On the Bottom Half

The Hanged Man is a suspension team based in Melbourne. They suspend people on marlin hooks. Marlin hooks put through skin. Marlin hooks that are, in fact, flown in from the United States.

You would expect that the overwhelming majority of people who are drawn to this sort of recreation are those who are inked (permanently), sometimes in many places, and pierced, also sometimes in many places. Piercings and tattoos are probably one of those polarising features of humans: you are either pierced or you are not; you are either pregnant or you are not; you have been suspended or you have not; and so on. Those not pierced or tattooed are, perhaps affectionately, known as "cleanskins." I was searching for another cleanie in the crowd of about 100 in which I felt very much a loner for a completely non-emotional reason, but was unsuccessful (they tell me there was another, though). You would expect that this is an exclusive club of pain junkies, but they're not. They're just people with an unexpected penchant for piercing, that's all.

The basics of the night involve a clean area where only begloved piercing staff are allowed and where the sharp end of the operation is conducted very professionally with antiseptic, skill, and a few gasps. Those of you who've been pierced would know best what that is like, just scale it up a bit. The hooks are "placed" through enough skin and in great enough numbers so that your entire body weight can be supported by your body's biggest organ - the skin. When done correctly and with sufficient hooks, skin tearing is very rare. Risky suspensions involve places like knee and calf suspensions (yes, knee and calves), where the skin isn't thick enough. It's rare though and a piercer worth his or her respective salt knows what will work and what won't. Nylon line is strung between the hooks and a block attached through a pulley system to the roof. A very intimidating chap who turns out be surprisingly gentle hoists the lucky meat into the air. Once air borne, you're free to float, meditate, swing, or just... well, hang out... as you do.

Probably the most common layout (or should that be hanging) is called the "suicide," which is four hooks through the skin of the upper back in the scapula area. In this configuration, almost anyone of any weight can suspend.

Now, with a large group at a suspension event hosted by a group of keen piercers, are there any guesses what you'd do to occupy the WHOLE group at once? How about a "pull"? Think tug-of-war, extreme edition. Like Extreme Makeover, but with hooks and metal rings. At this event, called "X" (check out the gallery at the website), there were about 22 people who wanted to play. Duly lined up and sent through the clean area, they were mostly hooked through the skin fold above the elbow. One fool, if I could be so bold, got it through that really sensitive area at the top of your butt crack whence the cheeks separate distinctly. He was the only one who yelled loud enough to be heard. Fool. Again with the nylon line, each person was attached to the same 3" metal ring and when ready, the pull started. Talk about going to extremes to release tension and stretch out your back... I left during the pull, but those attached to the ring left much more slowly... It went for a long time and eventually ended with two people giving it all they could.

When you finish yourself off, there's more to it than simply removing the hooks. Air has been pulled under the skin and the disturbing phrase "rice crispies" has been coined to describe both the verbal state of being and removal of this air. Gives a whole new meaning to giving off gas. From what I understand, suspension is an outlet for people looking for an adrenaline pump; those looking to push a pain barrier and in my opinion completely smash it to lumps of grout and bits of dusty brick; those for whom skydiving, cliff hanging, and driving fast just don't qualify... I found it interesting, but as Ed said, Kuriousity killed the Kyle.

I'll stick to jets.