Thursday, December 30, 2010

Censored!

The first video we uploaded to YouTube, “Shirtless Muscle Dude Gets Whipped” was pulled for “violations of community standards”, just like we feared would happen (as noted in the Dec 20 post of this blog).  It was a very popular video and received a recorded 15,890 views in the 88 days it was available before being deleted on Dec 29.  It is probably just a matter of time before the other one gets censored too, but we will move forward with our plans to upload out next video, which is titled “Soldier’s Punishment: Flogging” on Saturday, Jan 1.

Since we know of the censorship issue, and have discussed it here before, I hope you will spread the word about this blog to friends that also enjoy watching and participating in the extreme challenge (or “sport”) of flogging so that we can build a community here—and share knowledge of where quality videos can be found (while they’re available).

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New WhippingDudes Video Almost Ready

Our third video was filmed this past weekend!  We will upload it to YouTube on Saturday, January 1 and will post the URL on this blog as soon as it is available.  We are very excited to share this with you.  We bought some new editing software (that’s why it’s taking so long to edit—we have to learn the new system).  We be looking for feedback and constructive criticism, so let us know what you think of it.

We chose to make it a traditional (at least what you see in the movies as “traditional”) military punishment of two dozen lashes.  By viewer requests, we used the quirt to inflict them.  We hope you’ll enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it.  Keep your eye on this blog for the URL on Saturday!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Men Under The Lash

There were many comments made on our blog posts over the holiday weekend.  Our new friend, Mike, posted on virtually every post we have made so far.  Thanks, Mike!

On the “Corporal Punishment Alternative to Jail?” post, Mike writes, “…its got to be voluntary and, sexist pig that I am, men only.  I am not so sure that it is sexist to insist that only men take the lash.  I think it is more  a function of our society’s customs.   There is something in us that just doesn’t want to watch a woman physically suffer.  As an example, I suggest you watch this theatrical flogging of a woman in this Mary Bryant YouTube clip.   That’s one of the most savage (and probably realistic for the period) floggings I have ever seen in a movie, yet I found it to be disturbing because it was a woman being flogged.  If it had been a man enduring that flogging, I would have bookmarked it and saved it for repeated viewing.

I also think a further reason that we expect to watch only men take whippings is, as Mike points out, our custom that allows men to take off their shirts in public.  It isn’t a scandal when a man strips off his shirt on the street, but the same action would land a woman in jail.  If a man can take off his shirt in public for any number of activities, like swimming, running, working, etc, then we can expect him to expose his back to the whip.

Any beating that is not exclusively on a man’s bare back cannot be called a flogging, nor even, generally, whipping.  If it requires or contains nudity (a shirtless back isn’t nudity), it is sexual BDSM.  There are plenty of forums for that already in existence.  WhippingDudes is not about sex:  Our goal with this blog—and our YouTube channel—is to focus on the manly courage it takes to seek out and endure flogging.  If you enjoy watching men take this traditional form of punishment, or if you’re a man who likes “an awesome masculine ordeal”, you have found a home here!  

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Military Flogging—Humiliation?

In our modern world, we have the luxury of seeking the painful test of endurance that is a flogging (and the pleasure of watching another man endure his own test).  Most of us probably started out by taking a belt or jump rope or something like it to our own backs out of curiosity and then sought a partner to inflict floggings in a manner befitting our curiosity and desires.  It is easy for us to engage in the sport of endurance flogging—and seek ever harder tests—when we know that no damage or permanent scars will result. 

In times past, though, flogging was a true punishment: bloody, permanently scarring, and humiliating.  Something to, in fact, be avoided. I am thinking specifically of military summary judgments which allowed commanding officers to inflict savage floggings upon their personal order—for any offence, actual of perceived—with soldiers having no right to appeal and no choice but strip off their shirts and accept it or face harsher punishment.  Don’t get me wrong here, I am not trying to discuss past injustices, I am trying to understand how soldiers subjected to this kind of discipline viewed it.

Soldiers undoubtedly feared their officers because the officers controlled the whip, and that fear became the basis of military discipline.  That discipline taught soldiers their military being and bearing—how to respect and obey officers, behave in garrison and in the field, how to march sharply on parade, and how to face enemy cannons.  It created (at least the appearance of) courage in the face of the enemy because soldiers feared the certain threat of the lash more than the uncertain threat of battle.

