was injured from that match, and I was afraid it was from the body scissors, but it was just a muscle thing. But at first I was like: oh no, did I resist too much? I just resisted appropriately.
Hanz:
I always try to put those things on slow, you know. So, rib stuff...
Ursa:
I'm not saying it was pleasant. So, when you put the video out, and people buy it, and you listen to the noises I was making, I think you'll be able to tell that was not pleasant. I was like, what are these noises coming out of me? They sound really sad and unhappy.
VeVe:
Then afterwards, maybe some happy noises for escaping...
Ursa:
Yeah. Like so many people have fallen victim to your body scissors. You know, it's kind of a cheap shot. It's very effective. But it doesn't feel like it should be as good as it is, but it's very --
Hanz:
It's my version of a low kick.
Ursa:
Yeah. It's pretty bad.
Ursa's Intro into the Video Realm
VeVe [to Ursa]:
I wanted to ask you, what was the thing where you went from coming to training sessions and hovering on the edges, what was the catalyst to jumping in and doing the videos?
Ursa:
I think it was actually the other way for me. I think I was attracted to the video work. I was like: yeah, I want to be a star, put me on camera. And then I got thoroughly beaten, and I was like: hmmm, I guess I'm going to have to do some work if I don't want this to happen all the time.
So videos have kind of been a motivation for me to train, more than the other way around.
I had desire before [to train], but I wasn't making it a priority. And having the videos as a thing that's like, oh you have this thing coming up on this date, makes me more accountable to coming to practices.
Hanz:
That is a good motivation: oh I have a competitive match coming up, on this date, vs this person --
Ursa:
I don't want to look like a fool. I don't want to submit to these body scissors, so I better learn how to get out of them. When is that coming out, by the way [Ursa vs Hanz]? I'm curious to see it. And VeVe wasn't around for it.
VeVe:
No, I was away on tour, but I've heard a bit.
Ursa:
I feel like for a novice I did pretty well.
Hanz:
You really did, actually. It was a tough match.
Ursa:
You came out hard, too.
VeVe:
He was feeling threatened.
Ursa:
Yeah, apparently. It was not just aggressive cuddling.
Hanz:
It's a little different from those rare times when I'm actually at practice. It's a different sort of energy, so...
Ursa:
The question is: what was the motivation to start videoing? I've always been interested in fetish work, to be honest, and it's something that always sounded fun to me, but I do have hang-ups, like any body else, or any body with my upbringing maybe. And this seemed like a really fun and safe way to get into it.
But I don't know if there was a moment. I do remember I was like: oh tell me more. We had brunch, we met for brunch at a very busy restaurant-bar. We discussed fetish work. And I was like: ok, I really still don't understand this, but I'm not going to understand it unless I try it. So... This wrestling stuff has definitely been a challenge for me, and I like challenges. And so, this feels scary to me, so I think I need to do it.
Hanz:
Rising to the challenge.
Ursa:
Yeah.
VeVe:
We had thing about just getting started: doing competitive matches vs doing domination or fantasy stuff. This is something I'm still going back and forth on, as we often get new people getting involved. I'm like: what's the best way to start people out? And I imagine it does vary for different people, like [for example,] Oh, I'm super comfortable as a physical person jumping in, or I'm super comfortable as an actress, or whatever.
But how was that for you, being like: here's a competitive match where you're going to fight somebody. Or: here's a scenario or a role, or here's some body to dominate?
Ursa:
Yeah. So, for me, knowing so little about wrestling when I started, I was like: I don't know how to dominate someone with wrestling. I don't know what a submission is, I don't know what looks convincing and what doesn't. So, competitive was a better way for me to start, because then you just go and do what you can.
If you're dominating, you're more in charge, the focus is on you. You have to know what you're doing a little bit. And I wasn't ready to do that in a wrestling context. So, competitive was the better way for me to enter. Until I knew a little bit more of what I'm doing. Honestly, and to know what bodies can take. Doing a little research and development.
VeVe:
I know when I started out, I thought that we were going to be like all really known for being super real and competitive all the time. And that was one of the first conceptual organizing principles for us. But as soon as we started doing that and people started to see and notice even a little bit, fans write in and suggestions come in, and it turns out that competitive was not the only thing that people wanted. So it was a great way to start out and to learn a foundation of moves and skills and learn that they can be applied in so many ways.
Ursa:
I'm kind of at a 180 now in that I'm like: competitive, that sounds hard! And a little more nerve-wracking, because you do have skin in the game, you have to prove yourself, or take a little bit of an ego bashing, or a physical bashing that goes with the ego bashing.
So, the more I know now, I'm like: yeah, let me dominate that person, that sounds great!
I really actually want to do more scenario customs with more plot, and femme fatale, and assassins, and I want my fingers in that. That sounds so fun to me. If anyone's listening who wants them, let me know...
Hanz:
It's good you kind of start out with a base thing, the one thing, and slowly start branching out into other styles or other things. It's always kind of fun to see people's personalities develop that way too. It's like: oh, it started with competitive wrestling, and bondage wrestling...
and, to the point where it's like: there's an artwork of me and you [VeVe] that somebody made... it's like a poster. And it's really cool. Wow, somebody drew this and made this picture of us from, you know, that they took from a video still from the end of one of our bondage wrestling matches.
Ursa:
I love fan art.
Hanz:
It's like influencing people. Influencing other people's creativity...
Ursa:
Or inspiring people, even.
