A Touch Of Bastinado

Bastinado, according to the accomplished and error-free historical researchers who write psuedo-Victorian porn novels, was the practice of caning one’s slave women or servant girls (or inquisitees — it’s a practice often attributed to the Spanish Inquisition) on the soles of their feet. Said to be intensely painful, with the added benefit of keeping the unhappy recipient humbly on her hands and knees for a few days. It’s also popular in the Hogtied dungeons:

toes and foot tied for bastinado caning

feet tied for bastinado caning

Note well: Bastinado is not, according the kinky sexperts, recommended outside the realm of fantasy, because the feet have all sorts of fragile-but-important small bones and connective tissues. I’m sure there are experienced sadists who feel they can cane feet more-or-less safely, but it’s not for casual bedroom fun. Even the experienced Hogtied dungeon-masters are posing, in their own severe fashion: for all the menace in those shots, the at-risk feet look welt-free.

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  1. Julie commented on March 10th, 2005:

    Methinks Paul666 needs a little bastinado to focus his attention on what he is reading.

  2. Paul666 commented on March 10th, 2005:

    There is of course one down side to switching a persons feet. It does cause them to be crippled and unable to litteraly walk. If done for too long at one time.

    I’ve never heard why, but it does. I don’t know this from personal ways, saw it on some documentary on tkorture devices.

  3. Spankboss commented on March 10th, 2005:

    Uh, didn’t I just say that? “Bastinado is not… recommended outside the realm of fantasy,because the feet have all sorts of fragile-but-important small bones and connective tissues.”

  4. Drifter commented on March 10th, 2005:

    aww…you’re ruining my fantasies here! is there ANY way to do it safely? perhaps using a softer implement like a flogger, flexible ruler or light belt? Something that’s all surface sting without much deeper impact.

  5. Natty commented on March 10th, 2005:

    Actually, the bastinado has been a common form of judicial corporal punishment in the Middle East throughout the Ottoman period down to the present day. A recent movie by Syrian comedian Ghawar shows a man coming out of a room at the police station after being flogged with his feet bare and pant legs rolled up, suggesting that it may still be a common practice in Syria. (And yes, the guy was not walking too well.)

    As someone with a spanking kink who studies the Middle East, I always kind of fantisized about the bastinado until I leaned that it was done on the feet. Soooo not my kink. My ass is a far more erogenous zone than my footsies. :)

  6. Rubyred commented on March 10th, 2005:

    Just a word to support the “ouch” factor:

    Several months ago when hubby and I were “playing,” he was caning me over my panties with the plastic rod from the blinds. He gave me one single swat to my bare feet. That was enough to last a lifetime. It burned like you wouldn’t believe and hurt for a long time afterward.

    We both agreed that while it was an interesting experiment, it was one we’d skip in the future.

  7. Pat commented on June 17th, 2005:

    I agree that using a cane in bastinado can cause long lasting hurt and might break some tiny bones. This is used with the intention to do harm. But from a fantasy view I usually use light leather belt or whip or paddle and use it on the meaty part of the soles and stay away from the bony part of the feet. People with very skinny or boney type feet have to be extra careful. This inflect only skin pain that does not last. Actually the recepients of my treat like the tingling feeling they have after getting bastinadoed.

  8. wha? commented on June 23rd, 2005:

    Not safe? Maybe, with very large cane, but my feet get very severe caning pritty often. And it doesen’t hurt as much as I liked it to hurt.

  9. Annui Gen commented on August 25th, 2005:

    Master inflicts terrible pain on my feet without permanently damaging them by striking the soles with a 3′ signaling whip. The damage is all on the surface, but oh does it hurt–i have to be tightly restrained and gagged. This is the one torture He inflicts on me that always makes me cry. Worst is knowing that, because it isn’t damaging anything, there is no reason for Master to show mercy, so He does not–He strikes me for as long as He feels like, which is sometimes very long indeed. This slave will literally do anything He wants to avoid this particular torture, but He greatly enjoys inflicting it, even when i am as good as possible.

  10. Ik commented on December 11th, 2005:

    Bastinado is a great punishment to take or to give.
    I gave it and took it many times usually using a light cane.
    There was no

  11. Martin commented on December 23rd, 2005:

    Bastinado is a very enjoyable punishment – just don’t go too far.

    I’ve recently had a cause to punish the wife: We went out for a drive to a nice remote wooded area which has some nice gravel paths – leaving her shoes in the car she had to follow me barefoot off into the woods where I beat the soles of her feet – not overly hard but hard enough to make her wince then made her walk back along the gravel path and through icy puddles…

  12. Collen commented on June 13th, 2009:

    There are so many opinions about bastinado, and the danger. If a person is careful, and the person doing to whipping can be trusted, the punishment is veey severe and painful, but not dangerous. The whip that makes me cry the most is a single strand of rubber that has normal use to act as weatherstrip for window screens and screen doors. It is light, flexible, and burns and stings terribly. It is only used for “special times”. Uusally the whips used are single tail leather thongs or vipers tails. If I am in the mood for a long lasting session, with mo mercy at all, the first whip is a single strand wire whip, followed with the rubber thong. The most that have been delivered is 100 of each, and that took about an hour to deliver. It would have been too much at one time, that kind of session will take a day or three to get over. As for erotic, try it, the satisfaction can’t be described. Tied on the tummy with no escape, and having the soles caned will produce the most wriggling imaginable, that must lead to the intense satisfaction, but afterwards, one has to not plan on walking away!

  13. Denis commented on March 7th, 2011:

    The feet can stand many hard cuts of a light cane or whip you would have to realy lay into them with a thick cane to do damage, not somthing done in a B & D scene. The sting realeases endorphines and leaves a very nice feeling
    Try a foot caning from your partner if you cant get to sleep, you wont need sleeping pills. I suggest a cane 600mm x 6mm.

  14. Morgan commented on April 7th, 2011:

    I ‘tenderize’ my wifes soles with a wooden spoon before a good tickling session. She’s not ever complained so far. I usually work the arches and the balls of her barefeet and it’s been good. :)

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