© 1997, 1998
INTRODUCTION
Canes have a deserved reputation as The Victorian Terror
Weapon. To most submissives, they mean severe punishment; to
sensation-seeking S/M bottoms, overload.
If we have care and patience, however, canes can be used in a loving and
sensuous way. The very stiffness of a
good cane, that makes a hard stroke so intense, allows the lightest taps to be
given with perfect control. And a light
canestroke is easy to aim, unlike a flexible whip that sags and flops at low
power. In the kind of sensuous play I'm
describing here, light strokes are far more prevalent and important than heavy
ones.
This style is a matter of trust, patience, and finesse. If you can't gain, maintain, and deserve the
bottom's trust, the whole thing is probably going to fail, or fall far short of
what it could be. As for patience, don't
even start a scene like this unless you have at least an hour available, and
two is better. Finesse? Well, on two occasions bottoms have gone to sleep while I was caning them. They woke up black and blue, and
giggling. That's finesse.
I'm not bragging, and I'm not saying I'm some kind of Caning
God. It's learnable. That's why I'm writing this.
CANING TECHNIQUE
A single cane can deliver an entire symphony of
sensation. A snappy blow that is pulled
back a bit just before impact will emphasize surface sting. The same sort of
blow carried past the moment of impact, with follow-through, will have much
more thud and penetration.
The greatest intensity is delivered by the outer third or so
of the cane's length. This is the
portion that leaves marks, in a hard blow. In a light blow, this part of the cane will
have a relatively stingy feel. Closer to the top's hand, the cane moves much
more slowly, and the sensation will be more thuddy or even massage-like. This allows a good way of maintaining rhythm
and atmosphere while giving some relief to a bottom who is showing signs of
overload.
The very tip of a cane can be used on many targets that a
full-length blow might harm, or be unable to even reach. Tip shots can work the inside of the sweet
spot, the bottoms of the feet, the muscles between the spine and the shoulder
blades. A traditional cane stroke in any
of these areas would cross bony areas, causing bone bruises and pain that is
not at all erotic; a hard one might chip bones or crush nerves, and cause truly
harmful damage. DON'T try for these with
any force until you are utterly sure of your aim! Lighter tip shots are much safer, and feel
much like percussion massage.
SETUP
I prefer to have the bottom lying flat. When a person goes as deeply into bottom
space as I hope to send them, the mere act of keeping their balance will be a
distraction. Having them lie on a table
is easiest on the top's back in these long scenes; massage tables are ideal,
and cafeteria-type tables are sturdy and about the right height. Arrange padding if the table doesn't already
have it; I usually bring a single-bed sheet and a roll of foam to parties and
demos.
Second choice is ground level; on a mattress or futon, or
the foam pad. Here the bottom will be laying prone and the top will sit or
kneel beside them. On table or floor,
it's nice to have three or four feet clear on either side of the bottom, so
that you can switch sides. Since the tip
of the cane always hits the hardest, switching sides will help to keep the
caning symmetrical. Also, it allows the
top's other hand to rove over a different part of the bottom's body. From one side, you can stroke,
massage, caress, and collect feedback from feet, legs, and
buttocks, and play with their crotch if it's that kind of scene. From the other, you caress their face,
massage their back, grab hair or the back of their neck, play trust games with
your finger between their teeth as you cane them...
A caning can be an awkward thing to deliver when the bottom
is standing, especially if the top is taller.
There is a strong tendency for strokes to land too high, on the bony
upper half of the butt, when the bottom is standing up. Also, the sweet spot is hard to reach from
this position. Going to one knee may help.
Occasionally a play space may have a stage or platform of some kind,
with bondage facilities near the edge of it.
If you have the gear and knowhow to do it safely, suspension may also
offer a way to get the bottom a foot or two higher.
I try to avoid the traditional bent positions for caning,
where the recipient crouches or bends over a chair. For one thing, this stretched skin is much
more sensitive. Victorian punishers
wanted overload; for a sensuous caning we want to avoid it. For another, the tailbone comes up into
harm's way when one bends over, and a hard canestroke is quite capable of
chipping it and inflicting a painful lifetime disability. Damaged tailbones
don't heal! There is a lot of perfectly
good buttock area that is hard to work safely from these positions; when
the bottom's body is straight, much more of the tailbone is protected. When in doubt, run your finger down the
spine, all the way into the crack of their ass; you can feel how far the
tailbone goes. Check this each time; the
length varies surprisingly among different people.