Ideas and Inspiration
Hanz:
It's pretty cool to think about that, the stuff that goes out there and inspires other people to create things.
VeVe:
I've had a very interesting that that happens with people sending in custom video requests. And sometimes then you make the video and, if they agree it's ok, we'll put that out to the public, and other people will see that and send in custom requests based on the other person's requests, and they'll almost get into a dialogue, tweaking the scenario... among multiple people.
Ursa:
Oh, they don't know it, but they're part of the story. Oh, interesting.
VeVe:
And sometimes the character created by one person gets put into someone else's thing, same costume or this story, this character persona situation, is going to morph again over here. I don't think any of the guys have necessarily realized, but I'm sure if they ever met up, they could write wonderful collaborative fiction together.
Ursa:
Man, I have so many idea. If I had a camera man and a co-star at the ready, man, you would see some crazy stuff, world. I've got ideas for days.
Hanz:
That could probably be arranged.
VeVe:
I think you've kind of got that.
Ursa: I have lots of ideas.
Hanz:
You should make some of them. Put them out there, see what comes back.
Ursa: I'm always curious how things will be received, too.
VeVe:
You could find out that people might start feedbacking. Just put out one kernel and see what --
Ursa:
Ok, this would take more people, but, on the train on the way here -- do you want to hear my idea? So, this was a silly one that I would call "Ursa-locks and the Three Chairs." In which I would be a Goldilocks character and try three different men's faces to sit on, to find the one that's just right.
Hanz:
Wow.
Ursa:
It'd be so cute, right? These are the kinds of things I think of on the train. One would be too pointy, maybe. One would be too... flat? One would be just right, and I'd spend the most time there until maybe I broke it... I don't know...
Hanz:
.. broke their face...
Ursa:
...Yeah... We talked about having a very proper tea party, but having faces to sit on, instead of chairs.
VeVe:
I really want to do that.
Ursa:
It would be so cute. I have such cute tea dresses. I want that to happen. ... I've also been seeing other people doing some giantess stuff and some remote controlling stuff. The mesmerizing sort of things. And that stuff looks really fun.
VeVe:
And some of that you can do without any camera person... POV.
Fielding a Question
Ursa:
Do we have any Twitter questions?
VeVe:
I know we have the question as to whether you've done any arm wrestling.
Ursa:
I have done some armwrestling. Lana Luxor and I did a 5-minute armwrestling video. And, friend, she is so F-ing strong. She's got built arms. It was a battle. So I did some armwrestling with her. I had a double-session with Sweetie and a very large man, and I don't think we did armwrestling, but we did tried to hang off of his arms, which was fun, and double bearhugged him.. I've done a lot more bearhugs as far as feats of strength go. I've been doing a lot of bearhugging, which is fun. Hanz and I have an unnamed date for a bearhug-off. Less armwrestling, though, I'm curious, now that I've been training a little more. How strong I am...
VeVe:
You've shot with Amazon Annie, who is a bit of an armwrestling champ. But you didn't take her own...
Ursa:
I did a lift and carry with her, where she lifted me, which was so fun. And impressive. She was dressed as either superwoman or wonder woman, and she had these 4 inch heels, I was like: I can't get up there, you are too tall now. So she took them off.
[Regarding questions], you can always find me on the Doom Maidens website and e-mail me questions. And maybe we will talk about them on a separate podcast.
VeVe:
Well, we've discussed your entry onto the wrestling scene and tonight your entry onto the podcast as well. Welcome Ursa.
Ursa:
Thank you. Everyone I've worked with has been so nice, and it's been really nice coming into this very accepting, and warm, encouraging environment. Except for Hanz. ha ha.
Hanz:
I do get a lot of smack talk.
VeVe:
It's not all from Lana, either.
Hanz:
It's not all from Lana. But she is relentless.
Ursa:
Yeah, I heard that you have to do more squats now, something about Queen Beth.
VeVe:
I heard she sent you some intimidation photos.
Hanz:
She sent me a photo of her from Monday, of her posing over the final score. Kind of a calling-out.
Ursa:
I'd watch that match. Queen Beth vs Hanz. But the Monday matches, whew [Sweetie, Lana, Taylor, Queen Beth]. I was tired after it, and I didn't even wrestle.
VeVe:
All right, we're going to sign off. Hope you enjoyed.
UPDATED Aug 26: Reformatting and updating of list. UPDATED Aug 22: Any videos in the list that have been released have been noted. Any that are processed and ready but not yet released have also been noted. To get any processed videos in advance of release, e-mail us here: orders@doommaidens.com
.............................
Well, after 5 days of filming at FetCon this year with many great models and wrestlers for many hours, back-to-back, we are finally doing our video recounting round-up!
Below is a list of videos we filmed with plans for general release. Several other custom request videos were also filmed, but they are not included in the below list. This list will also help us with grouping videos for release in multi-match sets (you all know I love releasing sets when possible!).
And now, in chronological order of filming, The List of upcoming releases from FetCon 2017:
1. VeVe Lane vs Sarah Brooke: Competitive Wrestling
Style: Competitive Status: Released!Release Page Link
2. VeVe and Vika: Woman to Woman Rematch (bed fight) Style: Fantasy
Status:Processed
3. Asia Perez and Regan vs VeVe Lane: 2-on-1 Bondage Wrestling Style: Competitive
Status: Released!