While it is easy to understand why soldiers would resent having skin flogged off their backs, how did they individually react to it when it was they who were seized up?  Officers wanted/needed to make an example of each offender, so the pain of a military flogging probably overwhelmed many young men and broke them into screaming and begging for mercy (we don’t see that in the movies for the most part, but we read about it in historical accounts (mostly from people opposed to flogging as a form of punishment)).  How does a genuinely brave man face his peers when they have watched an officer’s lash break him?  This is where the humiliation aspect of the punishment comes into the picture.

But what about the long term?  Did the humiliation break a man’s spirit and last the rest of his lifetime, or did it wear off as the wounds healed (and other men were put under the lash)?  Did soldiers hide their scars because of their past humiliation, never removing their shirts when doing soldiers’ work outdoors?  Or did they expose their backs at every opportunity to display their experience, prove their personal bravery, and demonstrate their manly disregard for pain?

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone.  I hope Santa leaves a lot of leather under your tree!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Flogging Community & Censorship

Our friend Anonymous (I hope he eventually decides to create a login and post as an identifiable member of the community we’re creating here), made a comment about YouTube on our "Inflicting Punishment” post (Dec 14):  PS: Good luck keeping your YouTube channel up. The thought police recently found "newlatigazos" and deleted his account with all his single-tail whipping videos. They seem terribly inconsistent. They've had no problems with "Deakon Wicked" and "Dereckson009" who were just playing around. They have no problem with kids messing (around) with towels and belts. It's not like what you and newlatigazos filmed are outside contemporary community standards.

We couldn’t agree more.  Because of our content, we are in constant danger of being shut down—despite the fact that our videos do not depict sexuality in any form.  Just because some people find sexual pleasure in watching muscular men receive floggings, does not mean that the videos themselves contain any sexual content.  However, we cannot control what YouTube does.  It is their space and we all play by their rules (as arbitrary as they are).  Nonetheless, we will continue to make videos and post them for our viewers’ enjoyment and our own—for as long as we are able.
  
This raises the very real possibility that the WhippingDudes YouTube channel could either 1) have our videos pulled or 2) have the whole channel shut down.  Our goal with the channel and with this blog is to create a community where people can share their flogging experiences (both as Punished and Punisher) in writing, and as a place where people can easily access the videos of other people who like to film the test of endurance that is a real flogging (this we hoped would be accomplished by making our channel the go-to place to find others with similar tastes (i.e. through the YouTube friends we make and the channels we subscribe to)).   Because of the danger of censorship on YouTube, we need to know:  Does anyone know of a website where flogging videos like the kind we make will not be censored?

In the meantime (until we find such a website—if it exists), we strongly encourage everyone interested in flogging/whipping, to spread the word about the existence of our YouTube channel and of this blog.  If we can build a robust community interested in flogging, we can ensure that YouTube is not the final word on the discussion and viewing of flogging videos.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Inflicting the Lash

We had an Anonymous user make a comment on the "Prison Strap" post of December 11.  Thank you, Anonymous, for the important point you make:  This is the problem: there seem to be many men who long to take the lash but few who want to apply it.”

It takes as much emotional stamina to lay lashes on a man’s back, as it does physical stamina to endure the pain.  Many of us would rather take the lash than deliver the blows because it is easier to endure pain oneself than to watch someone else suffer.

When you recognize this fact, you can easily understand what it takes to film the videos that we post on YouTube.  Our Shirtless Muscle Dude might be tied up, helpless against the cruel lashes striking his back, but the Punisher has to have the emotional detachment to lay them on hard enough to raise welts—and (hopefully) force out cries of pain. 

Both the Punisher and Punished must put aside their fear in order to complete a good old fashioned flogging.  It is obvious that the man under lash must face the fear of pain, but many people don’t understand that the Punisher must put aside the fear of inflicting pain, which can be much harder than the endurance of physical pain.

In bygone times of military and prison floggings, officers could order virtually any man to flog any other man.  What motivated the Punisher in those times was the fear of being seized up to endure his own punishment for disobedience:  so he would lay on the lashes with full force.  So, what can motivate a modern-day person to lay hard lashes on a man’s back?  There are clearly some sadistic people that would have no qualms about this, but I believe these are very few and would be hard to find—and very hard to trust. 

I think the key is for the Punisher to learn to balance the desire to inflict as much pain as possible without causing any real damage (i.e. no blood, no permanent scarring, etc).  This requires a form of “conscious detachment”: being unmoved by the punished man’s cries, while ensuring that the painful experience is enjoyable—and does not become one of savage, unfeeling brutality. 

