Kinkfest 2015

Once again, I braved the largest kink event in the UK to teach workshops.

Every year Kinkfest UK hosts a large educational conference and party over the course of a weekend, centred around all aspects of BDSM and fetish. It has a huge assortment of workshops, classes and discussion groups.

Unfortunately, this year I did not manage to “get my rigger on” at the peer rope. But I did have lots of fun teaching several groups of tremendously awesome people.

If you get the chance to attend in 2016, it is something I highly recommend and I will be back for a third year to run workshops on the art of flogging. It is held at the Xtasia club in Birmingham. If you read my blog and spot me there in 2016, come over and say “Hi!”.

They have expressed a wish to have some kind of flogging performance at the next one. About the best I could do would probably be to just get up and play, but we shall see how it goes and what they have in mind closer to the date.

A lot of photos were taken of me at the 2015 event by the official photographers. But many contain nudity and are images of me at play while attending the afterparty, so I will be restricting my blog to having only a few. The rest can be seen in my Fetlife gallery if you are curious.

If photography at an event is something that makes you nervous, Know that the event photographers always seek permission before taking photographs and they are incredibly discrete. Any face in an image that is not the centre of attention is burred completely out.

All these photos were taken at my Art of Flogging workshops. Enjoy.

Photos courtesy of Kinkfest UK.
Photography by Red Fox Photography & Shadowofchaos.
All images are copyright © KinkfestUK 2015.

Kicking!

Just to bring everyone up to date on “The art of Flogging” DVD Kickstarter project:

The company chosen to work with us on filming the project is: The Kink Domane.
They will be able to supply the equipment, manpower, filming, editing and sound for the DVD.
We have already finished the promotional video for the project and we are hoping to have it live within a week.
We will have only 30 days to reach our target goal and all information about what we hope to include will be posted as soon as the project goes live. I will be supplying a list of the things which the project funds will need to be spent on in order to complete the project, so everyone will know where the money is going. Obviously the more funding we make, the more we will be able to do and the better we will be able to do it.

All advertising and backing of this project will be greatly appreciated and there will be some nice rewards given away to people who lend monetary support to the project.
There will also be options for kink orientated businesses to be plugged in the DVD by sponsoring the project.

I have started a group on Fetlife to spread the word and keep people who do not follow my blog up to date. You can join this group at:
https://fetlife.com/groups/119378
This should end up being something pretty awesome.

Kabunza: Here, there be dragons!

For the past couple of months I have been adding dragon tails to our complete impact play sets and (finally) I have managed to get around to procuring myself a set of twins.

The thought of florantining dragon tails sent pleasurable shivers down my spine, so I decided it was mandatory to build a matching pair. They fly, wrap, roll, flick and flow as fully intended and I have hardly been able to put them down since creating them.

We have now started taking custom orders for individual dragon tails to be created. So if you fancy getting your hands on one (or a matching pair) created just for you, feel free to contact us through our online Kabunza Etsy shop.

If you would like to see more photos of our Dragon tails and other products that we have made in the past (perhaps to give you ideas for your own custom creation), check out our Kabunza blog at: http://kabunza.wordpress.com/, our fetlife profile at: https://fetlife.com/users/1764274 or our facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Kabunza

Eveproductions Photoshoot 08/08/13

On Thursday 8th August, I visited Eveproductions studio in Cambridge to have a few photos taken. Unfortunately, I do not intend to post a large portion of them on my blog as a lot of them were topless shots or nudes. But, in an effort to avoid too much disappointment;  here is a selection of ones that I have deemed acceptable for viewing on my blog.

However, if you are lucky enough to be on my Fetlife profile friends list. You get to see some of the topless shots.

Photos courtesy of Eveproductions.
Photography by Rod Macdonald.
Images are Copyright © 2013 Eveproductions.