4. Aralia vs Regan: Competitive Wrestling Style: Competitive Status:Released! Release Page Link
5. 8-Way Bondage Wrestling Free-for-All 2017: VeVe, Aralia, Regan, Lea Hart, Gia Love, Terra Mizu, Sunshine, Misty Lovelace
Style: Competitive Status:Released!Release Page Link
6. VeVe vs Bella Ink: Bondage Wrestling Style: Competitive Status:Released!Release page link
7. VeVe vs Bella Ink: Competitive F/F Wrestling
Style: Competitive Status: Released! Release Page Link
8. Aralia vs Sarah Brooke: Rematch 2017. Competitive Wrestling Style: Competitive Status:Released! Release Page Link
9. Python and Prey: VeVe and Sunshine (1 scene)
Style: Fantasy
Status: Processed
10. Python and Prey: VeVe and Terra Mizu (3 scenes)
Style: Fantasy
Status: Processed
11. Villainess Triumph: Asia Perez dominates Super Diablo
Style: Fantasy
Status: Released! (as "Krypto-Ropes!")
12. Asia Perez and Lea Hart vs VeVe: 2-on-1 Wrestling Style: Competitive
Status: Released!Release page link
13. VeVe vs Lea Hart: Bondage Wrestling
Style: Competitive
Status: Released!
14. VeVe vs Gia Love: Competitive Wrestling Style: Competitive
Status: Released! Release page link
15. VeVe vs Gia Love: Bondage Wrestling Style: Competitive
Status: Released!
16. Krypto-Ropes: Evil VeVe Dominates Super Diablo Style: Fantasy
Status: Released! (as "Krypto-Ropes!")
Wow. That's a lot of competitive wrestling going on! And all of the submission wrestling matches had Punishment Rounds for the losers.
I return to my NYC studio tomorrow, and then I can begin work on this footage. Releases will come along as quickly as I can manage. I anticipate releasing multi-match sets first, since those are fastest to assemble. The difficult part will be deciding exactly which to group together, since putting, say, all 1-on-1 bondage wrestling matches together or all submission wrestling matches together would result in files that are too large. But I'll figure it out.
I know I'll put both of Aralia's matches together. That's an easy combo to think of. The Python & Prey videos can go together, as can the Villainess Triumphs.
Also note that VeVe arm wrestled most of her guests as well. Brief little bouts, about 3 rounds each. She's looking to create a little arm wrestling compilation.
If you've been following us on Twitter (@DoomMaidens), you may have seen pictures we've been posting with our guests as we met with them for filming. Be sure to check those out too, if you didn't get to see them as they were posting up.
Anyway, that's all for now! If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me here: orders@doommaidens.com ... cheers and stay tuned... more to come!
Sunshine, Aralia, Misty, VeVe, Regan, Terra, Lea, Gia. The ladies posing just before jumping in for the 8-Way Bondage Free-for-All for FetCon 2017
So THANK YOU to everyone that has written in regarding the sponsor pool idea! We've been quiet about it for a little while as we've continued to ponder the best way to coordinate all the different suggestions, but the pool idea is still very much alive!
At first I thought I would gather up a bunch of suggestions and make a massive blog post about all of them... But now I'm thinking that pitching these ideas out one by one will be the way to make sure they get out as quickly and directly as possible.
So without further ado, here's our first, most solid and most time-bound sponsor pool opportunity.
Catfight
Sarah Brooke vs. Me (VeVe)
Sarah Brooke and I are already scheduled to shoot together at FetCon on August 9th. We've gotten a request from two different guys to do a fully competitive, hard, rough catfight. Finally!
But, understandably, the rate for real catfighting is a good deal higher than for straight wrestling or other modeling. We need to raise $1000 total, and the two original requesters have pledged $600 between them. $400 more to go.
This would be a 20-minute bikini fight (unless even more people want to contribute extra to make it longer).
If you are interested in pitching in on this effort, Email:orders@doommaidens.com
And Use the subject line: Sponsor Pool Sarah Brooke Catfight
Thanks! Hopefully, we can kick off this sponsor pool thing by making this happen!
Hey all. FetCon 2017 is coming up, and that means we'll have a chance to meet and reunited with wrestlers and models we don't often get to see during the normal course of the year.
VeVe put together this great graphic to show the ladies we have confirmed shoots with. All are also available for custom video requests:
Of course, VeVe and Diablo will be available as well, to be featured with any of these guest ladies.
VeVe has posted a call for custom requests for any of these ladies. VeVe, Aralia, and I (Diablo) are available to pair with any of the guests. Depending on their schedules, some of the gusts can be paired together. But since we're filming with different people at different times, check with us to be sure on that one.
E-mail VeVe directly with requests: veve.wrestler@gmail.com
Despite all of the fun I've been having this past year with Twitter and the great, fast reactions & discussions that come via tweeting, I am turning my attention back to the ol' blog today. And hopefully in days to come as well. The traditional blog allows for a lot more expanded composition and explanations, and it has more staying power than the fast-moving micro-blog of the Twitter-sphere. However, sadly, it is much more time consuming to compose a blog entry here than it is to tweet on Twitter, and quiet time for composing has been rare. Especially these days... especially this month.
Hello March Madness!
March 2017 is almost over, but it has been a whirlwind for filming. Lots of filming with lots of different wrestlers, both local and visiting. And, in fact, there's even more March filming yet to come. Let's talk about that a bit.
Actually, you know what, I'm looking at the calendar, and there was so much filming this month that I am going to just omit discussing the first 3 weeks of the month, for the sake of brevity. Let's just look at this past week. Whoa.