For an inexperienced Punisher, it can take some time to gain confidence.  The task of the Punished will be to give advice and guidance as the Punisher learns the limits—upper and lower—of the whip being used and of his own strength in wielding it.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Prison Strap

“Belt whipping” seems to be a popular hobby among male college students, if you can judge by the number of YouTube clips uploaded on the subject.  These kids take off their shirts and let their friends hit them once (or a few times) with belts, cords, ropes, or something similar.  They then run around screaming and sometimes writhing in pain.  There is an atmosphere of partying in these clips and much laughter.  It proves that whipping comes naturally to young men—almost like some rite of passage, although not institutionalized.  But belt whipping isn’t flogging:  it is more about braving one or two swats than with enduring full-on punishment.

WhippingDudes, in both our blog and our YouTube channel, is dedicated to the courage of men facing and enduring the pain of flogging.  We believe that it is entertaining and inspiring to watch a fit man exposing his bare back to the lash.  Various instruments can be used to carry out a flogging:  the traditional cat o’nine tails, straps, and single-tailed whips, with several variations available for each.  Today, we will discuss the Prison Strap.

A Prison strap is shorter and wider, and usually thicker and more rigid than the average leather belt.  It has a handle and sometimes has holes cut in the leather to give it more speed (and sting); it is traditionally applied to an offender’s exposed buttocks.  But WhippingDudes is about flogging, not spanking, so we apply the Prison Strap to a man’s bare back, as you can see in Shirtless Muscle Dude Gets Whipped.

Some people (myself included) find that the Prison Strap gives far harsher punishment than that given by the cat o’nine tails.  From personal experience, I can tell you that each hard stroke with a prison strap is like two lashes:  there is the initial sting on the skin, but then the pain instantly sinks into the muscles of your back—and that’s when you know that you’re being punished.  The first stroke with a prison strap is enough to make you know that you made a mistake in asking for it.  But the trademark of a man’s courage is to bear lashes of the Prison Strap on his back.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

True Test

I could post this response in the comments section of my December 4 post, but I thought I would bring the reader comment to everyone’s attention.  Curious One has made some strong points about how and why people offer the lash and I encourage everyone to read it.

My response is this:  Thank you, Curious One!  You make the point that people who have made some comments on our YouTube videos seeking more lashes or laid on harder (or other enhancement) probably have never seriously taken the lash.  It is easy for some people (but not the majority) to watch another person suffer and say, “Hey! Hit him harder!”  (As an aside, I actually welcome all comments—we do enjoy making the videos and the purpose other than our own enjoyment is to entertain others with them—and want to give people what they want to see—within our personal limits, of course).  What we hope comes across, though, is the courage and endurance of the man under the lash.

We have had one other person watch our sessions (the camera operator) and I didn’t even care that he was there once the lashes began raking my back.  I am more interested in showing the world how I genuinely take it—that’s why we film these.  I don’t try to hide behind fake machismo and stifle my cries for the benefit of the audience—I want them to see it for what it is.

We don’t establish a safe-word, so I have to take the number of lashes we agree upon before the session starts.  Everyone who watches it (hopefully) can tell that it is real pain from real lashes with a whip.  I take it as I take it, with little regard for the camera, knowing that nothing I say or do will stop the lashes until I have receive the required punishment.  So, if a particular lash wrenches an uncontrolled scream from me, that is OK because anyone watching is witnessing a man take a real flogging, in substantially the same manner as soldiers, sailors, and prisoners have done throughout history.

The answer to the question: “what is the appeal?” is not black-and-white.  As Curious One pointed out in his comment, he dreads being whipped, but nonetheless steps forward time and again to take it.  I feel the same way.  Of all the whips that have landed on my bare back, the one I fear the most is the prison strap (that viewers can watch me take 10 lashes with in Shirtless Muscle Dude Gets Whipped).  That heavy leather monster makes me cringe, yet it is the one I most look forward to taking—because it is my true test.  

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Corporal Punishment Alternative to Jail?

The topic of corporal punishment, specifically flogging, as an alternative to jail has been raised in the comments section our Shirtless Muscle Dude Gets Whipped by YouTube viewer Mindspring57.  He argues that flogging would be a viable alternative to career-destroying measures such as incarceration.  In this scenario, the guilty party for serious yet common offenses such as DUI could be allowed the option of accepting a public flogging in lieu of a jail sentence or a large fine.

