SCENEprofiles Interview with 
Yaqi
Houston Press' "Best Fetishist 2002," Filmmaker, 
and Tickling Aficionado

One of Yaqi's Videos

yaqi1@yahoo.com 

http://www.yaqisworld.com/ 

Yaqi Interviews Sensuous Sadie

If you enjoyed this interview, please visit my home page
for more interviews and my own columns. Thanks! ~ Sadie

YAQI: "One of the most brilliant bits of advice that my grandmother ever gave me was that "life is all about taking risks." Every aspect of my life has validated her words and despite of the few experiences I've had that have fallen short of what they could have been, I believe that I am a stronger individual for having taking chances. Life is too short to have fantasies coupled with the desire to fulfill them be hampered by the irrational fear of rejection.

"Tickling is a unique subject in that it is a very personal thing that affects every one in a very unique way. For some reason tickling is still a very ‘taboo’ subject in the mainstream. The fact is that tickling is an especially popular worldwide form of erotic play. The great tragedy is that many of the people I talk to are very reluctant to come out of ‘the tickling closet’ because they feel their partners will not be able to relate to it. I have experienced this fear from my own personal, early encounters, but when I finally shed tickling as an inhibition I had to stop and wonder what all the fuss was about. My case is certainly unique in that I have decided to go public on a scale so massive that I am recognized on the streets. Everyone in my life knows about my site and everyone is very supportive and genuinely excited by what I do. I’ve never had anyone freak out about tickling. I’ve had people who certainly did not get it, but I know that nothing pleases everyone.

"I created www.yaqisworld.com with the express desire to share this simple message: Tickling is cool. The site has transformed over the years into an empire of sorts, but I always like to think it uniquely remains true to its origins."

Yaqi: ‘When I created the original prototype for yaqisworld.com I found myself in urgent need of an online identity. I looked around my bookshelves for a suitable word or name that might be appropriate. By chance my eyes landed on Castaneda’s book, which happened to be one I had not read in many years. Castaneda is kind of a controversial figure who wrote a number of books based on his experiences with altered states of consciousness as produced by the hallucinogens Datura and Mescaline. The Yaqui Indians have a unique philosophy about ‘nonordinary reality’ as a tool for enlightenment, and in many ways that seemed to fit what I was doing. So Yaqi is sort of a parody/homage to Castaneda’s struggle for spiritual enlightenment. Of course I don’t feed my victims LSD before I tickle them but I do think tickling can produce an altered state of consciousness and the experiences of tickling can often lead to extraordinary clarity of perception."

Sadie: You won the "Best Fetishist 2002" award from Houston Press. I find it pretty exotic that a mainstream newspaper would have a Best Fetishist award. What was your competition in this area? Does this award mean that you are totally out of the closet?

Yaqi: "Houston has been very supportive of what I am doing, and The Houston Press did a fantastic tongue and cheek article on me at the start of my mainstream media tour early last year. Every year they have a ‘Best 100 Things about Houston’ awards issue and for some reason they decided to add Best Fetishist as a category. I’m not sure what my competition was, but it is always nice to have community support."

Yaqi: "I’ve been making films all my life. I’ve worked on really big budgeted features, commercials, very high end documentaries and industrial projects. I’ve also written and directed a number of motion picture shorts. So when I started making Yaqi videos I was able to take advantage of what I had learned as a filmmaker and professionally produce tickling videos with the same tools and production sensibilities as all my other projects.

"I began thinking of doing a documentary on tickling as a sort of companion piece for my mainstream tour. I first laboriously wrote a script about tickling, which was no easy task considering the enormity of the topic. After struggling with many approaches I ultimately decided on a fast paced overview: a peek into the world of tickling and a sampling of its many facets. Then I sat down and reviewed all my raw footage and found bits and pieces that perfectly supported the text. Fortunately I always do interviews with my victims prior to and after the tickling session, so I was able to include a lot of really interesting insight from diverse, individual impressions. The actual documentary was produced in the same way I would produce a project for a client. It is professional and polished and I had the luxury of taking a lot of time in the editing room to get it right. I am really proud of the award it won, because Worldfest Houston is the largest film festival in the world and as the entries are numerous, the competition can be very fierce. I sort of felt that the documentary would win something, simply because I knew it would be one of the more unique entries, but nevertheless the award was very validating."