Those are all of the wrestlers I filmed with this past week! JUST this past week. Not all at the same time, mind you, but over the course of multiple days. Here's what we filmed: Vika -- Sunday, March 19
Vika is a visiting model from Texas who we met last August while at FetCon. There, she got a chance to participate in our 8-Way Bondage Wrestling Free-For-All, as well as several other videos. Now, this month, she came up to NYC while on tour, and she jumped in for more:
1. Pro-Style special: "Taking Out The Trash" Vika gets smashed by VeVe
2. Mistress of the Gym: Vika & VeVe in black leotards & tights, similar to an agent duel.
3. Sensual Catball Fight: Vika & VeVe in low light, bare legs, sensual tone, rolling on bed & floor
4. Bondage Wrestling: Vika vs VeVe (Released!)
5. Super Vika Captured: Superheroine captive bondage scenario
Cat Wily & Sweetie Dreams -- Monday, March 20
1. Competitive bearhug contest with Cat vs Sweetie
Sahrye & Regan -- Wednesday, March 22
Regan is a visiting wrestler from Louisiana, and Sahrye came out to visit us from Long Island. These two ladies filmed together and also, alternatingly, with VeVe:
1. Woman to Woman: Sahrye and VeVe
2. Hair-Pulling Catball Fight with VeVe & Regan in pantyhose
3. Competitive Wrestling: Sahrye vs Regan
4. Bondage Wrestling: VeVe vs Sahrye
5. Showdown: VeVe & Regan. Similar to an agent duel, but without pantyhose.
Megan Jones & Mia Annabella -- Friday, March 24
Megan was on tour with her friend Mia. Mia is a newcomer, and Megan was helping her learn the ropes. Mia spent more time on camera this time around, but Megan also stepped in to smash me a bit.
1. Pantyhose Catball Fight: VeVe and Mia. Classic catball in sheer black nylons
2. Villainess Triumph: Mistress Megan and Diablo. Bondage and wrestling domination
3. Bondage wrestling: VeVe vs Mia
VeVe, Aralia, Hanz, Nikolai -- Saturday, March 25
Rounding out the week with work from local wrestlers. All mixed. Domination & competitive.
1. Stockings domination: VeVe & Nikolai
2. Stockings Strike Again: VeVe, Aralia, Hanz, Nikolai
3. Competitive Mixed Wrestling: Aralia vs Hanz (for Hanz's studio)
4. Competitive Mixed Wrestling: VeVe vs Hanz (for Hanz's studio)
And here we are now on Sunday morning, March 26. Whew! And I emphasize again, that was ONLY this past week. All of these videos have been completed and processed fully, and the special commissions have been delivered. But, as you can see, there are now a lot of new videos!
I'd like to get some pictures up here from these, but I'm woefully short on time now. I have to get to work on some of these new releases. But I should also point out that coming up this week we have....
... a new multi-way female bondage wrestling event as well!
That'll be on Wednesday, and it will feature Sarah Brooke, Constance, Tara Tied, Aralia, Lana, Kaia, VeVe, and who else...?
Ok, well, I better stop now. Just writing about this is making me think of all of the work I'm going to need to do. Well! So, look for updates and pictures on Twitter while I'm buried under all of this doing. Follow us here: http://www.twitter.com/doommaidens
And before I go, I'll share a few candid behind-the-scenes pictures from *some* of these shoots. These are just pictures I happen to have on this laptop. But it's by no means all of the behind-the-scenes pictures that we have from these, though. But all of them have been tweeted on Twitter as we were taking them. Cheers all!
This post is a Transcript from our Wednesday afternoon webcast with VeVe Lane, Keri Spectrum, Cat Wily, Kinzie Fire, Michi Moon. The video of the 33-minute long webcast has been embedded here too for the sake of completeness. But if you'd more in the mood for reading, check out the transcript below. Topic Discussion: "Newcomer Experiences" VeVe: OK, it says it's live. Ok, reload that page. That's been muted to create no feedback, and we're good. All right! Hello everyone! We are beginning promptly on time I think for the first time in our webcast history, go us!
Keri: Yeah!
VeVe: Wait what? Yeah! Keri's here too. No technical difficulties have happened yet. I'm enjoying it while it lasts. We're welcoming Cat Wily and Kinzie Fire and -- Keri, have Michi say hi too --
Michi: [waves]
VeVe: And Michi Moon! Some new ladies on the wrestling scene here, and we're doing a webcast on "newcomers' experiences."
Kinzie: You made that sound so foreboding.
VeVe: Or Newcomers' Experiences Yay!
Keri: Hip, hip, hooray!
VeVe: Let's have everybody introduce themselves to start with. New folks, who wants to go first?
Cat: I'm Cat Wily, I'm from right here, hometown New York City, really excited to be having some matches with doom maidens. and yeah, hi everybody
Kinzie: Hi, I'm Kinzie Fire, from New York City as well. super excited to be doing this. I've done two matches so far, and I'm looking forward to our match [Kinzie vs Cat Wily] right after this, and a few more coming up.
Keri: Yeah. We're excited too. What kind of match are you going to be having after this?
Cat: Competitive.
Keri: Well, duh. But what kind of competitive match?
Cat: I'm not sure, what does that exactly mean? That's an interesting question...
Keri: VeVe?
VeVe: Well, I believe the conditions for this are going to be three 6-minute rounds, general submissions are allowed, most submissions wins, and anything else is going to be determined by you two. What kind? Can be - what's your style, what's your favorite move, how mean are you...
Keri: What kind of submissions are you training them in right now, VeVe?