As Mindspring57 notes, “for a 20-something business executive who has too much to drink at a party, it makes a lot more sense than sending him to jail. He would get to keep his job, not have to associate with the other people in jail, and have an experience he is not likely to want to repeat.” 

I would like readers of this blog to weigh in:  would knowing that you will face six months in jail or a public flogging upon conviction for a DUI be a deterrent?  If we were to implement this policy, do you think there would be many 20-something professionals who would brave the lash?

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Take the Lash?

What drives a man to take the lash on his bare back so that the whole world can watch, like our Shirtless Muscle Dude?  For me, it’s the idea that men throughout the ages have been forced to endure the whip as a form of punishment.  No choice was given to the offender:  an officer or judge simply ordered it and the man was seized up and flogged in public—acting as both a form of punishment for his offense and as a warning to his peers.

As free men, we have a choice.  And as such, I choose to understand through personal experience how a man feels while hard strokes are laid to the skin of his back.  From those experiences, I find the most intriguing part to be the fear of it.  It’s not so much a test of pain endurance, it’s a test of fear tolerance.  For example, if a man is taking a flogging and shouts out an established safety phrase to end the beating, it’s not to stop the pain from the previous stroke (he’s already felt that), it’s to avoid the pain of the next one.  In essence, he fears the pain of another lash. The test is: how many does it take to force him to shout out for mercy?  How many can you take?!

Don’t criticize a man who cries out in pain and uses an available escape route.  The fact that the man had the courage to take off his shirt and put himself to this public test should be proof enough of his daring.  If he comes back for more, that’s further evidence of his personal bravery.   It is the man who stands ready to announce the number of lashes he will take, without the easy escape of a safety phrase, and doing it for the world to see, that is truly bold and deserving of respect.  

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Great Viewership

If you have had a chance to view our uploaded YouTube clips, you probably noticed that we have had over 10,000 views of our first video “Shirtless Muscle Dude Gets Whipped” in just the two months since we posted it.  Our second video, “Shirtless Punishment Whipping” has had over 3,000 views in just under three weeks!

We are very glad that people are enjoying watching us at our new hobby!  We are having a lot of fun with the actual test of endurance that is flogging, but also enjoy tinkering with technology and trying to make the production values (lighting, editing, etc) better over time.  We will be posting a new clip very soon.  And in an effort to give viewers what they want, we are conducting a poll on our YouTube channel site seeking input on which whip to use in our next session.  Please visit the WhippingDudes YouTube channel to register your preference between watching our Shirtless Muscle Dude 1) get flogged like a felon with the brutal prison strap or 2) taking a solder’s punishment with the cruel single-tailed quirt.  Feel free to make a note of your preference in the comments section of this blog post, too!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Premier Blog on Whipping & Flogging

Thank you for joining the WhippingDudes blog.  I’m your host, Buddy Olive.  This blog exists to be a forum about the discipline it takes for a man to endure the traditional punishment of flogging.  Here you can join in the discussion, tell your story, comment on clips you have seen, or discuss the finer points of what drives a man to seek this unforgiving test.

The goal of the WhippingDudes blog is to become the premier blog on the subject of watching fit men take the lash on their bare backs—and discussing the floggings our readers have endured.  Right now, we have flogging clips uploaded to YouTube featuring our exclusive Shirtless Muscle Dude.  I encourage you to check out the clips—and subscribe to our WhippingDudes YouTube channel at  http://www.youtube.com/whippingdudes.  We will upload more clips periodically.

The endurance of a painful flogging is not only a uniquely masculine pursuit: it is also very enjoyable to watch.  Each man reacts differently as the pain mounts with every lash.  A muscular man you expect to stoically endure may break down within a few strokes, while a skinny swimmer may bear a full 50 lashes without so much as a whimper.  You can never predict the reactions of the next man that steps up to brave the whip.

Many people enjoy flogging and whipping in the sensual sense, in the privacy of their bedrooms with their significant other.  Here, we talk about the essence of flogging:  the pain and the bravery it takes for a man to strip off his shirt and commit to showing the world how he endures the lash.  From the cat o’nine tails, to the prison strap, the quirt, leather belts, and more, this blog is dedicated to describing, discussing, and understanding how a man takes it on his back.