Yaqi: "Another of the mission statements of www.yaqisworld.com is the exploration of all forms of tickling. Unfortunately many of the vocal people involved in the internet tickling community are very particular in their likes and dislikes. Some like only feet tickling, some like only women tickling women, some find male tickling males to be repulsive. But I always knew that in order for my site to be absolutely honest, I needed to have something for everyone. I needed to convey the feeling that no one should be excluded from this wonderful experience. I’ve taken some criticism from this approach over the years, most notably and perhaps ultimately least significantly from Howard Stern, who glommed on to the idea of males tickling males, which of course he felt was gay. But that’s Howard and I didn’t let him phase me, and later in the show I felt I won him over a bit as he joined me in tickle torturing a bound buxom blonde bikini babe. From a statistical standpoint, my videos that feature guys getting tickled, either by other guys or by women sell extremely well. All my videos have sold well but I think that has more to do with the fact that they are always genuine and consistent in quality."

Yaqi: "Tickling is many things to me. Sometimes it is playful, sometimes sexual, it all depends on who I am playing with and the circumstances of the session. I think innocent, playful tickling can be just as much fun as serious tickle torture. Certainly restrained tickling does echo BDSM and many of its principles, such as ‘safe words’ and the physical/psychological aspects of playing with someone who is in a state of physical helplessness. So there are aspects of tickling that do fall into the BDSM culture by default, but I personally do not enjoy some of the more intense forms of power play associated with the BDSM lifestyle. An intense tickle torture session with someone who is bound and very ticklish can move into some very strange and desperate situations and one can draw from a number of the BDSM philosophies, particularly in how to watch and diagnose the state of your victim and the complex verbal and non verbal communication that can exists, especially in really intense scenes. I live in Houston which does have several large BDSM communities and while I have gotten to meet several of the movers and shakers, and have always enjoyed speaking with them, I do not really consider myself part of the scene. But this has more to do with my circle of friends being a different circle than any form of criticism on that community.

"Interestingly, when I launched into my mainstream media tour last year one of the things that my agent and I decided was imperative was a sort of sanitizing of my website. Since we were going to be marketing to very ‘vanilla’ mainstream avenues I had to make a sort of distinction of my ‘take" on tickling that unfortunately involved a certain distancing from the tickling community. I think a few resented that, yet it was a necessary evil in order to even get some of the media venues to even look at our press kit. Since then I’ve managed to hold on to many of these aspects, and I personally am quite distressed to see a number of the other tickling video producers introducing nudity and almost full fledged pornography into their products. That is something I think is ultimately harmful to tickling's reputation."

Yaqi: "Tickling is so many different things. I think it is a great way for two people to get closer to each other. It’s playful and innocent. At the same time it can be an incredibly erotic experience. I’ve participated in hundreds, if not thousands of tickle sessions and no two are the same. I’ve had tickling experiences with some of my romantic partners that have led to incredible sexual experiences. Being tickled tortured leaves you in a heightened state of being, with an incredible feeling that many compare to a ‘runners high.’ It can be a very intense emotionally polarizing situation that leaves an indelible mark upon your character. It releases both physical and psychological tensions. It can be profoundly purging. I think these are things that make an individual more aware of his/her reality, so in that sense I think tickling does promote spiritual growth."

Yaqi: "Well, there’s certainly no question that a positive attitude does make a difference in the body’s ability to heal. Since I’ve been dealing with my recent bout with Sarcoidosis, I haven’t been able to engage in any heavy tickling scenes, but I still am doing a lot of playful tickling and that always seems to make me emotionally happy. I am currently enduring a rigorous treatment with a steroid called Prednisone, which can produce many bizarre psychological side effects. It’s kind of taken me out of the world for a while, but fortunately I’ve been able to focus a lot of my energies on my website, doing all the work from the computer and the internet. So in a real way, yaqisworld is largely responsible for keeping me sane during this difficult period."