VeVe: Let's see. Let's have you guys answer that. What are your favorite submissions so far?
Cat: Favorite submissions. I actually really like the crucifix submission. It often times comes unexpected to my opponent. and it can actually be pretty easy to execute and finish --
Keri: Why do you think it's easy?
Cat: Why do I think it's easy? Cause it's easy to get off of someone's back while you have side control. All you have to do is grab a leg and roll them over. I guess maybe it has to do with a power thing. Maybe I have a little more strength in my legs. But every time I go for this submission, it always works. Even in training outside. I do a little more training than what we do here. And it's even been successful with me on a jiujitsu brown belt. So, it seems to really be effective for people who don't see it coming. It's not conventional, but I like it a lot.
Keri: Ok. Cool. And you -- what about you, miss?
Kinzie: I like a lot of stuff coming off of the kimura grip and a lot of submissions with the arms. and I had a lot of luck with scissors in my last match with Hanz, so I'm sticking with it. If it works, I'll do it.
Keri: Are you talking like body scissors, head scissors...?
VeVe: We had a fun moment with everybody's training where we did the classic jiujitsu thing, teach everything but scissors. and then it was Hanz , actually, who shook things come, came in did some matches with some newcomers and did all these man scissors on everybody. So, all right on everyone, scissors, we have to address them! You do need to know them, both doing them and escaping them.
Cat: Talking about body scissors. My first competitive match was with Adrian. And just like VeVe said. I'd wrestled on the underground scene a little bit before hooking up with Doom. So, it was part of my repertoire, but then when I started hanging out with these jiujitsu professionals, I kind of let it go, and I forgot all about them. And literally, the day before my match with Adrian, we did a really brief training on escaping the scissors, but it didn't really incorporate back into my training plan and my repertoire. And, I just got destroyed by the scissors.
Keri: I was gonna say, the worst thing you can do when coming into underground wrestling is forget about the scissors.
Cat: I got destroyed. I got demolished. My ribs hurt for 6 weeks, no lie, no joke. It was really hard to train after that. But it's part of the game, I learned my lesson. And I'm really hopeful that if Kinzie tries to execute some scissors on my today, I'm gonna take care of that.
VeVe: My recommendation would be attempt the head scissors over the body scissors
Kinzie: Yeah, I might have more of a chance there.
Keri: Are you reffing this, VeVe?
VeVe: I'm time keeping. I hope to not have to ref. I usually refrain my reffing to Oh my god, don't hurt the wall. Or go through it. Otherwise, play amongst yourselves.
Keri: I know, that's me too. I'm constantly worrying about damage to my wall. That's a huge problem for me. All about the wall. We never want to fix our walls, so do not hit them, ok, don't.
VeVe: Well, it's it's between hurting your opponent and putting a hole in the wall, you can put a hole in the wall, but ideally --
Keri: Oh, no, I don't think that. No. Hurt your opponent.
VeVe: Ok, so, Keri and I can talk all day, but want to hear the new folks talk. I'm going to ask both of you, and Michi to, what has been, what got you into doing this. I'm super glad you joined up, but why did you do it?
Cat: I'll start. I've been wrestling playfully with friends at parties for a few years. It's always been an interest of mine from way back, for as long as I can remember, into adulthood. Just enjoyed watching a lot of MMA on TV, and wrestling, not too much pro-style wrestling, but real rumbling. And I remember a couple of years ago, actually, I met Hanz, Hanz Vanderkill, at a wrestling party here in New York City. And he just saw me raising some ruckus on the mat with my friends, and he came over and he's like, hey you should meet up with this group Doom Maidens, I know them, they do training once a week. And it just didn't line up at the time. It was on a day I just wasn't available. And a few months ago, I just happened to see something about Doom about some practice they had going on. And I just showed up, and I've just been rolling with them ever since. I just really like the rough body play. It's more than just having fun on the mat, you know, I've learned so much about body awareness and respect for people. It's a really humbling experience. And as long as I am physically able to and young enough to, I will be rolling with these guys, or, you know I'll probably pretty much take on any match. So, that's kind of what got me into it, that's what's keeping me here. And I'm having a lot of fun, everyone I've met has been really great and warm and welcoming, and I feel really fortunate to be hanging out with this group.
Kinzie: So, I don't have as much history with wrestling as you do. I always kind of enjoyed it just playing around with people I hang out with and stuff, just for fun, rough and tumble struggle play, wrestling type stuff. But I was always kind of at a size and strength disadvantage. So I saw some information about your trainings, and I thought, that's relevant, and I can start winning, which would be great. So, I showed up at one of the trainings, you guys are super rad, and I just kept coming. And I stuck around, yeah, it was a lot of fun. And you guys talked about doing videos, and that's super awesome. So, yeah.
VeVe: I remember I started training in wrestling too cause I was like I like everything about this except the losing part, so let me just figure out how to stop doing that. That got me started hardcore at a certain point. Michi! We forgot to ask you your favorite submission too, so I have two questions: why did you start this and what is your favorite submission?
Michi: Actually, I started cause of you [points to VeVe], you right there, right in the middle. She introduced me to a world I never thought existed. And I was like, holy crap this is hot, I have to do this, this is my calling. And then you guys told me, all right, let's do X, Y, and Z, and then introduced me to Keri, and Keri lives like 5 minutes down the road, so I've kinda been bothering Keri every day since.