WARM-UP TECHNIQUE
Of course, some people warm up much faster than others. "Smooth" is one thing; boring is
quite another. In initial negotiations,
I mention this, and if we are using the "traffic light" safe words I
point out that "green" is also a colour, and that they can always
call for a speedup if they want one.
As we begin, I like to promise that I will escalate the
intensity very gradually - something like "no stroke will be more than a
third harder than I've already given you".
This helps them relax. You need
to keep this promise, too; surprises will tense them up for a long while
afterwards. Resist the temptation to
tease them or fake them out, for the same reason.
I often begin with an ordinary massage. I explore the muscles of the back, buttocks,
and legs, checking for tense spots and taking whatever time is needed to relax
them and establish an expectation of pleasure from my touch. Massage is itself an endorphin releaser, and
very non-threatening. When a bottom is
new to this technique, their delighted surprise can relax them, build a lot of
trust early on, and give them confidence that there are rewards to be had in
exploring with you.
After achieving relaxation of any tense spots, do a little
fingertip percussion on the muscled areas of the bottom's body. (Fingertip percussion is what a pianist does
to strike several close keys all at once.)
The fingers of one or both hands are crooked, and struck down in to the
target area. Work the upper back, to
either side of the spine, this way for a while.
Do the same to the lower part of the buttocks, and down the backs of the legs.
This sort of sensation is a perfect bridge between massage and flagellation;
it's especially good for introducing beginners.
Now begin with the cane, tapping very lightly over the areas
that had the percussion warm-up. Don't
tap any bony areas; this is a good time to develop the habit of avoiding
them. Use the cane tip to reach areas
that have bone close alongside. The
blows should have less force than your fingertips did; the cane is hard and
stingy, and the idea is to introduce the cane without breaking the relaxed and
trusting glow of your warm-up.
Along with ordinary light taps, mix in a few that are
feather-light; with practice you can deliver a flutter as light as the landing
of a flock of butterflies. This is a
wonderful contrast to harder strokes; as endorphins build up such a light
flutter will often bring on a fit of giggles.
As you work, do single taps, double taps, quick flutters of
various intensities. Your goal here is
twofold. You are trying to teach the
bottom that they cannot predict your strokes, but that it doesn't matter
because they won't be harmed. It is a
non-verbal trust-building exercise..
Done with care, you can give the bottom that wonderful open acceptance
of whatever happens, the key to the very best bottom space.
Another key to good bottom space is breathing. Deep, careful breathing controls panic, and
this is vital as intensity builds. Panic
is really the unpleasant portion of pain; take panic away and what's left is
just strong sensations. All kinds of
wonderful things can be done with strong sensations...
If your bottom has ever done yoga, meditation, natural
childbirth training, or anything like that, remind them that deep, slow
breathing is important here, too. If
they have never had such training, coach them as you go. If their breathing becomes short and choppy,
ease up and remind them to relax and breathe deeply (unless they're coming, of
course; that's to be encouraged, not interrupted with good advice!)
If your other hand keeps up a steady contact with caresses
and massage, not only will it relax and comfort the bottom but you will be able
to detect twitches, tension, or relaxation.
Especially with bottoms who aren't very verbal or vocal, this is the
best feedback you can have.
If they are vocalizing, watch out for a sharp edge to their
tone. It warns of gradually building
tension - if you continue to hear it, something isn't working, the bottom space
is eroding. The muscles under your other
hand should be more and more relaxed as the caning proceeds; if not, it's also
a sign that your build-up is not succeeding.
This sign is apparent even in a silent bottom.
As you gradually build the intensity, one useful trick is to
follow a harder blow with a quick light rain of flutter strokes, right into the
same area. These will distract the
bottom from any overload (within reason) and take them back to the bottom space
that has just been successfully processing light stuff. However, the harder blow will have done its
work of moving the whole scene to a slightly higher level.
FURTHER CANING TECHNIQUE
If your warm-up has opened the way for more powerful
strokes, care must be taken. Canes may seem
stiff, but a hard stroke can bend them ninety degrees and more, and a
wraparound with a cane can be downright dangerous. Wraps are most common when a
top goes to full power, after a well-aimed series of warm-up or measuring
strokes. The problem is in the top's
body dynamics: the momentum of the arm goes up exponentially with increased
speed, so the whole body is pulled forward as a heavier stroke is delivered. The full-power stroke automatically reaches
several inches further than the lighter stroke that was supposed to "gauge
the distance".