Flogging workshop and first-time Kabunza trade stand at the BBB

Whenever I am asked to host a workshop, give tuition or give a demonstration, I always leap at the chance. It is incredibly rewarding and I truly believe that one of the best things anyone with a well practiced skill can do for the BDSM community is to pass on their knowledge to willing students safely. There are a lot of people out there who are reckless (even dangerous) but teach their activities anyway, (often simply to stroke their own egos) despite how unsafe it may be. It can sometimes be very confusing or even scary enough to put people off trying or learning new things. My recommendation to anyone taking advice from anyone on any BDSM activity is to do a little research into the competence of the person(s) giving out their information and also briefly on the subject matter in question (be it flogging, whips, shibari or any BDSM skill) using that magical tool: The internet. Trust me, for the safety of both yourself and those you play with, it never hurts to do a little research and anyone with real knowledge or skill will be apparent from the tat.

I tend to be very hands-on and interactive in my workshops; I like people to ask questions, I like people to talk to me about their own experiences so that I can explain or perhaps even learn something new myself (nobody ever stops learning) and I always try to get people out of their seats to physically practice anything I am trying to teach. Actual practice of any skill makes perfect and I think being able to actively talk people through and demonstrate safely as they are attempting new skills tends to alleviate a very large portion of simple first-time learning hiccups.

Having said that; I am happy to say that the flogging workshop at the Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar received some wonderful feedback and comments. It seemed as though everyone had a wonderful time and I cannot express how rewarding it is to watch people putting their new-found teachings into practice over the course of an event (having a room full of flying florantining floggers can be an incredibly fun thing to watch).

Even the lovely Mistress Victoria from Uberkinky (who was a pleasure to finally meet face to face) wrote a sparkling review of the experience, which you can read on her website blog: Here.

In response to the many people who have asked me to do some Youtube videos and tutorials: I do hope to get some made eventually, but it is finding someone who would be willing to film me and has decent enough equipment and software to do so. It will be done, it is just a question of time and expense (anyone wishing to participate in this kind of project, please feel free to contact me).

And to answer the question that so many people directed at me about my collection of floggers at the workshop: The straight handled floggers were from Jack’s Floggers, The ball handled floggers were from Jack’s floggers and Edgeplay and the majority of the floggers that you saw that evening (the poi floggers) were from our very own Kabunza Craftwerks (we do accept custom orders if you would like a personalised set made).

As well as the workshop, it was also Kabunza‘s first ever trade stand at the BBB. We received some wonderful feedback on our products and many people walked home with shiny new Kabunza collars, jewellery and floggers. We are gleefully looking forward to any possibilities of trading there again. The atmosphere and people at this event are simply awesome.

To sum up this post, I would just like to send out a few thankyou’s :

• To the BBB market and after party organizers for offering us the opportunity to have our Kabunza trade stand represented at their event, for the ample support they gave us, for allowing me the honour of hosting a workshop for them and for their very encouraging and complimentary words throughout.
• To everyone who made a purchase at the Kabunza trade stand. We know from all your lovely comments and appreciation photos that our hard work is going to good homes. We hope you get as much joy from them through their use and wear as we have had in creating them.
• To everyone who attended the workshop. I hope everyone had fun (I know many did from the comments that I have received on Facebook and Fetlife but I never tire from hearing your thoughts and I am sure the readers of my blog would love to hear your comments if anyone would like to post any below).
• To my ever diligent partner for pouring her blood, sweat and tears (three of my favourite things to squeeze out of her) into customising and altering almost every purchased Kabunza item at the event. She really worked hard.
• To my Benjamin. Who, without him, none of the above would of happened and who embraced everything that I inflicted upon him at the workshop (and afterwards) with a delicious smile. As I have always said; “It takes two to play”, and in that respect I am always greatly appreciative of him and feel incredibly lucky to have him as my own.

Floggalicious

If anyone has been following Kabunza on Fetlife or Kabunza on Facebook, it would be apparent that I recently designed and built my first sets of chainmail poi floggers.