Yaqi: "To a large degree yes. That particular article was written a number of years ago, and I really need to go back and update it with some of the more recent experiences I’ve had with partners who knew about my love of tickling. One of the reasons I am so adamant about being open about your interests is that when you suppress a desire that stirs something deep inside you all you are really doing is putting it in an incubator and letting it mutate. To me that is unhealthy and ultimately self defeating. The ‘bad’ experiences that I refer to in that article were bad because I had my own incubator brewing away and approached my partners awkwardly about the subject. If one dates a person seriously for a few years and then, out of the blue, confesses an until then unmentioned interest, in my case tickling, it is quite understandable for that the person, who thought they knew you very well, to be taken aback."

Yaqi: "That’s an excellent question. A large number of people interested in tickling seem to experience a deep fear of talking about it with their partners. Perhaps it’s the incubator theory at work again. What I’ve basically tried to do is tell the world, through my site and through national and international media that tickling IS cool and fun and popular. My experiences have certainly proved this to be true to my complete satisfaction."

Yaqi: "For the same reasons I mentioned above. You have to understand that Chris and I are both from the same generation and when we were young and first recognizing our interests in tickling, there was no Internet, and finding any tickling materials was very difficult. Today it is very simple. You type tickling into a search engine and suddenly you are presented with a well organized world wide community of people with very multifaceted interests in the topic."

Yaqi: "I’ve had a number of sessions with dominatrixes. One of the thrills, at least for me, is to approach a complete stranger and tell them you want a tickling session. It’s an intense rush. I have been very fortunate in that many of the Doms I have played with were into tickling. I think the most important quality that makes a good tickler is that person’s interest in tickling you. I’ve been with people who seemed bored out of their minds, who obviously didn’t get it, and that can be a major turn off. But when you are with someone who enjoys tickling and is going to derive pleasure from tickle torturing you, the scene can be incredible. To me, the enthusiasm of the tickler is far more significant than any other characteristic. Oh and having long nails can also be a plus."

Yaqi: "To quote Dr. Ronald G. Crystal:

‘Sarcoidosis is a chronic, multisystem disorder of unknown cause. All parts of the body can be affected, but the organ most frequently affected is the lung. Involvement of the skin, eye, liver and lymph nodes is also common. This disease is often acute or subacute and self limiting, but in many individuals it is chronic, waxing and waning over many years.’

"In other words it is a very bizarre disease that has affected every aspect of my life, from the way I perceive existence to how I choose to assign priorities. It all goes back to what my grandmother said about taking risks. Life is short. My life is short. I know that better than most because I have had my mortality thrust into my face for a number of years and have learned, with quite some conviction, that I am not indestructible. There is nothing more important in life than having good health. And since there are never any guarantees, which is doubly significant in my case, I choose to spend my life pursuing my dreams and ambitions. Tickling is just one of many interests that I have, yet in many ways it has been amongst the most rewarding. Knowing that I am somehow making a difference in other peoples lives, helping them to ‘take risks;’ exposing tickling fears as fallacies. Every letter I get from a fan who tells me that they have gained strength from my site reminds me as to why I continue with yaqisworld. It makes everything I’ve experienced all the more worthwhile."

Yaqi: "Everyone has their own take on why tickling is important to them. One of the most unfortunate things I’ve learned about the Internet tickling community is that its vocal components, which represent a very small number of those actually interested in the subject, can be very judgmental, prejudicial and intolerant to contrary opinions. There is an excessive amount of friction between the different factions. For a topic that is supposed to be about happiness, I find this very distressing.

"On a more positive note I urge everyone who has ever thought about tickling to go out there and explore it. Be true to yourself and do not ignore your fantasies. As John Fowles put it: ‘There comes a time in each life like a point of fulcrum. At that time you must accept yourself. It is not any more what you will become. It is what you are and always will be.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sensuous Sadie is the author of It's Not About the Whip: Love, Sex, and Spirituality in the BDSM Scene (http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0551.html). She is the founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn , Vermont 's first BDSM group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for reprinting can be addressed to her at SensuousSadie@aol.com  or visit her website at www.sensuoussadie.com. Sadie believes the universe is abundant, and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.

Copyright 2003 Sadie Sez Publications