It's physics; you can't keep it from happening, any more
than you can walk on the ceiling. What you can do is allow for it, and train
yourself to compensate. You can ease
your feet back a bit, or pull your elbow or shoulder back as part of the
swing. Or you can do as Mistress Nan
Burrows recommends, and take your aiming stroke so that the cane tip lands in
the middle of the far cheek, no further.
This aiming point will land a full-power stroke that safely spans the
full width of the buttocks and no further.
If you do wish to play with harder strokes, practice! Learn to pay close attention to where your
cane is landing; this is how you learn to correct your aim. Mistress Nan advises a lot of practice on a
cushion. There is a certain kind of
upholstery that shows the stroke, but each blow shakes the surface and erases
the trace of the preceding blow. Perfect
feedback! The upholstery looks to be a kind of heavy-duty velvet; check thrift
stores.
When you are ready to try powerful strokes on a human
partner, try putting a cushion or blanket roll on the far side of them. This will catch a wraparound harmlessly. Be sure to confine hard strokes to the
buttocks below the tailbone and the upper half of the thighs.
CANING AND OTHER PLEASURES
Sexual connections: perhaps a quarter of women, and a very
few men, can actually get orgasms from the cane. I think this is incredibly hot, and it makes
me very jealous! There will be others
who may not actually climax, but get extremely turned on, which can offer a
pleasant answer to the question of "what do we do next?"
The shock waves made by a cane are directional - they tend
to continue through the target in the general direction the cane was moving
when it hit. In fact, if you slide a
hand under your partner's thigh or belly, you can feel the shock of a medium
cane stroke go right through them. The
"sweet spot" in the lower butt, to either side of the crack, is sweet
for this reason; blows here can send waves up into a whole complex of muscles,
nerves, and engorged tissue that is directly involved with sexual
excitement. Many bottoms will enjoy a
steady rhythm of light or medium blows on the sweet spot - especially if they are angled to
send their shock waves up and forward.
At least one lady I know has called the effect a "rattan
vibrator".
One good sign of this sexual connection is a face-down
bottom whose hips begin to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. You might try matching that rhythm, with
light or medium strokes. Or use your
other hand to massage the nerve points around the pelvic dimples and to either
side of the last few inches of the spine.
POWER AND ROLE-PLAY
Often when I do this, the scene is "pure S/M",
sensation for sensation's sake. No role-play,
and no more power exchange than a massage.
The concern for smoothness, the bottom's comfort and welfare, and
cooperation is difficult to reconcile with many of the traditional roles and
scenarios, where the top and bottom play as adversaries. However, there are a few roles possible
wherein the person who hits you is not an enemy!
Mentor/Ritualist: The top is a trainer, preparing and
coaching the bottom for some ritual ordeal.
Or passing on the secrets of mind control, wherein pain becomes
ecstasy. Or trying to send the bottom on
an astral observation of whatever, or a spirit journey, etc.
Comrade: Who is preparing an agent, or coaching a fellow
prisoner, to resist/survive an interrogation.
(Of course, the interrogation can follow later, with the top moving into
a new role, or new tops coming in for that part.)
Science Fiction: The aliens whose ship crashed think they
can recharge the damaged drive crystals, but only by tapping the energy
mobilized in what turns out to be this scene.
Some of these may sound hokey, but role-play always sounds
hokey to anyone who is not motivated toward that particular scenario. Find a script that works for you, and
suspension of disbelief will come much more easily.
Also, endorphins can lead many bottoms into a profound
submissive space. If you enjoy serious D/S or role play, you may find this
endorphin-oriented warm-up offers a startlingly good beginning to a more
psychological sort of scene.
MAKING YOUR OWN TOYS
Traditional canes are made of rattan, a woody reed from the
East Indies. It has a jointed stem that resembles bamboo, but is not
hollow. Rattan is very tough and strong,
and makes the most durable natural canes I know. Like bamboo, it comes in all
sorts of diameters; traditional canes are about 8mm, but thicker and thinner ones
are also useful.
Rattan can sometimes be found at craft stores or Oriental
basketwork shops. It is used to make
wicker furniture, so a repairer of that might have a stock of it as well. Unfortunately, most of the cane-sized rattan
that comes into this country has been bent into coils, which warps and
sometimes cracks it.
If you must deal with the coiled stuff, it should first be
cut to length with a fine-toothed saw.
Coping saws and hacksaws work well.
A dressmaker's tape is a handy way to measure along the coils. Obviously, you should not include cracked
places in your layout.
Less obviously, your canes will be much more durable if the
tip includes one of the joints of the stem.