I decided to promote their introduction and release at the Bristol SWAMP on the 12th May and due to the fact that I only had enough leather to make 6 in total and the fact that I would never be getting any more of that type of leather; I released them as a limited edition.

2 days before the event, I advertised that we would only be selling them at that specific event to see how people would react to the design, look and concept.

To say that I am surprised by peoples reaction to them is an understatement. 4 of the 6 had sold within the first hour of opening our trade stand, they had all sold by the end of the market day and in case any had not; I had a backup of emails and messages from people requesting to purchase them if they did not sell at the event (so, even if all of them had not sold at the market, they would have been sold regardless).

It was also a pleasure to give one purchaser a few lessons at the afterparty on how to use them effectively.

Due to such a positive response, I have decided to look into making more and building permanent designs (as well as a few limited edition and unique floggers). I have also decided to take a month (or so) as time off from residential professional Domination to concentrate on getting this new part of Kabunza up and running (I will still be available for sessions, but it will be by appointment only or on the occasional day that I decide to visit my Bristol Dungeon. Watch my twitter feed for tweets on when those occasional days will be).

My Birthday: The MDS Halloween Extravaganza 2012

I have always placed a huge emphasis on birthdays. For me, they are the most important reason to celebrate (far more important than Christmas, Halloween or any other religious or fallacy event).

This year (in a kind of ‘last minute’ planning), I decided to visit the Marquis de Sade (MDS) Halloween Extravaganza event in Weston-super-mare to celebrate on my birthday (28th October).

Once the organisers realised that I was the owner of Kabunza Craftwerks and thanks to some very smooth talking by my Benjamin; it was requested that we host a trade stand at the event (despite the fact that all the trade stand slots had already been filled). How could I refuse?

My partner played host at the stand for the majority of the evening. Unfortunately, our stock was incredibly limited due to a lot of recent sales, but I think we managed to put together a decent enough little stall for people to browse through and we always have our order booklet at hand in case anyone wishes to order something specific to be created and posted to them after the event (any order taken at events are always sent to the purchaser postage free).
In case you are all wondering or in case you missed us at the event; You can visit our Kabunza Etsy shop, our Kabunza blog, Kabunza on Facebook or Kabunza on Fetlife by following the links here or in this blog’s side bar.

Also at the event (quite randomly and ‘out of the blue’), I was requested to put on a florentine style flogging demonstration; the Mistress who originally had agreed to do the demonstration was a little reluctant (which is a shame because I rarely get to see others do this style of flogging). It was incredibly unprepared, But again, how could I refuse?

By far, the highlight of the evening was when (unbeknownst to me) Benjamin had arranged for my birthday to be announced over the comm/tannoy and over 100 BDSM Dominants and submissives sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me whilst Benjamin brought out a surprise, candle lit, home made birthday cake.

The majority of the rest of the evening involved a little play with my Benjamin, social mingling and teaching numerous people how to florentine. All in all: A fantastic birthday.

Thankyou’s:

The organisers of MDS: for all their encouragement and flattery, for supplying the photography for this blog post and for allowing us a trade stand when there really was no more room.

My partner: for being there when she is not really into BDSM, for her continuing support and for hosting the Kabunza trade stand; which in turn allowed me to socialise at ease and enjoy my birthday.

My Benjamin: for arranging everything with the MDS organisers when I simply said “Do it”, for the much appreciated surprises, for taking every random beating that I dished out upon him during the course of the evening (all of which were carefully applied aftercare in the form of Savlon cream and cuddles on returning home) and for making my birthday a very special one indeed.

Introductions: Benjamin

UPDATE: As of 19/02/14, Benjamin and I have went our separate ways and are no longer play partners.

At the beginning of this year, purely by chance, a wandering soul entered my realm. His eagerness to test and try new sensations and activities brought him to me. He called himself Benjamin.

At first, I did not differentiate him from anyone else who had came to me with curiosities. Why would I? I did not realise at the time just how deep things would go, or how fast.

