Suspensions

I was doing a tattoo story when the store owners suggested I come back to shoot a story on suspensions they also hold. I took some still photos of it to give my boss and idea of what it looked like, realizing it's kind of graphic for news. I got approval, shot it, but when I brought back the video, the boss then decided it was too graphic. I hung onto this for years hoping a new boss would air it, but no. Finally, I put the darn story together and decided to share it with an audience of SOME sort... here on You Tube. Enjoy.

Kapahulu (KHNL)- This next story will keep you in suspense- literally. It's about an alternative past time called "suspensions"- in which people dangle from hooks. We watched an Oahu resident do it to find out what the allure is.

At the Hawaiian Tattoo Company in Kapahulu, a small crowd gathers on a Saturday night. Kylie Capadona and her friends are getting ready to hang out. Kylie's lying on an exam table as friend and fellow practitioner Daniel Porjes inserts four metal fish hooks. "Breathe and relax," he comforts her, as the hooks pierce the flesh.

This is actually a Native American ritual, Porjes explains. "It was a rite of passage into manhood where they'd hang from two hooks in their chest."

Soon, all four hooks are in. Capadona winces, "It doesn't hurt when entering but it does when it exits." Then she gets hooked up for what looks to us like a hair raising - er, make that skin raising- experience.

Does it hurt? Capadona looks surprisingly calm for someone just skewed by triple beveled, ultra-sharp needles. She pauses then says, "At first you have to pull your skin a little to get it used to it. As soon as I got like, this much, (indicating two inches with her fingers) it felt better. The first skin stretching kind of hurts."

Enthusiasts say it's not as painful as it looks. Porjes insists, "I've seen people make worse faces from waxing."

What's the point? Capadona says she meditates for hours. "I just sit there and think, free myself from everyday life and anything else that's plaguing me."

Porjes agrees. "The best feeling I can describe it as, is flying. A definite inner peace."

It's also a major adrenaline rush- a runners' high. Capadona's now started swinging gently. "It's like any natural high, any kind of extreme sport. I can probably run laps after this."

She understands that "it's definitely not for everybody." But she says she is hooked on suspensions.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Suspensions
• KHNL
• Diane
• Ako
• Hawaiian
• Tattoo
• Company
• Kapahulu
• Kylie
• Capadona
• Daniel
• Porjes
• Native
• American
• ritual

[AwesomexGirlx12343]

what if her skin like tears apart and the hooks come out and shes like bleeding all over the floor dieing ....

[JBHutto]

I can sit and think without fucking Hellraiser meat hooks in my back lol

[Shawnamariejackson12]

OMG

[sinnermonkey]

@AwesomexGirlx12343 your skin is waaaay stronger than you think

[AlyPippi]

ma voi siete fuori!!!!

ma andate a fare del volontariato o test da cavie per la scienza !

[Xxstylishx]

@AwesomexGirlx12343 thats exactly what i was thinking!!!

[balisongpro94]

This can not be healthy one bit wtf

[PrettyAmina101]

That shit must be painful as fuck she has

Balls to that nasty shit

[BreanaHunter]

you guys are fucking ignorant. if you dont like the way someone lives then dont do it. no one downs you for your normalicy so shut the fuck up. god i hate people.

[TiffTC]

not so relaxing when they rip out of her one day or she has major skin irritations from doing this every weekend....ppl r so weird.