VeVe: I wanted to ask you -- cause we wanted to connect the two of you, yeah, Michi, we've only gotten to have you over to use twice cause you're just not as nearby -- how are you and Keri getting on? What have you been up to?
Michi: Getting on a lot [Keri headlocks Michi]
Keri: It took us a while to actually connect our schedules.
Michi: It gets kind of intense.
Keri: The past month or so we've been able to work a lot together and, you know, we're starting to train together. We get along really well, and it's been a lot of fun.
Michi: Yeah, she doesn't mind I look like a chia pet.
VeVe: Before or after wrestling? Because after wrestling [gestures to hair puffing up] a lot of people have that problem.
Michi: You've seen it. It gets kind of untameable, once in a while. I squirm a lot. So, one of these days. [fight gestures at Keri] Oh, my favorite submission.
Keri: What's your favorite submission? Like, what hold do you like to use?
Michi: To tap somebody out? Triangle. Flying triangle? Besides that...
Keri: A flying triangle, somebody your height, your agility...
Michi: I'm a fucking ninja.
VeVe: I totally want to see you flying triangle somebody, as long as it's not me.
Cat: What is a flying triangle?
Keri: All right? Who wants to do the flying triangle? This bitch. This bitch with the flying triangle. I'll try.
Cat: I'll take a flying triangle. I want to feel that.
VeVe: Ok, so after...
Keri: Let's just see the flying triangle...
Michi: [laughing]
Keri: Jesus christ. Flying armbars and triangles over here in New Jersey, everyone.
Michi: The crucifix ends on that, though. That. I might have a lot of trouble. Like. No? No? [Keri shakes head] Doesn't work? Ok. I'll shut up. Ok, no more chokes [laughing]
VeVe: So, Keri, we're responsible for keeping these hooligans on track. You have to ask them an interview question now.
Keri: Ok! So, ladies, let's say that you get told that you are challenged to a catfight. Would you be ok with hairpulling, face slapping, and body punching in a match?
Kinzie: Yes.
Cat: Heck yeah. That means I get to punch back? Absolutely.
Keri: Do you think that's an actual fighting style, or do you think that's just insulting as a competitor?
Kinzie: If it's prearranged and it's a style you're fighting in, yeah, it's a fighting style. I wouldn't say it's a traditional one or something that people train in. But if two people sit down and go hey, this is how we're gonna fight, then, sure, that's legitimate.
Keri: And what about those tactics used for submission?
Cat: I didn't hear that question -- what was it?
VeVe: Slapping and hairpulling for a submission.
Cat: Oh. Oh, interesting.
VeVe: Or body punching, for a submission.
Cat: Oh [smiles]
Kinzie: That'd be serious hairpulling.
Cat: Yeah, seriously. I don't know. I might be ok with some body punches, for sure. As a submission? Why not. Yeah. Hairpulling, I don't know...
Keri: Yeah, that can be a little rough. Like a hairpulling contest. So, that would be like where you're both standing, and you have to hairpull, and the first person to end up on the floor is the person who loses.
Cat: Well, maybe that doesn't sound so bad then.
VeVe: That sounds like whiplash. [all laugh]
Keri: So you guys are open to all different sorts of competitive fighting?
Cat & Kinzie: Pretty much, yeah.
Keri: Now, if you could come up with your favorite style of match, out of any type of match, what would it be?
Cat: Bondage.
Kinzie, So far, bondage.
Keri: Ok, and why is that?
Cat: I like that it incorporates some wrestling, but more just physical control, without the submissions, and of course just the rope is just so much fun --
Keri: Now is that the domination and the submission portion?
Cat: I'm missing that part of the question, what was that?
Keri: Do you like to be on the losing and the winning end?
Cat: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I don't mind getting tied up. No problem. It's fun. I just had a really impromptu match with VeVe over the weekend, and I totally got my butt kicked, but I was hysterical the whole time, because it was just so much fun, so absolutely. On either end.
Keri: I don't find it fun on either end.
VeVe: Michi, what are your thoughts? What's your favorite type of match? That you've done or would like to do ever?
Michi: I really do want to go back to the BDSM portion, just cause it is a lot of fun to try and hogtie. The one that we did with 6 girls. That's just -- I don't really see it being anything more than like I guess everybody just going after each other --
Keri: Like a multi-person match?
Michi: Yeah, like that to me is all hands down, everybody's free for all.
Keri: Like a 4-person bondage match?
Michi: We had 6. Right?
Keri: I wasn't there.
Michi: You wanna be there? We can get you there...
VeVe: Ah, that's actually... We'll discuss this off camera later, but we're trying to get it up to 8, and we'd would love for you two to both come back. Keri, we had you in one of the 4-way ones. One of the early ones.
Keri: Yeah, with Darling. And Ginary.
VeVe: That was very sexy. That was a fun time.
Keri: Yes, it was a sexy time.
VeVe: [turns to Kinzie] You said bondage was also your favorite too. What do you like about it?
Kinzie: So, I've always just liked rope, cause rope's great. But I really like that as someone who doesn't have a ton of technique under their belt, I can still have an edge and I can still win. Because it's a lot of just struggling and doing what you can to get the rope on the other person. Obviously specific wrestling techniques help, but as someone who's on my skill level, I feel like it kind of balances things out a little bit.
VeVe: That's something I've definitely noticed about the bondage wrestling. It can even the playing field a lot, between skill levels, cause it's mostly, to everybody, equally new. Almost.
Keri: So is something like pins wrestling. Have you guys considered doing that type of match?