It was not long before our play became a regular occurrence and soon afterwards, a strong D/s bond started to take effect. This in turn developed over the  months into closeness, trust and more until I finally began classing him as ‘My’ submissive in the July of this year.

This was an incredibly big deal and I will explain why:

Back in 2006, I released my last submissive of her station and role obligations (She became my partner and as many who read my blog may know, a constant D/s relationship does not always work full time); I essentially made a decision to keep D/s as play or work and to limit submission permanence.

I made a list of prerequisites and conditions so that if ever I was to take on another permanent submissive, they would need to be exceptional. Perfect not just for me but also for my partner and my lifestyle. Much of this list can be seen in a previous blog post of mine named: Procuring permanence.

In almost 6 years, nobody had ever managed to get past step three.

Benjamin is on step five. So I am in the belief that this blog post is overdue, and today is his birthday; ergo, an excellent day for introductions?

But he has grown to be more than simply my submissive. He is also my play partner (the D/s is not constantly in effect) and he has also grown to be my closest friend.

You can read his fetlife profile: Here. But for those who do not have a fetlife account, I will relay his written profile below:

I had always enjoyed the kinkier side of sex and this is what drew me towards BDSM.
I decided that if this was a journey that I wanted to take I should experience first hand what it feels like to be submissive and hopefully learn from it. I believe that you need to learn what pleasures and pain can be received from different aspects of play before you attempt to inflict them on others.
It was through this curiosity and wish to learn that I met Mistress Aemilia Hawk.

Personally, I think that it takes a lot of courage and trust to be truly submissive. In my eyes, if a Mistress/Master does not have respect for there submissive, they are truly not what this lifestyle is all about and do not deserve the title.
I quickly learned that Mistress Aemilia was the only person who I could offer submission to. She pushes my boundaries and is worth the effort. It has certainly been an amazing journey so far and I would say that I have learned a lot about myself.

I never expected BDSM or Mistress Aemilia to become so large a part of my life. It has been almost a year now that we have been exploring and playing together. I have mentioned on occasion that I have felt spoiled by her knowledge and skill. She has very high standards and over 10 years of experience. Setting the pedestal so high from the beginning has forced me to learn incredibly quickly. I am glad that I did and I feel very lucky to have her as my Mistress.

While I have grown to enjoy many forms of BDSM play, including sounding, flogging, violet wand play, CP and knife play.
Recently I have taken a large interest in Shibari and Kinbaku. My Mistress has encouraged this and we are currently exploring it further together.
Kinbaku is visually stunning to watch and a pure art form. But what is most important for me in doing this type of play is the connection between the two people involved. It is much more than just rope play.

I do not know what the future holds, who does?
My Mistress says that “Life is not worth living if you live it like a mundane.”
All I know is that currently, I am happy, content and having a lot of kinky fun.

Benjamin.

No doubt he will be reading this as soon as the post is published. So, to my Benjamin:

“Happy birthday sweet pea, and be in the dungeon at 8:00 pm sharp!”

Photography by Raven Imaging.
All images are Copyright © 2012 AemiliaHawk. All Rights Reserved.

Where’s Mistress?

After 2 event cancellations this month (Including the event where Kabunza was meant to host a trade stand) and the addition of a request for hosting a workshop on flogging at another event, I have decided that it would be significantly easier to have a page here on my blog in which to list all the up-and-coming events, shows and venues which I plan on attending.

This way, I can update the page periodically instead of bombarding my blog with multiple posts on where and when people can meet up with me (and possibly request a play) in an environment outside the dungeons.

You can see the new events page by clicking on the link tab at the very top of my blog (just above the main title) or you can click: Here.

Alternatively, you can see most events that I plan to attend on my fetlife profile.

I do plan on updating the new page on a very regular basis. As soon as a new event is decided upon, it will be instantly added to my list through iPhone updating.

Ahh, the wonders of technology.