With lift and carry & erotic wrestling kinks, the idea of an afternoon pick-me-up becomes a little more literal. In the niche world of strength domination, expect whips to be swapped for weights and latex for spandex.
In the mainstream, it’s not often that domme-ing is portrayed in line with the lift and carry or erotic wrestling aesthetics. The closest we’ve seen is in Netflix’s now-cancelled show ‘GLOW’ (short for: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling!)
These aesthetics are basically best summarised in that meme of a still from a porn video of super tall, super hot Lauren Phillips lifting and pinning tiny, helpless and clearly horny Alice Merchesi to the wall. It’s Wonder Woman in her Amazonian proportions, Xena the Warrior Princess, Beatrix Kiddo, and Summer as Giantess in the Rick and Morty The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy Episode.
Perhaps because of lift and carry’s focus on aspects of the domme’s physicality, it’s still considered pretty niche within BDSM, with those who dabble being a dedicated few. This could be down to the nature of the kink itself. It requires not only heavy load-lifting (squatting the weight of a grown man to fireman carry him around a room is no easy feat), but a comprehension of technique that requires training in wrestling – or other martial arts – in order to keep everyone safe from injury. Yes, it isn’t only the submissive at risk here. If the dominant performs a carry they are untrained for, they too are at risk; which is why it is so important that lift and carry practitioners are appropriately trained and feel confidently able to perform what the sub will want in their session.
So what do strength domination sessions involve that make them so risky? “I’ve found many clients believe that if someone is visibly able to perform a strenuous lift, that it means they are physically strong enough to do it, which is wrong.” KLE member Hazel says. With a background of training martial arts, she has been taking erotic wrestling and lift and carry bookings for over two years. “After half an hour of lifting a 10, 11 or 12 stone client into the air repeatedly, even well-trained lift and carry escorts will be tired and sore. But an untrained escort could tear a muscle or worse.”
Even with the technicalities and nuances, strength domination is still just a form of domination. It utilises and is based upon the key skills and techniques that other forms of domination harness. For instance: lift and carry is all about humiliation, body worship (specifically muscle or height, most likely), and receiving total submission from the person they lift. “There is little as erotic as lifting a man, who is likely to be dominant in his life outside of the session, and watch as he surrenders that power to you for those minutes. When I am carrying a client, I am in complete control. But it is also a collaboration, as if they struggle in the middle of a fireman carry, I’m unlikely to be able to hold it for too long,” Hazel describes.
Those who have dabbled in play-fighting with a partner will know how quickly rough-and-tumble can turn into rumpy pumpy. Erotic wrestling is predominantly borne from power play, and can harness breath play and sensory deprivation (if you can count the temporary loss of your sight or hearing down to being smothered by thighs as part of sensory deprivation).
Hazel admits that erotic wrestling sessions are a particular favourite of hers: “They are so playful and versatile. They’re a chance to explore your competitive side, to experiment with roleplays and a variety of holds, and I find you eventually become so in sync with your wrestling partner it almost feels like dancing.”