Cat: yeah, absolutely, yeah. I actually had a domination match with Dachi not very while ago, and it was just a bunch of pins. It's great, I love using my body weight to hold people down. It happens all the time. I have a weight advantage on almost everyone I train with. That doesn't mean a strength advantage, just a weight advantage, and sometimes people have trouble dealing with that. I even have trouble dealing with it when I have other opponents who are solid muscle -- muscle is super heavy -- so when I have in the training and I'm rolling with someone who's really muscular, their body weight is tremendous for me. So, I have to take advantage of my weight and use it. So, absolutely, pins? Totally. Sounds like fun.
Keri: Do you feel like you distribute your body weight well? Like proportionately. Or is it harder for you to distribute it?
Cat: No, you know, I'm kind of both top and bottom heavy, and I don't, I'm trying to think, in just in training, I don't really like... in very seldom occasions do I feel like I roll a little further than I want to because of my lower body weight. But usually I distribute it pretty well. And as I continue to train more, my body awareness is just getting really great. So, I think it's been ok.
Kinzie: Yeah, I would say as someone who wrestles you, I don't usually feel like you're off balance or whatever if I'm trying to throw you or something.
Cat: Ah ha, throw me. [smiles]
Kinzie: The key word there was "trying." [laughing] But I never feel you have your weight heavily weighted more one way or another.
Keri: Now, when you're against somebody who's a lot smaller than you but is very lean muscle, do you feel like they use your weight against you more so, or do you feel like you have the weight advantage still?
Cat: You know, people who are smaller than me are really fast. So, there are a few of our training partners that I'm like "I need to wrestle you more" because I need to learn how to grapple with these really small, fast people who are -- you know, going back to the initial question what got me into this and my comments about not underestimating people, appearance means nothing. You can meet someone and say oh look, you're tiny, you're not even muscular, I'm gonna throw you around, and before you know it, you're rolling with them, and they're so fast, they're spinning around you, they're escaping you constantly. So, I wouldn't underestimate someone on their size. I try, absolutely, to use my weight to control them, but a lot of the time, honestly, on smaller opponents, they slip away so easy. Like even Kinzie, sometimes it's like, damn it, I can't get a hold of this girl, she keeps slipping out of my grasp, and out of my holds, you know, but it's good, it's a challenge. Those people I'm frequently saying hey, meet up with me for extra mat time, because I need to learn how to control that.
Kinzie: I'm squirmy. It's the one thing I've got going for me.
Cat: I know!
VeVe: Your foundation. You can build on squirmy. Oh, hey, let me ask new folks, who's your preferred sort of opponent or match partner? Do you like going with other new people, or do you like going with more experienced people?
Cat: [points to Kinzie] You go first.
Kinzie: Ah. I don't know. I think they both have their advantages. When I go with other new people, I feel a little more evenly matched, and like I feel like there's a chance I can win. But when I go with more advanced people, I feel like I'm pushing myself more, and they have more technique under their belt, so I'm really able to see what they're doing and try and see their plans and recognize techniques. Whereas someone at my level who's more evenly matched, they may not be using techniques that I can recognize from practice and be like "Oh, I'm about to be triangled. That's gonna suck in a second." So, they both have their advantages, plus I like getting thrown around. So, I mean, wrestling people who are better than me isn't always a bad thing. [laughs]
VeVe: Michi, what do you think?
Michi: I personally like to be submissive, but I [looks at Keri] Shut up. [all laugh].
Keri: Lies.
Michi: No! It's just like -- I'd rather learn from somebody that's professional [gestures to Keri], that way -- [Keri smiles, blushes. all laugh]
Keri: [aside] I paid her. [more laughing] Go on.
Michi: It's just a great learning experience -- stop laughing at me before I smack you! [laughs] But, all in all, when you go and you do get dominant, it does feel great, but I prefer submission. [points to Keri] She doesn't believe me.
Cat: Can I answer that question?
VeVe: Yeah, answer the question.
Cat: So, I like, like Kinzie said, I like both. Because some days I feel like I really want to crush someone, so I'll just pick on someone tiny, and I'll call them out and say, ok, you showing up to training today? Great, I want you. And then other times --
VeVe: You mean Aralia.
Cat: Well, I actually would really like a competitive match with Aralia. She is getting much better. One thing that I've noticed, and I'm being very careful, I'm calling it out, she has gotten really good at framing [shows forearm]. Often times, when we practice and we train, I can just dominate and toss her around, but she's getting really great at blocking me. She's developing the razor edge forearms that VeVe has, so I'm keeping an eye out for that now, because that hurts. So, yes, Aralia, but a lot of the time, also, because I always have the challenge of other wrestlers showing up who are smaller than me, if the occasion comes and one or two people show up that are bigger, or more skilled, I will call them out, because my opinion is I have to get my ass kicked on the regular if I'm gonna improve my game. So that's why I do practice outside of the training that we do here, because I want to bring some more excitement to the mat. The fancy sexy wrestling moves, scissor holds and pins and all that is really cool, but if I can learn and gain an advantage on my opponents in other way that are more traditional wrestling / jiujitsu styles, then I definitely wanna be able to do that, so. But going back to the answer, yes, both. For very different reasons, and I'm looking forward to maybe smashing some more people. And also getting my butt kicked! Cause like Kinzie, I don't mind getting my ass kicked once in a while, I don't really have much of an ego, and I like to be humiliated, so, I'm down.
Keri: Do you guys prefer to fight women, or do you prefer to fight men competitively? What do you think is more rewarding as a win?
