I guess I can make a trip out to Arizona to flag with you some weekend.
Your more than welcome in my home .
Be well,
Rodger
active 2 years, 2 months ago
My History
How would you describe yourself as a flagger?
I’m a beginner
, basically. It took a while to get into it, and the last time I flagged was about 7 years ago… and I never had my own set of flags.Ah, updates are wonderful… I went to Megatronik this past Saturday (oh my fucking GOD it was amazingly awesome) — I was the only person to have flags there (and, honestly, I hadn’t made them well). So I flagged for a bit, then wandered around, then caught some glowsticks — they worked REALLY well for front-corner weighting. So I started dancing again. And I finally have some pics of myself flagging.
My arms are exhausted… but I was exhilarated. it was wonderful, and I am looking forward to the next event I can go to. 
What is it about flagging that you enjoy the most?
Getting lost in the moment. It doesn’t take music, it doesn’t take anything external… the motion comes from within, the flow, the rhythm expands outwards.
Though I did enjoy flagging to music, as well.
Last night, the motion came from the music, the rhythm drove my motion. sometimes I had to go speed/2, other times speed*2, other times speed bpm. I just did what… well, felt right. Kept a bit of an eyeout for the inevitable wanderers, but otherwise perfectly alright. *sighs* I’ve missed music… maybe I should explore it more than flagging alone.
What was your first flagging experience?
Back in 1999
, I lived in Los Angeles, and made friends with a group called "AVATAR-LA" (a gay men’s BDSM group). One of the members, Rodger, used flag dancing to warm up before he would use a whip — and it was eye-catching, and so I asked if he could teach me.The things he taught me — that you never know everything, that you still learn to do new things even after years of the dance — have stayed with me… and they’re things that I want to remind myself of.
Do you make your own sets? Can you describe what kind you make?
Right now
, I’m making rank beginner’s amateurs sets — fabric’s $3.95/yd at JoAnn (for the SilkEssence), and I’m trying to figure out how to get a decent flight from them.My next experiments are going to involve multiple layers of cloth. I also intend to add a leading cord and handle-wise cord, just in case I need to try to add some weights to figure out how best to balance them.
Once I get this dealt with, I’ll order from Dharma Trading and start working with real silk.
Where do you often like to flag?
I don’t really like flagging alone. I like to flag where other people, from other arts, are appreciating the same music that I am. It brings a form of community that’s often missing from any ‘normal’ event that I can flag at. (Remember: Tucson, Arizona. Not much chance for anyone to flag in a club.)
What are your favorite flagging quotes?
"It’s not you throwing a flag around. It’s you throwing a weight around, which lets the flag catch the wind as you cut the air ahead of it."
"It’s a great warm-up for a whipping."
What advice do you give to beginning flaggers?
Flagging is hard work. Remember this. Stretch out your arms before starting, stretch out your hips before starting, and allow your mind to relax. The flagging you’re doing isn’t about anyone else — it’s about you. You have something to express, and you’ve chosen to express it via flags — so do it.
Just remember you can’t do it all at once, and that you have to learn the basics before you can truly fly. If you can, try string work (glow sticks — live or dead — at the end of strings). This will give you an exaggerated view of where the flag will move, and won’t give you any feedback if you would otherwise have tangled your flag or not — but that’s okay. That’s perfectly alright. You need the hand motions learned. You need the wrist motions. The arm motions. The head motions and sometimes the leg motions.
But just relax. Rome wasn’t built in a day; great flaggers are those who persist. Find a place you feel comfortable flagging. Put some comfortable music on the stereo. Tell the your guests "I’ve gotta practice"… and then do so.
and a hint: if done properly, it qualifies as the 20-minutes-of-accellerated-heartbeat per day that we’re told we’re supposed to get.
And don’t be afraid to experiment. Some of my greatest blunders and saves have come from experiments.
Kyle's Latest Activity See All →
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kylehamilton and rodgerbelk are now friends 6 years ago · View
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kylehamilton posted on the forum topic
Quick question… 6 years, 3 months ago · ViewCan we get more options for ‘region’ in? I feel like my profile’s kinda incomplete. There’s a flagging group in Phoenix (PHXflaggers@yahoogroups.com), and they’ve pointed me to some very interesting and nice sites, where I found even more information on making my own flags (such as how to figure out how much weight to use… I’m such a complete n00b here it’s not even funny).
At Joann Fabric, locally, I can get polysilk for $3.99/yard. I know it’s not the greatest, but it’s what’s available to me at the moment.
So, the question I have is… what do you use for weighting your flags? When I started, I started on flags that had just the front tip weighted. Now I’m seeing alternatives to that, that spread the weight more evenly across the front corner… and I’m curious which way works better.
