The Edge
	AArt is unique and expresses the content of the soul.  Through history art has cronicled our daily existance, dreams, and most profound thoughts.  We have made art sacred and held it in contempt.  It has nurtured new ideas, been the herald of change, and is often the expression of society's cutting edge. Art has made us aware. It has protested, it has challenged us, and indeed it has frightened us. In forming our culture, art has been the bulwark, participating in the construction of society. At times, it has acted as the voice calling us to change what we know. Some part of art has always challenged convention and has been an expression of alternative views. In alternative lifestyles, we create art in all our actions. It is because we redefine the way we think and so we interact in new ways. In our lifestyle we should be open to all possibilities and different views because it is what we explore. If we are not open-minded and accepting, we justify the prejudices of those who would condemn us. As our modalities are beyond what others understand we will face prejudice, because of expressions conventional society may find different and startling. Nowhere is that more present than in what we call THE EDGE. Nietzsche said, the ultimate act of creation is destruction. We destroy old paradigms with our views and the way we live our lives. We create new canvas on which to paint with new colors and new mediums in the journey we call life. So, how do we paint? We begin by increasing our understanding of ourselves and by being unafraid to explore alternatives which are unexpected and unknown. Often it is a painful process. Kahlil Gibran says, "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." We crack open the shell of ideology and journey beyond convention. In our lifestyle we often directly confront the pain of life. Some people call the deeper exploration of martial techniques and practices, journeying far beyond conventional views, The Edge. In our lifestyle, we explore ourselves in three major areas: Martial, being physical; Mental, being intellectual: and Emotional, being feelings. To the uninitiated eye, some of the things done on the Edge resemble random acts of violence. These simple acts of abuse when done without thought and with intent to harm have nothing to do with the beauty of the Edge. However, one is at times mistaken for the other. Therefore, what is explored is often vilified and debased through lack of understanding Yet, when we transcend into exploration and add love, intimacy, and the investment of self to acts that are not random or made in the indiscriminate patterns found in anger or intent to harm, then sensations of the flesh are manipulated to flirt with pleasure. The truest intercourse is not base or of the flesh, but startling and eroticizing to the mind. We feel full force the depths of our emotions. The Edge brings about powerful emotions. To orgasm in the mind is to share all of what we are and the seeds of something new and vital. At the end, if we ascend beyond simple bruises and cuts made by idle explorations, we can begin to express what our lifestyle is about. At that point we can share the soul of ourselves and begin to truly represent the beauty of our lifestyle. There is a profound synergy shared between two complementary beings found within a D/s relationship. In this, a Dominant can paint on the canvas of human flesh, mind, and soul with all that exists in the exchange of two and even paint in human blood. Nowhere else is found a truer expression of life and the celebration shared in our lifestyle. We ascend beyond convention to embrace the union of power exchange and all its potential. In the martial and erotic arts, we share the blood and guts, the flesh and fluids, of all that we are. In the agony and ecstasy, we show the beauty and potential of what we call Power Exchange.