Cat: As a win? Definitely the mixed. Fighting men.
Keri: Why?
Cat: I don't know. I think it's a psychological, emotional thing to just be empowering and destroy them in the whole misconception of the weaker female and the stronger male. --
Keri: Bad bitch, huh? [??]
Cat: I do have a little bit of meanness. Wrestling women, I feel like I get really excited, like I have --
Keri: Oh yeah?!
Cat: yeah, it creates a lot of excitement, and gets me, like --
Keri: You wanna fight me?
Cat: Sure. Come on over. Come over. I'll take it. I'll take that match. [laughing]
VeVe: We now have you fighting both of them [gestures at Keri and Michi]
Cat: I'll just do 2-on-1 bondage. That'll be fun.
Keri: I'll lose that one.
VeVe: I will happily not participate and just watch that.
Michi: She said she wants to bring more excitement to her matches, but what is she bringing in to make it exciting?
Keri: What do you want to bring in for more excitement?
Cat: Just some of the skills that I'm learning outside of the training here.
Kinzie: So tricks that I don't know.
Cat: Exactly.
Keri: What's your focus right now? What are you focusing on in your training?
Cat: Escapes. Escapes and fighting off my back. And I hate to put it out there, but that's a little bit of a struggle for me, fighting off my back. Maybe it's a weight thing. Maybe it's just a body awareness thing. It could be just a strength thing. So that's really what I focus on and work on a lot in my training --
VeVe: Here's a great question for everybody: as you're coming in, being new and developing your skills, what is the thing you want to work on most, what's your biggest area you want to be improving right now?
Kinzie: I need more attacks. I'm super squirmy, and I know the defenses, and I'm getting to a point where I'm recognizing techniques, and I know what to do to get away from them and get the other person off of me, but, and I can even sometimes get the upper hand, but once I'm there, I'm like, so, if you could just tap out, I'm going to hang out here.
VeVe: Pins match would be good!
Kinzie: Yeah. But a lot of submissions are not my strength, so actually being on the offensive and attacking is where I think I need to put a lot more of my focus.
VeVe: Michi, what about you? What do you want your next area of focus to be?
Michi: What she said. She actually hit every point on the nail. I wish I knew more submission moves, but it's not as --
Kinzie: So what you're saying is we shouldn't wrestle each other because we'd just roll around forever --
Michi: Yeah, but I think it'd be fun because you're squirmy, I'm squirmy, so who's gonna out squirm each other. [all laugh]
VeVe: We also have this style called catball, that's all squirming. You'd do really well. There are like no submissions in it.
Kinzie: Awesome.
Keri: I'm gonna actually have to go.
VeVe: Yes, we are 4:45. This is the official end of the webcast. Thank you, Keri.
Keri: It was really great meeting you guys. I so look forward to seeing your match. I wish you both the best of luck. You guys are awesome. And I hope that you are in the industry for a really long time. You're beautiful, and thanks for talking with me.
Cat & Kinzie: Thanks Keri!
Keri: VeVe, kiss my ass.
All: Bye Keri!
[Keri & Michi sign off]
VeVe: So, we said good bye to Keri. We're still here for another minute. Would you like to make any closing comments? Wait, I have one extra question I wanted to ask. We've had such a happy, upbeat thing, but I did my foreboding "Newcomers' Experience" at the beginning. So, I wanna ask, was there anything that was scary for you about jumping into this? A lot of people, you know, don't just show up and wrestle with strangers, like, hey, I can do this. Amazingly enough, not everybody does this. Was there any thing you had to overcome to getting yourselves out and doing this?
Kinzie: I think, for especially for the videos, for me it was a lot of: "But I'm not the best, who's gonna film me? I'm not the best yet." And not knowing a lot of specific techniques, I was really intimidated, and then I started doing it, and I was, like, oh yeah, I can do this. But I think that was my biggest fear and struggle going into it.
Cat: For me it was about really rolling with people and wrestling people who are trying to hurt me. Because, for most of the time, prior to this experience, I was just hanging out with friends, rolling around, rough and tumble struggle play, and that's fun, you know, there's a lot of giggling going on, some hurting, but it's not that bad. But coming on to the scene, where people are really putting armbars on you, and you're really injured, injuries are no joke. Like I had a really bad muscle injury in my back just from doing some simple rolls in training, nothing specific, nothing really strenuous. The fear of getting hurt, really hurt, was a little initially concerning, but then you see that, ok, you get hurt, you recover, it's a lot of fun, I'm still happy. Then, once I get over it, I get over that. But, you know, honestly, I still have that fear.
VeVe: That's a fear that will keep you safe, though.
Kinzie: You're allowed to be afraid of that.
VeVe: One of the scariest things is to roll with someone who doesn't know when to tap themselves. Who's like too stubborn. So, be a little afraid, and at the same time,be a good partner. So that both you and the other person are happy afterwards. Ok, we're gonna bring it to a close, cause you guys are gonna fight, so, any closing comments from you both?
Cat: [to Kinzie] Watch out for my breasts. I'm gonna put them right in your face. I'm gonna try. We'll see what happens.
Kinzie: You were talking about framing [shows forearm]. Not as pointy as Aralia,
Cat: All right. I'm watching out for that.
VeVe: All right, I think they're raring to go. We are ready to see not just some talking action, but some fighting action, so we're gonna bring this webcast to a close and hit the mats. Thanks everyone for joining us. Thank you both, and belatedly Keri and Michi for joining us. And we'll see you later [all waving].