The convoluted grain in each joint resists splitting, as opposed to the
very straight grain that runs for the foot or so between joints. A lot of the coiled rattan has been peeled
and sanded, but the joints are still noticeable if you look and feel
carefully. Cut the stem about a stem
diameter to one side of the joint; this will become the tip of the cane. (The ends without joints included are fine
for handles - the tips are what take the shock and strain.)
You can make the canes any length you like; I prefer 20-30
inches (50-80cm) as they are easier to aim and more convenient in close
quarters. Long ones have more power, but can be awkward. The natural variations in your coil will
probably give you several choices.
Each tip needs to be rounded off; any kind of edge here will
break skin far too easily. Coarse
sandpaper works well, especially in a power sander of some kind. Hand sanding will also do, as will a fairly
coarse metal file. Whatever you use, try
for a smoothly rounded end. Now
hand-sand the whole length of each cane with medium paper; try to remove the
stray fibers you find sticking up from the wood. They are a nuisance during varnishing.
The cut pieces will have to be soaked and steamed to
straighten them without breaking. I soak
mind in the bathtub for a day or two, but any water will do. Don't let them dry out. After soaking comes steaming and
straightening. You will need some way of
keeping the canes straight as they dry; I lay them in a series of grooves I
routed into a plank, and then clamp another plank on top of them. You can also try shoving each one down a
length of pipe; plastic water pipe won't rust and stain the canes.
When you have your straightening rig set up, boil a big
kettle of water. Wrap the canes in a towel or two, lay them in the (drained)
tub and pour some boiling water over them.
Dose them every minute or so for a few minutes, and then unwrap them;
the scalding will make them limp and easy to uncurl. (Dishwashing gloves help keep your fingers
from scalding, too.) Quickly, before
they can cool, bend them straight and put them in the jig. Put the jig in a dry place with good
ventilation for five days (10 if you're metric). :-)
Remove the canes and hang them up for air drying; I use
clothespins on cords. After one day of
air drying, brush them thoroughly with a coat of spar varnish; Varathane works
well. Give each cane at least three coats;
let each coat dry enough that you can sand off any lumps. Some newspapers on the floor under them will
be a good ideas, since at least one of them will drip no matter how careful you
are.
The handle end of each cane can be left as is, or a grip can
be added for comfort or appearance. You
can dip the handle ends in plastic tool dip - it will take several coats, and
you can hang them from the same setup you used in the varnishing. The fumes of this stuff are truly nasty; be
sure you have good ventilation. Less
toxically, you can wrap the grips with cord or leather lacing, sew a scrap of
leather or cloth around them, or cover them with tape. Bicycle handlebar tape makes a fine grip.
You can of course prepare other kinds of wooden rods this
way - and avoid all the straightening hassle by picking ones that are straight
to begin with. Bamboo is cheap and
widely available, and also stiffer than rattan, which makes aiming easier. Bamboo, of course, is hollow and the tip must
be made at a joint, just as described for rattan. Bamboo works fine for light to medium blows;
heavy blows with it can be dangerous.
Bamboo can split without warning, and the splits have edges like razors! Hardwood dowels from the hardware store can
have the same problems. Avoid either of
these materials for heavy canings.
Many other plants have cane like shoots. Forsythia is a very popular ornamental, and
the older branches from the inside of the bush can make quite a reasonable
cane. Prepare as you would rattan. They aren't as durable, but the price is
right, especially if rattan is hard to buy where you live. Apple trees develop suckers each year,
especially upward from the top branches.
These grow straight, to about the right length, and are pruned off in
great numbers every year. They are quite
tough and durable. The buds make rough little bumps along the shoot; they can be sanded off if they seem too
harsh.
Some twigs, such as birch or willow, are fine for scenes but
far too flexible to be considered or used as canes. Handling them is a whole different topic.
There are also synthetic canes, mostly plastics. Plastics are much denser than wood, so they
hit harder and the stroke is more penetrating.
They are very easy to clean, which is a good thing because the thinner
ones break skin quite easily.
There are shops in most large and medium cities that sell
plastic supplies. There can be a
confusing variety of materials there: Delrin, Lexan, and fibreglass are three
kinds of rod that are tough enough to make good canes. Acrylic is not tough enough; I have broken
several. If the clear look appeals to you, get Lexan. Sora, from San Francisco, makes some very
nice Lexan canes, if you want to buy ready-made. If you prepare your own, you won't need to
varnish them, but be sure to remember to round and smooth the tip!
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